Canadian politics thread

[bcrdukes]

[westopher]

Originally Posted by Hehe

Everything has its price.

If you can afford it, that's another topic.

I'm just a poor lefty. I bought my m3s with welfare cheques your taxes paid for.

[buhdeh]

https://globalnews.ca/news/7416772/m...c-casino-link/

Look at this network of money laundering and state-sponsored activities we welcome with open arms.

[twitchyzero]

In 2016 and 2017, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau participated in at least a handful of fundraising events in the Toronto and Vancouver regions that featured wealthy entrepreneurs such as Wei. A media report in the National Post also revealed that Trudeau met twice with Wei, including at a Toronto-area Liberal fundraiser in 2016.

Also with Wei at these meetings was a Chinese billionaire and member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), Bin Zhang, who later made a $1-million donation to the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation, the Globe and Mail previously reported.

thanks Trudeau

[whitev70r]

BC Liberals Wilkinson stepping down as leader ... as he should.

[welfare]

I hope Watts runs again. I'd probably vote for her if she won.
She did good in Surrey

[6793026]

Wilkinson was even worse than Harper .... not really sure but I did meet Harper in person during a forum guest speaking event.

Wilks has no charisma, no passion, I couldn't get thru a speech of him without falling asleep. No wonder he's resigning.

[Jmac]

Wilkinson was also completely out of touch with the common person.

[StylinRed]

Great article to read about the money laundering cases in bc and Ontario, how they're tied, and how Trudeau is involved

https://globalnews.ca/news/7416772/m...c-casino-link/

[welfare]

https://torontosun.com/news/national...b7610459e/amp/

A Conservative MP says Canada Revenue Agency has some explaining to do after more than 800,000 ineligible people got Canada emergency response benefit cheques.

CRA’s own records — filed in an inquiry of ministry tabled in the House of Commons — show 823,850 people who didn’t file a tax return in the past year received $2,000 monthly CERB cheques at a cost to taxpayers of nearly $1.7 billion, according to Blacklock’s Reporter.

“I find it remarkable,” Conservative MP Kelly McCauley said.


“This is a huge amount. People were losing their homes and really needed help, but claims were made by others who were either ineligible or didn’t really need it. I want the government to do a proper, transparent audit of this. We just owe it to taxpayers.”

The federal government approved paying CERB to unemployed tax filers who made at least $5,000 in 2019.

The CRA didn’t explain how non-tax filers could have claimed the benefit.

The CERB program was first budgeted at $24 billion, but by the time it expired Oct. 3, payments exceeded $81 billion.

More than 14,000 people in the top income tax bracket — earning $210,371 or more in 2019 — filed for CERB, saying they were without income.

[CRS]

Originally Posted by welfare

https://torontosun.com/news/national...b7610459e/amp/

This is absolutely fair and is already underway. It should be agreeable from all sides.

The program was rolled out to help people as quickly and as simply as possible. There was not a lot of security/verification involved because this was an unprecedented global event that caused it. People's lives were on the line.

Now that we've caught our breath, we should absolutely do an audit on it.

[whitev70r]

I think a lot of that went to the employees at WE who got let go because it went belly up. For some reason, they were entitled to 3x more than the average person when it comes to CERB. Heard it was because they know the PM or something like that.

[CRS]

Originally Posted by whitev70r

I think a lot of that went to the employees at WE who got let go because it went belly up. For some reason, they were entitled to 3x more than the average person when it comes to CERB. Heard it was because they know the PM or something like that.

Where is your source for this?

This is the first time I've ever heard of this.

[Traum]

In case you haven't learned about this yet -- here is some more stupidity from our CoV City Hall:

Stupidity #1: Mobility Pricing into "Metro Core"
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vanc...-core-approved

The definition of this "Metro Core" is HUGE -- it spans to the west wide at Burrard, to the south at 16th Ave, and to the east at Clark. CoV did not announce the exact cost of entry into the toll zone yet, but estimates that I've seen range from $3 all the way up to $8 per entry. I can't even imagine how much the businesses within that zone is gonna be affected by the new charges.

Another issue that really bugs me is, the zone includes VGH, St. Paul's (at both the current site and its future site near the Via Ducts), Cancer Agency, as well as City Hall itself. With VGH in particular, a lot of specialty clinics are all clustered in that area. It feels like we are rubbing salt into the wounds of these people who are already unfortunate enough to be ill. It makes me sick.

Stupidity #2: Mandatory parking permits on residential streets
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vanc...rmits-approved

This one is a money grab, plain and simple. Esp with basement renters and laneway house residents, street parking is a fact of life and an unavoidable norm in Vancouver. And of course City Hall understands this, which is precisely why they are slapping this BS mandatory permit under the poor disguise of climate emergency action plan. The house across from my place has no garage, and park their 5 cars on the street between the 3 households (main, basement, plus laneway house). At $45 per permit, that's an extra $225 right there. In the future, there are plans to further complicate the permit fee calculation formula based on vehicle age, "emission footprint", etc.

When I wrote into City Hall to protest the mandatory parking permit, this was part of the response I got back from City Hall:

Of the 19 actions in the CEAP, four 'game changer' actions were identified to significantly move the dial on reducing carbon pollution from the City's largest sources - buildings and transportation - which represent nearly all of the carbon pollution produced in Vancouver. Currently, 54 per cent of our carbon pollution comes from burning natural gas used to heat space and water in our buildings, and 39 per cent of our emissions come from burning gasoline and diesel in our vehicles. The 'game changer' actions will not work alone and are designed, together with the other actions, to cut Vancouver's carbon pollution in half over the next decade.

The impression I got from their reply is, they basically don't give a shxt about how natural gas is far cheaper for the average family than alternative means of heating & cooking. They also don't care about natural gas' importance to the restaurant industry.

They also don't care how for some (many?) people, having a car to support their daily lives and activities is essential. The emissions claim is esp ridiculous since that mandatory parking permit does not distinguish between ICE cars and EVs. So it is clearly a made up lie that has nothing to do with reducing emissions.

I am generally not a fan of using penalization to obtain behavioural changes on this sort of thing. IMO, incentives rewarding the preferred behaviour is a more effective means to obtain those desired behavioural changes. Unfortunately, our stupid City Hall does not agree with that.

[Manic!]

Originally Posted by welfare

https://torontosun.com/news/national...b7610459e/amp/

She claims that story is B.S.

https://deadfortaxreasons.wordpress....eive-the-cerb/

[westopher]

Kennedy Stuart is literally the shittiest mayor of any city I have ever seen. Has he accomplished a single thing that’s been beneficial to the city? It’s just failure after failure while blaming everyone else.

[CRS]

Originally Posted by westopher

Kennedy Stuart is literally the shittiest mayor of any city I have ever seen. Has he accomplished a single thing that’s been beneficial to the city? It’s just failure after failure while blaming everyone else.

The only reason he won is because of vote splitting that happened.

Should never have been mayor.

[whitev70r]

Originally Posted by CRS

Where is your source for this?

This is the first time I've ever heard of this.

K, I didn't think I'd have to explain my sense of humour and sarcasm but ...

[CivicBlues]

Originally Posted by CRS

The only reason he won is because of vote splitting that happened.

Should never have been mayor.

Ken Sim should have been mayor, he lost by like 40 votes but we know Vancouver voters are racist AF they didn't even vote a single POC to city council. /s

[CRS]

Originally Posted by whitev70r

K, I didn't think I'd have to explain my sense of humour and sarcasm but ...

Perhaps use a /s next time.

Sarcasm is hard to convey over text.

[mikemhg]

Originally Posted by Traum

In case you haven't learned about this yet -- here is some more stupidity from our CoV City Hall:

Stupidity #1: Mobility Pricing into "Metro Core"
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vanc...-core-approved

The definition of this "Metro Core" is HUGE -- it spans to the west wide at Burrard, to the south at 16th Ave, and to the east at Clark. CoV did not announce the exact cost of entry into the toll zone yet, but estimates that I've seen range from $3 all the way up to $8 per entry. I can't even imagine how much the businesses within that zone is gonna be affected by the new charges.

Another issue that really bugs me is, the zone includes VGH, St. Paul's (at both the current site and its future site near the Via Ducts), Cancer Agency, as well as City Hall itself. With VGH in particular, a lot of specialty clinics are all clustered in that area. It feels like we are rubbing salt into the wounds of these people who are already unfortunate enough to be ill. It makes me sick.

Stupidity #2: Mandatory parking permits on residential streets
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vanc...rmits-approved

This one is a money grab, plain and simple. Esp with basement renters and laneway house residents, street parking is a fact of life and an unavoidable norm in Vancouver. And of course City Hall understands this, which is precisely why they are slapping this BS mandatory permit under the poor disguise of climate emergency action plan. The house across from my place has no garage, and park their 5 cars on the street between the 3 households (main, basement, plus laneway house). At $45 per permit, that's an extra $225 right there. In the future, there are plans to further complicate the permit fee calculation formula based on vehicle age, "emission footprint", etc.

When I wrote into City Hall to protest the mandatory parking permit, this was part of the response I got back from City Hall:

The impression I got from their reply is, they basically don't give a shxt about how natural gas is far cheaper for the average family than alternative means of heating & cooking. They also don't care about natural gas' importance to the restaurant industry.

They also don't care how for some (many?) people, having a car to support their daily lives and activities is essential. The emissions claim is esp ridiculous since that mandatory parking permit does not distinguish between ICE cars and EVs. So it is clearly a made up lie that has nothing to do with reducing emissions.

I am generally not a fan of using penalization to obtain behavioural changes on this sort of thing. IMO, incentives rewarding the preferred behaviour is a more effective means to obtain those desired behavioural changes. Unfortunately, our stupid City Hall does not agree with that.

The first I doubt will pass, they essentially are approved "researching" the idea, I highly doubt the NDP government will ever approve such tolls, that would be utterly insane.

The second measure though it pure robbery and is absolutely fucked. What happens to visitors parking on such streets then? You're hoofed?

I had a feeling when Kennedy declared that Vancouver was broke from COVID, these types of measures would be put forward, didn't figure it would be this quick. These people are fucking idiots, I'm actually surprised NPA voted against it. Melissa De Genova has been awful on her votes this year, surprisingly she was on the right side this time.

[welfare]

How else are the NDP expected to meet their pledge of a 40% decrease in emissions within the next ten years, and net zero by 2050?
Those figures aren't going to just come voluntarily lol.

[Traum]

Originally Posted by mikemhg

The first I doubt will pass, they essentially are approved "researching" the idea, I highly doubt the NDP government will ever approve such tolls, that would be utterly insane.

Mikemhg, you're quite correct that what City Hall has approved is the researching of the idea. From my brief experience in fighting City Hall on some of their "proposals", however, usually there is already a strong preference for the proposed direction among a number of the council members (including the mayor). The so-called "research" can very easily become a tool to find support and justification in the preferred direction that city council already has.

On issues that are smaller or affect fewer people, what can easily happen is unrelated people will start showing up to support the proposal, and then council can claim there is support for it, and the proposal gets passed despite the protest from those who are affected. I was precisely caught in a situation like that with the Port Moody City Hall some years ago, and some of you might remember me bitching about it.

On an issue as large as this mobility pricing proposal, the "research" becomes the opposition detector. Instead of counting on the provincial gov to do the right thing and ban the idea, I'd much rather if the idea gets shot down before it reaches up any higher. If we don't collectively kick and scream loud enough to send a clear and decisive message back to those crooks, they will use every trick they can to slip a fast one under our noses.

The second measure though it pure robbery and is absolutely fucked. What happens to visitors parking on such streets then? You're hoofed?

I'd imagine that these mandatory parking permits are for "long term" parking on residential streets that goes beyond the current 3 hrs bylaw limit. So visitors and travelers wouldn't really be affected at all as long as they don't exceed the 3 hrs bylaw limit -- ie. parking permits would not be required if you don't park on a residential street for longer than 3 hours. But the idea of mandatory permits is still fxxked up because it is a shameless money grab.

Again, the approval is for conducting the research to see if they can find enough justification to proceed with the proposal. Everything that I've said earlier would again apply in this case.

[lilaznviper]

its also a huge waste of money to do these researches during this time.... considering the city of vancouver is in need of money.

[Alpine]

Originally Posted by lilaznviper

its also a huge waste of money to do these researches during this time.... considering the city of vancouver is in need of money.

IMO it's all about giving millions of $'s in contracts to your friends.