Liberal evasion

In-Sights

BC Government news item, May 15, 2019:

The Province will hold a public inquiry into money laundering that has distorted British Columbia’s economy, fuelled the overdose crisis and driven up housing prices…

“This inquiry will bring answers about who knew what whenand who is profiting from money laundering in our province,” said David Eby, Attorney General.

“The Honourable Justice Cullen will have the mandate, authority and resources to seek answers, perhaps most importantly among people and organizations who refuse to share what they know unless legally compelled to do so.”

Nine months ago, Attorney General David Eby asked BC Liberals to waive privilege over cabinet files related to money laundering. Eby said the old documents would not be released to the public but would assist ongoing criminal investigations.

A month later, Liberal leader Wilkinson refused Eby’s request, justifying that decision because BC NDP has opposed release of advice to…

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With Trudeau spending like a proverbial drunken sailor, that added $100 billion in debt will take us to THREE QUARTERS OF A TRILLION ($765 billion) in debt within the next five years!


“The Trudeau government has betrayed Canadians who entrusted it to manage their money responsibly.  They are now on track to add $127 billion in new debt by 2024 – a full $100 billion more than they promised during the last election” … so said Canadian Taxpayers Federation Federal Director Aaron Wudrick today following  

And it seems Wudrick isn’t the only one not pleased by todays budget announcement … including Aaron Gunn, formerly of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) where he founded and became Executive Director of the Generation Screwed initiative. I wasn’t surprised that he too hit on new debts that Justin Trudeaus federal Liberal government will continue to generate.

This afternoon he commented, “Remember when Trudeau said he’d balance the budget by 2019 and not run deficits of more than $10 billion? How is this colossal failure of leadership not receiving more coverage by the media?”, before continuing.
“Trudeau’s now added over $100 billion dollars in NEW DEBT to Canada’s balance sheet even while the economy has been growing… what happens if we enter a recession? He has decimated our fiscal room to maneuver with exactly ZERO to show for it.”

In a January story, the National Post noted that Andrew Scheer’s Conservative MPs were continuing to batter away at Trudeau for running large deficits … including this year’s deficit which then was expected to be over $18 billion … with DEBT increasing by nearly $100 billion. Deficits and annual debt however are the much smaller numbers.  With Trudeau spending like a proverbial drunken sailor, that added $100 billion in debt will take Canadians to THREE QUARTERS OF A TRILLION ($765 billion) in debt within the next five years!

Stated Dan Albas, Conservative MP for the riding of Central Okanagan / Similkameen / Nicola:
“This budget is nothing but an expensive remote to change the channel from the SNC Lavalin scandal. Canadian tax payers deserve better from their government. Canadians also deserve transparent and accountable government.”

“More spending, more debt, more government. More cover-up. The most expensive cover-up in history.”

And while the BC Chamber of Commerce indicated they will continue to engage with Federal representatives to prioritize restoring a competitive tax structure, reducing regulatory burdens, and increasing access to skilled labour as critical priorities to maintain prosperity for all British Columbians, they indicated that:

Today’s federal budget fell short of addressing the fundamental issues affecting BC business.  And, while there were some small wins in the budget, it failed to address key issues like global tax competitiveness, reduced business confidence, and a slumping investment in BC businesses.

Val Litwin, CEO of the BC Chamber of Commerce pointed out that; “Current tax rates are hurting our ability to compete globally. This budget didn’t adequately address productivity or competitiveness in a way that will grow our economy, create meaningful employment, and generate the revenues we need to sustain a healthy prosperous province and country”.

Also, of concern to the BC Chamber of Commerce is the lack of a clear strategy to move the Trans Mountain pipeline forward, given the significant investment made by Canadian taxpayers.

And it’s true!  A lack of ability to have projects such as the Trans Mountain Pipeline moving forward should be of grave concern to all taxpayers.  Only long stalled resource development projects such as the Trans Mountain Pipeline will be able to stop increased debt, and begin to turn it around – something Justin Trudeaus and his band of carbon taxing eco-bandits have failed to understand.

It’s no wonder another BC Conservative MP, Mel Arnold, stated:
“Most reports have suggested that Canada’s economy is becoming sluggish and perhaps headed to more slowing. This budget spends like King Midas with no regard to your future – and those of your children. A bribe – with their allowance.”

Justin Trudeau came in like a rock star in the election of 2015 — promising one and all sunny days were here, and that Canada was back.  Oh, and that he’d get the budget balanced.

Sunny days are here … but only for those in foreign countries getting lavished with incredibly insane amounts of government largesse.

Canada is back Trudeau said … but back to what?  Fawning world countries at the United Nations (UN) as he sends under equipped men and women of the Canadian Armed Forces into combat zones (no they are NOT UN Peace keeping missions – there’s NO PEACE TO KEEP!)

Balanced budget?  That sadly continues to be a sad joke that our children and grand-children will be left having to sort out (remember three quarters of a TRILLION dollars by the end of the next 5 years)

And going back to sunny days – there are certainly not many of those as the confusion and chaos surround SNC-Lavalin continues with the Liberal majority shutting down Jody Wilson-Raybould from speaking.

To that, my own MP Cathy McLeod stated that she was: “Proud to stand with my Conservative colleagues and our Leader, Andrew Scheer, after today’s $41 billion cover up budget and shut down of the only public investigation into the SNC-Lavalin Scandal”

According to Statistics Canada:

  • manufacturing sales declined for the third consecutive month, down 1.3% to $56.4 billion in December on lower sales of petroleum and coal products. Excluding this industry, manufacturing sales declined 0.3%.  Sales fell in 12 of 21 industries, representing 72.7% of manufacturing sales. Manufacturing sales in volume terms were also down, declining 1.2% in December.
  • in the petroleum and coal product industry, sales declined for a second consecutive month, falling 10.4% to $5.2 billion, with a decrease in volumes (-5.2%) accounting for about half the decline.
  •  and food manufacturing sales declined 2.3% to $8.6 billion in December, following two consecutive monthly increases. The decrease in December mainly reflected lower sales in the meat manufacturing, dairy manufacturing, and grain and oilseed manufacturing industries.

It must be said however that finally in January things were slowly beginning to turn around — but again only after MONTHS of declines. Something Finance Minister Bill Morneau tried to make look a lot better than what statistics had been showing.
Regardless, this is what he had to say in January: “Canada’s economy is strong and growing—proof that our plan to invest in Canadians is working. But it’s also clear that there is more work to be done. The anxieties felt by Canadians are real”

“In Budget 2019 we’ll lay out the next steps in our plan to address those concerns and build a stronger country, one where every person has a real and fair chance to succeed.”

A stronger country however still comes down to ensuring government does not spend more than it can possibly take in from taxes and fees.  And not paying attention to that is a very real reason why … the anxieties felt by Canadians are real.

As the Canadian Taxpayers Federation’s Aaron Wudrick noted …. government deficits are a result of higher spending, not lower revenues.  Sadly, in today’s budget there were no next steps in our plan to address those concerns and build a stronger country
“Even with increased spending, higher than expected revenues could have meant a smaller deficit or even a balanced budget, but instead the government has chosen to simply spend every unexpected dollar – and then some” said Wudrick.
In January, again quoting Morneau he stated that, “Since 2015, the Government’s plan has delivered real results for Canadians and their families”.

The only real results the Trudeau government has delivered since 2015, have been less take-home pay, tens of thousands of job losses, and resource development that’s been shelved or worse, cancelled completely.

That’s not much of a record to be proud of.  Which is why this evening I’ll close this commentary with the words of Aaron Gunn:
“His (Justin Trudeau’s) fiscal and economic record is a mirror image to that of his father’s (Pierre Elliott Trudeau). Broken promises, fiscal recklessness and the marginalization of Western Canada. It will take years to undo the damage.”

ADAM OLSEN: I am well aware of the economic burden First Nations face and the scarce resources they have to deal with their challenges … The air we breathe and the water we drink, depend on it

Property owners have the right to log their property. They have the right to raze entire ecosystems. In spite of decades of evidence showing the devastating effects of clear-cut logging, unfortunately it’s still legal for people to strip their property to the skin.

Most of the Saanich Peninsula is already bare. But there are still some beautiful forests on the Southern Gulf Islands. 

I first understood the vulnerability of these important forest lands few months ago, when a private property owner began clear cutting on Saltspring Island.

After some digging, I found out that currently there seems to be very little that can be done about it. It’s a frustrating response to give to people concerned about the loss of habitat.

Then I began receiving calls from Tsawout First Nation members notifying me that their First Nation was clear cutting reserve lands on Saturna Island.

It’s a clear-cut response to poor resource management … stop clear cutting

I cannot support either of these logging operations.  This situation deeply saddens me. It is frustrating that there is so little protection for these lands.

I understand private property rights. And, I am well aware of the economic burden First Nations face and the scarce resources they have to deal with their challenges.
It has been, and will continue to be, a focus of my work with the provincial government and First Nations leaders to address the systemic, legislated poverty and inequity. It’s one of the driving forces that inspired me to run for provincial office.

I am also committed to putting an end to poor resource management practices, no matter who is responsible.

In the end, it comes down to decision making.

There are so few of these critical ecosystems still intact. We are going to have to make different decisions than we have made in the past. That includes the province, First Nations and private property owners.

Finally, it is time to put in place ways to protect these places. The air we breathe and the water we drink, depend on it.

FELDSTED: She is comfortable shilling for foreign vested interests, stabbing us in the back while doing so. She is the poster child of a bought and paid for politician now a key Minister in the government

Joyce Murray’s real backers are American environmentalist groups. 
The well-organized environmental outfit that backs Murray, the Dogwood Initiative, has been funded by co-funders of the Rockefeller campaign against Canadian energy exports
Vivian Krause ~~ Special to Financial Post ~~ April 8,2013

Conventional wisdom has Justin Trudeau winning the federal Liberal leadership race by a landslide. But Joyce Murray has told The Toronto Star that she is in the lead with even more registered supporters than Trudeau.


Murray’s team brought in “tens of thousands of supporters” and got 70% registration, she says. “A lot of people who are supporting me signed up because of endorsements like David Suzuki’s or awareness-raising by groups who care about the environment, democracy, women’s equality, an integrated food policy,” …

The peculiar thing about Murray’s position on pipelines and tankers is that she only opposes ones that would enable Canadian oil to fetch global market prices. She entirely misses or ignores the dozens of pipelines and tankers that import oil to the eastern coast on a daily basis.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL STORY:

This is another facet of government dalliance with pressure groups.
(Liberal MP) Joyce Murray effectively sold off her sworn obligation to serve all of the people of her constituency and the people of Canada to a third-party political organization that brought her memberships and votes.

In return, she is comfortable shilling for foreign vested interests, stabbing us in the back while doing so. She is the poster child of a bought and paid for politician now a key Minister in the government (President of the Treasury Board and Minister of Digital Government).

That is why so many people are cynical about politics and politicians.

They are fed up with people who aspire to power but shun the responsibilities of elected office. Our government can easily enact legislation prohibiting non-profits like the Dogwood Initiative from receiving funding from foreign sources — but will not do so.
That could mean that Murray and some others might not win in October.    

John Feldsted
|Political Consultant & Strategist
Winnipeg, Manitoba

DAN ALBAS: The 2019 budget reveals Trudeau not only broke his “very cast in stone” promise to return to a balanced budget but he also made no effort to do so

The Liberal 2015 campaign promise was to deliver three years of “modest” $10 billion-dollar deficits with a return to a balanced budget in 2019.  This week the Liberals presented the 2019 budget that clearly reveals Justin Trudeau not only broke his “very cast in stone” promise to return to a balanced budget but also that he made no effort to do so.


The 2019/20 deficit forecast is set at close to $19.8 billion; this is on top of the $60 billion in deficits added in the first three Liberal budgets.


The current budget indicates there is no path to balance until at least the year 2040, by that point racking up an additional $271 Billion in new debt.  So where is all of the money going?


Program spending is a significant part with an increase of $22.8 billion in spending over the next five years.  Here’s a brief summary of some of that from the 2019 Budget:


… A new job retraining program for eligible workers aged between 25-64 that will provide up to $250 per year to a career maximum of $5000.


… An increase to the maximum a first-time home owner can borrow from their RRSP from 25,000 that will now be increased to a limit of $35,000.


… A new shared equity home ownership plan where CHMC will provide a shared matching contribution between 5-10% towards the down payment on a new or existing home. Citizens with a household income under $120,000 can qualify on homes up to a maximum value of $400,000.


… Those who can afford to purchase a new electrical vehicle may now be eligible for up to a $5,000 federal credit on the purchase.


There is also a commitment to spend $35 million over 4 years to create a new federal Canadian drug agency, assumedly in Ottawa, that can work towards bulk buying drugs on a national scale.  Additionally, aboriginal communities will also receive $1.4 billion over 7 years to forgive outstanding legal fees resulting from treaty and land negotiations. Indigenous groups that have already paid these fees can be eligible to have them repaid under this program.


Interest rates on Canada Student Loans will be lowered to prime and will be interest-free for 6 months after graduation, $553 million has been budgeted over the next 3 years to attempt to fix the failed Phoenix pay system, and there will also be changes to the GIS income earning threshold so that a working senior may claim more income without affecting the GIS support levels.

This is only a brief summary of some of the measures contained in the 2019 federal budget.


Many critics have largely labelled it a “political goodies budget” specially targeting certain voting demographics that the Liberals hope will translate to votes in the October election. I will reserve my own thoughts in an upcoming MP report.

My question this week:  “Do you like what you see in the 2019 Budget so far?”

I can be reached at Dan.Albas@parl.gc.ca or call toll free 1-800-665-8711.

Nanaimo by-election a minefield for John Horgan’s NDP government. A lose, or lack of Green Party support in its aftermath, could lead to the government’s defeat, and an early provincial election

Premier John Horgan has called a byelection for the Nanaimo electoral district, following stepping down of NDP MLA Leonard Krogg – Krogg was elected as Mayor of Nanaimo on October 20th. 

Current NDP MP Sheila Malcolmson will be running for the provincial NDP, BC Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson anointed … ooops I mean appointed … Tony Harris, Michelle Ney (daughter of the late Frank Ney, who served as the Mayor of Nanaimo for 21 years) was selected in a contested nomination race for the Green Party.  The BC Conservative Party announced on December 21st that they will be contesting the Nanaimo by-election, and will be announcing a candidate shortly.

With the NDP currently holding the reins of government with 41 seats, and propped up by the 3 MLA’s of Andrew Weavers Green Party, he has a combined total of 44 MLA’s to the BC Liberals 42.  That means a lot is on the line for John Horgan’s NDP government.

If Sheila Malcolmson should fail to win the January 30th Nanaimo byelection – and Tony Harris win, that will leave his combined total of 43 combine NDP / Green seats equal to the BC Liberals.  His government could only service IF House speaker Darryl Plecas cast tie-breaking votes in favour of Horgan on all legislative votes that ended in a tie. 

Furthermore, if the Green Party ended up in a situation where they could NOT support NDP legislation, it could then also lead to the government’s defeat, forcing an early election. But, here’s another thought.

A short time ago, former Liberal MLA John Less said to me, would be awesome to flip that seat! And of course, his meaning of that was to the Liberals.  My question to him however was; “If the BC Conservative Party was to win the Nanaimo by-election, then they would be better able to keep the Liberals accountable”. 

I continued, “I am guessing you are basically small ‘c’ conservative in nature, so why wouldn’t you want to see the provincial Liberals be more accountable to the people of BC?”

That is still the question I put out there for all to consider – especially to the thousands of small ‘c’ conservatives who have basically not had a home to be part of, and were only supporting the BC Liberals because of that.

Candidate nominations may be filed with the Chief Electoral Officer until 4:30 p.m. on Friday, January 4, 2019. After this time, they may be filed with the Nanaimo District Electoral Officer, up to the deadline on January 9.  Those consider letting their name stand for election, can find out more at elections.bc.ca/provincial-elections/provincial-candidates/

As to who can vote in the January 30th by-election?  The Election BC website states that individuals will need to be:

… a resident of the Nanaimo electoral district,

… 18 or older on January 30, 2019,

… a Canadian citizen, and, a resident of B.C. since July 29, 2018.

Residents not already on the voters list can register to vote in the by-election here until midnight January 2, 2019. After that, eligible voters can only register in person at locations where voting will take place.

Stay tuned … we’ll keep you posted with news on how the parties are fairly, in the race to win that all important Nanaimo by-election. And for more information on key dates in the run-up to the election, check Election BC at https://elections.bc.ca/nan-byelection/#key-dates

I’m Alan Forseth in Kamloops.  If you have any thoughts on this commentary, please share them below in the Comments Section.

A short time ago, former Liberal MLA John Less said to me, would be awesome to flip that seat! And of course, his meaning of that was to the Liberals.  My question to him however was:
“If the BC Conservative Party was to win the Nanaimo by-election, then they would be better able to keep the Liberals accountable”. 

I continued, “I am guessing you are basically small ‘c’ conservative in nature, so why wouldn’t you want to see the provincial Liberals be more accountable to the people of BC?”

That is still the question I put out there – especially to the thousands of small ‘c’ conservatives who have basically not had a home to be part of, and were only supporting the BC Liberals because of that.