wellandboy

"irrelevant". Who decides that? CBC has produced many great TV series and programs. If you're going to talk about "market share/financial earner" then can you provide any source for your claims? I would have thought selling Degrassi alone would outweigh Hockey Night in Canada. That's not a claim, just an opinion. "irrelevant" the answer's easy, the viewers. As for CBC's great TV programs, I noticed you used past tense. Name one in production today. If you go to www.nielsenmedia.ca and www.bbm.ca , it shows the top 20 shows and Hockey Night in Canada has the only consistent showing. The money advertisers pay is directly proportional to the shows ratings. My argument is, the CBC receives it's Federal stipend regardless of how it actually performs, while the private sector has to actually compete to get their piece of the pie. I don't understand your reference to Degrassi. It's now a CTV show. Look, I'm not proposing to shut down the CBC entirely, but I do believe there is very strong evidence to examine the network's value to Canadians. I bet if Canadian's had to pay out of pocket + GST+PST to get CBC into their homes, this wouldn't even be a discussion. I will point out that these comments refer to the English CBC network. The French network is by the numbers different and I personally have insufficient knowledge to make any determinations.

This begs the question, does the CBC produce quality programming? In English Canada there are two CBC TV venues, regular CBC and Newsworld. If you took the sum total of their best parts, you would still have one mediocre TV outlet. If you take Hockey Night in Canada out of the equation, CBC loses it's biggest market share and financial earner. CBC still gets it's stipend no matter how bad or irrelevant it is. There is another part of this story and that's the CRTC. As the Regulatory Agency, it has been protective of CBC in some markets. Niagara was recently turned down for a TV station to serve +410,000 people because the cries from Toronto. CBC doesn't play by the same rules as the rest of the broadcasters, yet can influence decisions made by the CRTC to award licenses within it's broadcast area. Hardly fair.

Hedy,now that's scary. Sheila Copps redux.

I think Harper's declaration to defend Arctic sovereignty speaks volumes. The digressions into American imperialism are irrelevant to the original question, but certainly passionate none the less.

Bob Rae carries baggage with him from his time as an NDP Premier, however, he was disliked not hated as many politicians are when defeated. When you look at the alternatives, Rae looks good, plus he doesn't have Liberal baggage. He's an engaging man and very active in charitable work, managing to just keep his name in the news since leaving public life. If I were a Liberal, he would be my first choice amongst this early crop of wannabees.

According to bbm.ca, when you look at their data on viewership, the CBC isn't in the top 25 except for Hockey Night in Canada and several exceptions such as the Leaders debate and the Grey Cup game. While an argument could be made that the CBC provides a service over and above what's available on private networks, I challenge anybody to provide proof. Local news is Toronto, National News falls below CTV and Global in viewership, mainstream CBC offers little programming that's neither particularily funny or dramatically compelling. I do watch TVO and Buffalo PBS which I support through a small donation because both stations offer programming that's relevant and entertaining. CBC Radio used to offer some excellent shows such as Morningside and As It Happens, the former is gone and the latter is old and tired. I believe CBC needs to be downsized considerably, with a PBS, TVO model being used to support their existence beyond a much smaller government stipend. Newsworld is redundant and should be scrapped all together.

You seem to be under the mistaken impression that Harper was successful in blocking C-250. Actually C-250 passed overwhelmingly with the support of the Liberals, NDP and BQ. Even some of the social moderates in Harper's own party voted for it. It is now law despite Harper's quixotic attempts to block it. Gay bashing is now a hate crime and Harper's irrational fears that C-250 would result in the Bible being declared hate literature have not materialized. Your correct. My apologies.

The reason for Belinda's success couldn't have anything to do with daddy being the single biggest employer in York Region?

Yes, the BQ talked about issues but their percentage of the vote actually declined. Quebecers, like most Canadians, wanted a change so voted CPC at the expense of both the BQ and Liberals. That's a fair assessment of the Bloq decline. At the beginning of the campaign, Quebec saw too few alternatives to the Liberals, hence the Bloq became their only choice. When Harper presented an alternative to the Liberal from the Federalist side they shifted.

So why did Harper vote against C-250 if he's not a religious nut? Did you not read what I said, one doesn't have to be religious to be against it, if it makes you happy to reinforce your views with repetition - go for it. Whatever turns you on So why did Harper vote against C-250? Who cares. That was then and this is now. Suggest if you feel so strongly about this issue you work through the system to get this back on the table, whether through a party or a private members bill. The specificity of C-250 was flawed and I believe Canadians would be more inclined to accept a tighening of Hate Crime laws encompassing all Canadians. Then let the courts sort it out.

The Liberals ran their entire campaign based upon fear and innuendo. From their earliest campaign ads showing a tank and and a handgun through to the now infamous series of 12 ads, there was an inference of what might happen if the Conservatives won. Only in the dying days of the campaign did they use Martin as the focal point of their campaign, which by that time I believe Canadians had difficulty in connecting with the man. He had allowed himself to be portrayed as a frustrated and frenzied man waving his arms about because he couldn't articulate to Canadians why they should vote for him. Coupled with a dismal platform, both in substance and delivery, the Liberals fell back on what had worked for them in the past. The Conservatives, NDP, Bloq and the Greens talked about issues, but most of all hope. That, I believe is the biggest difference between winning and losing,

I had 7 polls in St. Catharines Ontario. The staffing reflected a fair cross section of population in Niagara.

You are voting for what you believe based on ideas, ideals and hope. While I choose to disagree, I respect that choice. Casting a vote based on fear and loathing as we've seen from Paul Martin in the last three days is sad and cynical. Good Luck Wellandboy

In Canadian politics, All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren comes to mind when I think of the Liberal Party of Canada.

This is a reasonable assumption. I personally, think Adscam is merely the tip of the iceberg. The nastiness we've seen can partly be attributed to Liberal hubris, but Friday night and yesterday, Martin turned up the fear mongering quite a few of notches. His frothing at the mouth stump speeches had to have been embarassing to all but the diehards. Paul Martin the new Don Quixote of Canadian politics.

Harper a good man? Do you think it's good that he voted against including gay bashing in hate crimes legislation? C-250 made it a crime to kill a man merely because he's gay. I'm confused. I thought was a crime to kill anybody. Please clarify.

Harper talks about changing the selection process so judge selection involves parliament (elected), Liberal advocate the status quo, selection by the the PMO. Hmm..... philosphically, the former sounds progressive and the latter conservative. Just as Harper's Accountability Act is progressive and the Liberal's, we'll wait for second Gomery, and then maybe we'll do something..... is not progressive. By making the selection process more visible, Canadians have the opportunity to become more involved and more informed about the powers that affect their lives. The Liberal viewpoint, that the Prime Minister is only capable of making these selections is largely what this election is about. Try as they may, the Liberal political alchemists won't be able to transform the substance of Harper's proposal to Liberal gold. Canadians are too smart for that.

I'd rather a Prime Minister who has the honesty to admit his weakness than one who pretends. Look at Martin and Chretien as an example. They've blundered through relations with the U.S. , making personal attacks instead of getting results on softwood lumber. Then there's Canada's embarrassing initial aid package to tsnumi victims which was blown out of the water by average Canadian's heartfelt generosity. Martin lured Bono to the Liberal convention with great fanfare, then oops another broken promise. Martin's international experience consists of finding tax havens for CSL, then retroactively changing Canadian laws to suit his personal needs. The Liberals today live with the myth of Canadian leadership abroad, the reality is quite different. Nice try though.

Just like someone unnconnected with the Liberal Party was responsible for Adscam?

Stewart a big segment on the Canadian election last night. If you missed it, I'm sure it will get lot's of play on the news. Funny stuff.

Nobody told me about the Kimmy-hats!!! Where's mine? I want one, and please send the bill to Ottawa, c/o Smilin'-Jack "If one gets a hat, we all get hats" Layton. Can mine be blue? I want one as well. I assume they only come in blue? Send one to Eureka with condolences size XXXXL.

I think the CAW needs to take a long hard look at their leadership.

Hollus . The information for the 2004 election is available on line from Elections Canada. Looking at corporate sponsors for the Liberals and union sponsors for the NDP. I think you will find this is a non-starter.

All we've been hearing from the Liberals is the same apocalyptic messages for weeks now. Recently, the specious claims, ultra right think tanks,Richard Perle and inaccurate suggestive ads make it clear that the Liberals will stop at nothing to stay in power. I predict the last week of the campaign will be marred by the most destructive and inflammatory advertising we've ever seen in this country, in a last ditch effort to cling to power. Gird your loins Canada, we're in for a bumpy ride to the finish.

The much discussed ad was still running in Quebec late yesterday. Paul Martin claims the content is different. Yes Paul, it's in French.