Craig Read

Martin balanced the books partly on the back of the military. This is indefensible. Billions are wasted on other programs, hundreds of millions spent for the pleasure of the PMOs office [helicopters, trips, increased pay and pensions and so on], are you telling me that 'frugal' Paul could not find a few billion to cut out of the dripping fat that lards the cupboards in Ottawa? Nonsense. Martin lived off of Alta and Ontario's rejuvenating economies. The rest of the country are a lot of pathetic have-nots that have their tin cups out looking for spare change. Under Martin spending increased [except for the military] during the 1990s - far outpacing inflation and population growth and economic growth. [4 % in 97, 3 % in 98, 0 in '99, 8 % in '01, 5 % in '02, 12 % in 03]. Per year average is therefore, over 5 % increase in real spending in total, 4 % under Martin until he was kicked out of his job. This is bad management under both Martin and Manley. The Federal budget is at its high point in history as a % of GDP and in absolute terms. Health Funding is increasing by over 10 % per year - an unsustainable increase [but no reforms please]. Martin succumbed to political pressures - appease business via subsidy, same for Quebec and the East, no internal free trade reforms, hand over money to the Natives, spend hundreds of millions on Kyoto based projects, and so on. If you look at the Fed budget it is a litany of pay offs and vote buying schemes. Martin is no more conservative than Chretien was, and his talk of the future of the military is hot air - designed to make the US look away and worry about something else. 6 reports in the past 18 months have been published - and it is clear what needs to be done. Increase spending by 2-3x as a % of GDP, refocus the force to have projection power, ramp up the number to 100.000 or more, order more capital equipment, refit the fleet and so on..... But what will Paul do ? Consult. Ask the people. Commission another study. Talk some more. Hold many press conferences with tears in his eyes as he ruminates on the great men and women in the forces. 2, 3, 4 years will pass and nary a red cent more will be spent on the military. Not a dime. He has already said that Health Care will get funding and not the military under his finance leadership he increased non military spend by $20-28 billion per annum. That is the real Paul Martin. 'Porker's are Us.' Postmodern mumbo jumbo - Martin should write a book on Orwellian double speak - how to say nothing but make people believe what they want to believe and then smile all the way to the bank.

Yes I agree and if you talk to Russians which i do for work and have to travel there the even more astonishing aspect to Putinmania is that they like it. Russians love strong leaders with control over their political processes. It is a national character flaw. Whenever i criticise Putin for jailing Khordokovsky without due process the Russians without fail rush to his defense. If you point out that democracy is muted, the press censored and pro Putin, the Duma now 2/3 loyal to Putin, the oil industry increasingly under gov't control [which is 40 % of their revenues], Chechnya a disaster, and the lack of clear unambiguous laws, independent judiciary, and private property rights as well a corrupt banking sector, the Russians just shake their heads and say so what. Then they mouth the Russian state line that the West is corrupt, Western businesses are really mafia, that the West is undemocratic and even amazingly [i saw this on Russian tv] apparently in North America [according to State Russian TV] we have secret agents everywhere monitoring our moves. Yes state owned media news does create bizarre thinking patterns. The average Russian seems resigned to state fascism it appears. Some want liberal democracy, many want stability and a return to the 'good old days'. Pride, arrogance and a never ending belief in their great power status torture Russians. Putin is dangerouns and having the FSB running affairs is not in the West's best interests. Russia is not an ally,but an unstable illiberal regime with unsteady foreign policies. It should be treated as such.

There is an excellent article by Waddell on Chretien's mess - I would categorise Chretien as the worst PM in Canadian history - matched in egregious arrogance and wrongful policy only by Trudeau. Chretien's sorry legacy In fact the Federal Gov't is such a mess of hypocrisy, poor morale, poor talent and corruption that Martin will not get anything much accomplished: Right on. Defence spending, security, immigration, US relations, Kyoto, Increasing funding to Quebec and the East, and a broken list of red book promises is Chretien's legacy - in short as Terence Corcoran stated 'he lowered our expectations'. Hard to do, but correct.

Yes extra legal processes designed to destory the soul of Ontario. We suffer from an egregious debt of $110 Billion and in Toronto we are saddled with $2.6 billion in municipal debt - or say combined each person including babies and grandmothers, is on the hook for $11,300 in debt and another $6-7.000 in off balance sheet liabilities [mostly in energy and health care] that is apparently illegal in private firms but okay for public gov'ts. On a per tax payer basis the total debt/unfunded liabilities for someone living in Toronto is closer to $40.000 or 70 % of the average yearly salary. Question: How will this get paid down? Answer from Howdy Doody and David Miller: -More health spending -$13 billion on the Waterfront redevelopment -More education spending -Higher minimum wage which kills part time jobs -Cancel the Island bridge and development and 300 jobs -Allow the Feds to ratify and perhaps even follow Kyoto targets = 300.000 jobs to be lost in the GTA -Annoy the US by allowing Toronto to ship its garbage to Michigan - can't the big boys here even get rid of their own garbage ???? No no reforms. Let's focus and concentrate to make sure that we have Sharia law, Gay equality nay Gay supremacy, no Private education system and higher taxes. Focus Dalton focus. You can financially and morally and jurisdictionally bankrupt Ontario if you just focus and try hard enough.

RTOR, hear hear. You are right, the shallow leftists are losing in their war on America - apparently liberals prefer that AQ and terror win, and that we all become mumbling and bumbling Isamacists or at the very least - compassinately tolerant towards the aggrieved muslim peoples. Hooey. And WMD technically has already been found - botulism vials have been uncovered: UNSCOM itself has listed WMD sites: Iraqi WMD sites Keep in mind WMD has many forms - according to the UN - most of it was/is in aerial - meaning you will never find large Walmarts full of the stuff: [Time, March 27 2003] The UNO was the largest supporter of Iraq - don't forget Iraq was its biggest revenue source. So they were in no hurry to allow inspections to stop - they wanted to preclude a war and allow the UNO, France, Russia, Germany and China - the Axis of Arrogance - to print money, while Iraqi's starved to death, were tortured and raped. But hey that is okay - as long as the Americans can be blamed !

Something about the polluted air in the GTA perhaps but the liberal judges in Ontario are going out of their way to enforce weirdness and dismantle society. Sharia law, Gay Rights, Gay Marriage and now retroactive social payments to same sex couples [back to 1985]. Once again without Parliamentary debate, a referendum, or any precedent, extra legal liberal processes are changing some fundamental aspects of Canadian life: Not to mention the costs involved in a province that is drunk with debt, deficits and over-taxation. Merry Christmas !

And now Libya is falling into line. I would prefer an invasion of Libya to a peaceful resolution - since i don't trust regime's headed by dictators - but a good result is still a good result. Now I wonder why Libya is accepting international dismantlement of its WMD? Is it due to the Liberal girlfriends and liberal media mystics ? Or the resolute, brave, profound UNO ? Or perhaps the US kicking in Hussein's Iraq in 21 days and reforming the country ? Hmm so difficult to comprehend......

Morgan i agree with the thrust of your post but disagree on the Iraq-AQ connection. There are plenty of links and this post details them. Even ABC a liberal news outlet on par with the faineant NY Times admitted the links , and even one of their reporters had first had evidence of such links; During the war itself on April 8 Tuesday the US forces wiped out a unit of Al Ansar in northern Iraq. AA and AQ are coequal terrorist organisations and AA funds AQ operations: and even more poignantly: There was uncovered as well training camps with manuals discovered near the Iranian border - which harbored AQ fighters. Atta did visit Baghdad 3 weeks before 9-11. The Americans are not denying these links and are using them to good purpose within the US media to justify this needed war.

You got it right mate. Extra legal processes are the Libs only and favorite weapon of choice. They find it rather painful to go through democratic and accountable processes - such bother all that. Better to avoid that hassle and get old fat people to comment on liberal activities and justify post modern rhetoric. This is why the Dumbos fight so hard on court appointments and try to filibuster conservative appointments. This is a weakness in the US system - how to rectify it?

Neil i fully agree you stated: Sure or to declare as it did on Nov. 10 1975 that Zionism is a form of racism. This mind numbingly dumb resolution, and it is just one amongst hundreds, does nothing to enhance credibility. The UNO was conceived to discuss issues and bring peaceful resolution to international tensions. It was not intended to replace the nation state. News bulletin: THE NATION STATE IS NOT DEAD. The nattering left proposes the following misconceptions that feed the UNO process. None of them are true: -Nation state is obsolete crushed by globalisation from above and regional interests from below -Globalisation means that only cross border solutions will work -National interests are never in line with the world's greater interests -Cultures, ideals and faith affiliations trump nationalism Globalisation does not exist as presented in the media. Any accounting of trade, finance flows and flows of people and power, make the left liberal argument that globalisation is crushing the nation nescient and malinformed. There are financial, communication and technology forces that are global but they operate entirely within frameworks set by nation states. Nation statism will be around forever. If it does disappear it will take centuries. Given this fact, why then do we put up with a mealy mouthed UNO regime replete with left liberal philosophical cant that is anti-modern, anti-western and anti-nation state ?

Yes quite amazing that David Andersen is in any Cabinet. The father of Kyoto support in Canada - this hippie environmentalist finds it humorous i suppose that 300.000 jobs will be lost or would be lost if Canada still tries to make its Kyoto targets, just in the GTA area. I am sure a few hundred thousand more would be lost out West. What exactly does Andersen bring in experience, background and thought to 'Western Economic Diversification'? What does the job title mean anyways ? Will David help BC diversify out of lumber and marijuana production into ....what heavy vehicle production, electronic development or perhaps eco-friendly industry ? I don't know why we need all these economic mandarins in Canada regulating and picking winners and losers or developing diversification strategies. This is not how modern economies are built. Just ask MITI in Japan - the architect of a 12 year depression though back in the 80s the liberal backscratching press and business school professorial elite told us that the MITI way was of course superior. Never learn do we.

The UNO is becoming very quickly a failed experiment in internationalism. Too big [55000 employees], too fat [untold waste overlap and corruption], unfocused, and immature this organisation is more of a hindrance than a help in most areas it concerns itself with. It will never agree internally on reform. Without reform and focus it will die. This is to be applauded, unless the UNO becomes fit, liberal, transparent and shelves its designs on world government through stupidity like the Kyoto accord, we should merrily push it into oblivion. The 'inner circle' of King Kofi's palace can't even decide if to decide on a decision of reform. What a place.

Certainly correct Neil. But Liberals don't read history - they just rewrite it to fit their fantasies. Chamberlain - the coward and the arrogant arch appeaser and the worst leader in British history after George III - stated that Britain had no interest in 'people in far off countries about which we know nothing.' I will never forget the newsreal of this imbecile talking to the media before he flew to meet Hitler at Berchtesgarden telling the press 'when i was a little boy i learnt if you are not successful to try try again.' What a moron. Chamberlain created the appeasement strategy by himself with little input, bludgeoned his Cabinet to support his policies, and spread disinformation in the media to justify his policies. He would be a welcome politician in Canada or a democratic Presidential nominee. Canada has international interests spread far and wide. According to Canadian rhetoric Canada has ideals, values and policies that it wants to spread around the world - everything from Chretien's promise to save Africa, to various CIDA programs in 150 countries supporting education, health, and democratic reforms. If you don't have a military; an underfunded external affairs office; a CIDA tied to trade and not a vision and underfunded; a hatred of the Western tradition; a senseless anti-US policy; and only emotional support and nothing more for internationalism - then obviously no one takes you seriously. You are trying to be all things to all people, and as in life so with politics - no focus no results. From the mid 40s to the mid 50s Canada had 100.000 combat troops, Pearson and the External affairs dept were involved 'at the creation' of various international agencies created to help increase international dialogue [not usurp national sovereignty], we were staunchly allied with the British and Yanks and the world knew that Canada meant business and could defend its interests with military projection and money. Today we have nothing but words, post modern theories and knee bending to the UNO and insufferable anti-Americanism which comprises the country's best interests. Trudeau Liberalism writ large.

I like her and here is why - Dec 19th 2003 - she attacks as she usually and artfully does - the idiocy, anti-Americanism and unsourced claims of the NY Times. Like I said before i think CNN and the NY Times get their editorial cues from the BBC-CBC complex. Did you read the quote about the CBC and Iraq btw ? Rather disturbing isn't it ? Good points raised here. 1. NY Times' incredibly anti-US editorial stance has been proven wrong almost daily by events in Iraq. Where is the balanced reporting ? Instead of showing the positive aspects of this liberation and there are many - it is all doom and gloom with the NYT. 2. Liberals and internationalism - hey listen and listen close - The French, Germans and Russians ARE NOT your friends. They don't give a monkey's ass about the US or Canada - only about their world position, their trade balances and levelling the playing field through higher international taxes ie. Kyoto. 3. The Liberal media plays Saddam's capture as; a hoax, an irrelevancy; or illegal. This is after 9 months of whining 'where is Saddam?' When Bin Laden is confirmed dead, we will the witness the same response over Tiny's tiny remains. 4. Dean is 'nuanced'. A classic Liberal argument. What the hell is nuanced about NOT fighting terror, abdicating national security concerns to the UNO and criticising a successful military campaign ? This is not nuanced, - it is stupid. Media bias. Very dangerous and quite unhealthy.

Better. Up 35 % this year. Jobs on household surveys which are more accurate than the non farms payroll surveys are up 1.5 million in the last 18 months. Today 22.000 less are enrolled vs. Nov. on welfare. Corporate profits up 20 % year over year and productivity is surging ahead at 9 %. Yep stupid Americans. Don't they know that Keynes and Demand management is the way to go !???

Well that is why you are Lost in Manitoba - another have nothing or have not province, living off the fat of Ontario's lamb and Alberta's resource revenues. Maybe you guys should build a province that Gasp! pays it own bills. How about this ? We kick David Miller out of Toronto, elect Plato's Wise Men, wall off the city, tax any and everything that comes in and out of the GTA and don't send a nickel outside the City Walls. I would enjoy that. Then suddenly all this socialist nonsense, post modern fantasy, international drivel and feel good [here buy my vote by spending more money than we need to] rhetoric will magically disappear as reality intrudes and interrupts the somanbulic socialist free riders. Once Canada is reorganised than maybe we would tear down Toronto's wall.

Witness more anti-Americanism from the Socialist CBC. Fresh off the press. These clowns kill me. First they say Hussein must be tried internationally - that the Iraqi's i guess are too stupid to figure out how to do it themselves, but of course the Iraqi's should 'govern themselves immediately' according to King Kofi and those wonderful democrats - the French. Which is it boys ??? Now part 2 in the anti-US story. I knew that the Liberal media would declare either the incarceration of Hussein as 1. Illegal or 2. A Hoax. CNN was doing its best on Wedn. night trying to convince US viewers [in the Paula Zahn show] that Hussein was never captured and that the man show on video is a double, that no one in Iraq believes he was captured and so on. I guess the Clinton News Network gets it editorial material from the CBC. The CBC beat CNN by 2 days. What a waste of space it is. From the NP - great editorial on the nonsense coverage of the 'trusted, connected and sadly Canadian' network:

Who cares about this exchange. Read her books and articles and refute them. Item by item. She uses the Lib's idiocy against themselves. It is great.

Morgan, thanks for calling out Riff's Raff. Very tiresome is good old Riff. I think Riff should go work at the CBC - maybe write some editorial content. He can then proceed as well to write some anti-historical documentaries - we can start with Iraq. Riff can write that it was not France and Russia that supplied 80 % of Iraq's arms in the 80s and 90s and that it was not France and Russia that made billions illegally off of the oil for food program while Iraqi's were starved and murdered - it was of course the US. He can also write that Iraq was better off under Uncle Saddam - a nice man that everyone loved who only wanted to play with toy trains and be left alone. Riff can also rewrite the history of WW 2. Churchill and FDR were the real war criminals. The bombing of German cities was illegal. The invasion of France was not sanctioned by an international body. Thousands of dead soldiers was too high a price to pay to liberate Europe. Freedom is after all only a relative concept. Stalin was misunderstood. Communism was a worthy goal and the holocaust overblown. Welcome to Riff's world. Nothing matters but hating the US, hating freedom and apologising for despots, which apparently is what makes 'da Canadian values' so critical for small minded nationalists here.

Boyd, good post. The Aussies are spending U$40 billion over the coming 5 years on more military spend. They will be a balancing force with projection capability in East Asia and beyond. What does Canada contribute ? Basically nothing. No heavy aircraft, no airforce or navy [2 or 3 frigates only] to speak off, and an undermanned 18.000 person personnel combat base that is suffering from low morale and low grade equpiment. Beautiful. Coupled with CIDA's $2.5 billion budget tied to the buying of Canadian goods, a gutted External Affairs office [30 % decline in budget since 1993], and no vision, Canada is a just another annoying little country whose bravado is not matched by strength. Kind of like the little wimp in class with the squeaky voice that tells everyone how tough he is. Of course when challenged he asks his big brother to do his fighting for him.....maybe the French will defend Canada's international obligations and interests ??

Witness more anti-Americanism from the Socialist CBC. Fresh off the press. These clowns kill me. First they say Hussein must be tried internationally - that the Iraqi's i guess are too stupid to figure out how to do it themselves, but of course the Iraqi's should 'govern themselves immediately' according to King Kofi and those wonderful democrats - the French. Which is it boys ??? Now part 2 in the anti-US story. I knew that the Liberal media would declare either the incarceration of Hussein as 1. Illegal or 2. A Hoax. CNN was doing its best on Wedn. night trying to convince US viewers [in the Paula Zahn show] that Hussein was never captured and that the man show on video is a double, that no one in Iraq believes he was captured and so on. I guess the Clinton News Network gets it editorial material from the CBC. The CBC beat CNN by 2 days. What a waste of space it is. From the NP - great editorial on the nonsense coverage of the 'trusted, connected and sadly Canadian' network:

MC, nice, provide proof for your statements. Otherwise you have no credibility. Coulter actually sources her statements, provides good arguments and counter attackes liberal idiocy on every single issue -by repeating back to them their lies, deceptions and falsehoods. Do you source your comments, remain consistent and provide insight at her level ? I don't think so.

Canada's military is compromising Canadian rhetoric on its 'great power' status and 'moral' ranking in the world. Canada's military is an embarassing farce and should either be funded or simply shut down. Canadian rhetoric on its position internationally is not borne out by facts, nor by the reality that Canada is largely ignored internationally as nothing more than an irritating gadfly. Some facts: -55000 strong armed forces but only 17800 are Combat troops. Rest overhead. This means that we have very little effective projectionable force for any amount of time. Witness our sad contribution on the war on terror - a few thousand men for a few months in Kabul. Come on. -1.1 % of GDP spent on the military, 17 out of 19 NATO countries -153rd in the world in military spending even though Canada has the 34th highest population I have read about 6 reports from various bodies that state explicitly that if funding is not doubled the Cdn military will simply disappear. The current budget is apparently not even enough to replace old equipment, perform maintenance, pay proper pensions or adquately supply munitions, transport, and hardware for the troops. This is beyond reproach and morbid. It means we sit at the midgets table internationally and eat crow, while the big boys do the hard work, hard talking, hard drinking and eat steaks. Welcome to Post modern failure.

Neal, I agree with you. The left wing cowardly nations that did not have the moral or military courage to participate are dishonest, naive, corrupt and inimical to their own better interests. This is the philosophy that undergirds a failing Europe. Frankly the sooner the EU collapses the better. As for Hussein, let the Iraqi's try Hussein, then slowly kill him. Make it painful, make it long, make it memorable. Jean Martin, is picking up where Paul Chretien left off - boneheaded, babbling support for post modern internationalism. Good way to annoy the US. Well done Jean Martin. Maybe Hussein can be flown to the Hague and we can have a race off between Hussein and Milosovic for longest trial processes in history ?

RB said This depends i would argue that a cowardly socialist post modern society deserves the Paul Chretien or Jean Martin's or Howdy Doody McGuinty or worse, David Miller [now spitting]. The question is - are Canadians socialist 'post modern' and 'cowardly' - or is this an elite/media invention ? If the elite and not the people are post modern and socialist - then why do the people put up with such bad leadership ? Is this why voting rates are 50 % in this country ? Jean Martin announces that Bush must hand over Hussein to the Euro wimps for proper processing - along the same lines as Milosovic one assumes. Paul Chretien announces no new military spending but $2 billion more for health - with no reforms one assumes. Lots of rhetoric, reviews, policy commitees, and 'discussions' but nary a real reform, plan or vision in sight from His Worthiness Jean Martin. It is early yet, but Martin sounds suspiciously like Chretien. Further down the food chain of politics, it only gets worst....don't even mention David Miller - an artefact from the 60s now running Toronto.