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B.C. NDP Leader John Horgan refused again Friday to say how his party would pay for its promised $1.7 billion elimination of MSP premiums, amid renewed attacks that hes simply delaying announcing the inevitable tax hike needed to cover the costs until after the election.

Horgan sidestepped questions about why two of his candidates have publicly indicated the Medical Services Plan premiums would be rolled into income tax should the NDP win the May 9 election, potentially resulting in higher income taxes for some B.C. residents.

Instead, he insisted hed hire an independent panel to look at ways to eliminate the MSP premiums which are set to bring in $1.7 billion in revenue next year by the end of his first term in office.

Im not prepared to speculate on what the panel will come up with because that prejudges the work, Horgan told reporters while campaigning in Vancouver.

You dont put people in place, and ask them for their advice, and prejudge it. So Im going to hear what they have to say. The bottom line I have, is they protect public services and we ensure low- and middle-income people are protected.

The B.C. Liberals pounced on the apparent disconnect, highlighting how NDP candidates Carole James and Gary Holman have both said in recent days that MSP would be moved into the progressive tax system, otherwise known as income tax.

What Mr. Horgan is trying to do is evade the issue by punting it onto a panel to be dealt with later, so people dont notice they have to pay more taxes in the future, said Andrew Wilkinson, the Liberal candidate for Vancouver-Quilchena. People need to know if they are facing that bill or not.

James has said that her party plans to roll premiums into income tax on a progressive basis, with the highest earners paying the highest premiums.

The key principle is that it looks at a progressive approach, she said. Right now with MSP, whether you make $1 million or $35,000, your families pay the same amount of MSP. Thats the principle that will be gone.

She also pointed out that her party expects at least $77 million in savings from eliminating the MSP fee collection system.

James said part of the NDPs consultation will look at how other provinces collect their health care premiums. In Ontarios income tax-based system, for example, people who earn less than $20,000 annually pay nothing additional. That scales up to $300 for incomes over $25,000 and tops out at $900 for anyone with taxable earnings over $200,600.

The Liberals, too, have been criticized for not explaining their MSP promises. The party said in February it would cut rates by 50 per cent for many users in 2018, and eliminate MSP entirely in the future when the economy allows.

In an interview Thursday, the Liberals Mike de Jong said any further MSP cuts would be unlikely under a Liberal government before the end of the next term.

If the economy grows at precisely the rate we forecast it to grow, we wouldnt be able to do anything else, de Jong said.

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Liberals pounce on NDP's mixed MSP messages - The Province

Cindy Lamoureuxformally announced her bid to become the next leader of the Manitoba Liberals in style on Friday.

"This is something I'm very excited about," Lamoureux said, flanked by supporters moments after shepulledup outside the Manitoba Legislature on a motorcycle. "I love my province, I love my city and the people who live here in Manitoba and I want to be able to continue to work for Manitobans."

The 25-year-old secured one of three seats in the legislature for the Liberals last spring during the provincial election.

She wants to fill the vacancy left by Rana Bokhari. The former party leader lost the Fort Rouge constituency to NDP MLA Wab Kinewin the last provincial election and a month later, Bokhari announced she would step down.

Leadership candidates will have to put up $5,000 in a combination of cash andmembership sales, gather 100 nomination signatures and be vetted by a party committee before officially entering the race.

Cindy Lamoureux credits her father for getting her interested in politics at an early age. (Tyson Koschik/CBC)

She credited her father, Liberal MP and longtime MLA Kevin Lamoureux, with sparking her interest in politics at an early age.

The rookie representative for the Burrows constituency refused to talk politics or reveal details about her platform on Thursday. She instead addressed concerns about her age, andhow the Manitoba Liberals "desperately need" a leader who can take charge and boost fundraising for the party.

"Look, I recognize I am young.I am 25. I'm very transparent about that.I do think that I look younger than I am. That might catch up withme in a career in politics," she said.

"I know that I don't know everything, but I do know that here in Manitoba, we have skilled people, talented and passionate people, and I, as an individual, I am willing to listen. I want to listen. I am eager to learn and I am open-minded and I hope Manitobans will see that."

Lamoureux pointed to former Manitoba premier Edward Schreyer as proof that age doesn't mean everything.

Schreyer went on to serve as Governor General of Canada, but earlier in his career, he was the youngest person ever to be electedin Manitoba. He was 22 when he was voted in as MLA for Brokenheadin 1958.

"That is such an inspiration for me. That is why I am optimistic about this opportunity," Lamoureux said, adding the fact that she was elected is proof she is ready to rise in the Liberals'ranks.

"I think my age is a wonderful asset. I am taking full advantage of it," she said. "People are always saying, 'Young people are the future.' No, young people are today, so allow us that opportunity to shine."

The party will vote for next leader on Oct. 21.

As for the choice to roll up to the cameras on her hog, Lamoureux said was just taking advantage of the nice weather

"I believe in the old saying, 'Work hard, play hard.' I enjoy my summers and part of that is riding my motorcycle," she said, adding she has been dirt biking since she was 10.

Excerpt from:
Cindy Lamoureux makes leadership bid for Manitoba Liberals - CBC.ca

As many environmentalists and scientists worry that the United States is retreating from the fight against global climate change, acclaimed novelist Jonathan Franzen warned Tuesday that preoccupation with the issue is actually diverting attention from more immediate threats to nature.

In a talk at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, Franzen said the focus on preventing long-term changes to climate a cause he contends has largely been lost leaves scant resources for saving endangered species and other short-term ecological needs.

When it comes to the environment, climate now has an absolute lock on the liberal imagination, Franzen said. Any attempt to change the subject, even if you are trying to change it to the epic extinction event that human beings are already creating without the help of climate change, is an offense against that religion.

The author of such novels as The Corrections, Freedom, and Purity, as well as several works of nonfiction, Franzen spoke at Gund Hall as part of the Graduate School of Designs Rouse Visiting Artist Lecture Series.

Diane E. Davis, chair of the Schools Department of Urban Planning and Design, introduced Franzen, with whom she shares St. Louis roots, as a quintessentially urban writer, a man concerned not just with the dilemmas of modernity but also deeply cognizant of the power of place, space, and territory in creating the context of human experience.

But it was his passion for the environment and for protecting free speech, as well as his reflections on the current political climate, that occupied Franzen in his lecture.

Franzen, an ardent bird watcher, drew the wrath of fellow environmentalists for committing what he termed offenses against liberal orthodoxy in a 2015 New Yorker article on climate change and the environment. The piece expressed skepticism that the world would take the radical actions necessary to prevent catastrophic climate change, Franzen said, and argued wed be too late even if we did.

Franzen also took issue with claims by some progressives that the reason the United States cant really get serious about reducing its carbon emissions is that fossil fuel corporations are sponsoring denialists and buying elections. He acknowledged that this behavior occurs, but said that the issue is more complicated.

The problem really is not that democracy is being prevented so much as that democracy is occurring. Its precisely the citizens in the major carbon-emitting democracies who benefit from cheap gasoline and global trade, he said, adding that the cost of that pollution is borne heavily by people in undeveloped nations like Bangladesh.

Franzen said he saw a silver lining for the environment in the election of Trump, noting that such actions as the administrations recent rejection of a petition to ban use of a harmful pesticide could remind people that there are other issues besides climate change that matter right now.

A narrow focus on global warming is also a poor strategy for mobilizing public support for the environment, Franzen said.

Ordinary Americans understand apparently better than the liberal elite does that theres precisely nothing that any individual can do about climate change nothing except feel guilty, he said. And guilt is one of the least effective human motivators.

Franzen took aim at progressives on several other issues, including for actions he said undermine free expression. He cited recent protests mounted at the University of California, Berkeley, and Middlebury College against planned appearances by controversial speakers. Franzen said the actions amounted to suppressing free speech.

He also directed his ire at Americans focused on simply denouncing President Trump instead of trying to understand and maybe win over the swing voters who responded to the Trump message of anti-elitism and anti-global nationalism. The effect, he said, has been to deepen the liberal silo, not see beyond it.

By Clea Simon, Harvard Correspondent | April 19, 2017

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Jonathan Franzen has some choice words for liberals - Harvard Gazette

Well, the liberals are at it again with their political correctness nonsense. This time they took aim at the 22,000-lb Massive Ordnance Air Blast (aka the Mother of All Bombs), which progressives found offensive. While never been used in the field, its been in service since the Bush administration, so this outrage seems a bit delayed. Second, no one really cares that this bomb was gendered. Its these politically correct antics that will continue to make the Left look abjectly insane and unpalatable. Its part of the speech codes, the lectures on so-called privilege, and safe space authoritarian ethos that only emboldened the forces the helped elect Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States. A lot may not have liked Trump, but after being lectured to, among other things, about how calling this 22,000-lb bomb is an example of lethal patriarchy, you would vote for the candidate who shunned this nonsense. And believe me mother of all bombs is a much friendlier term than what we really could call this bomb, give the conflict were in with radical Islamic terrorists.

I really want the media to STOP using the term "mother of all bombs". Offensive.

It's grotesque to call a killing device, the Mother of All Bombs. The #MOAB is the epitome of lethal patriarchy.

#MOAB actually stands for Massive Ordinance Air Burst. Trump is sexist even when referring to bombs. Nice consistency.

i'm not sure what's stupider: dubbing a bomb "mother of all bombs" or calling a bigger bomb "father of all bombs" in response

The U.S. dropped a MOAB on ISIS fighters in Afghanistan, killing nearly 100 of them last week. Some saw this as sending a message to North Koreas Kim Jong-un, who was making preparations for the 105th anniversary of the countrys founder, Kim Il Sung, which also included a possible nuclear weapons test. That didnt happen. A missile test was conducted on Sunday, but it blew up on the platform.

Tillerson Slams Obama Admin For Passing them the 'Buck' on Iran

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Liberals: Saying 'Mother Of All Bombs' Is 'The Epitome Of Lethal ... - Townhall

Every summer in Canada, companies and organizations receive federal grants to help ensure college and university students get an internship. I worked for a pro-life organization that received grants over the summer, but recently, the Liberals started looking into axing these grants for pro-life organizations.

An argument can be made on why these grants shouldnt be given to any company or organization at all.

But thats not what this is about.

Watch as I explain why the Liberals are doing this and where the problem is.

The government shouldnt just fund those they only ideologically agree with. In a free and open society, individuals and groups should have the right to advocate for what they believe.

Its called free speech and expression. At the end of day, if these pro-life groups arent doing anything illegal (and theyre not) they should be able to receive public funding for their student summer internship program.

If they dont, if they are being singled-out for this, then thats discrimination. If pro-life groups or politicians did this to you, Id be staunchly defending your right to advocate and hold your beliefs.

So, do me the favour and dont discriminate against my advocacy and beliefs.

Lets not simply discriminate against ideas, Liberals. Were better than that.

Follow Jay on Twitter at @JayFayza

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Trudeau Liberals consider defunding pro-life summer internships - The Rebel