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OTTAWA -- The federal infrastructure bank is many months away from opening its doors, but Liberals have given a group of civil servants the power to fast-track approval of projects for private funding well in advance.

The officials are now on the verge of handing in their secret evaluations of the projects, along with any recommendations about how to use public funds to quickly pull in private dollars to pay for construction.

The government says the infrastructure bank advisory group has not sent any projects up the ladder for cabinet approval.

Rather, internal documents suggest the goal of the group is to avoid any delays in project approvals and show some early wins for the new bank, which has faced controversy.

Initially, the infrastructure financing agency was expected to be doling out money by this fall, but bureaucratic snags mean it won't be fully operational until the end of the year.

The Liberals hope that the bank can use $35 billion in public funds to pry three to four times as much in private investment to fund infrastructure projects around the country.

The Liberals asked the advisory group to review projects that could go to the new infrastructure bank, and provide options to cabinet for private funding "to ensure that no delays occur on near-term infrastructure projects," the documents state.

"In cases where a project is sufficiently advanced to proceed prior to the establishment of the (infrastructure bank), the advisory group will provide recommendationson options for federal support to leverage private sector investment," read the terms of reference for the group, which The Canadian Press obtained under the Access to Information Act.

A spokesman for Infrastructure Minister Amarjeet Sohi said the group has not sent cabinet any financing recommendations. Any work will be transferred to bank officials once the agency is up and running, Brook Simpson said, including reviews of a high-profile transit project in Montreal.

The Liberals have also hired outside experts to review the business case for the 67-kilometre, electric-rail transit project in Montreal, known by its French acronym REM.

"The advisory group reviewed a number of projects to see if private capital investment would be possible. Among these was the REM project in Montreal," Simpson said.

"The due diligence that the advisory group did on this project will be transferred to the bank once it is operational and the bank will then decide if an investment is appropriate in place of traditional grant funding."

In June, the Liberals pledged $1.28 billion towards construction of the $6 billion project overseen by the provincial pension program, the Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec.

When Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the funding, he said REM would be eligible for private sector financing through the infrastructure bank. If that were to happen, it would free up some of the $1.28 billion for other provincial projects.

In June, the Liberals were able to get parliamentary approval for the agency despite questions about the financial risk for taxpayers, and how public dollars could be used to provide a loss buffer to private investors.

In early July, the Liberals named Janice Fukakusa, a former chief financial officer for Royal Bank, as the agency's inaugural chairwoman.

Simpson said a CEO and the remaining board members will be appointed in the coming months, as well as the launch of staff recruitment for the agency's offices in Toronto.

Original post:
Liberals allow fast-track system for infrastructure bank approvals - BNN

Support for the Progressive Conservatives has jumped ahead of the governing Liberals in Newfoundland and Labrador, suggests a new poll.

MQO Research's quarterly Atlantic Matters poll, released Thursday, suggests the Liberals' support is steady among decided and leaning voters at 35 per cent, the same as in the last pollin May.

But the PCs jumped from 39 per cent in May to 48 per cent in the new poll. The PCs' gain was the NDP's loss, as the New Democratsfell from 23 per cent last time to 16 per cent this quarter.

But one in three people polled, 33 per cent, say they're undecided or don't know who they support.

If the election were held today, 28 per cent would vote PC, 20 per cent Liberal, nine per cent NDP, and nine per cent wouldn't vote, or refused to answer.

Premier Dwight Ball's rating among the public remains low, with a mean rating of four on a scale of one to 10.

The poll also suggests Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are pessimistic about the provincial economy, with 56 per cent saying the general outlook is getting worse, and just eight per cent who think it's getting better.

MQO polled 600 randomly selected eligible votersacross the province by telephone from July 4 to July 19. The margin of error among decided voters is 5.2 percentage points 19 times out of 20.

See more here:
PC lead jumps while Liberals hold steady, NDP slide in latest MQO poll - CBC.ca

Trumps Failure to Use Twitter Enough to His Advantage, Simply to Provide Perspective

The biggest failure of the Trump Administration continues to be its failure to present its own policies in perspective.

President Trump is being pilloried in the press for his ban on transgenders in the military, just as all conservatives continue to be pilloried in the press for opposing same-sex marriage.

Trump should have and should rather present his ban NOT as a new draconian measure instituted by a raging rogue or lunatic but rather as RESTORING the ban that existed from time immemorial, under liberals and conservatives, Democrats and Republicans, through the first 7 years of the Obama Administration, through June 30, 2016, including both years in which Obama and the Democrats controlled both houses of Congress.

Liberals point excitedly to the fact that 18 other countries allow transgenders to serve in the military (to the extent they have militaries). But considering that there are 195 or 196 countries all together, fewer than 10% of the countries in the world allow transgenders in their militaries, even now.

Similarly, the ban on same-sex marriages existed from time immemorial , under liberals and conservatives, Democrats and Republicans, until the United States Supreme Court decided, on June 26, 2015, to usurp the powers of the people and the legislatures and the church and the dictionary to declare same-sex marriages real, let alone legal.

It should be noted that the progressive movement basically derives most of its values from liberals, where Jews have been in the forefront, from Karl Marx to Leon Trotsky to Betty Friedan to Bernie Sanders, but these values are derived directly from the Bible caring for the poor, the sick, the stranger, the widow, and the orphan (though charity in the Bible is to come from individuals as tithes, not imposed by the government or unelected governmental bureaucrats, and it may also be noted that the strangers referred to in the Bible, to be protected, did not necessarily include avowed terrorists and/or their supporters). Mainstream Jews, of course, temper their progressive instincts with the overall Biblical encouragement of moderation.

The Bible from time immemorial defined marriage as between a man and a woman and defined homosexual activities as abominations, so the people who believe homosexuals are entitled to all rights as partners but are still not entitled to call themselves spouses are in a way even more liberal than the Bible.

The Bible was not focused on transgender issues as are the liberal press and politicians, but the Bible does forbid a man from wearing a womans garment (Deuteronomy 22:5) and the prohibition has been extended to women as well, by the leading codifiers of Jewish law, generally conscious of and promoting equal rights for women, if not equal obligations (Code of Jewish Law, Shulchan Arukh YD 182:5).

The rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness do not necessarily include a dubious right to serve in combat positions in the army.

Mr. Rich is a self-described liberal with common sense and an open mind.

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Trump Transgender Ban for Military Actually RESTORES Policies of Liberals, Including Obama - Canada Free Press

BY: David Rutz July 26, 2017 5:00 am

The new economic slogan for Democrats is not getting rave reviews from progressives and members of the media; in fact, it's receiving outright mocking in some corners.

Entitled "A Better Deal: Better Skills, Better Jobs, Better Wages," the economic agenda was rolled out Monday by top Democrats in Virginia as they plot a way back to power in Washington.

Former Barack Obama speechwriters Jon Lovett and Jon Favreau both criticized the new slogan on their podcast "Pod Save America," with Lovett saying he thought it was "garbage" upon first hearing of it.

MSNBC host and former Republican Joe Scarborough called the slogan "so bland" and "so terrible," and liberalWashington Postcolumnist Eugene Robinson said it lacked emotional heft.

"There's nothing there that sort of punches you in the gut, that tears at your heart, that involves you emotionally," he said.

Former Democratic congressman Harold Ford Jr. added on "Morning Joe" that the slogan "misses the point."

MSNBC host Chris Jansing noted the derisive comparisons on social media to the Papa John's slogan, "Better Ingredients. Better Pizza." She said it didn't exactly roll off the tongue.

Progressive commentator David Pakman referred to "A Better Deal" as "flaccid," and former Democratic National Committee chair Howard Dean said Sunday, "Do I think it's the best slogan I ever heard? No, but it's a start."

While interviewing Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) on Tuesday, MSNBC host Andrea Mitchell asked him for his take on the "stirring" new slogan for the Democrats, adding she was speaking ironically.

"A better deal?" she asked skeptically.

View post:
Liberals, Media Members Pan Democrats for 'Better Deal' Slogan - Washington Free Beacon

OTTAWA National Defence has been struggling to make good on one of the Trudeau government's recent promises: giving tax breaks to military personnel and police officers deployed on certain overseas operations.

Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan announced the measure during a major speech at the Royal Military College in Kingston, Ont., in May as part of the Liberals' new defence policy.

While Sajjan billed the move as an attempt to recognize the sacrifices that are often made by military personnel and their families, it also addressed what had been a prickly issue for the minister.

Some service members based in Kuwait had become increasingly vocal in the weeks leading up the announcement about a policy change that threatened to strip their tax-exempt status.

Yet the devil has proven to be in the details, with officials now scratching their heads over what types of operations and deployments should and should not be eligible for tax relief.

The debate is particularly relevant for the navy's sailors, many of whom on close reading of the defence policy would not be eligible for tax relief despite spending up to six months at sea at any given time.

Sources tell The Canadian Press that the military's senior leadership is now seized with the issue, and that defence chief Gen. Jonathan Vance has told officials he wants the issue resolved by mid-August.

Alan Okros, an expert on the management of military personnel at the Canadian Forces College, said officials are now caught trying to make good on the Liberals' promise without making matters worse.

Earlier on HuffPost:

"They're trying to find a solution here that will achieve what the government intended," Okros said.

"But they don't want to start creating precedents that would generate lawsuits or people making claims of 'Well, if that applied there, it applies here.'"

The tax measure would see the salaries of military personnel and police officers sent on certain operations exempted from federal income tax for the duration of their deployments.

The move, retroactive to Jan. 1, 2017, exempts eligible salaries up to the pay level of lieutenant-colonel and is expected to cost the federal treasury about $85-million over the next five years.

Personnel would still be eligible for extra hardship and risk pay if deployed into dangerous environments.

Both Sajjan and the Liberals' defence policy, which was released a few weeks after the minister's speech at RMC, said the exemption would be given to members deployed on what are called "named operations."

Named operations are usually the largest and most complex, such as Operation Impact, which is Canada's mission against the Islamic State group, and Operation Unifier, the military's training mission in Ukraine.

The service members complaining in Kuwait were attached to Operation Impact, and thus would be eligible for the tax benefit.

But many military personnel deployed overseas for extended periods are never attached to a named operation, or may only spend a portion of their time in such a situation.

That is particularly true of the navy, which has had two frigates sailing around the Asia-Pacific region since March, but whose sailors are not technically on a named operation.

Officials are now backing off the explicit reference to named operations, though no decision has been made on what criteria will trigger tax relief for deployed personnel.

"The Canadian Armed Forces is currently working on a framework aimed at implementing the proposed amendment to the Income Tax Act," said National Defence spokeswoman Kim Lemaire.

"It doesn't say specifically 'named operations' because there may be others that, as determined by the chief of defence staff, this tax relief will be applied to. That's still in the works right now."

Okros said the Liberals have been trying to contrast their treatment of Canada's military personnel with that of the Harper government, which was seen as being "stingy" with benefits for service members.

"Under Trudeau, they are trying to send a different message of 'We actually do support the troops,'" Okros said.

"So I think there's a bit of that in terms of a political agenda. But then how do you do this in the right way so that it doesn't create more problems than it solves?"

Current MPs With Military Experience (2016)

Read more here:
Liberals' Tax-Break Pledge To Troops Causing Headaches For Officials - Huffington Post Canada