Eric James, CD
1.2K posts
@InklessEJ
Kicking your cat all over the place — feel the beat of the tangerine just like a one-winged dove. 🎶 Veteran and transplant recipient; living new life. 🎗️💚
I enjoy breaking down policy in my spare time so let's dive in. On his website Black says the following about his tax cut proposal: "We will cut personal income tax rates by 20% to spur investment, attract jobs, improve affordability, and give you greater financial freedom." Now this is somewhat unclear as to whether this means for a specific bracket, some brackets totalling 20%, or across the board. But it reads like across the board in its simplicity, so let's go with that. I've included one image here of the current personal tax rates in BC expected for the 2026 tax year (one rate is still pending a change in the Legislature that will undoubtedly pass). In this image you can see the savings for each tax bracket. Now, I hope we all know how tax brackets work — that they fill like buckets up to your particular earnings. So in order to get a picture of what a single mother with low income, a single young man taking home a median wage, a typical BC household, and a wealthy individual would each save, we need to break things down. This is our second image. And this is where things start to fall off the rails for me. A broad 20% cut across the board clearly favours the wealthy. In fact not just favours — in this case the wealthy person saves as much per month in taxes as the typical BC family would save all year. And what that family saves is a pittance really, at $91/month. Black claims his tax plan will spur investment. However, no family is going to start investing with an extra $91 per month. And the wealthy person likely already has investments, with little likelihood that they would invest all $15,870 back into businesses within BC. Black also claims the cut would attract jobs. This is partially true. High income earners like doctors, lawyers, and executives might very well come to BC and set up shop. But the bulk of where job creation is sorely needed in BC — within the middle class — is not going to suddenly arrive in droves. Especially when we consider that the middle income bracket in BC already has the lowest provincial tax rate in Canada, and we don't see jobs popping up all of a sudden today. Black further claims his cuts will improve affordability. Again, at $91/month I do not think that family is going to feel like life is more affordable. The wealthy person might. But they are wealthy, so affordability was never really their problem to begin with. Lastly, Black deploys a rather generic claim about his tax cut proposal giving people more financial freedom. I do not think the single mother with an extra $35/month feels more financially free, nor the young worker taking home an extra $46/month, nor the family pocketing their $91/month. And wealthy people — well, financial freedom has already come, hasn't it. My beef with this tax cut, beyond the weak claims being made by Black, is that it puts more money into the pockets of people who do not need it while putting only a marginal amount into the pockets of those who do — and it also robs the provincial coffers of the money needed to actually make a real difference by paying down debt and funding social programs. If there is one thing conservatives ought to be airtight on it is sound fiscal policy. When you are barely making ends meet, it is hardly the time to stop working overtime. It is a financial double whammy from Black, and hardly a plan to get BC back on track. #BCpoli
What does a conservative have to offer a multimillion dollar franchise caught in a location predicament because the owners want to cash out? Absolutely nothing. It's a business and if it isn't viable to keeop here it should go. No government required. #BCpoli
@InklessEJ @vancolour I just told you. They renovated BC Place. Jeez. No wonder Mo finished with ya. You're clearly challenged intentionally to engage without spazzing out.
EJ, my dear, the Whitecaps play at BC Place, a public asset. Games generate revenue for the province, in addition to creating local jobs and business for the local hospitality sector. The real attack on Eby is why Vancouver is becoming less viable for major sports franchises.
If King Charles, Mark Carney and @jkenney have their way this will be happening in Alberta soon. This is reason #1035 for why Albertans need to leave Canada.
Wild how none of the BC Conservative candidates have spoken up about the Vancouver Whitecaps. It’s a gift-wrapped attack on David Eby. And every campaign has blown it, which really says something about how they have (or, rather, don’t have) their finger on the public pulse.
Je dénonce la simulation d’une décapitation du ministre du Travail lors d’une manifestation cette fin de semaine à Montréal. Les images de cette simulation d’une violence inouïe qui ont été diffusées sont dégoûtantes. La liberté d’expression est fondamentale dans notre démocratie. Il y avait plein de façon de s’exprimer sur la gestion du gouvernement de la CAQ en matière de relations de travail. Mais pas celle-là, qu’on ne peut tolérer. J’exprime ma totale solidarité avec mon collègue Jean Boulet (@JeanBoulet10).
