The (Right) News Rundown
- A new survey by Nanos Research for the Globe and Mail found 52 per cent of those surveyed supported the view that Ottawa should continue to run deficits as long as the size of the federal debt is declining in relation to the size of the economy, which is the government’s current view.
- In contrast, 39 per cent agreed with the alternative position that the government should do what it takes to balance the budget before the next election. Pollster Nik Nanos said the survey results show the Liberals have succeeded in making the case that deficits are justified in the current economic environment. However, he said the Conservative criticisms could ultimately take hold in the future if federal finances fail to improve.Over the past year, Mr. Morneau has repeatedly declined to provide a new timeline for erasing the deficit. Instead, the government argues that it is focusing on the federal debt-to-GDP ratio as its guide, or fiscal anchor. Federal projections show the federal debt-to-GDP ratio is on track to decline slightly over the coming decades, even though annual deficits won’t disappear until the 2050s.
- A National Post analysis of B.C. political donations from 2005 to 2017 found that 25.12 per cent of donations to the Liberal party come from those giving $20,000 or more. Over half of all money raised by the Liberals, or 54.05 per cent, comes from donations over $5,000. During a similar period (2005 to 2016), 19.59 per cent of the B.C. NDP’s money came from donations over $20,000, and 30.45 per cent came from donations over $5,000.
- The NDP raised $42 million from 304,336 donations. The Liberals raised $46 million from just 2,210 donations, many of them from corporations, of $10,000 or more. All told, the Liberals raised $119 million from 94,848 donations. In other words, the NDP have brought in three times the number of donations but one-third the amount of money.
- Dermod Travis, executive director of the advocacy group Integrity BC, says the Liberals actually rely on a much smaller pool of wealthy donors then the data show, because people can give multiple times through different corporations they own. For example, property developer Aquilinis gave the Liberals $1.43 million through 24 companies and individuals over the past 12 years. Looked at individually, each of those 24 donors appear to be relatively small contributors. Collectively, they’re the second largest donor to the Liberals since 2005.
- As a result of growing criticism of their donation practices, the B.C. Liberals now disclose their donations on their party website. The NDP have not made their full 2016 (Elections B.C. has data up to February 2, 2016) or 2017 data publicly available.
- What isn't being said in the article is that neither government, either past NDP or the current Liberal government changed the donation rules, and neither is likely to change the donation rules in the future either. Despite the NDP's promise, they had ample opportunity in the 90s to change the donation rules, but were enjoying the cash flow from unions too much.
- “Because of the financial difficulties that we’ve experienced, we’re running short-staffed quite often,” Wyatt said.
- On Wednesday, she was one of hundreds of people at the Legislative Building protesting potential cuts to the public sector.
- The province is targeting the public service as one way to combat the $1.2-billion deficit.
- What hasn't been reported is that at this protest an effigy of Brad Wall was placed in a cell. There wasn't a single mention in the mainstream news about this when back in December a ""lock her up"" chant started at a rally in Alberta gained attention for days in the mainstream media.
The Firing Line
- "It was just after sunset on a mid-February night when Abdullah set off on foot from Blaine, Wash. He knew where he wanted to go; it just took a police officer to tell him he had made it. “I was walking for 15 or 10 minutes and the police stopped me and asked me, who are you, where are you going? They said, ‘This is Canada, did you know?'”, the Afghan asylum-seeker recalled Monday. “I got a little bit shocked.”
- Abdullah started applying for an American visa and arrived in Texas last May to complete the process. But in January, he learned that his application had been rejected. He could have tried his luck and reapplied, but he had come to believe that Canada was a more welcoming country.
- “When I heard that the Canadian prime minister announced refugees are most welcome to Canada and they will be safe over here … it really helped me a lot,” he said. Because of the 2004 Safe Third Country Agreement, anyone seeking refuge will be turned away at designated land crossings with the U.S. That’s why Abdullah simply boarded a bus to Blaine, then walked into Canada.
- He doesn’t know which police force arrested him, but he was turned over to the Canada Border Services Agency and placed in detention. Since his release, Abdullah has submitted his refugee claim, and is living in a downtown Vancouver shelter while he waits for an ID card.
- This is just one example of a larger issue of the USA/Canada border being porous and how many refugees are getting the idea to just simple walk over the border, because there is no fear of being sent back to the USA, even though by law, they should be. Despite their possible good intentions, they are breaking the law by skirting past the regular immigration procedures, and the government seems content to let the problem continue and grow until it is out of control.
Word of the Week
Poll
1 record the opinion or vote of: focus groups in which customers are polled about merchandise preferences.
• [no object] (of a candidate in an election) receive a specified number of votes: the Green candidate polled 3.6 percent.
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Show Data
Episode Title: A Deficit of Enforcing Laws
Teaser: A Majority of Canadians are okay with Liberal deficits? We’ll have the run down on why this is bad and why it may not be true. Also, uneven media coverage in Saskatchewan and a first hand account of why refugees are coming illegally to Canada.
Recorded Date: March 11, 2017
Release Date: March 11, 2017
Duration: 35:37
Edit Notes: None