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Hopefully these large surpluses will go towards paying down our national debt which will untimately benefit all Canadians, as opposed to tax cuts which unfairly penalize the poor and the middle classes.

Absolutely. Jack Layton's New Democrats are within 6% of Canada's official opposition party, in the latest national polls, and aspire to become the government some day. If one is aspiring to become the government one has to represent all the Canadian citizens not just this group or that group. Layton is well known as a concilliator and perhaps his discussions with the Regina mayor, will help to resolve the labour dispute. As far as union money is concerned, part of Chretien's legacy was to change the electoral financing act so that is no longer the case.

It is always important to check the background of people to see if and what corporations they are shilling for. Anyway it will be quite awhile before we know who wins the bet. I am intrigued by this part of the article though:

Letting the health-care genie out of the bottle I found this article quite informative in that it povides a good overview of the history of Canada's health care system. The question now is which politicians are going to show the courage required to sort this out so that we, the prospective patients, are going to be best served. Can we count on PM Martin and Health Minister Dosanjh to protect our interests, or will they sell us out to the secret corporate lobbyists that lurk in the dark corridors of power in Ottawa?

Ottawa to give police more power to snoop I always get a bit nervous when police are given more powers than they already have because I have a sneaking suspicion that it will be abused by the police. Police are no longer held in the high esteem they were once held so I suppose that is the reason for my concerns. Why do we need this anyways?

In Britain, allegations of police cover-up grow This is beginning to look very bad for the London police department. I wish they would just bring it all out in the open, admit their mistakes if there were any, and get it over with. This stonewalling is only going to make matters worse for the image of the police.

Ontario to add 50 new midwife positions Ontario is really loosening the purse strings. I guess all those cutbacks by Harris aren't working very well and need to be reversed.

I remember when people were forecasting Martin was going to win 250 seats. Still waiting for that one! I used to live back East and it is easy there to get the impression that TO is the centre of the universe. I think it is all about seat numbers in the House of Commons. Quebec's 75 seats and Ontario's, is it 106 seats now, add up to about 180 seats compared to Alberta's 28 seats. Nothing more than that. Quebeckers have always struck me as the most astute voters in Canada. They follow politics very closely, and want to make sure they are well represented with whichever party forms the government. It would be a lot healthier for our society if our voting patterns weren't so polarized, and also it is not good to have a party forming a majority government with only 35-40% of the vote.

Where have all the salmon gone? This is going to have serious ramafications if we lose our West Coast salmon runs. Apparently the warmer water is having some kind of detrimential effect although this year's water in not as warm as last years. One just don't know what or who to believe.

Is CN public, private or a mixed public-private business now?

Thank goodness for our grandparents. Grannies rage over docs' 'arrogance'

Global warming: Will you listen now, America? So much for the naysayers about global warming. Finally some intelligence is being shown by prominent US politicians. Now perhaps we can get on with solving the problems, eh!

Ottawa set to suspend salmon fishing on Fraser I have heard stories of DFO employees working at DFO and also at the same time being paid consultants or lobbyists for the fish farm industry. I have also watched year after year, turmoil over the inaccurate DFO salmon run estimates, for the rivers of BC. Isn't it about time we had an inquiry into this federal government department, so that we can clean up the mess that exists there?

Jean was late taking her cue I think people run the risk if they push this issue too much of having it turn into possible charges of rscism. Jean after all has unequivacally stated that she is committed to Canada.

Ontario must have some big bucks to play around with. Oh well, this decision to reverse one of Harris's cost cutting measures seems to be a good idea, especially for women in Ontario. Hospital merger to be reversed

Where have I heard the name Roger Galloway before? Oh well, here is one person's description from another discussion board:

err......great analogy and excellent post!

McGuinty says private sector to fund Soo hospital I am not sure what the significance of this is. As long as it is in compliance with the 5 principles of the Canada Health Act I suppose there is not problem with it, as long as it is the best deal for taxpayers, but is it? Does this mean that the private sector is going to lease the space to the government when the building is completed? This is really bizarre reporting but so typical of the MSM - no specifics, just a lot of hype!

Jeez, did you really have to start another thread, your second, on the GG? We now have what is it, five of them going on the same subject. We get your point, your point, your point, your point, your point! You are being to act like The Liberal.

Shades of Vietnam? Here come the protests: It never ceases to amaze me how a few dedicated people can change the course of history by initially displaying some courage. But then again that is the only way change usually takes place. Anti-war rally downtown

The War Measures Act was overkill. I am not too sure what the alternatives were but we didn't need to have army personnel standing with their guns on street corners all over Montreal. A lot of innocent people got rounded up and held without being allowed to communicate. Why is it always the people on the left that get rounded up by the police? And then you wonder why there is little respect for the police. You shouldn't wonder, as it is pretty obvious why. And what were the results of the WMA - Laporte was killed anyways.

Toro.........just curious. what do you need a gun for?

In New York or Geneva? Doesn't matter really, it's funny either way - discussing a global ban on private gun ownership in the two first world countries least likely to comply with the ban. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Banning civilian guns planetwide sure sounds like a resonable start to resolving the problem. But it is in our homes where the real work needs to be done. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Banning the ownership of civilian firearms is on every policestaters wish list. It makes it a lot easier when kicking in the front door to get into those homes to do their dirty work. Show me a gun grabber and i'll show you a wanta be tyrant. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Where in the world do you get this stuff. You sound like something from another planet. People are trying to deal with reducing violence and all you do whine about losing your stupid guns. What in the world do we need guns for any more? Apart from being used to kill people and animals that is. I fully support taking all guns away from civilians and that would not make me worry about a police state. It actually would make me feel safer because police would not feel the need to use their guns anywhere near as often, and their constant demand for bigger and bigger guns with more firepower would diminish. What worries me are the wackos who think it is OK to kill people to defend their property, etc. No material posessions are worth taking another person's life.

I agree. It doesn't make you a bad person.

God knows, and who cares. And God forbid that you, or some government bureaucrat decides that my tax money should be used to foster an industry because it is "high-tech" or "high-valued added" or whatever term or strategic industry is in vogue this year.Individuals are perfectly capable of deciding for themselves what business they want to do. If things work properly, their choice will bring the greatest value to society. Iceland has one of the highest GDP per capita and a large cod fishing industry. I met a fisherman this summer who was hauling in 50,000 lbs of shrimp for three days work. Does it matter that the guy smelled of fish? Canada has lots of land and few people. I'd be surprised if many Canadians were not involved in natural resource industries. I agree. You pick your fights.I agree too that the US lumber industry and the Canadian lumber industry are using their respective governments to advance their interests. The ultimate loser is US consumers who pay higher prices. If the Canadian industry were better organized, they would agree to limit voluntarily their sales to the US (the Canadian government could help them do this, ugh) and then the issue would disappear from newspapers completely. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> You are one weird Canadian. Did it ever occur to you that perhaps it is the Canadian workers who have lost their jobs that are paying the biggest sacrifice? Here are some tangible and realistic solutions to deal with these Yankee bastards: