Derek 2.0

As I asked in my last post, what level of weight is given to the public's responses? At what point does a wave of ignorance drown out the likes of a Manley, Dallaire, Mackenzie or a Hillier?

With a different last name, who would have known about the current Prime Minister 8-9 years ago? Substance and track record? Maybe she should start giving snowboarding and drama lessons on the side. What was the current Prime Minister doing in his early to mid 30s?

How is the public's voice weighted in this review?

Ahhh so its feel-good fluff....... And why does said perspective mater? If enough laypersons respond suggesting Canada cut its defense spending by 50% (or inversely increase it by 50%) is the Government going to respond? If enough laypersons were angered over the Government "re-profiling" DND funds into the next decade, would the government reverse course?

No, people can offer their uniformed opinion. Sure, but the Government then should be presenting the potential threats and outcomes to Canadians......they after all are staffed with experts and have all the information............not asking uninformed Canadians what their opinion is. No its very much so relevant, as there is very much so a difference between uninformed opinions versus educated analysis. Maybe Revenue Canada should send out a survey asking Canadians what level of taxes they feel they should pay

It looks that way........but with the remaining 16 States, it shouldn't be considered a "cakewalk" for Cruz.....the next State, delegate rich New York, has shown recent polls with Kasich in second place behind Trump....likewise Pennsylvania. If Kasich is able to keep Trump under 50% in New York, the State's delegates are then issued proportionally.......in other words, if Kasich is able to best Cruz in some larger races, it might give the GOP pause over the 8 won States threshold at the convention.......a Cruz versus Trump convention is just picking the loser of the general......granted losing with Cruz might allow the GOP to keep Congress and the Senate, well putting down the ever yapping Tea-Party dog for 2020......

I like Brad Wall, I just can't see him running (in this race?).........as I said, I could live with MacKay, but I would question if he (or Kenney) could be winnable in 2019....it will be dependent on the economic landscape in 2018-2019. As I said before, right now, I lean towards Lisa Raitt, or someone younger like Michelle Rempel or even Andrew Scheer.

Not far off

So the survey is fluff? How would the average Canadian, including many of the members of the Forces itself, be able to answer this for example: If those that truly knew opined in a public forum such as this review, they would be charged under the National Defense Act........hence those from the public that do reply will offer largely baseless opinions....... Do hospitals or utility companies seek the public's opinion on how to run their day-to-day operations? What does the Waldo know of the safe operation of a commercial nuclear reactor or hydro dam? I would hedge as much as I know about running a surgical theater or CT machine in a hospital........Would the Waldo consider himself to be the best equipped to procure specific items needed in the operation of a power plant? I wouldn't know where to start on deciding items for a hospital........... ........I would think a more apt approach to be telling those that do know how to run hospitals and utility companies to keep the lights on and the public healthy, well negotiating the exchange of budgeted funds for an acceptable level of service between both parties.

Ha. We get a call on our landline about three times a week from your's guys brother in-law that landed a job with Microsoft and is kind enough to show you/us how to download software so he can take control of your computer and remove any malware......I love it, play right along (absent loading any software), well throwing in a touch of senility and hearing loss well sinking the hook, with the goal to waste enough of their time as possible.......sadly though, he stopped calling after an experience in which I put my 84 year young Jocko farther on with him.......Dad kept the guy on the line for nearly half an hour until the guy from Microsoft let him go.....they discussed everything....my father's favorite curry....his time in Ceylon.....Indian Independence......a one legged prostitute in Zanzibar....the works. For sure, I just wish I was computer savvy enough to actually screw with these guys

I could live with him, I'm just not sure he will actually run.....Maybe a tv personality and self made man....might not win, but the debates would be hilarious.

Civil defense withered with the realization that in the advent of a nuclear war, or even a limited exchange, it was a waste of time.........going off memory, the US DoD and Department of Energy modeled a single 5 megaton warhead strike on the center of late 1970s Detroit (when it was still an industrial heavyweight) at lunchtime...... Now I forget the number of expected dead, dying and injured, but it was surmised, with the expected fallout, there wouldn't be enough emergency room hospital beds for the injured in the entire MidWestern United States, more so though, there wouldn't be enough burn units and oncologists to treat the injured across the entire United States.... ...Further to that, regardless of the number rescue/fire personal, with the aide of nearly the entire Army Corps of Engineers, it would take weeks to clear roads to reach the epicenter and start removing wreckage to search for survivors (and the dead)......outlying counties/communities, not damaged by the bomb itself, would take years to return to a semblance of normalcy....etc etc...Reader Digest, a single thermonuclear device exploded in a major US city would tax the resources of the Americans........hundreds, if not thousands of warheads from a Soviet strike? There's no real point trying to respond, one just attempts to keep buggering on with whats left....... ----------------------- ........For Canada, there is no point to include in the review the response to the aftermath of a nuclear strike from a nation state, a dirty bomb or stolen tactical nuke detonated by terrorists in a Montreal/Toronto/Vancouver would bankrupt us as a nation, make us reliant on relief/aide from the World (see United States) for years and could very well fragment the country......We will be hard pressed to contend with a major Earthquake in BC's Lower Mainland, forget a nuclear device in a major Canadian city...... Far better to husband our resources with the Americans (and NATO) and make sure such an attack doesn't happen in the first place....... You don't know what you're talking about.......right now, as we speak, a Canadian is the second in command of NORAD, and RCAF Hornets are tasked to respond to NORAD alerts.......NORAD isn't moving back into Cheyenne Mountain because they aren't "planning for war".

I understand perfectly well........but by all means, tell me how the average Canadian would be equipped to answer such questions as: Despite the vagueness and simplistic nature of the open ended questions from the above survey, how are the uninformed* opinions of most Canadians a positive contribution to national defense? The above is not an example of leadership, nor an attempt to better educate the taxpaying public, but a crass attempt at political pandering via trial balloon....... *By uninformed, I don't mean as a slight, but a realistic understanding that most Canadians couldn't answer the above questions in an informed manner, including a great many Canadians with both military and foreign policy experience.

That whoever's in Government in the 2030s and 2040s will be picking up whats left and attempting to sort it out.......funny that they will take the public's input in how to defend the nation, but can't be bothered with the uninformed masses opinions on how we elect our governments...........on top of that, funny that the MND is holding the jive sessions in namely large cities (Liberal ridings?) and forgoing some of the communities housing some of our largest bases. Put me down in the pool for "we don't need much of a military" and that "funding can now be re-profiled to other areas". The elder Trudeau cut the legs out from under our world class military in the later 60s, the idiot son will just finish the job.....you heard it here first

I would also agree, after a fully transparent court proceeding........I would be quite interested to see all the comings and goings from Queen's Park during that time frame......we must not forget, the McGuinty government gave the police carte blanche powers of arrest........aside from former Toronto police chief and current Liberal MP Bill Blair, I wonder how many former provincial Ontario Liberals are now in the Butts Trudeau Government...... (Pot smokers should be relieved that the former Obergruppenfuhrer chief of the Toronto services, Bill Blair, is now handling the pot legalization file....I wonder how many G20 protesters got nabbed for dope)

"Methinks" it would be interesting if Liberal MP Bill Blair had to testify in any future court proceedings............

Ahh but that is the point and why Keynesians are pushing the prospect of a cashless economy with negative interest rates.....what better way to centrally plan an economy then having no physical cash and being able to force the populace to spend or be taxed for saving money? The central bank, then has total control over all legal tender........and the Government controls the banks.......... All those with the utmost faith in the big banks and Government.....be my guest.

And not only crisis management (how bad would Greece have been if they could have just printed more of their own currency during their financial crisis?) but normal fiscal policies, one of the Nordic countries (IIRC either Sweden or Denmark) that is inching towards a cashless society, has negative interest rates, meaning if you deposit money into your bank account you pay a fee.......this encourages people to spend their own money or loose it, the only current curb on this is cash and the ability to stuff some under the mattress or in a pickle jar in the backyard.

Exactly, nor is it just an issue of privacy.......for the majority of the World's population, its a mater of feasibility.....In countries like China and India, the majority of the population don't have bank accounts, let alone credit cards and smart phones with Apple pay.........ergo, the Chinese aren't going to dump paper money, and if the Chinese aren't, domestic politics aside (see civil unrest) the Americans aren't, since they would destroy their own dollar's value as people (and countries) around the world dump the greenback for the Yuan, the now dominant paper currency......... Exactly, replace street muggers with computer hackers etc......

Without a doubt, it costs companies a fortune to actually bid on various contracts....chalk it up to the cost of doing business, but with indecisive Governments it gets to a point that its not worth it for companies, and said governments/countries develop a reputation..........for example, many of the Arab States and the Indians are terrible to do business with, and this is reflected by their primary source nations......the French (France, until very recently, had next to no bribery and anti corruption laws) and the Russians(that peddle in crap) ........its no wonder that during the Cold War, even though the Indians weren't in the Communist sphere, the Russians were one of the few nations that would deal with them.

I wouldn't so much worry about the Government knowing what you're purchasing, but the doubling down by central banks on quantitative easing......in a cashless society, "your money" is either "in a bank" or "in the market", you will never physically hold it........then the difference between a rich man, beggar man or thief is what the Government and bank tells you it is........ If the prospect of the beast concerns you, I might suggest stocking up on physical "wealth" in the form of precious metals......namely Gold, primed brass and tin-foil

So you expect a contract, for a program that has three people in the program office and no money budgeted within this mandate........you understand Trudeau hasn't legalized the weed yet right?

Historic fact. They have had the RFP for sometime, they withdrew from a multi-billion program, a program that sees us already operating their aircraft, with an existing supply chain and training establishment, after the mixed messages from this new Government, messages further confirmed by the Government "re-profiling" procurement dollars into the next mandate........... The better question, why would a defense giant spend millions to bid on a program that the current government might or might not go through with in the interim. How do you know it to be baseless?

A contract? How? They "re-profiled" the procurement funding out to the next decade

They sure helped, simply put, Airbus wouldn't have bothered with the threat of legal action if the aircraft favored under PM PM (C-27J) and nearly purchased (twice) by the Harper Government was purchased and the Opposition was muted, like they were after the CC-130J and CC-177 contracts were signed (the later also being sole sourced). Yes, there were........granted Boeing left over a year ago, but Lockheed very much so decided not to enter a bid early this year, when they were very much so expected to, having a huge advantage with leveraging training and support through our existing CC-130J fleet. Do you have issues with reading? Did I not clearly state speculation?