Liberal Unaccountability - Let Us Count the Ways

It is no secret the handouts being doled out by the Liberals have provided much needed financial resources to a broad base of Canadians.  However, it is clear that the focus has been on younger (potenially future Liberal) voters with so many dollars thrown at them, for such a demographic that lacks financial obligations, has existing shelter and resources.  Meanwhile, seniors are still waiting on their $300 cheque, the demographic that has paid an entire career's worth of taxes and beyond into their retirements!

This blatant favouritism I cannot believe more Canadians are not discussing this.  With Sophie as "an Ambassador" and Justin admittedly having done work for WE previously, the conflicts around this are endless.

"...“When the Federal Government ‘outsources’ the delivery of a grant program it effectively does an end run around transparency and Parliament as NGO’s are not subject to the same federal ATIP information requirements . This is deeply concerning,” Conservative MP Dan Albas tweeted.

“$900 Million. Journalists cannot use ATIP. MPs cannot review this spending at committee. The Auditor General will not be able to audit it. Trudeau Liberals will not even disclose the contract details. So much is wrong here,” he added on social media Friday.."

https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/trudeau-says-charity-with-ties-to-him-and-his-wife-only-one-that-could-run-covid-19-student-volunteer-grant-program/wcm/ffefc862-60ba-4085-aeb2-4eddb8fcc547/

What!? Are Not All Canadian Houses and Real Estate Purchased (By Foreign Buyers) With Well-Earned, After-Tax, Clean Money?

Sarcasm aside, it is about time Canadians wake up to what is happening under their noses. and realize that despite all the complaining from potential buyers, government measures, increased taxes on foreign buyers, mortgage changes and FINTRAC regulations to ease real estate and housing price inflation - IT IS OUR OWN PROBLEM that Canadians have IMPORTED due to a lack of restrictions between domestic and foreign buyers as well as a lack of checks and balances on where those funds are sourced (not just geographically, but legally versus illegally). 

https://business.financialpost.com/real-estate/toronto-housing-has-become-magnet-for-money-launderers-with-28-billion-in-real-estate-bought-by-anonymous-owners-study

"...Toronto’s housing market has become a target for money laundering or “snow washing,” thanks to anonymous property ownership, weak regulation and lax enforcement, according to a new study.

Since 2008, $28.4 billion worth of housing was acquired in the Toronto region largely through private entities where owners can remain anonymous, according to a report released Thursday by Transparency International Canada, Canadians for Tax Fairness and Publish What You Pay Canada.

In that period, $9.8 billion of housing was bought by companies through cash purchases, largely bypassing anti-money laundering checks on fund sources and beneficial owners, according to the study, which analyzed more than 1.4 million residential sales dating back to 2008..."

Some RRSP Thinking for the Future: Another Vehicle Available? Regardless, Will Likely Be a "Political" Issue For This or Future Elections

"Retirement planning needs to be a political issue in this country. Demographics will make it so. I will be surprised and disappointed if the upcoming Liberal budget and next year’s federal election campaign do not include retirement planning policies as key personal finance issues."

https://business.financialpost.com/personal-finance/retirement/why-retirement-planning-needs-to-be-a-major-political-issue-in-2019-and-beyond

https://business.financialpost.com/personal-finance/retirement/meet-the-budgets-new-rrsp-decumulation-option-that-every-retiree-should-know-about

Surprise, Surprise! A Federal Budget For Everyone! Spend, Spend, Spend! More Debt, More Debt, More Debt!

More taxes to come down the road to pay for all of this.  It makes striving to be a teacher or a governemnt worker looking like the only way to "get ahead" in Trudeau terminology with a decent pension at the end of the day rathter being in the private sector and being taxed to pay for Canada's largest employer - Canadian Government.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-03-19/trudeau-spends-budget-windfall-on-laundry-list-for-voters?srnd=premium-canada

https://business.financialpost.com/news/economy/liberals-leave-themselves-little-wiggle-room-in-the-event-of-a-recession?video_autoplay=true

https://business.financialpost.com/news/economy/this-years-federal-budget-is-built-for-voters-not-business?video_autoplay=true

https://business.financialpost.com/opinion/another-sprawling-unfocused-budget-and-so-little-to-show-for-all-the-red-ink?video_autoplay=true

https://business.financialpost.com/transportation/autos/federal-budget-2019-electric-car-buyers-get-boost-with-5000-incentive-for-consumers-and-tax-write-offs-for-business

https://nationalpost.com/opinion/chris-selley-a-federal-budget-2019-from-a-government-that-has-abandoned-its-poetic-phase?video_autoplay=true

https://nationalpost.com/opinion/andrew-coyne-this-budget-is-a-testament-to-the-pleasures-of-endless-growth-federal-budget-2019?video_autoplay=true

https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/federal-budget-2019-everything-you-need-to-know?video_autoplay=true

https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/jobs-for-dogs-safe-space-regulatory-sandboxes-and-other-curiosities-from-the-2019-federal-budget?video_autoplay=true

https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/liberals-promise-billions-for-dairy-chicken-farmers-affected-by-trade-deals?video_autoplay=true

https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/federal-budget-2019-offers-first-time-home-buyers-a-break-with-1-25-billion-in-mortgage-relief?video_autoplay=true

Budget Day for Canada: Let's See What Tricks The Liberals Have Up Their Sleeve to Deflect Attention from SNC, Shipbuilding scandals

With no timeline to pay back Canada's billions of debt, no doubt the Liberals will take today's occasion to promise everything to all Canadians and run up more deficits.  The question is only how much and how patronizing will this budget be.

CPP Ads During NFL Playoffs? Your National Pension Plan (That Is, Legally Forced Contributions), Is Acting Like a Mutual Fund?!?!?

https://nationalpost.com/opinion/andrew-coyne-cpp-ads-on-nfl-playoffs-your-pension-dollars-at-work-for-the-liberals

"...True, the timing of the ad is suggestive, appearing as it is in the very week when workers are likely to notice the CPP taking a bigger bite out of their paycheques than ever before. Employer and employee contributions are rising from 4.95 per cent of pensionable earnings to 5.1 per cent, the first of several annual increases between now and 2023.

But the CPP isn’t a mutual fund: it doesn’t have to persuade Canadians to park their money with it. They have to, by law. No matter how irritated they may be at seeing more and more of their wages going to the CPP, there is no way they can withdraw from the plan, and no prospect of the increases being reversed. So why is the CPPIB paying — or rather, why are we paying — for expensive ads designed to make us feel good about all this “saving” and “investment”?.."

2019 Federal (Only) Tax Rates - Provincial Taxes Are In Addition

https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/individuals/frequently-asked-questions-individuals/adjustment-personal-income-tax-benefit-amounts.html

Infrastructure Promises, Promises: Remember the Campaign and the Setting Up of an Infrastructure Bank? Well, Nothing Done Yet

$35.5 billion tied up and nothing to show for it.  Much like the Liberals track record thus far. 

https://business.financialpost.com/opinion/what-has-trudeaus-infrastructure-bank-achieved-a-recycled-loan-and-millions-in-expenses

Bank of Canada Rates Unchanged: Thank The Liberals For Bungling Canada's Energy Industry and its Contribution to Economic Growth That May be “Materially Weaker”

In the USA, the unemployment rate is closer to 4%, and is not complacent about it.  Here in Canada we are supposed to jump for joy at 6%.  The impacts of pipelines lacking is finally resulting in the rose colour coming off economists' and BoC's glasses.

What's that I hear? I think I hear a sigh of relief from real estate agents and mortgage brokers.

https://business.financialpost.com/news/economy/bank-of-canada-holds-interest-rate-at-1-75-per-cent

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-12-04/falling-car-sales-are-latest-sign-of-rate-hikes-hitting-canada?srnd=premium-canada

Wylie Wednesday: Morneau Addressing Canada's Business Community

The Liberal spin machine is in overdrive again this time on the fiscal and finanical front. What two sided message will be sent that none of which will give any confidence to domestic AND foreign investment? With the election less than a year away, larger and more frequent promises (to be broken) were expected. May be the Liberals truly are out of ideas.

"...Trudeau’s finance chief, Bill Morneau, will unveil a fiscal update Wednesday in Ottawa that provides a shot at redemption after warnings about the country’s fading competitiveness. It will likely include incentives for capital investment but not an across-the-board reduction in corporate taxes. The government has frustrated some business leaders with an agenda heavily focused on social issues and riled economists by running unnecessary deficits. Morneau’s last federal budget -- which punted infrastructure investments in favor of new program spending -- landed in February without a mention of U.S. tax reform despite calls to keep pace..." https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-11-19/trudeau-seeks-redemption-from-business-leaders-in-budget-update?srnd=premium-canada

Bank of Canada Interest Rate Hike? Why, How?

How the BoC sees the world is beyond many of us. 

For those in the same real estate boat, with mortgage renewals due, the sooner the better to make your choices.  Two year fixed here.

https://business.financialpost.com/investing/david-rosenberg-things-arent-nearly-rosy-as-the-bank-of-canada-believes#comments-area

If "The Justin" and "Oh No Morneau" Were Employees or Held Executive Positions in a Real Company....

Among many reasons, "...It is ironic that one of the major reasons for the loss in Federal Court was the government’s failure to consult with the aboriginal community. This, from a government that made reconciliation its motto..."

https://business.financialpost.com/executive/0906-biz-hl-levitt-wkpl

Invisible Morneau: Trans Mountain Now Expected to Cost $1.9 Billion More And One More Year...Thanks to SEC Filings

https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/cost-to-twin-trans-mountain-pipeline-now-1-9b-higher-kinder-morgan-says?video_autoplay=true

"Kinder Morgan has long said it would cost $7.4 billion to build a second pipeline parallel to the first in order to triple its capacity, but the financial documents now say the company expects a $9.3-billion price tag.

The documents also suggest construction won’t be done until December 2021 — a full year beyond the last projection of December 2020.

Finance Minister Bill Morneau has been reluctant to discuss how much more it will cost to build the pipeline while the deal is still being finalized, and the closing date for that deal is now being pushed back well into the fall."

"Trade Wars: A New Dope" - Trudeau Now Using Canada's Military History In Response to US Tariffs and "Security Threat"; Stoke the Patriotic Fires Now Justin, But Still No Substance in Your Arguments

http://business.financialpost.com/opinion/lawrence-solomon-trudeau-starts-a-trade-war-for-political-points-were-the-casualties

http://business.financialpost.com/opinion/trudeau-after-bungling-it-on-trade-and-pipelines-needs-better-advice-fast#comments-area

"..If Canada’s negotiators want to do what’s best for Canada, they should stop posturing before they do more damage to our industries. For starters, they should stop misrepresenting the U.S. position on steel and aluminum tariffs. The U.S. never claimed that Canada represents a national security threat, as Trudeau keeps repeating. To the contrary, the U.S. has specifically said these tariffs are not aimed at any one country: without tariffs to protect American steel and aluminum from foreign suppliers, these industries, which America needs for national defence, would go bankrupt..."
.
"...A decade ago, Canada had a US$78 billion trade surplus with the U.S. That surplus was more than halved to US$32 billion five years ago and it was halved again to US$17 billion last year. Five years from now, our ever-shrinking surplus with the U.S. may start to become an ever-growing deficit, particularly since the U.S. has blown past us as a producer of energy — our main exports to the U.S. We are not only at risk of losing this financial mainstay, with the U.S. no longer needing us for energy security, we are also at risk of becoming strategically unimportant..."

"The Canadian dollar has never been so weak in the face of rising oil prices"

Canada, get used to it...at least until late 2019 election time.

http://business.financialpost.com/investing/why-ottawas-pipeline-gambit-wont-save-the-lagging-loonie

Quarterly GDP Slowing, Real Estate Market Slowing, Loonie Lagging, Pipeline Expansion in Limbo, NAFTA Negotiations Stalling - Trudeau, Morneau, Carr Where Art Thou?

The Liberals borrowing platform and investment thesis just took a punch in the face so far in 2018, with the usual reasons as to "why" and "what" supports such levels of bloated borrowing are no longer there.

Even Bank of Canada's Poloz' aggressive stance on a trend of rate hikes to "combat inflation" and bring some life to the Loonie is now rumoured to be a stall at best.

Where are the "Sunny Ways" now Justin?


http://business.financialpost.com/news/economy/newsalert-canadian-economy-grew-at-a-1-3-per-cent-annualized-pace-in-first-quarter-2

No Surprise...C$ Continues Its Slide With One Liberal Gaffe After Another....

What Do You Do With A Pipeline Project That Has All Legal, Environmental, Governmental Wherewithal to be Built, Yet the Liberal Government Won't Step Up to Allow It - You Buy It

In another head shaking move on behalf of this Canadian Federal Government only 2.5 years into its apologetic, economically reckless, ethically challenged, over (carbon) taxed, stifling political correctness filled term, the "best" option that was decided with regards to a provincially and federally approved pipeline that would have sufficed all tests, approvals, permits and economic analysis is to (drumroll please...) buy it from the owner rather than invoke the government's fiduciary and legal duties of allowing this pipeline to be built.  Huh?

Maybe one day there will be an apology over this too...

http://business.financialpost.com/commodities/energy/ottawa-buys-trans-mountain-pipeline-for-4-5-billion-but-can-it-sell-it

@bill_morneau, @jimcarr_wpg, @jjhorgan,

....And C$ Falling....

Ironically, on eve of Finance Minister Bill "Oh No" Morneau's speech in Alberta on "Securing Canada's Economic Future" at the 11th hour of Kinder Morgan Pipeline deadline. @Bill_Morneau

Although This Means More to Canadians Than What Is On Neftfix Tonight, Many Canadians Will Have No Idea This Is Occurring - Finance Minister Bill Morneau On The Hot Seat For Spending Plans

http://www.cpac.ca/en/cpac-in-focus/tuesday-finance-minister-questioned-spending-plans/

DID YOU KNOW?....

"...UPDATED May 22, 2018 10:02amET

Finance Minister Bill Morneau spends tonight fielding several hours worth of questions from MPs about his department’s spending estimates and priorities for the coming year.

Those Finance Canada estimates (the highest of any federal department or agency at nearly $94 billion — with $71 billion used for transfer payments) include several components of fiscal policy:

1 billions of dollars in health and social transfers to the provinces and territories
2 billions of dollars in equalization payments and other fiscal arrangements with the provinces and territories
3 debt management
Each fiscal year the Official Opposition chooses two departments for such a review in Committee of the Whole. They must be held by May 31.

Ministers or their parliamentary secretaries appear in the House of Commons chamber for up to four hours during such sessions.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Minister Ahmed Hussen is scheduled for questions on Thursday night.

Quizzing the Ministers

The ministerial sessions stem from a standing order adopted by the House in 2001, allowing the Opposition to choose two federal departments or agencies for review by a Committee of the Whole.

According to House of Commons Procedure and Practice, the new custom would permit “a more meaningful examination of government estimates” and confirm “the financial oversight role of the House of Commons.”

The corresponding minister or parliamentary secretary sits in the front row of the government benches and prepares to act as a witness. Outsiders are almost never allowed to walk beyond the Bar of the House, but in this case a small number of department officials are permitted to sit near the minister to provide advice.

The first round of speakers begins with the Official Opposition, than the government, than the NDP.
Each MP has 15 minutes to speak and ask questions. There’s a five-minute minimum for the latter category.
MPs need unanimous consent to split their time with a colleague.
The minister’s response is expected to be equal to or less than the question’s time.
About Committees of the Whole

Committees of the Whole date back to the 1500s and the creation of the committee system in England’s Parliament. Major bills were debated in a less restrictive forum than formal proceedings of the House of Commons overseen by a Speaker. Canadian legislatures adopted the custom with little change until 1968, when the current system of standing committees was established.

Today, the House of Commons switches to this less formal setting on rare occasions. One notable example was the 2008 official apology to residential school victims. Sitting in a Committee of the Whole allowed First Nations representatives to sit on the floor of the Commons and deliver remarks after the prime minister and opposition leaders spoke.

The Speaker leaves their customary chair and moves to the Clerk’s seat at the main table on the Commons floor. MPs can speak more often than  a normal House debate...."