CanPol Megathread: Big Changus

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Risky Bisquick: Jan 18, 2008; PLEASE LET ME WRITE YOUR VICTIM IMPACT STATEMENT SO I CAN FURTHER DEMONSTRATE THE CALAMITY THAT IS OUR JUSTICE SYSTEM.; Buglord

Take your nazi chat to a new thread, or at least shitpost about a v6 mustang or Winnipeg jfc

# ? May 3, 2017 04:30

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# ? May 14, 2024 23:23

less than three: Aug 9, 2007; Fallen Rib

NDP party
B. C.

If Grandpa can't figure out how to remove spaces added in autocorrect, quit commenting.

# ? May 3, 2017 04:31

Legit Businessman: Sep 2, 2007

Legit Businessman fucked around with this message at 19:29 on Sep 9, 2022

# ? May 3, 2017 05:22

namaste friends: Sep 18, 2004; by Smythe

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/02/...t.co/uzdsKaF5ay

quote:

VANCOUVER, British Columbia � British Columbia is well known for its spectacular landscape and outdoorsy living, its swanky urban real estate and bouillabaisse of cultures.

A fact not so well known? It has a sweet deal for businesses, offering them tax breaks in an unusually opaque arrangement.

Like many places, British Columbia set up a system of tax incentives to lure businesses to the far western Canadian province in the hopes of creating jobs and transforming Vancouver into a global financial center.

But if the program has been good for business, it�s been less beneficial for British Columbia.

Participating companies have created few jobs, according to government figures, while more than 140 million Canadian dollars ($106 million) have been doled out in tax refunds since 2008, when the initiative was expanded.

The incentives operate under a cloak of secrecy that is unusual for similar efforts in Canada and the United States, critics say. The province will not name the companies that get the breaks. The only information available about them is on the website of a nonprofit that promotes the program.

�This is essentially a temporary foreign-worker program for the rich, with secret government subsidies for multinational corporations,� said Dermod Travis, the executive director of IntegrityBC, a nonpartisan political watchdog group based in Victoria, the provincial capital. �The government is selling B.C. as a tax haven for the global elite to park investment here, but not have to contribute.�

The provincial Ministry of Finance, which runs the effort, says it is a success, with 82 companies participating. Jamie Edwardson, a spokesman for the ministry, declined in an email to identify those companies or discuss the amount of refunds each has received, citing a ban on publicly disclosing taxpayer information in the law that created the incentives. He said the law protects taxpayer privacy.

At one point, the tax breaks were projected to create more than 13,000 jobs in British Columbia. According to ministry figures, though, fewer than 300 have been created as a result of the program, and possibly as few as 122.

To illustrate the plan�s success, Mr. Edwardson pointed to decade-old data in a consultant�s 2009 economic analysis, which estimated that between 2001 and 2007, the additional investment added anywhere from 124 million to 141 million Canadian dollars � between $91 million and $103 million � to the economy. Mr. Edwardson said these figures were the most recent available.

Experts say that with few public details, it is hard to tell whether the plan is worth the lost tax revenue. They also say the lack of disclosure prevents the public from knowing if companies are using the province as a pit stop on a global quest to avoid taxation. �There�s a real concern corporations are just stripping money out of places,� said Michael Knoll, a law professor and a director at the University of Pennsylvania Law School Center for Tax Law and Policy. �This lack of transparency is aiding that process.�

The secrecy is unusual, experts say. A comparable tax-incentive plan in Montreal makes more information public, records show, including the names of participants.

In the United States, it is standard practice for state governments to release the names of companies receiving targeted tax breaks, including credits and rebates. Most states also share other information about participants that British Columbia does not, like the amount of money each company has invested and where that investment has gone, along with what the state has received in return, said Greg LeRoy, the executive director of Good Jobs First, an American nonprofit that tracks state tax-break programs.

The International Business Activity Act, initially passed in 1988, allows companies to claim a refund of up to 100 percent of their provincial corporate income taxes on a number of business activities, including lending, foreign exchange trading and investment management, which could bring a company�s tax rate down to 15 percent.

Over the years, the plan was expanded several times. In 2010, an expansion allowed high-paid nonresidents of Canada who work in British Columbia for participating companies to receive new generous tax breaks unavailable to Canadian residents.

The tax breaks favor foreigners in other ways, too. Companies can receive refunds on real estate activities with foreigners, including mortgage loans on property in Canada for international buyers. Conducting the same domestic activities for Canadians would not qualify for the refunds. This has raised concerns that the tax refunds may encourage banks and other companies to prioritize foreigners over Canadians in Canada�s overheated housing markets.

The ministry runs the program. But the law that set it up requires participants to join and help finance a nonprofit, AdvantageBC, established in 1986 to promote British Columbia as a business destination. AdvantageBC advises its members on how to benefit from the tax breaks. The involvement of this group has also become a target for critics.

�There is no reason for this organization to be outside of government,� said Duff Conacher, a founder of Democracy Watch, a Canadian civic organization, �except to escape the ethics, transparency and accountability requirements government institutions have to face.�

Colin Hansen, a former provincial finance minister who helped expand the program�s tax incentives in 2010, is president and chief executive of AdvantageBC. He defended the group�s involvement in the tax-break program. �On all issues, we are fully accountable to our members, which is where that accountability should be,� he said in an email.

As finance minister, Mr. Hansen repeatedly declared that expanding the program would help attract companies doing international business and �create those jobs in British Columbia.�

In a recent interview, though, he said that its goal was really to enlarge the local financial services sector. �The program was not actually set up to be a job creator,� he said.

Mr. Hansen said most of the companies listed as �core members� on the group�s website were registered in the program. But he also said that some companies joined the group before seeking the benefits. He declined to provide a complete list of businesses. �Some companies are a little more sensitive about being included,� he said.

It is unclear which businesses listed on AdvantageBC�s website are in the program and receiving tax breaks. But a company must be a core member to get the refunds.

Provincial officials have praised the tax breaks as a boon to economic ties between China and British Columbia, and have devoted significant time and political capital in recent years to tailoring it to Chinese investors and the financial institutions that cater to them.

In 2014, the province expanded the program for foreign banks, which it said would raise the potential for investment from Asia, especially China. �These amendments to the International Business Activity Act send a strong message to foreign companies that B.C. welcomes their business, setting the stage for increased investment,� said Michael de Jong, the finance minister, according to a government news release.

Mr. de Jong declined to answer questions about the program, including whether the public should be able to know which companies are receiving the tax breaks.

Several of the businesses listed on AdvantageBC�s site are Chinese, including the Bank of China and a subsidiary of China Poly Group, a Chinese state-owned conglomerate. The companies did not respond to requests for comment on whether they had received any tax breaks.

PacNet Services Ltd., a payment processing company, had been a core member of AdvantageBC since at least 2006. In September 2016, the United States Treasury Department listed PacNet as a significant transnational criminal organization for its �lengthy history of money laundering,� and froze the company�s American assets. The company has denied the accusations. Rosanne Day, PacNet�s president, declined to comment on whether the company was in the tax-incentive program and has received benefits.

After inquiries by The New York Times, PacNet, two associated companies that have also been sanctioned and several other firms were removed from AdvantageBC�s website last month. Mr. Hansen later said they were no longer members.

and this election is still too close to call

y'all loving deserve this

just in case you ignant dumbfucks never heard of pacnet.

http://money.cnn.com/2016/10/12/news/companies/pacnet-mail-fraud-mafia/

# ? May 3, 2017 05:37

ocrumsprug: Sep 23, 2010; by LITERALLY AN ADMIN

Well I certainly don't see anything wrong with a secret government subsidy, that may or may not be creating any jobs on the hush-hush.

God I love this province.

# ? May 3, 2017 06:05

Femtosecond: Aug 2, 2003

Baronjutter posted:

Containers are terrible for housing, why hasn't this fad died out?

Shipping container housing is this weird zombie idea like trickle down economics that can never die no matter how many times it's debunked.

# ? May 3, 2017 06:07

namaste friends: Sep 18, 2004; by Smythe

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/seniors-home-vancouver-death-1.4096416

quote:

Fight between patients at Vancouver nursing home leaves 1 dead
81-year-old patient dies after April 26 fight with 71-year-old fellow patient

Police are investigating a fight between patients at a Vancouver nursing home that ended in the death of an elderly man last week.

Police say the April 26 incident at the Purdy Pavilion at UBC Hospital started with an altercation between two men, aged 81 and 71. The 81 year old was taken to hospital where he died.

"At this time, there's zero concern when it comes to public safety," said Cpl. Meghan Foster with the Integrated Homicide Investigation team, which has taken over the case.

"It's an ongoing investigation and nobody's been charged."

Foster says the mental states of the patients will be investigated but would not comment further.

The Purdy Pavillion is owned and operated by Vancouver Coastal Health, which, in a statement, says it is investigating the death.

An official website for the nursing home says the facility provides nursing care for those unable to live at home. It also has outpatient and research facilities.

loving lol

of course this happened in vancouver

# ? May 3, 2017 06:23

McGavin: Sep 18, 2012

namaste faggots posted:

Horgan is going to lose because ~~bcers friend on housing to secure loans for luxury and premium everything~~ bingogate, fast ferries, and Glen Clark's deck.

FTFY

McGavin fucked around with this message at 06:55 on May 3, 2017

# ? May 3, 2017 06:53

Helsing: Aug 23, 2003; DON'T POST IN THE ELECTION THREAD UNLESS YOU JOE BIDEN

Oysters Autobio posted:

What the gently caress? Because she at worst tried to hide a shameful family connection, this makes her a "Nazi sympathizer"?

By "hide" you mean "shameless exploit for political gain". It's not like this guy is some dark family secret that was dragged into the light. She literally cannot shut up about how her granddad is such an amazing guy and her greatest political influence.

quote:

None of this changes the fact that this is being brought up for one purpose, and one purpose only, and thats as a propaganda tool by Russia. Then again, Helsing believes thinking that Russian had any interference in the US election is paranoia too, and probably thinks RT News is fair and balanced.

This is really dumb but I'm going to address it because this is a pretty important issue right now and it's worth trying to have some clarity about it.

Russia interfered in the US election by having RT and Sputnik publish negative articles about Hillary Clinton. They may have also sent paid trolls to flood online comments sections and twitter with negative comments.

The worst thing they realistically may have done was hacking and releasing John Podesta's e-mails. Of course it's hard to know what really happened because the DNC wouldn't even allow the FBI to access their internal servers, despite multiple requests. Instead they used a private security firm called Crowd Strike and then Crowd Strike handed its conclusions over to the national security agencies. And it's not as though the e-mail hack was particularly sophisticated - it was a really basic phishing scam saying "click this link and change your password" and Podesta was actually dumb enough to do it (on the advice of his computer security people :lol:

). While these e-mails weren't great for Democratic morale they didn't exactly sway the election - Clinton and her dream team of advisers did that all by themselves, with a little help from the FBI director. Putin didn't hack Hillary Clinton's campaign schedule and stop her from putting any resources or campaign stops into Michigan.

The most damning thing to come out so far are allegations of Trump surrogates meeting with Russian government officials during the campaign. Assuming this is true, I think its hilarious that people get upset about this while completely ignoring the much greater influence wielded by countries like Israel or Saudi Arabia. America is a government where foreign states and corporations are openly hiring lobbying firms and buying off congressmen and senators on a literally daily basis and the selective outrage over Russia isn't proportionate to any threat from the Russian government.

What I would call paranoid are all the ridiculous conspiracy theories that have sprung up thanks to Democratic hysteria and the extremely vague but menacing sounding statements coming from the CIA. It's pretty obvious that the media reported on a lot of this stuff in such a way that they knew many of their readers would intuit a much larger and more sinister conspiracy than anything supported by the evidence, much in the way that people were manipulated regarding the Iraq war. This is how you end up with a majority of polled Democrats saying they think that Russia actually hacked the voting machines to directly change the election result, or the idea that Trump is a Kremlin manchurian candidate taking orders directly from Putin and the FSB.

So yes Russia exercised some influence in the US election. The paranoia is thinking this influence was much greater and more sinister than what any available evidence suggests. I strongly encourage you to actually read the report jointly released by the American intelligence agencies about Russian interference. Go past the headlines and actually go through each specific piece of evidence that they cite, and you'll see how the only clear cut examples of interference that are backed up with compelling evidence are really underwhelming things like hiring paid trolls or running negative stories on websites almost no American voter reads.

# ? May 3, 2017 10:38

namaste friends: Sep 18, 2004; by Smythe

http://www.metronews.ca/news/vancouver/2017/05/02/referendum-threat-hangs-over-metro-vancouver-transit-plans-.html

quote:

If the B.C. Liberals are re-elected, another lengthy transit referendum could be in the region�s future. The Liberals recently affirmed their commitment to the referendum requirement if the mayors want to levy a new tax or fee to pay for transit.

hahahahahaha

british columbians are dumb as fuuuuuuuuuuck

# ? May 3, 2017 14:43

PT6A: Jan 5, 2006; Public school teachers are callous dictators who won't lift a finger to stop children from peeing in my plane

Xaranthius posted:

You heard it here first. Horgan is gonna lose because he has a potty mouth.

Who even gets offended by the word "poo poo" any more? Fuckin' weirdos.

# ? May 3, 2017 15:01

Risky Bisquick: Jan 18, 2008; PLEASE LET ME WRITE YOUR VICTIM IMPACT STATEMENT SO I CAN FURTHER DEMONSTRATE THE CALAMITY THAT IS OUR JUSTICE SYSTEM.; Buglord

namaste faggots posted:

http://www.metronews.ca/news/vancouver/2017/05/02/referendum-threat-hangs-over-metro-vancouver-transit-plans-.html

hahahahahaha

british columbians are dumb as fuuuuuuuuuuck

They are so passive aggressive about that file. If they want to push transit, force it on people instead of paying for committees, publicity, referendums twice* etc.

_{* could be more than twice}

# ? May 3, 2017 15:16

InfiniteZero: Sep 11, 2004; PINK GUITAR FIRE ROBOT; College Slice

DariusLikewise posted:

It's the same thing Filmon did in the 90s really.

Manitoba politics for the next 7-10 years summarized.

# ? May 3, 2017 16:40

RealityWarCriminal: Aug 10, 2016

But dont worry. Christy clark is committed to infrastructure like the massey tunnel replacement which will bring JOBS. Non JOBS creating infrastructure will require a referendum and tax increases.

# ? May 3, 2017 17:34

CLAM DOWN: Feb 13, 2007

namaste faggots posted:

http://www.metronews.ca/news/vancouver/2017/05/02/referendum-threat-hangs-over-metro-vancouver-transit-plans-.html

hahahahahaha

british columbians are dumb as fuuuuuuuuuuck

Ugh

# ? May 3, 2017 17:36

DariusLikewise: Oct 4, 2008; You wore that on Halloween?

Pass legislation that bans referendums and punishes the mention of a referendum for any reason with guillotine.

# ? May 3, 2017 17:40

mashed: Jul 27, 2004

Has anywhere else in BC had to have a referendum on funding public infrastructure? Other than an election.

# ? May 3, 2017 17:42

ocrumsprug: Sep 23, 2010; by LITERALLY AN ADMIN

mashed_penguin posted:

Has anywhere else in BC had to have a referendum on funding public infrastructure? Other than an election.

No, because they wouldn't be able to build that stupid bridge to ~~Delta~~nowhere. Meanwhile, orders of magnitudes more people get worse and worse service in the actual city.

# ? May 3, 2017 17:54

RealityWarCriminal: Aug 10, 2016

DariusLikewise posted:

Pass legislation that bans referendums and punishes the mention of a referendum for any reason with guillotine.

Only if it applies to Quebec.

# ? May 3, 2017 17:55

Lain Iwakura: Aug 5, 2004; The body exists only to verify one's own existence.; Taco Defender

Christy doesn't like TransLink because the mayors actively campaign against the Liberals and that she lost in Point Grey.

# ? May 3, 2017 17:58

James Baud: May 24, 2015; by LITERALLY AN ADMIN

James Baud fucked around with this message at 12:52 on Aug 26, 2018

# ? May 3, 2017 19:23

Risky Bisquick: Jan 18, 2008; PLEASE LET ME WRITE YOUR VICTIM IMPACT STATEMENT SO I CAN FURTHER DEMONSTRATE THE CALAMITY THAT IS OUR JUSTICE SYSTEM.; Buglord

Referendums funded by P3, BRIGHT FUTURE

# ? May 3, 2017 19:26

Lain Iwakura: Aug 5, 2004; The body exists only to verify one's own existence.; Taco Defender

This poo poo is annoying

# ? May 3, 2017 19:32

Subjunctive: Sep 12, 2006; ✨sparkle and shine✨

James Baud posted:

Regional sales tax or some other interesting method? Vote on it (hint: the vote will always fail).

It's nice that they're learning the wrong lessons from California.

# ? May 3, 2017 20:16

CLAM DOWN: Feb 13, 2007

OSI bean dip posted:

This poo poo is annoying

Yup, I didn't sign up for that either, I unsubscribed but it really sours me on them.

# ? May 3, 2017 20:19

Baronjutter: Dec 31, 2007; Can't post for 57 minutes!

Lol it you didn't text "stop" after the first spam text.

# ? May 3, 2017 20:19

Femtosecond: Aug 2, 2003

James Baud posted:

They don't *have* to have a referendum... Just like last time it's about "new funding sources", as in, they can suck it up and increase property taxes a little bit no problem. Regional sales tax or some other interesting method? Vote on it (hint: the vote will always fail).

I've never seen any numbers on what a hypothetical property tax increase would look like, but I've read comments from Mayors and Translink that it's not viable. Probably it's not viable in a political sense in that the tax would have to be very high and trying to introduce such a high tax will induce a taxpayer revolt. If a high tax increase wasn't passed along to taxpayers, then that would require cuts to existing services. A municipality could get around the high tax problem by changing zoning and subdividing property further but that's also politically unpopular and difficult.

There's also the issue that property valuations aren't equal throughout the region. If property tax increases are applied across the region then there would be the situation where rich areas such as West Van could be very disproportionately paying for transit upgrades in a far away town while their town receives few upgrades. Why would the Mayor of West Van go along with this? So with this in mind leaning too much on property tax risks unwinding the unity of the mayors and Translink.

# ? May 3, 2017 21:21

James Baud: May 24, 2015; by LITERALLY AN ADMIN

James Baud fucked around with this message at 12:52 on Aug 26, 2018

# ? May 3, 2017 21:40

DariusLikewise: Oct 4, 2008; You wore that on Halloween?

You can finance it in literally a million different ways.

- Increase water rates, pay dividends back to the city for "infranstructure"
- Add a flat fee to all property tax bills
- Increase property tax roll so it goes up proportionally to land and home value
- Introduce a fee or levy for any number of dumb things, frontage, sewer fee, surcharge for stories on a house

# ? May 3, 2017 21:44

Baronjutter: Dec 31, 2007; Can't post for 57 minutes!

DariusLikewise posted:

You can finance it in literally a million different ways.

- Increase water rates, pay dividends back to the city for "infranstructure"
- Add a flat fee to all property tax bills
- Increase property tax roll so it goes up proportionally to land and home value
- Introduce a fee or levy for any number of dumb things, frontage, sewer fee, surcharge for stories on a house

These are all attacks on housing supply and poor home owners.

# ? May 3, 2017 21:57

namaste friends: Sep 18, 2004; by Smythe

Sounds a lot like theft to me.

# ? May 3, 2017 22:23

PittTheElder: Feb 13, 2012; Yes, it's like a lava lamp.

namaste faggots posted:

Sounds a lot like ~~theft~~slavery to me.

Come on man, it's right there

# ? May 3, 2017 22:37

ocrumsprug: Sep 23, 2010; by LITERALLY AN ADMIN

It also forces the mayors to take the political hit for the tax, when they have pretty limited say regarding the spending priorities for Translink. (Which despite the mayoral council window dressing, is very much run out of the premiers office.)

# ? May 3, 2017 23:34