SpankyMcFarland

I admire the Queen, great worker, and our system has worked well overall. I just feel it could be improved a little bit.

That one would have to say that is evidence enough of the lunacy of the current arrangements.

Of course they would if they were loyal to their country. My preference would be to have an elected Canadian President as head of state - somebody who lives here. As a practical matter, the GG is appointed by the PM. Therefore, in any disputes between political parties, their judgement looks suspect. Regarding the monarchy, if we can't rid ourselves of this ridiculous and humiliating foreign anachronism, let us at least choose our own GG so we can have more faith in their decisions.

This is a major development. I'd say more states will follow.

We can pursue different angles on this. My point is that the Ontario Sunshine List is simply a false account of who the high earners are.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/may/31/the-hand-is-left-to-do-the-heavy-lifting-while-maybot-reboots Elections always carry a few surprises. May has run a terrible campaign, chopping and changing policy and she looks like an empty vessel ill-prepared for negotiating Brexit on Britain's behalf. Avoiding a debate with Corbyn and Co. was a weird mistake because old Corby is a reasonable debater and got a chance to draw attention to her absence. His ideas on preventing future terrorist breeding grounds like Iraq and Libya are not so barking mad as some of his opinions and go down quite well with most voters. The economy is not delivering for the less well off. May needed to defend her and Cameron's record and she ran way instead.

This article gives a better idea of what Ontario's Sunshine List should look like: http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/more-than-500-doctors-billed-the-province-for-more-than-1m-in-fees-last-year-health-minister

Did Harper really encourage debate on abortion among his MPs? http://www.macleans.ca/politics/on-abortion-is-there-any-difference-between-harper-and-trudeau/ I believe MPs should be free to follow their conscience on issues like this and capital punishment but that's not generally how political parties like to organize things. Pressure to follow the party line can be overt and/or covert but it's usually there.

My current maniac often puts her paw on me when I am rubbling her. I thought it was affection but then I found it is a sign of dominance which fits with her behaviour. She doesn't take me very seriously.

Our Corgi nipped the mailman. He (the dog) was always fairly cranky. They were bred to herd and nip.

It will take a year to assess him. Already he seems to be trying to move closer to the Canadian middle ground on social issues which is the only way he can win against JT. This means disappointing his own supporters.

Under Harper, you had to stay fairly quiet on social issues in that tent.

Scheer has a smug permasmirk going on. I still think Raitt or O'Toole would pose the biggest problems for JT.

If the Conservatives go for a right winger like Bernier, Trudeau should have an excellent chance of winning.

Monarchs come and go - but not quickly, usually, and we have no choice in the matter. We were lucky with Liz. Charles would be a bit ridiculous for Canada. He has no real connections to the place. Let's grow up and choose our own figurehead. The current situation, where the GG is an appointed flunkey of the PM, is intolerable in a democracy.

I'm surprised the media have taken so long to wake up to this angle: http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/opioid-pain-philpott-mcmaster-university-purdue-pharma-drug-industry-conflict-1.4121956 There's lots more where that came from.

That's why the GG should be elected. They should not look compromised when making decisions about the PM who appointed them. We need a truly independent 'viceroy'. If people want to keep the monarchy here, fair enough, but real government should be on a firmer footing.

If we want a monarchy we should have at least have our own i.e. actual Canadians. Lots of underemployed aristocrats out there would be only too happy to oblige. Liz wasn't too bad but imagine Charles as head of state - ridiculous really. If we have to persist with this carry-on, why not have a de facto president here in the form of an elected GG? That way the monarchists can still bow and scrape and the rest of us can support a meritocratic appointment who does the real work.

I'm taking the longer view. Europe has rarely experienced such a period of prosperity, and peace between European states, as the EEC and EU have brought. The current wave of terrorism is not EU-specific. If you look at Ireland there is absolutely no comparison in standards of living between now and before joining the EU. Poland has seen extraordinary benefits as well. Countries are free to leave if they think things are so terrible. Germany has been the dominant country in Europe for over a hundred years, long before the EU came along. The euro was badly thought out and premature but that is small beer compared to other advances over the decades. BTW Norway never joined.

In both instances, doctors have an obligation to do what is right for the patient and the community even if it is not what the patient wants, and patients should not be going to their doctors demanding these things either. The threat from antibiotic resistance is terrifying. Bacteria have been at this game for many millions of years and adapt rapidly. Meanwhile, drug companies are spending their resources on all sorts of exotic medications when they really should be figuring out ways to stop us regressing to the Victorian era in treating infection. We need a new funding model where companies are paid to develop antibiotics that are used as sparingly as possible.

One problem with that is Russia and a retreating US.

A quite extraordinary statistic: http://www.ctvnews.ca/health/almost-2-million-ontarians-given-opioids-despite-calls-to-curtail-prescribing-1.3417156

I wouldn't blame any city for traffic. Calgary was a great place to drive in after the oil bust in the Eighties left the city with too few cars. Maybe I expect too much from Toronto and I should probably get out and visit the neighbourhoods more. High Park is a lovely spot. For some reason, I find the ever diminishing view of the lake from the Gardiner Expressway particularly depressing and it's something I nearly always see when I go. On the other hand, it's a sign of success too.

Prettier than Ottawa? It certainly can't hold a candle to any of the more photogenic European cities on looks. Too much concrete. And don't get me started on the subway 'system'.

Good places to visit, or to live in if money is not a problem. Even with those criteria added, I don't see how Toronto would head the pack. Its transport infrastructure is not impressive and it's an ugly place.