I always wondered how former premier W.A.C. Bennett managed to name the legendary dam on the Peace River after himself more than a half-century ago.
It seems a bit much.
Bennett deserved to have it christened with his name, no doubt.
But thatsa国际传媒 the kind of decision that should be engineered so that it looks like somebody elsesa国际传媒 idea. Then you as premier bashfully accede and gracefully go along with it.
Or better yet, wait until you鈥檙e dead for it to develop.
But Bennett, who used to criticize such ego-tripping, named it after himself in front of 2,000 guests. No other premier in modern times has stepped up to the cameras at a ribbon-cutting and proudly proclaimed the highway/hospital/sewage pumping station will be named in their own honour.
It just doesn鈥檛 happen.
On Monday, though, Conservative Party of sa国际传媒 Leader John Rustad refreshed the concept. He unveiled a big new promise for a tax break for nearly everyone, and called it 鈥渢he Rustad Rebate.鈥
No focus groups or public engagement. No contest in schools to get the kiddies involved.
鈥淛ohn Rustad Announces Bold 鈥楻ustad Rebate鈥 Plan鈥︹ was the headline on the news release.
The promise is to allow renters and homeowners to deduct up to $3,000 a month in mortgage or rent payments from their taxable income calculations. It would take effect over four years, starting in 2026 at a rate of $1,500 a month.
Subtracting tens of thousands of dollars from taxable income would save the average person roughly $1,600 a year in taxes, he said. People earning up to a quarter-million dollars a year would qualify.
He said the average rent in sa国际传媒 is now $2,400 and the average mortgage is $2,900, so the rebate would cover the vast majority of housing costs.
It would subtract about $3.5聽billion a year in provincial revenue and comes on top of a promised Conservative carbon-tax abolition that would cost billions more.
Rustad contrasted it with the NDPsa国际传媒 promise to give all renters a $400-a-month tax credit to help affordability. That promise languished for a few years and finally arrived with income limits that reduced eligibility.
He said his promise is part of a 鈥渟ystematic attack on all the cost pressures in modern life.鈥
The NDP operating deficit for the current year is now estimated at $9 billion, up a billion in less than a year. Rustad has confidently predicted it will actually be in the $10 billion to $12 billion range when the books close.
So while the rebate idea will be popular, its impact on the treasury is significant.
(Mental note: Find out what a Conservative government would call the Site C dam.)
Rustad was much more reticent Monday on another topic 鈥 a new example of his unorthodox views on vaccines unearthed by the NDP.
The NDP posted a July video of him 鈥 reportedly at a meeting of former civil servants who refused to get shots 鈥 saying: 鈥淚鈥檝e had three shots 鈥 I wish I hadn鈥檛, quite frankly.鈥
He said he talked to provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry early in the pandemic 鈥 when he was a BC Liberal MLA 鈥 and changed his thinking.
鈥淚 realized that 鈥 wait a second, something doesn鈥檛 seem to be quite right 鈥 especially when we got into the mandates on vaccines.鈥
He referred at one point to 鈥渢he so-called vaccine, the mRNA shots.鈥 (The kind that don鈥檛 use the actual virus.)
鈥淚 started to realize it wasn鈥檛 about 鈥 herd immunity or trying to stop the spread, it was more around shaping opinion and control on the population.鈥
Pressed by reporters at the 鈥淩ustad Rebate鈥 news conference for more details on those views, he turned shy and dodged six questions about his anti-vax views.
His only direct response was: 鈥淥ne of the things that bother me the most about Dr. Bonnie Henry is the fact that she would not let our unvaccinated nurses and doctors back into the system.鈥
(She eventually dropped the mandate, three days after Rustad made the remarks in the video.)
Apart from the medical argument, the curious thing about Rustadsa国际传媒 intention to fire her is that he is taking on an official who at one point was adored by the public and still has much respect.
Hesa国际传媒 sticking to his principles, but it is a big political gamble.
