SpankyMcFarland

The ridings that really matter - sums up the madness of FPTP. The Bloc look like they will be on the receiving end of the weird effects of this system along with the Greens. It's possible that there are closet Conservatives out there too embarrassed to admit their dark proclivities to pollsters, and who could blame them? It happened in Britain. NL used to have a strong PC presence BTW. Talk of what the Libs and NDP would do on Coalition or even union is very leader-dependent. Trudeau may have to change his tune after the election.

In STV you rank the candidates. So you could put your favourite on top and candidates from the parties you like next.

I would not know enough about the courts to comment but the Japanese are very protective about their farmers. I can see long delays appearing in the judicial process. This is a country of secret executions where WWII has not been honestly examined yet.

I can see problems in Japan and Korea for starters.

Or the niqab debate we have just had. This is such a big deal, literally speaking, I find it extraordinary that you are able to pass judgement on it so quickly.

I can see big problems on access to markets and enforcement of provisions in other countries.

I've got to say I was impressed with that too. There was nothing to be gained from it, like Mark Steyn's support for Conrad Black though his trial and I wouldn't be exactly the biggest fan of either Black or Steyn under most circumstances. Maybe the principled thing is to ditch your friends under such circumstances but I dont think so.

Just googled it. Looks like a lovely part of the world and not too far from Hamilton. Father up the lake, I saw Crystal Beach in the winter one time and it was probably not the best time to view it.

As I've mentioned elsewhere, due to reasons of possible incipient insanity, I am considering a move to Ontario to warm my bones. I have four candidates: 1. Ottawa. 2. Burlington. 3. Kingston. 4. Lake Erie shore, east of Windsor. One thing that really surprises me in a pleasant way - real estate prices in Ottawa. For an attractive capital city, they seem like fantastic value. Why are they so low? Toronto, by contrast, does very little for me. I have tried to love the place but it is ugly, crowded, and horribly overpriced. I do not get the world class angle at all. Go to Zurich and see what a transit system should look like, guys.

Rentals in Florida seem quite expensive compared to buying, not that I am going to buy. Why is that?

When I listened to Bowie's 'The man who sold the world' over the decades, many interpretations of the lyrics occured to me. Now, I'm thinking there will one day be a man who owns the world and its contents and who sells it to somebody else. We will reach that concentration of wealth if we keep on the current path.

Argus, I would not want to be holding a big wad of Apple shares right now. There's a lot of glamour about that company which scares me. I should add I know absolutely nothing about the industry. How did the guys who talked about oil at the beginning of this thread do so far? Over the years, I have invested in a few dead cats strictly for entertainment, e.g. Irish banks, Nortel and Air Canada, and by dumb luck I happen to be up (although not on Air Canada which remains consistently disappointing in every possible way). I am tempted to take a punt on VW at the moment. However, I leave the serious stuff in my portfolio to people who seem to know what they are doing because I will never have a competitive advantage there and I am too old to take big chances.

We have heard a lot about citizenship and its value recently. I'd like to see more evidence that Canadian citizenship is really valued by the government and that low wage workers are not being undercut by foreigners in this country. If you have to pay Canadian Tim Horton's workers a lot more in certain locations, well, do it. The same with slaughterhouses. That will mean more expensive food which I think is fair enough.

There are multiple reasons for ethocultural diversity in the police force. Knowledge of the language and culture of the community are vital for gathering information and establishing trust. The closer you match the police and the community, the more success you should have.

Embellishment is what we demand from theses guys - spice on the dull facts. They are all at it. I thought some of the 'shocking and disturbing' revelations about Brian Williams were pretty darn tame. He didn't start any wars with false news.

The drive of politicians is quite extraordinary. How Flaherty managed to keep going with an agonizing skin condition and industrial doses of steroids in one of the most demanding jobs in the country is beyond me.

Toronto. That's sort of Canada. Khadr is a peculiar case for the right to be obsessed about. As we all know, there are so many extenuating circumstances to his story and trial , you'd think they would pick a more deserving villain to boo and hiss at.

There was something very likeable about him. I never felt he was reading from somebody else's script. We have been blessed with good Finance Mnisters in this country for decades.

She is keeping a very low profile. I am not sure I know which federal party she would actually like to lead, if any. She's a bit ambiguous on that front, a LINO, if you will.

Good. What exactly did he say? No wiggle room, I hope. This is of serious concern to any new Canadian.

It's not enough for Kenney to 'clarify' Harper's words: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-election-2015-citizenship-terrorism-1.3254095 Harper himself needs to make an unambiguous statement that no attempt will be made to revoke citizenship for other crimes, given it was he who raised this alarming possibility.

I suspect the defence will have something to say about that. This case does not have the proverbial snowball's chance in Hell of getting anywhere. It's pure Reform Party old style race and religion hysteria. We all know that, right? Far stronger cases have been rejected by the Supreme Court, if it ever gets that far, which I very much doubt.

Maybe we should start the learning experience by spelling it correctly? Nothing Quebec could do would surprise a 'progressive' like me.

It may be difficult for you to understand. And, legally speaking, it is going to be an expensive learning experience for us all.

In the Gaya case, that is not even true. He is not a dual citizen.