Thoughts on BC Politics and More

Canadians have been resolute in the face of President Donald Trump’s tariff threats and taunts that we should become the 51st state. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated that Canada won’t be joining the United States. Former Prime Minister Stephen Harper argued that we should be prepared to accept severe economic consequences rather than lose our sovereignty. There have been numerous calls for Canada to make itself more resilient and less dependent on trade with the United States. While we’re doubtlessly worried, Canadians seem ready to stand up to American coercion. I say “seem ready” because we aren’t actually living through significant economic pressure or punishment yet. Right now, the economic costs of resisting the Trump administration’s demands (whatever they may be) are largely hypothetical. I fear that if the United States comes after us hard enough, our solidarity may fray and our will to resist may falter ... CLICK HERE for the full story

The fact that Donald Trump’s rapacious musings about Canada becoming “the 51st state” overlapped with the resignation of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau last week had some pundits looking for a link. Several settled on the notion that Trudeau had in some way invited the annexation overtures; that the prime minister’s supposedly “postnational” Liberal administration had created a country so devoid of identity and pride that it was all but inviting foreign conquest. Such editorializing inevitably winds up back at the most consistently over-cited and overblown quote of Trudeau’s tenure, the one he gave to the New York Times Magazine’s Guy Lawson in 2015 about Canada being a “postnational state” with no “core identity.” On the one hand, Trudeau is making a rather banal point here: diverse democracies by definition struggle to define what’s “mainstream” beyond common civic values. On the other, he is obviously lying ... CLICK HERE for the full story

On Saturday, we shared the following post from regular commentator John Feldsted; “ The world will not stay ‘on pause’ awaiting a coronavirus vaccine ... there are better solution ”.   A regular reader of the blog posts, David Gibson, had his own thoughts on the situation, and John’s commentary, which he agreed to let me share with you ... That was a very dismal message. Complain, complain, complain. Remember that this is Canadians' first time around. We're ALL new to this. Pandemics aren't new, but this one came fast, and we are ALL doing our best. You write: " We are weary of the continual bickering, posturing, promises and ongoing failures to put the interests and welfare of Canada and Canadians first in our governance considerations ." There are many, many Canadians who agree with you. Millions, in fact. Every bit as weary and frustrated as you. Well then, do something about it instead of just moaning and groaning on the sidelines. ...

According to  Food Banks BC , 80,000 British Columbians use a food bank each month. Yet, as we learned from " The Avoidable Crisis of Food Waste " a report by Second Harvest released earlier this year, Canadians waste an unbelievable amount of food. " The research estimates that the total avoidable and unavoidable food loss and waste occurring annually along the Canadian food value chain equates to 35.5 million metric tonnes, of which 11.2 million metric tonnes (32%) is avoidable food loss and waste -- the equivalent of the weight of almost 95 CN Towers." "Based on the consumer value of food, the value of avoidable food loss and waste equates to $49.5 billion, representing 51.8 percent of the money Canadians spent on food purchased from retail stores in Canada in 2016. ($49.5 billion equates to 3% of Canada’s 2016 GDP and would feed every person living in Canada for almost 5 months. )" Waste less food In a recent phone call ...

Tax complexity matters to all Canadians, mostly owing to the considerable resources and time that families and businesses spend on compliance. Many of us incur substantial costs: time invested and money spent on professional legal and accounting services, and on tax preparers and tax software. Further, the Canadian tax system is recognized as being complex, hard to understand, and in urgent need of reform. This study uses three broad categories of indicators to measure tax complexity: tax expenditures, tax legislation, and tax guides. Each indicator empirically measures a different aspect of tax complexity, and all three indicate that Canada’s tax system has become increasingly complex since 1996. The number of federal personal income tax (PIT) tax expenditures increased from 111 to 146 (32 percent) from 1996 to 2016. The number of federal corporate income tax (CIT) tax expenditures increased from 66 to 76 (15 percent) And … the number of f...

A SHORT TIME AGO on Twitter  ( @Puglaas ) announced: I have just been informed by the Prime Minister of Canada that I am removed from the Liberal caucus and as the confirmed Vancouver Granville candidate for the Liberal Party of Canada in the 2019 federal election. More to come... So much for the Real Change offered by justin trudeau, and his Liberal Party, after being elected. Or maybe this was the change he was s[peaking of? So, rather than do the honourable thing, after all of the coercion he has set in play after the past several months, the DIS-honourable justin Trudeau has given Wilson-Raybould the boot ... rather than he himself stepping down. I and all Canadians, with the exception of those who still believe the Kool-Aid of “sunny days’ coming from our former drama-teacher PM, should be thoroughly disgusted by this action! I hope that Jody Wilson-Raybould will be encouraged by thousands of Canadians from right across Canada, to run as an Independe...

VANCOUVER — Long wa its for surgery and medical treatment cost Canadians $ 2.1 billion in lost wages last year, finds a new study released today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non- partisan Canadian public policy think- tank. It’s estimated more than one million Canadians waited for medically necessary treatment in 2018. “ Waiting for medically necessary treatment remains a hallmark of the Canadian health -care system, and i n addition t o increased pain and suffering —and potentially worse medical outcomes— these long waits also cost Canadians time at work and with family and friends , ” said Bacchus Barua, associate director of health policy studies at the Fr aser Institute and co- author of The Private Cost of Public Queues for Medically Necessary Care, 20 19 . The study finds that the estimated 1,082,541 patients who wait ed for medical ly necessary treatment last year each lost $1,924 (on average) due to lost wages and reduced pr...

'I lacked respect' PM Trudeau apologizes for response to protester CTVNews.ca ~~ Staff ~~ Thursday, March 28, 2019 Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has apologized for a “lack of respect” he showed towards a protester who confronted him about mercury contamination in a First Nation community during a Liberal fundraiser in Toronto ... Trudeau said he always tries to be respectful and to engage with protesters in a “positive” way but admitted he didn’t do that the night before. “Last night I lacked respect towards them, and I apologize for that,” he said. On Wednesday night, hecklers at a fundraiser, organized by the Laurier Club that requires a minimum contribution of $1,500 to join, called out Trudeau’s handling of mercury poisoning on the Grassy Narrows First Nation, he thanked them for contributing to his party’s coffers. “Thank you very much for your donation tonight, I really appreciate the donation to the Liberal Party of Canada,” Tru...

Most Canadians are unhappy with their salaries, survey finds. Research conducted on behalf of Indeed Canada says more than half plan to ask for a raise in 2019 Brandie Weikle ~~ CBC News ~~ Mar 09, 2019 Most Canadians are unhappy with their salaries and more than half plan to ask for a raise in 2019, a new survey has found. Conducted by Censuswide on behalf of job site Indeed Canada, the research found that only 13 per cent of Canadian workers surveyed are comfortable with their current rate of pay. That's down from 17 per cent from when Indeed commissioned the same survey one year ago. "As prices increase and the cost of living — especially housing in major city centres — goes up, I think we can attribute it to that." CLICK HERE for the full story A major factor this survey ignores, is the ever-increasing tax burden that is eroding disposable income. We face increasing federal taxes, municipal taxes, provincial taxes, school ta...

Dare to be different ... part 3 We hear more and more about the dangers of populism. When our Prime Minister utters the word, he manages to spit it out as if he just took a bite of something exceedingly vile.    Populism: noun; a political approach that strives to appeal to ordinary people who feel that their concerns are disregarded by established elite groups . Politicians like to divide us – by age (seniors and youth) colour (any non-white group), economic strata (homeless, middle class, working poor) by ethnicity or religion (Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh – Christians need not apply) and then promise to be the protectors and saviours of each group. Political parties are established elite groups . They hold themselves up as separate tribes and seek to have electors and people of influence promise allegiance to their tribe. Unfortunately, that does not translate into representing electors, heeding their pleas or acting in their best inte...