MidaB

[MidaB @balancedstrides]

"Fortunes are made by buying low and selling too soon" Nathan Rothschild

[Richard Dias @RichardDias_CFA]

What is so bananas about an article arguing that Canada needs even more government involvement to improve its economy is that, by many key metrics, the government's economic footprint is the largest it's been in 25 years. Employment, CAPEX, Consumption, and Taxes are just a few examples I've shared in the chart below.

What does Canada have to show for it? A Productivity Emergency. Anemic private-sector CAPEX. Pitiful competition in Banking, Telecoms, and Transport. Net FDI Outflows. A 30-year low in R&D spend. Business birth collapse. Zero Equity IPOs. NYMBYs. Impact Assessments. Ethnic vetos. Mushrooming manufacturing regulations. Withering economic freedom. Censorship. Mass media bias. Historic hospital wait times. It goes on and on and on.

Canada's problem is NOT a lack of government; it is that there is way too much government involvement. They pick winners, punish productivity, suppress talent, scare away what moves, tax what doesn't and squander billions; it's everywhere and in everything.

And the results? abysmal.

It may be time for a different approach.

[Andrew Johns @AndrewNJohns]

WATCH: The audacity of @Dave_Eby to attack Jimmy Pattison...

[Kim G C Moody @KimGCMoody]

UPDATE: We now have the rate details.

And this is much broader than the “millionaires’ tax” initially advertised.

The proposed B.C. provincial rates would increase:

• 16.8% → 18.8% on taxable income from $190,405 to $265,545
• 20.5% → 22.5% from $265,545 to $1 million
• A new 24.5% rate above $1 million

That means the combined federal/B.C. top marginal rate would become an astonishing 57.5%.

And notice where the tax increases actually begin: roughly $190,000, not $1 million.

So much for simply asking “millionaires” to pitch in a little more.

I’ll have much more to say about this.

[Kim G C Moody @KimGCMoody]

B.C.’s premier @dave_eby is on a roll for one of the dumbest election platforms in Canadian history. Certainly from a tax perspective, that is.

Today he announced that, if re-elected, his government will create a new income tax bracket for British Columbians earning more than $1 million.

The rate? Apparently we have to wait for that.

But his rationale sounds awfully familiar.

“We are glad when people are successful, it’s fantastic,” Eby said. “We cheer for them…and it’s also right to ask people, who earn a little bit more to pitch-in in a moment like this.”

Where have we heard that before?

In 2015, Justin Trudeau campaigned on asking the wealthiest Canadians to pay “a little more.” His government subsequently increased the top federal personal tax rate from 29% to 33%.

The Liberal platform estimated the new bracket would raise about $3.4 billion in 2016-17. Then something entirely predictable happened.

People responded to incentives.

High-income Canadians shifted income. Taxable income moved. Behaviour changed. The federal government itself subsequently acknowledged significant tax planning by high-income individuals around the introduction of the new rate. And, longer term, successful Canadians started leaving Canada.

The Parliamentary Budget Officer has since emphasized an obvious but too-often-ignored point: at sufficiently high marginal rates, behavioural responses can significantly erode the revenue governments expect to collect. Think Laffer Curve - a basic economic concept.

Which brings us back to British Columbia.

B.C.’s current combined federal-provincial top marginal personal tax rate is already 53.5%.

That means government already takes more than half of every additional dollar of ordinary income earned at the top rate.

And now Premier Eby wants to push it higher. Unfortunately, his promise will appeal to the financially illiterate “tax the rich” crowd - a good chunk of his voting base - but B.C. needs to be careful here.

Depending on the rate he announces, B.C. could end up with the highest marginal personal income tax rate in Canada.

Why would that be good public policy?

Highly mobile entrepreneurs, professionals, investors and business owners have choices about where they live, invest and build businesses. So do people considering moving to or investing in British Columbia.

Tax rates are not the only factor in those decisions. Of course not. But pretending they don’t matter is equally foolish.

At some point, continually telling successful people to “pitch in a little bit more” stops being a serious revenue strategy and starts becoming a flashing sign telling them that their success is more welcome somewhere else.

B.C. needs investment. It needs entrepreneurs. It needs successful businesses and successful people creating jobs, taking risks and contributing to the tax base.

B.C. should be trying to attract more of them - not testing how much more tax they are willing to tolerate before they change their behaviour.

I’ll be very interested to see what rate Mr. Eby announces.

But the direction of travel is already clear.

And it’s the wrong one. B.C. residents, for the sake of Canada, please vote this fiscally inept leader and party out of office.

Another Eby government could lead to economic disaster.

https://t.co/fWN2NbFtye

[Jason Bugra @JasonBugra]

Holy shit… this Surrey BC land deal looks fishy as hell.

A property was listed for $4.5M and couldn’t sell.

Then it sells on the open market for $3.35M

Weeks later, it gets flipped to the City of Surrey for $6.8 Million!!!

Read that again.

Someone buys it for $3.35M… and taxpayers buy it weeks later for almost DOUBLE.

That is not normal. That is not just something getting lucky in “real estate.” That deserves serious answers.

1) Who approved this at City Hall?
2) Who did the buyer speak with before the City purchased it?
3) Did anyone in the Mayor’s office know?
4) And the biggest question: did the buyer know the City wanted this property before he bought it?

Because if the answer is yes, this is absolutely insane...

Surrey taxpayers should not be paying millions extra while everyone hides behind closed-door meetings.

Something doesn't add up here...

[Pierre Poilievre @PierrePoilievre]

A big congratulations to the Alto executives for getting $2.8 million in bonuses for a train project that has no route, no financing, no building permit, no start date, and won’t exist for over a decade.

The Liberal Club is getting richer than ever. Thank you, Mark Carney. Pop the Champagne!!! 🍾 🥂

[HoCStaffer @HoCStaffer]

Hahahahaha. It's true though.

[Steve Saretsky @SteveSaretsky]

2018: NDP cancels bridge plans already approved

2018-2021: NDP spends years reviewing alternatives.

2021: NDP announces a new 8-lane tunnel instead.

2024: NDP Selects a contractor to design and build the project.

2026: Still no tunnel construction. NDP Government terminates the contractor.

A masterclass in incompetence. 9 years later, same tunnel. https://t.co/yju4Ujx22v

[Steve Saretsky @SteveSaretsky]

Our tax dollars pay for this news.

[Tablesalt 🇨🇦🇺🇸 @Tablesalt13]

‼️MAJOR BREAKING:

This has exploded open!

A NEW full list of tech companies speaking out against Carney's bill C-22, with many threatening to EXIT Canada entirely.

Some are CANADIAN companies!

👇🏼👇🏼

Meta (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp): Opposes Part 2, warning it could force backdoors or spyware installation. Testified before Parliament. The bill would “conscript private companies into service as an arm of the government surveillance apparatus.”

Apple: publicly warned the bill could force encryption backdoors and undermine device security.
Quote: “This legislation could allow the Canadian government to force companies to break encryption by inserting backdoors into their products—something Apple will never do.”

Windscribe (Canadian VPN provider): Joins Signal and threatens to relocate its headquarters or follow suit. Quote: “We won’t be far behind if C-22 passes. In its current state, VPNs would almost certainly require us to log identifying user data.

Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke: Vocal Canadian tech leader warning of broader economic damage.
Quotes (on X): “C-22 is looking like a huge mistake. It worries me a great deal. There is so much nonsense in there that it may well end up dealing a death blow to Canadian tech viability.”

Signal: VP Udbhav Tiwari said they would rather pull out of Canada entirely than compromise end-to-end encryption and privacy promises to users.

NordVPN: Warned they would "remove our presence from Canadian jurisdiction" before complying, to protect their no-logs policy and encryption.

The Chair of the the US House Judiciary Committee and Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee are now also investigating.

[SophieZX @Z_XSophie]

Remember how they lost their shit when Elon did this?
Now it’s suddenly “my heart goes out to you” and everyone’s totally fine 😂
The rules change depending on who’s waving.
Classic selective outrage.

[Global BC @GlobalBC]

A recent Metro Vancouver board meeting lasted three minutes and 40 seconds, but Global News has learned that their payday was much bigger than that.

https://t.co/jO2rxn4IPv

[Brad Zubyk @Bzubyk]

Just blow up Metro Vancouver already.

It's basically a slush fund for municipal politicians to top up their salaries from the exact same taxpayers who pay them already.

No municipal politician deserves $300k plus to do their job.

It's obscene.

Make it a public utility.

[MidaB @balancedstrides]

@felixprehn Workbook, please

[PHARA @PharaBoard]

Aboriginal law expert, Tom Isaac on the recent Musqueam First Nation agreements:

“It is, from a process point of view, it’s, and I’ll say it again, absolutely unacceptable that public democratic governments are entering into agreements acknowledging Aboriginal title in any form when it’s an exclusive right to land, according to the Supreme Court of Canada, without consulting in some way with their constituency, which is the public”

https://t.co/gdlwCdFiTc

[Marc Nixon @MarcNixon24]

HAPPENING NOW: Ottawa just quietly signed a deal that could rewrite who really owns Metro Vancouver and they buried it in a fisheries press release.

Vancouver, Richmond, Burnaby, New West all in the blast radius.

This is NOT normal. 🧵

[Dwight Newman @DwightNewmanLaw]

At minimum there is a comms disaster here - the press release should have been explained more fully. And depending what is in the unreleased Agreement, there may be much more that Vancouverites and Canadians more generally will want to (and should legitimately be able to) discuss

[Steve Saretsky @SteveSaretsky]

The federal government is refusing to publicly release an agreement with the Musqueam Band that recognizes Aboriginal title over a vast area of Metro Vancouver.

What is perhaps more perplexing is no mainstream media outlet has even reported on this agreement. https://t.co/W3wzyeIAs7

[Ben Rabidoux @BenRabidoux]

Wild that this is the picture the CBC ran with this story.

80% opposition to the regime in their own country, massive human rights abuses, tens of thousands killed in recent protests, but this is the picture?

Embarrassing

[Josh Dehaas @JoshDehaas]

Canada is not a serious country. Our federal government continues to require research grants to be handed out not on merit but on race, gender identity & sex. And our formerly great universities oblige. Canada’s AI pioneers couldn’t be hired in 2026 because they’re white males.