All Purpose Politics and News Thread

[Natalka]

What a terrible situation...

Four people, including an armed police officer and a man believed to be the attacker, have died in a terrorist incident near the UK's Houses of Parliament, Scotland Yard has said.
One of the victims was among several pedestrians hit by a car on Westminster Bridge, before it crashed.
An officer protecting Parliament was stabbed by an attacker, who was shot by police.
At least 20 people were injured, including three other officers.

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-39359158

[walkonby]

I heard the person killed was a female Police officer. Also they had to rescue someone from the water, I suppose they got pushed off the bridge?

[Natalka]

Federal Budget 2017

"Building a Strong Middle Class"

Very little new spending was announced in this budget – just $5.7 billion over the next six years. Contrast that with Budget 2016, which announced $26.5 billion in new funding over 2 years.
Not only that, the government is building in a $3-billion contingency fund into their planning – a cushion in case economic circumstances change.

The government expects that they will continue to run deficits year by year, with no end in sight. The deficit will hit a high of $28.5 billion in 2017-18.



http://globalnews.ca/news/3328139/fe...7-in-3-charts/

[Natalka]

Liberals extend parental leave to 18 months, boost childcare funding

The government set aside $7 billion in new spending over 10 years for early learning and childcare programs. That comes on top of $500 million for one year pledged in the 2016 budget.
The funding could serve to create more affordable childcare spaces for low-income families, the budget said.
In practice, however, “in the provinces that don’t cap child care fees, that’s unlikely to happen,” David Macdonald of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives told Global News.

The only provinces that have set limits on such fees are Quebec, Manitoba and P.E.I. Everywhere else, MacDonald said, the provinces are more likely to use the money to create additional spots, rather than bring down costs.

The $7 billion wouldn’t be evenly distributed through the 10 years, but ramp up gradually from $540 million next year up to $870 million in 2027.

Parental leave

The Liberals have also made good on their campaign promise of extending parental leave and benefits to 18 months.
Parents who choose to stay at home longer, however, will have to make do with a lower Employment Insurance (EI) benefit rate of 33 per cent of their average weekly earnings, instead of the current rate of 55 per cent.
Canadians will still be able to opt for the traditional 12-month leave at the higher benefit rate.

In another tweak to EI, the budget also introduces the possibility for pregnant women to access maternity benefits up to 12 weeks before their due date. That’s up from the current eight weeks.

Caregiver benefit

The government is also amending EI to introduce a new caregiver benefit that’s meant to help families copy with illnesses and injuries that, while serious, don’t entail an end-of-life situation.
Right now, EI assistance for families caring for ill or injured adults only applies when there is a “significant risk of death.” Families in such a predicament can rely on 26 weeks of benefits.

The new benefit, which would extend up to 15 weeks, is meant for situations where, for example, a family member is incapacitated by a car accident but expected to make a partial or full recovery.
If the prognosis worsens, families would be able to apply to access 26 weeks of additional EI assistance under the current benefit.

http://globalnews.ca/news/3328107/fe...dcare-funding/

[Natalka]

Public transit credit axed

Canadians who have claimed their public transit passes for a tax break will have to start looking elsewhere for refunds starting on June 30, 2017.

After that date, any transit pass purchased won’t be eligible to submit to the Canada Revenue Agency next spring.

Sin taxes

Indulging in your chosen vice may get slightly more expensive with increases to taxes levied on alcohol and cigarettes. The excise duties charged to manufacturers and importers of these products are going up, which means higher costs passed along to consumers.

According to officials within the department of finance, that will translate to a 53-cent increase on the cost of a carton of 200 cigarettes, a 5-cent increase on a 24 pack of beer, a 7-cent increase on a bottle of spirits and a 1-cent increase on each litre of wine.

HST/GST on UBER

The definition of a taxi business is being amended under the Excise Tax Act so it will include ride-sharing services, including UBER and Lyft, as of July 1, 2017.

Goodbye Canada Savings Bonds

Ottawa will discontinue new sales of the bonds this year, gradually phasing out the program and honouring “all outstanding retail debt.”
What that means for anyone holding Canada Savings Bonds is that their value will have to be transferred elsewhere – to a registered education savings plan, for example, or by moving it into a savings account.

more...

http://globalnews.ca/news/3327986/fe...alcohol-money/

[Natalka]

Sask. budget today (yep, two budgets affecting us in one day!)

At midnight on March 23, the PST will increase one point – from five to six per cent.
As of April 1, the PST will also be expanded to apply to children's clothing, snack foods and restaurant meals, renovation and repairs and permanently mounted equipment in the oil and gas sector. Insurance premiums will have PST effective July 1.

the education portion of property taxes will also go up.

Sin taxes are increasing with consumers paying 50 cents more for a pack of 25 cigarettes, 6.8 per cent more for beer, 6 per cent for coolers, 5.3 per cent for most wines and 4 per cent more for most spirits.

The government is also eliminating the fuel tax exemption for farmers, personal income tax credits for education expenses and the employee’s tool tax credit.

All of that is expected to generate $900 million in revenue for the government this fiscal year.
To offset these changes, personal income and corporate taxes will drop one per cent within three years. However, indexation of personal income tax is suspended.

The 2017-18 budget puts the deficit by the end of the fiscal year at $1.288 billion.
If forecasts hold true, the deficit will be reduced to $685 million in 2017-18, $304 million projected for 2018-19 and a $15 million surplus by 2019-20.


The biggest headline-maker is the decision to get rid of STC, the province's bus company.
The doors will be shut on freight delivery May 19 and passenger services cease May 31. The move leaves 224 people without work.




http://ckom.com/article/1408712/sask...-hike-job-cuts


Nothing really unexpected here; it's been a tough year...

[Darth Penguin]

5 dead, police officer named

The police officer killed in a terror attack at Westminster has been named by the Met Police as PC Keith Palmer.
The 48-year-old husband and father was among five people who died, including the attacker, near the Houses of Parliament.
The attacker, whose identity police believe they know, stabbed the unarmed officer before being shot dead.
Forty other people were injured after a car struck pedestrians on nearby Westminster Bridge, before it crashed.
Acting Deputy Commissioner and head of counter terrorism at the Metropolitan Police, Mark Rowley, said they were working on the assumption the attacker was "inspired by international terrorism".
PC Palmer was a member of the Met's parliamentary and diplomatic protection command and had 15 years service.
Mr Rowley paid tribute to PC Palmer, saying: "He was someone who left for work today expecting to return home at the end of his shift - and he had every right to expect that would happen."
He said specially-trained family liaison officers were supporting the families of the three members of the public who lost their lives.

[Darth Penguin]

Every-one I know who lives or works in London are safe.

[Darth Penguin]

President Clinton to attend McGuinness funeral

Former US President Bill Clinton is among the political leaders past and present set to attend the funeral of Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness.
Irish President Michael D Higgins and Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Enda Kenny will also be present at the ceremony in Londonderry on Thursday.
It has not yet been confirmed if the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), Arlene Foster, will attend.
Mr McGuinness, a former IRA leader turned politician, died on Tuesday.

Many tributes from across the political spectrum have been paid to the former paramilitary leader who became the deputy first minister of Northern Ireland.
However, some victims of the Troubles have expressed revulsion at media coverage of his death, with critics saying that Mr McGuinness was lauded as a peacemaker despite never having apologised for his IRA past.

Mr McGuinness, who was at one time the IRA's second-in-command in Derry, was later appointed as Sinn Féin's chief negotiator in the talks that led to the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.
He has been hailed as one of the architects of the historic peace deal, which helped to end nearly three decades of political unrest and sectarian violence.
Mr Clinton was in office at the time and the then US president dedicated a considerable amount of time and resources to assist the negotiations.
The talks were chaired by Mr Clinton's Special Envoy to Northern Ireland, former Senator George Mitchell.
Unionist leaders have acknowledged the important role Mr McGuinness played in the peace process, but also said his death on Tuesday was a difficult day for IRA victims.
At a special sitting of the Northern Ireland Assembly on Wednesday, Mrs Foster said while "many victims are feeling very hurt", she acknowledged that many republicans were mourning "a leader, a friend, or a mentor".
Sinn Féin's northern leader, Michelle O'Neill, described Mr McGuinness as a "political visionary".

[Darth Penguin]

8 arrested following London attack

The Westminster attacker was British-born and known to the police and intelligence services, the prime minister has revealed.In a statement to the Commons, Theresa May said he had been investigated some years ago over violent extremism but had been a "peripheral figure".
"He was not part of the current intelligence picture," she said.
Eight arrests have been made following the attack on Wednesday that left four dead.
Those that died are PC Keith Palmer, Aysha Frade who worked at a London college, a man in his 50s and the attacker.
Seven of the injured are still in hospital in a critical condition.
A further 29 had been treated in hospital, Mr Rowley added.
In the attack on Wednesday afternoon, a man drove a car along a pavement on Westminster Bridge knocking down pedestrians, creating panic and leaving dozens injured.
He then ran towards Parliament where he stabbed PC Palmer who was unarmed. Armed police then shot dead the attacker in the grounds.
Mrs May paid tribute to PC Palmer saying: "He was every inch a hero and his actions will never be forgotten."
Mrs Frade worked at a London sixth form college just a few hundred metres from Westminster Bridge.
Principal at DLD College, Rachel Borland, said she was "highly regarded and loved by our students and by her colleagues".

[Darth Penguin]

World capitals show solidarity with London

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017...darity-london/

[Darth Penguin]

President Trump's US health care bill withdrawn

US President Donald Trump has withdrawn his healthcare bill after it failed to gain enough support to pass in Congress.
House Speaker Paul Ryan said he and Mr Trump agreed to pull the vote, after it became apparent it would not get the minimum of 215 Republican votes needed.
The last minute move was seen as a huge blow to Mr Trump.
Repealing and replacing the programme known as Obamacare was one of his major election pledges.
Earlier on Friday, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said that the vote would go ahead at 15:30 (19:30 GMT).
Mr Trump had reportedly warned Republicans that if they did not vote for his bill then they would be stuck with Barack Obama's healthcare programme for good.

However, multiple reports suggested that between 28 and 35 Republicans were opposed to his draft American Health Care Act.
The vote was withdrawn shortly after 15:30, and the House is now in recess.
'Obamacare will explode'

Republicans currently have a majority in both the House and the Senate.
However, some Republicans were unhappy that the bill cut health coverage too severely, while others felt the changes did not go far enough.

The bill also appeared unpopular with the public - in one recent poll, just 17% approved of it.
Speaking after the withdrawal, Mr Trump blamed the Democrats for not supporting the bill and predicted that Obamacare would "explode".
He said the Republicans would probably focus on tax reform for now.
"We have to let Obamacare go its own way for a little while," he said, adding that if the Democrats were "civilised and came together" the two parties could work out a "great healthcare bill".

[Natalka]

Yay!

Trump announces at White House: I've approved the Keystone XL pipeline


WASHINGTON -- Canada's hotly debated, long-delayed Keystone XL pipeline received its elusive U.S. presidential permit from Donald Trump on Friday, eight years and six months after the initial application for it to cross the American border.
The president made the announcement at the White House.
He was accompanied by the president of TransCanada Corp., the Calgary-based pipeline company that has wrestled with lawsuits, resistant landowners, protesters and Washington Democrats.

"You've been waiting for a long, long time," Trump said to TransCanada's Russ Girling. "It's a great day for American jobs and a historic moment for North America and energy independence."

The presidential approval doesn't guarantee the pipeline gets built.
The removal of one big obstacle in Washington still leaves several sprinkled around the American Midwest, where opponents still hope to trip up the project with protests and lawsuits.
The likely epicentre of the coming battle is Nebraska, the very place where opposition to Keystone began years ago. TransCanada (TSX:TRP) must still reach deals with some landowners there, it lacks a state permit and faces possible court challenges there and in South Dakota.

Keystone XL would mean thousands of temporary construction jobs and a permanent, annual boost in tax revenues for communities along the route, which would stretch from Canada to an already completed southern portion now pumping oil to refineries on the Gulf of Mexico.
It's unclear if construction could start this year.
The Nebraska permit alone could take up to eight months, said Canada's Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr. He welcomed the U.S. announcement, but pointed out the process is far from over.
"We in Canada know that pipeline decisions can be controversial," Carr told reporters in Ottawa. "(But) you would assume that these approvals would lead to a completed pipeline project."

http://www.ctvnews.ca/business/trump...line-1.3338909

[Natalka]

Russians Take To The Streets In Nationwide Anti-Government Protests

In a rare show of force, thousands of Russians took to the streets of Moscow and other cities in the biggest anti-government protests in years.
In Moscow, police arrested hundreds of demonstrators, including prominent Russian opposition leader and anti-corruption activist, Alexei Navalny, who orchestrated the uprising.

The crowds gathered to protest government corruption, many calling for Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev's resignation.
Navalny had called for nationwide protests after publishing an investigation earlier this month alleging mass corruption charges against Medvedev, whose large fortune far exceeded his position's salary.

At least 500 demonstrators were arrested in Moscow, reporter Charles Maynes tells NPR, among the tens of thousands who turned out nationwide — despite warnings from authorities that protesters would face fines and arrest for taking part in the illegal protest.

"There were reports of 2,000 people showing up in Nova Sibersk in Siberia, we had 10,000 in St. Petersburg, the estimates here in Moscow are about 20,000," he says.
But Navalny saw little of the protest he organized. Maynes says "Riot police detained the opposition leader as soon as he arrived in downtown Moscow, with Navalny supporters briefly attempting to pry open the police van that held him," in the capital's iconic Pushkin Square.

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-w...nment-protests


Navalny detained





http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017...d=tmg_share_tw

[Natalka]

Anti-corruption rally today in Russia's 90+ cities.
On photo: Rostov-on-Don, Orenburg, Cheboksary, Krasnoyarsk.









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