New BC Political Discussion - POST BC Election 2017

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by bluefox

He'll find a nice quiet tropical landing spot with no extradition agreement (or maybe already has, judging by how oddly quiet he's been the last few months).

What a strange coincidence it happened just a week after the money laundering inquiry began....

[misher]

Not great to hear:

B.C. hate-motivated crime numbers jump in 2018
While hate-motivated crimes based on race, religion or sexual orientation dropped countrywide in 2018, they rose significantly in B.C. newly released Statistics Canada numbers show.

https://www.vancourier.com/b-c-hate-...018-1.24088529

[WestCoastEcho]

Carol James has announced she has early stage Parkinson's, and will not seek reelection. She will continue as MLA and Finance Minister:

https://twitter.com/carolejames/stat...214764032?s=09

[Alex Mackinnon]

Originally Posted by misher

Your required to take most intro business courses and I didn't specialize in finance.

Trickle down happens but its not fully understood and its debateable what the best policy is to implement it or if it should be implemented at all. If trickle down didn't work, then you wouldn't want to pay the government more taxes in the hopes it ends up in the pockets of us. Demands to pay more taxes so that they end up lower is trickle down economics.

The laffer curve is based on common sense...at 100% no one will work and at 0% more people will work more hours. So obviously there is a perfect number in the middle to tax people.

You know what can also cause economies to flounder? Government austerity.

You probably shouldn't take the same economic principles that you use for personal finance and apply it to other types of finance. There's a reason why Macro-Econ and Micro-Econ are rather different topics.

A 2% jump in income tax after $150K doesn't really mean much to many people, even the ones that will be paying it. At $150K, a person is still probably only paying a 30-35% tax rate. A person making $200K will only see their rates jump 0.5%, and a person making $300K will only pay 1% more, which isn't exactly a large sum of money.

I paid a considerable amount of income tax last year. The price of housing still makes a much larger dent in my bottom line than income tax. I'd be very upset with the government if they tried to curtail infrastructure spending to save me $1000 on taxes.

[Tetsuo]

Originally Posted by WestCoastEcho

Carol James has announced she has early stage Parkinson's, and will not seek reelection. She will continue as MLA and Finance Minister:

https://twitter.com/carolejames/stat...214764032?s=09

Wish her the best, sad news moreso seeing her courage and difficulty in revealing it.

[rofina]

Originally Posted by Alex Mackinnon

You know what can also cause economies to flounder? Government austerity.

You probably shouldn't take the same economic principles that you use for personal finance and apply it to other types of finance. There's a reason why Macro-Econ and Micro-Econ are rather different topics.

A 2% jump in income tax after $150K doesn't really mean much to many people, even the ones that will be paying it. At $150K, a person is still probably only paying a 30-35% tax rate. A person making $200K will only see their rates jump 0.5%, and a person making $300K will only pay 1% more, which isn't exactly a large sum of money.

I paid a considerable amount of income tax last year. The price of housing still makes a much larger dent in my bottom line than income tax. I'd be very upset with the government if they tried to curtail infrastructure spending to save me $1000 on taxes.

I agree with this sentiment.

Infrastructure spending in dense population centers is a win/win/win.
It stimulates the local economy, it pays dividend's for productivity increases, be it faster delivery times, better connectivity, etc, and most importantly it provides jobs directly and indirectly.

Not to mention the benefits, and also the payback can be measured over generational periods.

For instance, the money spent on Canada Line. Lets not forget how controversial that line was - Corrigan was insistent that a grand total of 7 people will use that line. Look at us now...

[misher]

Originally Posted by rofina

I agree with this sentiment.

Infrastructure spending in dense population centers is a win/win/win.
It stimulates the local economy, it pays dividend's for productivity increases, be it faster delivery times, better connectivity, etc, and most importantly it provides jobs directly and indirectly.

Not to mention the benefits, and also the payback can be measured over generational periods.

For instance, the money spent on Canada Line. Lets not forget how controversial that line was - Corrigan was insistent that a grand total of 7 people will use that line. Look at us now...

Depends. If we go all NIMBY and do not take advantage of it like what happened at certain East Vancouver stations and partially at some Cambie ones then the investment is a waste.

Per the Metro Van plan, anything within 800m should be high density, full stop. Thats how best to exploit transit.

[Migrant_Coconut]

One, the infrastructure in question is also new bridges and power plants. Both items are necessary for the region.

Two, useful rapid transit is also necessary, and never a waste. Not only because SkyTrain makes a profit, but because reducing commute times and congestion saves the government several billion dollars in lost productivity/consumption/growth, environmental/healthcare expenses, and quality of life, which means it pays for itself twice.

[misher]

[misher]

Funny and sad that this crisis is solving our drug crime problems. The tone of this article talks about the dwindling supply of illegal drugs as if its a problem, meanwhile I'm cheering it on. Think of the poor criminals who may get robbed by the addicts they created and exploited? Yeah no.

Dwindling drug supply on DTES drives prices up, leaves users desperate as COVID-19 closes border

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — There are only a few days of illegal fentanyl and opioid supplies left on B.C.’s streets, according to frontline workers and advocates who want to see safe supply measures prioritized.

They say border closures have stopped smuggling and shipments, driving prices up and making users desperate and uncertain what they will do when the supply dries up completely.

“This may be the brewing of a perfect storm for the (Downtown Eastside),” says Trey Helton, manager of Overdose Prevention Society.

“Many local drug users in the DTES community are getting more desperate than usual. Street level dealers and suppliers will most likely be the first targets of robbery. We need safe supply more than ever,” he adds.

https://www.citynews1130.com/2020/03...byTCTzqXvKLgxs

Infectious disease expert and well-known safe supply advocate Dr. Mark Tyndall says there is no pharmaceutical supply within Canada that he knows of that could possibly scale up within three to four days, the time he believes is left before street fentanyl and opioids run out.

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by misher

Funny and sad that this crisis is solving our drug crime problems. The tone of this article talks about the dwindling supply of illegal drugs as if its a problem, meanwhile I'm cheering it on. Think of the poor criminals who may get robbed by the addicts they created and exploited? Yeah no.

That's because it's a complicated problem, and you can only (sometimes) grasp simple ideas. As has been noted on another thread, business break-ins have quadrupled. Think people desperate for money are now more desperate to get it? From purely anecdotal local knowledge, residential break-ins seem to be up. One neighbour had their garage broken into, and had their tools and toilet paper stolen. (They can replace the tools.)

If there aren't drug supplies locally available to addicts, hundreds might be withdrawing, many of them requiring hospitalization as a result. That's a bad scenario when we need all the hospital beds available that we can get.

At least a couple of days ago, a man on the street said street drug prices weren't any higher, yet.

As noted by Feathered Friend on another thread, safe supplies of street drugs will be coming.

[Sheba]

Originally Posted by Changing City

That's because it's a complicated problem, and you can only (sometimes) grasp simple ideas. As has been noted on another thread, business break-ins have quadrupled. Think people desperate for money are now more desperate to get it? From purely anecdotal local knowledge, residential break-ins seem to be up. One neighbour had their garage broken into, and had their tools and toilet paper stolen. (They can replace the tools.)

I was told by one of my neighbours that police had been parked nearby as someone was snooping around looking to break into ground floor suites. I haven't heard anything since - maybe more people being home scared the would-be burglar off?

[Migrant_Coconut]

Drug dealers = bad, okay to be mugged.
Money launderers & speculators = good, should get off scot-free.

I don't follow.

[misher]

Originally Posted by Migrant_Coconut

Drug dealers = bad, okay to be mugged.
Money launderers & speculators = good, should get off scot-free.

I don't follow.

Two of those are criminal acts, one of them is a legal act.

[Migrant_Coconut]

And you've argued that two of those three are good for the economy, consequences be damned. Following this logic, drug dealing is equally beneficial.

[misher]

Originally Posted by Migrant_Coconut

And you've argued that two of those three are good for the economy, consequences be damned. Following this logic, drug dealing is equally beneficial.

I have pointed out that foreign money coming into our economy is good. A crime in another nation economically speaking does not do much to our economy but extra money does help.

That’s the plain truth. However, most foreign coming in is likely legal depending on whatever percentage of the economy crime is in each nation of origin.

[Migrant_Coconut]

Originally Posted by misher

I have pointed out that foreign money coming into our economy is good. A crime in another nation economically speaking does not do much to our economy but extra money does help.

That’s the plain truth. However, most foreign coming in is likely legal depending on whatever percentage of the economy crime is in each nation of origin.

Surely local drug deals are as good for the economy as foreign laundering? /s

If we're a good place for people to move money around and hide from foreign authorities, that'll attract people who'll commit crimes here (sometimes the same people), and embolden local undesirables, and each element will make the others stronger. The plain truth is that being a safe haven for criminals and the unscrupulous is either a universally good thing, or it isn't.

[misher]

Originally Posted by Migrant_Coconut

Surely local drug deals are as good for the economy as foreign laundering? /s

If we're a good place for people to move money around and hide from foreign authorities, that'll attract people who'll commit crimes here (sometimes the same people), and embolden local undesirables, and each element will make the others stronger. The plain truth is that being a safe haven for criminals and the unscrupulous is either a universally good thing, or it isn't.

While I don’t think most criminals come here, I would point out that we have a very lax justice system with many cases falling apart before trial (which generally takes years) and then sentences being in the single digits even for major crimes and repeat offenders. Remember those two money laundering cases that fell apart?

So no surprise if people rather be criminals here.

[misher]

While Canadian pension funds on average only have 25% of their assets in stocks....BC’s public sector pension is way above that:

British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI), which manages funds for over 2.3 million people, is the most exposed to public equity, which represents 41 per cent of its $153.4 billion in assets.

https://thelogic.co/news/why-axis/ca...content=widget

[misher]

Even tenant advocates are wondering why the government has stopped evictions altogether as rent becomes voluntary and we rely on basic human decency...something that usually fails.

B.C.’s new rental support measures leave landlords in lurch
“This is wide open to potential abuse,” says landlord group, as tenant advocate publicly wonders if it makes sense to pay rent

https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.5512151?__t...mpression=true