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Electorial boundaries commission could combine rural ridings and add more in urban areas.

The urban-rural divide that exists in B.C. politics may soon become wider.

That is because the B.C. Electoral Boundaries Commission, which could recommend a significant redrawing of the provinces electoral map, is nearing the end of the public hearing process.

The three-person commission headed by B.C. Supreme Court Justice Nitya Iyer will file its preliminary report by October (followed by more consultation and feedback, with the final report due in April2023), and is now embarking on a tour of 15 communities in the north, interior and the coast.

The Iyer commission is the 10th such commission since 1965 (currently, one is struck after every second provincial election). It has been given the ability to come back with recommended changes that could tower over the changes made by its predecessors.

The current commission can recommend the addition of up to six more ridings. But it also tasked with ensuring the principle of representation by population is followed in establishing riding boundaries, as well as taking into account historical and regional interests.

Any additional ridings will likely be located in regions with high population growth rates since the last commission in 2014: Langley/Surrey/Abbotsford, the Okanagan and perhaps Vancouver Island.

The commission will no doubt find it easier to create new ridings compared to recommending that some ridings in less-populated areas be eliminated or combined.

A curious part of the terms of reference for the commission was removing the specific protection that was provided to 17 ridings in the North, the Columbia-Kootenay region and the Cariboo-Thompson regions.

The 2014 commission was specifically prevented from touching those ridings even if their population base was significantly lower than the provincial average. The current commission faces no such restrictions.

Since then, the population gap between many of those ridings and the ridings in Metro Vancouver has grown. For example, in the 2020 election there were more than 50,000 voters in each of four Okanagan ridings, as well as ones in Langley, Surrey and the Capital, but there were less than 20,000 voters in each of the northern ridings of North Coast, Nechako Lakes, Stikine and Peace River South.

Some BC Liberal MLAs are worried about the commission coming back with recommendations that could combine the two Cariboo ridings as well as the two Peace River ridings.

But small population concerns aside, creating huge ridings could present some huge and even insurmountable challenges to MLAs trying to meet the needs of constituents spread out over ridings the size of France.

I will be surprised if the commission eliminates more than one or two rural ridings. More likely it will opt for the expansion approach, with new seats in those Metro areas I mentioned as well as the Okanagan.

As an aside, if the commission does recommend the creation of even a handful of ridings it could result in a completely new look for the B.C. legislature chamber. Simply put, there may not be enough physical space to put even a few more desks on the floor.

One potential option being considered: get rid of the desks and move to benches as they have in the Mother Parliament in the British House of Commons in London.

In any event, I expect the urban-rural divide when it comes to B.C.s electoral ridings will be even more visible come the next provincial election.

Keith Baldrey is chief political reporter for Global BC.

Originally posted here:
BC Liberals fear loss of shoe-in rural ridings - Burnaby Now

U.S.Liberals are worried that the popular Libs of TikTok account is making them look "bad, stupid, and completely out of touch with reality." According to multiple sources,it's doing this by just sharing their actual words, according to leftists who have raised concerns about the targeted harassment of their ideas by just sharing their ideas.

"Yes, I posted that video of myself screaming about teaching gender ideology to kindergartners," said local Portland teacher Marie Walsky. "But it was just intended for psychotic people on TikTok to consumeI never meant for normal people with regular thoughts and feelings to see it. By sharing my ideas, the Libs of TikTok account is making me look like a real dummy."

"When I screamed at the sky because someone misgendered me, I never thought someone would amplify that to a wider audience and make me look like a completely unhinged psycopath. By, you know, just sharing exactly what I actually did."

Some are calling the tactic of just sharing liberals' actual words "the most sinister attack on liberals you could think of." Said one journalist, "See, you could try to parody what we believe, but eventually, you're gonna run out of material. If you just repost things we actually say with no commentary whatsoever, completely unedited, well, that's a dangerous attack on our ideas that makes us look totally stupid."

At publishing time, Taylor Lorenz was knocking on the door of the author of this Babylon Bee article.

Mandy is absolutely triggered by Twitter's possible takeover by Elon Musk. She attends a Twitter-sponsored therapy session to help her cope.

Read more from the original source:
Liberals Raise Concerns About Account That's Making Them Look Bad By Just Sharing Their Actual Words - The Babylon Bee

In Canada, the Liberal government has tabled its 2022 budget, the second by Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland. Presented as a responsible, prudent plan, the budget does little to stray from market orthodoxy, offering policies focused on a handful of priorities including dental care, housing, climate, and military spending.

In her address to the House of Commons, Freeland cited a job boom, a drop in unemployment, and real GDP growth as evidence that Canada has come roaring back. In a remark reminiscent of Bill Clintons 1996 State of the Union pronouncement that the era of big government is over, Freeland noted, Our ability to spend is not infinite. The time for extraordinary COVID support is over.

Declaring her partys intention to return to business as usual, Freeland affirmed that we will review and reduce government spending, because that is the responsible thing to do. That means the Liberals are focused on a declining debt-to-GDP ratio and shrinking deficits, with an eye to paying down the debt. Understanding the budget as a faithful restoration of fiscal thrift provides a useful frame through which to unpack its details.

The budget contains a handful of progressive measures, including a signature policy for public dental care. The New Democratic Party, which has entered a supply-and-confidence arrangement with the government, fought for the program. It will do good for millions of Canadians despite its significant limitations, including a gradual phase-in for segments of the population, means-testing, and copays for those making over $70,000.

Even with dentalcare in the offing, the budget is fundamentally a conservative plan. Its rooted in the market orthodoxy of fiscal responsibility and corporate handouts. Its also committed to operating within the structural status quo of a market system struggling to meet major policy challenges across the country.

On housing, the budget promises to boost stock with a Rapid Housing Initiative and a Housing Accelerator Fund. It also promises to double the First-time Buyers Tax Credit as well as implement a tax-free First Home Savings Account a regressive tax-deductible (tax-free in, tax-free out) vehicle that will disproportionately help wealthy buyers. In a populist, scapegoating gesture, the Liberals will prohibit foreign commercial enterprises and people who are not Canadian citizens or permanent residents from acquiring non-recreational, residential property in Canada for a period of two years. Of course, domestic speculative capital will no doubt scoop up any opportunities lost to foreign real estate investors.

The budget fails to touch the financialization of housing in any meaningful way even while it juices demand. It doesnt include an end to tax exemption on the sale of ones principal property or a plan to end speculation. It doesnt support the decommodification of housing or the mass building of public housing. It does promise a federal review of housing as an asset class, in order to better understand the role of large corporate players in the market and the impact on Canadian renters and homeowners. In other words, the Liberals are committed to kicking the can down the road.

However, there will be money provided to fund co-op housing and build six thousand units. Thats welcome, but its not nearly enough to move the dial appreciably on nonmarket housing. Meanwhile, housing prices across the continue to soar to an average of nearly $800,000 up 17 percent year-over-year in late 2021. The provision of six thousand units of co-op housing is thin gruel in a country where, in the last two decades, housing costs have risen by 375 percent.

Climate change remains an existential threat to humankind. The recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change found countries lagging on their climate commitments, with the globe on track to blow past the 1.5 degree of warming target, speeding along toward a devastating, destabilizing 3 degrees. The budget is peppered with climate initiatives of various promise, but it remains firmly rooted in a capitalist, production-consumption cycle of extraction and waste.

The Liberals have promised to extend incentives for zero-emissions vehicles and to feed cash into the private sector to secure the supply of critical minerals for, among other things, the batteries needed to manufacture these vehicles. The plan is rooted in maintaining an unsustainable car culture, bound up with a mining industry that will contribute to more climate change.

The budget also pours money into dubious carbon-capture and sequestration schemes the missile-defense shield of climate technology. Its worth noting that the budget was delivered the day after the government approved the Bay du Nord deepwater oil project, which is expected to yield roughly 300 million barrels of oil while in operation.

The 2022 budget is firmly a status quo budget with a handful of welcome, insufficient offerings that fail to sufficiently grow public spending. Writing for the Broadbent Institute, senior policy adviser Andrew Jackson points out:

Federal program spending will be just above 15 percent of GDP after the special pandemic programs have expired and recovery takes hold. That compares to about 14 percent in the last year of the [Stephen] Harper government. Federal revenues have increased by just 0.5 percent of GDP over the same period.

The Liberals are fond of using the debt-to-GDP ratio as a fiscal anchor to justify spending. Thats perfectly fine. But it follows that using social program spending as a percentage of GDP is an equally reasonable way of assessing spending and, on that measure, the Liberals are little better than the Conservatives they replaced.

While social program spending is stagnant, military spending is up. The budget commits to $8 billion in new money for the armed forces. More military spending may be in the works, as the country trends toward the NATO benchmark of 2 percent of GDP. Currently, military spending sits at 1.4 percent of GDP, heading toward 1.5 percent.

Recent spending includes $19 billion for sixty-five new fighter jets. With Canadas focus on Arctic and cyber operations, the dislocations caused by Russias invasion of Ukraine, and rising securitization talk, this is unlikely to be the last increase the armed forces see in the years to come.

Canadas 2022 budget mobilizes familiar priority areas and familiar ways of navigating the policy challenges within them: the same mode of production, the same corporate handouts, the same modest social program spending. Deficit hawks may decry the bottom-line spending total tens of billions in new money but as a percentage of GDP, the budget plan is modest, its methods orthodox. Moreover, with a promise of restraint, prudence, and a focus on reining in the deficit and debt, the specter of retrenchment is never far off.

The budget is unlikely to solve any of the major policy challenges the country faces. Of course, few budgets can on their own. But this budget evinces no interest in putting the country on a course to upending the economic and social institutions that produce these challenges in the first place challenges that were brought into sharp focus by COVID. The lessons of the pandemic have apparently had no effect on Liberal policy. The party has tabled a status-quo budget despite the persistence of problems that beg for something new.

Link:
Justin Trudeau's Liberals Are Returning to the Miserable Status Quo - Jacobin magazine

By Ian Gargan

As a God-fearing, flag-waving, cross-kneeling conservative, Facebook has never been the place to speak my mind. Between the suppression of conservative ideas to the blatant bias of its fact checkers, Facebook has become the safe space for liberal ideologies. I went on a journey to find the best places on Facebook to connect with my fellow conservatives; a place where we can speak our minds without the threat of being cancelled.

If youre not familiar with groups on Facebook, they fall into either public or private categories. A private group may ask a few screening questions upon your request for entry. Whereas a public group will usually allow you to join instantly. Some larger groups can become unruly and spam your timeline. But groups with active admins provide better content in the long run. Admins are group members appointed to enforce the agreed upon rules amongst the members of the group.

Here are a few groups to join on Facebook that will connect you with like-minded patriots:

If none of these groups suit your fancy, you may want to find a local group in your community. There are likely a slew of them in our area if you search your town, county, or even school district followed by community group. This will allow you to dive deeper into the politics of your community and provide an inside track for local news. There are also smaller groups like Community Moms or Community Business Owners that may be a better fit. After you find a community group, you can look for political affiliate groups in the same locale. Here near the AMAC offices on long island, we have groups called Long Island Republicans, NYS Young Republicans, and another popular page Long Island Loud Majority. Groups like these vary in size but could be just the interaction youre looking to get involved in regarding your local news. These groups post information that directly affects your local area, point out local charities to get involved with, or even list protests you can attend. They also keep you informed about town-level politics that have the biggest impact on your day-to-day life.

By the way, none of these groups are affiliated with AMAC. This is simply my opinion about some of the groups I follow and enjoy. AMAC is also not responsible for any content provided in the groups Ive mentioned. But if you like any of the articles you see here on our website, go ahead and share them in your favorite groups! And feel free to leave a comment below about a group that youre a part of and think others would enjoy.

Read the original here:
Surrounded by Liberals? Find Your Safe Haven Within These Facebook Groups - AMAC

Breadcrumb Trail Links

The party tabled a new Bill 96 amendment that would drop the requirement for anglophones to take three core CEGEP courses in French, replacing it with more second-language French courses.

QUEBEC Stung by criticism from all sides, Quebecs Liberals Wednesday tried to patch up their gaffe that could require all students in anglophone CEGEPs to take three core courses in French.

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At an evening sitting of the committee examining Bill 96, overhauling the Charter of the French Language, Liberal language critic Hlne David tabled an amendment that would drop the requirement the Liberals themselves suggested and replace it with more second-language French courses.

The total number of French-language courses would go from the current two required to obtain a Diplme dtudes collgiales (DEC) to five. As is the case now, such courses would reflect the students level of French competency on arrival in CEGEP and not penalize them for a lack of proficiency.

If a student did feel comfortable enough to try some of their core courses in French, that option would be available but not obligatory, David told the committee in tabling the amendment.

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We have tried to find a balance, in all fairness, as much for francophones, allophones and students who studied in English schools, to follow many French courses but based on their mastery of the language, David said.

Its a little bit like people who sign up for Spanish courses. They are evaluated as beginners or with medium skills, and off they go. In giving students the opportunity, not the obligation, we achieve the same thing.

The objective is for them to master French, so they can collectively participate in Quebec life whether this is in nursing or computer skills, science. Its a plus, and the colleges agree with this.

The amendment, however, is not a done deal. Objecting off the top to the Liberals plan was Parti Qubcois language critic Pascal Brub, who asked the committee chair to rule on whether the amendment alters the legislators vision of Bill 96.

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Brub said last week the amendment was not his problem and the Liberals have to deal with it.

On Wednesday, committee president Nancy Guillemette ruled against Brub and said the amendment does not denature the bill. She will allow MNAs to debate it further when the committee resumes sitting Thursday.

Sitting and watching events unfold as the amendment arrived in the dying moments of the day, the minister responsible for French, Simon Jolin-Barrette, did not comment.

An aide said later: The minister will study the amendment. We will make our decision known soon.

Last week Jolin-Barrette brushed off the Liberals requestto fix the amendment, saying he liked the original. Meanwhile, Premier Franois Legault said his Coalition Avenir Qubec government was willing to discuss an adjustment.

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Both said dropping the Liberal amendment would be complicated because it was adopted by the committee unanimously.

For the Liberals, Wednesdays sub-amendment to their original amendment was an attempt to get out of a hole they dug two months ago. That was when they proposed the amendment requiring francophone, allophone and anglophone students to take three CEGEP courses in French.

Reaction from the English-speaking community was slow, but the backlash is real, with support for the party dropping among non-francophone voters.

Quebecs CEGEP directors have said the amendment is a recipe for disaster because many students arrive with an inadequate level of French and would likely flunk if they had to take courses such as accounting or physics in that language.

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The Liberals have recognized they made a mistake and said they would try to fix it as a way of mending fences with the community.

Language critic David and committee member David Birnbaum, the Liberal point person for the English-speaking community, recently announced they will not seek re-election in the fall.

On Wednesday the committee also voted in favour of an amendment that would rename the Montreal riding of Bourget. Under Bill 96, the new name would be Camille-Laurin, in honour of the father of Bill 101.

pauthier@postmedia.com

twitter.com/philipauthier

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Liberals' new pitch is on 'opportunity, not the obligation' to study in French - Montreal Gazette