CPCFTW

please tell me that no one actually argues this. No, actually paying daycare teachers 50k plus pension so that the kids' moms can go make 30-40k will not make us a more productive society. I can't believe I had to say that.

I'm surprised to see you arguing with a separatist but I agree. If this were not the case, why not have each province "seperate" from Canada and then unite to form a new country, called "CanadB", free of federal debt? It's funny how unrealistic separatists can be.

I went ahead and fixed that post for you. You're welcome.

The Bloc wanted to separate from Canada OR at least receive more autonomy. Conservatives want provinces to have more autonomy to create a better Canada. That is why the positions overlap. The key difference is the underlying hatred for Canada. Nycole Turmel was a part of the party that hates Canada just a few months ago, no matter how you try to spin it. You are just lumping your vision of Canada under "federalism" and claiming that anything that deviates from that definition is anti-federalist and anti-Canada. Canada is not simply your definition of federalism.

I won't ever let the terrorists win. Where can I get my NDP t-shirt?

Why are you repeating what I said? I already summarized your talking points. If you don't believe in communist central planning, then the terrorists win.

Basically if you don't believe in grandiose central planning of socialist ideals, then you are not a federalist and hate Canada. You see, the provinces signed a document, and no matter how that document is interpreted, or how poorly it is implemented, you hate Canada just like the separatists if you don't agree to centrally planned communism.

Do you honestly believe posts like this deserve a more detailed response? Of course this is well above my head considering I have a degree and work in a related field. Only someone like you in the 1st year of a sociology or philosophy program and having read a few websites and watched a few youtube videos could understand this complex issue. Let me guess what the "bigger picture" is: Mother nature will be angered and purge us all. Yup I learned all about negative externalities over 5yrs ago in the first year of my undergrad. But don't let that bother you or your sense of intellectual superiority.

Great answer. Sounds like you know everything! Of course the only people who understand are the people with the same opinion as you.. The typical lefty mentality.

Actually the free market is responding to the possibility of stagnant growth already. For example, defined pension benefit plans are a relic that can barely be found in the private sector, the public sector hands them out like candy. Mortgage lending rules have also been tightened after the credit crunch. Analysts consider off-balance sheet liabilities and hidden pension costs when valuing companies nowadays. Ratings agencies are downgrading the debt of countries which will curb excessive borrowing in the future. Meanwhile public sectors around the world continue to accumulate deficits and debt rather than make the necessary cost cuts for sustainable compensation. Union leaders continue to demand that their union members get paid a salary that is not commensurate with the work they perform all in the name of "a strong middle class". We are lucky to have a conservative government to tackle these issues, but they still move at a snail's pace compared to the private sector. It is the public sector that dug us this hole, and it is the public sector that continues to live in an infinite growth world. The private sector has already adjusted and private companies are generating profits, jobs, and wealth for society. A few companies might cause some pollution, but that is a small price to pay to live a comfortable and free life, rather than being controlled by the state and working a meaningless bureaucratic job until the bureaucracy collapses under it's own weight. We have already found who has the best expertise to organize production and wealth distribution: the market.

Finally!

Your point is retarded. The provinces have no history as countries whereas the EU consists of countries with centuries or millennia of history. How did I equate Canada to the US? I just said it's retarded to compare Canada to the EU, or Quebec's situation to an EU member country. You must be uneducated to jump to the sorts of conclusions that you do.

Nope. We can't all anoint ourselves pseudo-experts in every field because we read a few slanted articles and editorials.

Climate science in general is a deeply flawed industry. First of all, to get a career involving researching climate science, you basically have to have a raging boner for mother earth and nature. Many of these types of people have nightmares of a concrete world without trees which they believe would be hell on earth. Often they also value the lives of trees and animals as much or more than that of a human. These species traitors are predisposed to the idea that the ends justifies the means, and therefore have no qualms about lying and skirting the rules to ensure they can create a future in which our children can live like ewoks in the trees. They view themselves as saviours of the earth and our future, so they forgive themselves for their misdeeds. Another compounding issue is that there is virtually no private sector demand for climate science research. Almost all climate science research is government or NGO-funded. This means that researchers only have a job as long as governments and the public believe that climate change is a big issue. The government would not fund climate science if research showed that 500 years from now our emissions will raise mean temperatures by 0.1 deg C and have no adverse effects on the world. The industry depends on people believing that man-made climate change will cause a calamity. This means even those people in the industry who are not mother nature zealots would be discouraged from being a skeptic. Their career and livelihood depends on people believing in the specter of global annihilation. It's really not a field that anyone should have much faith in.

Or let's just keep them until we're bankrupt like greece, portugal, italy, USA, etc. By the time we are bankrupt we will probably be retired so it will just be our kids who have to pay off the debts of our greedy, entitled, socialist society! Let's leave them a bright future of crippling debt! They won't mind because we'll have saved them some trees to hug!

I don't think you understand Tim. A 3degC change in the mean temperature of the earth's atmosphere will result in the polar ice caps melting and flooding all coastal cities with 400km high tsunamis. Then the earth, also known as Gaia (which is a living creature!!), will be enraged and volcanoes are bound to explode blocking out the sun for a decade with ash. This will usher in a new ice age in which glaciers will travel at 300km/hr to cover the earth and crush all puny lifeforms beneath it. Those of us who survive on this barren ice planet will be forced to harvest the crushed corpses of our loved ones (which have been compressed into oil from the pressure of the glaciers) to burn for heat. Is that what you want? I live in reality where people don't want to live like that. You live in a fantasy world where everyone is ok with burning their loved ones to survive in a post-apocalyptic world.

Yup in the minds of separatists and separatist apologists Canada is just like the EU. In the minds of everyone else, Canada is simply a country with a whiny province.

It's cute that you actually believe this. The EU is a voluntary union of countries. Quebec has absolutely no history as a country and wants to tear apart its current country to declare itself one. These are completely different scenarios and the rest of Canada is guaranteed to be pissed off about their greedy immature Quebec brothers running away from home and tearing apart their beloved country. You might not understand that viewpoint being a separatist apologist, but the vast majority of non-Quebec Canadians have absolute disdain for separatists. The other thing you don't understand is that Quebec does not exactly hold a lot of power in the event of separation. They have a massive provincial debt of over 120 billion, and a provincial budget deficit of around 4.2bil even after receiving almost 8bil in transfer payments, they have an aging population with not much growth. They would have no army, they would have no transfer payments, they would likely have junk bond rated debt after taking on their portion of Canada's debt. They would have absolutely no negotiating power.

How surprising that Canadians would be fickle about their approval of another country's leader. And how's Obama's approval rating doing? Only those crazy fickle Canadians change their minds.

I use the TTC daily. I'm glad they put my $121/month to good use by buying buttons and telling me that I will soon be riding a different type of subway. What would I do if I hadn't preemptively heard about it?!?

Actually I've made the argument that Quebecers who want more autonomy for their province should or could vote for the CPC in the future when arguing why the CPC is likely to dominate Canadian politics for the foreseeable future. There is a difference between more autonomy for the provinces and becoming an entirely separate country. The difference is that conservatives love Canada and are proud of this nation. Meanwhile, many separatists loathe being part of Canada and feel oppressed by the uncultured, boorish English Canadians. Part of the problem is blowhards like you confuscating the issue.

We don't have the same education and health care across the board. You have no idea what you are talking about.

Punked has lost his mind a long time ago, I don't know why anyone would be surprised at that post. First of all, anyone who supports the NDP must have a tenous grasp on reality already, but punked has made it abundantly clear that he will say/fabricate anything to defend them.

Haha so much anger. Lefties willfully blind to their party's anti-Canada background. They'll vote to destroy the country in exchange for a promise of free pensions, abortions, and gay marriages for all (at the expense of the evil corporations of course!).

He was clever enough to get the largest city in Canada to elect him mayor despite a less than charming appearance and personality... so I don't see why not. They were declared an essential service so that they can't legally strike when there are cutbacks, layoffs, etc. The service review had nothing to do with the bloated compensation of municipal workers.