My friend John Ivison has already given an uneasy ride in the direction of the Liberal party’s big plans to subsidize family camping trips as well as camping education programs. I’m still not convinced that the Liberals have a whole section of their platform dedicated to camping. I’m not certain what the reason is John Ivison compared Trudeau with Idi Amin. But, I double-checked my memory and it was accurate. The Liberals offer a vast expansion of Parks Canada’s “Learn to Camp” program. The program is designed to teach the basics of camping for example, how to put up a tent, use a camp stove and how to handle an angry grizzly, as well as other things. The workshops are held in cities for people who are not experienced. The majority of them are recent immigrants who wish to gain the necessary skills to venture into Canada’s wilderness. It is possible that they were told to learn the necessary skills. Sorry, but this video did not load. The program currently trains around a few thousand students each year. Ah, you say, I have all the qualifications but I’m not able to buy enough bread. This isn’t an issue. There’s nothing to worry about. The Liberals propose to provide camping trips for 75,000 low income families. The plan includes camping accommodation as well as a travel grant which could amount to up to $2,000… I believe I’ve said I’d try to be fair, but it’s a bit disappointing for a party’s program to look like something Johnny Olson would have said on the show The Price Is Right. If more than 75,000 families sign up it isn’t clear whether there will be an absurd lottery or an enormous game of Plinko. Maybe they’re just assuming it won’t be close to 75,000. The price of these goodies supposedly maxes out at $150 million during the fiscal year 2023-24. But as with everything else that the Liberals have “announced” so far the economic details are still to be determined. As Ivison noted, a few people argued that the Conservatives were unable to criticize the Liberal nature-cult cornucopia simply because they, when in power, were engaged in similar social engineering themselves , primarily by way of a variety of “boutique” tax credits. Ivison’s response is that Conservative subsidies are as stupid as the Liberals. Many economists agree that, despite their aversion to complicated taxation and the narrowing of the tax base. In trying to understand the Liberals Camping Nation theatrics I observed that the vast majority of Conservatives tax credits were linked to an obvious public-good or welfare goal. The Tories gave a tax break to volunteer firefighters and search-and-rescue personnel. Although “sports” was a discredited tax break for children, it was actually for all fitness-related activities. The tax credit for public transportation is an example. The tax credit offered to members of service clubs like the Elks or Rotary was announced by the party in 2015 and was met with a chorus of protests from those who couldn’t think of what the “service” part was about. Liberals are promoting an outdoor utopia that is clearly a distinct model in comparison to the Conservative boutique. We’re not talking about tax-deductions for DEET or beer coolers. It is more like “Literally every kid across the nation will get another jackrabbit before his 14th birthday. It’s the cost of Druidic sacrifice.” Colby Cosh – The U.K. Supreme Court has ruled in favor of Boris Johnson’s Brexit proposal. What do this mean for web treasure Hunter Canada? Colby Cosh: It was hard to love Three Mile Island, but will it be harder to live with? From a tax reformer’s point of view, such regimentation may actually be superior to offering subtle incentives via tax-related expenditures. Do you want people to go camping? Force ’em while they’re old enough to be pushed around, or just write them a large check. Revenue Canada should be left out of this. While this may be logical in some ways, it is not the real purpose of the programs. What is the bigger motive or social value to be derived from mass outdoors education? It’s similar to enticing people into joining the fire department, or joining a charity group. Camping is a great option for people who love camping. Camping can be a fantastic opportunity to boost their spirits and their lives. It is not a gift and is more of a token gratitude for a specific group of people. It’s no unlike (hugely) subsidizing knitting or collecting stamps. But from the point of view of the integrity and health of the wild, the creation of more campers is the dumbest idea imaginable. There is absolutely no public-good element here that I think of, other than an ill-conceived idea, savouring of the Lake Poets and the German Burschenschaften which suggests that camping is an ultra-Canadian way to spend time and can bring hopelessly urban Canadians more Canadian. Particularly, as the past history of the Learn to Camp program hints at the newly arrived Canadian! Not that we would be doing anything as sloppy as taking them in with north European romanticism for instance. It’s absurd to attribute this kind of reason to Justin Trudeau’s sociably conscious party.
