Semperfi_dani

I think that what we are referring to is the pipeline that is being built towards BC to attract Chinese and other asian companies. The US will always be our biggest customer, but fiscally, it makes sense to diversify to asian markets who have the strongest economy. I think some economic forcasters expect Asia to be our largest customer base in years time, but i doubt that..because the US is the biggest energy consumptions... But if they are successful in building the pipelines in Alaska, their demand on Alberta's energy resources will decrease. There, i've nerded out.

BTW..not sure if you are a sistah or a brother..hahahah. Just had to toss out an Amen...hehehe.

Oh for sure..me too. If that time ever came to be, i'd move out of Alberta! But you hear that old "lets seperate" by whining old guard conservatives who, when they don't get their own way, threaten to seperate. Hell, most Albertans ignore them too! But, there is a formal political party that advocates seperation, and as we know all to well by Canada's political history, you never really want to ignore them completely either..ynwim? You can always tell who they are because to them, despite the fact that most albertans are doing better today, and despite the fact that oil prices across the world dropped in the 80's, still bring up the NEP as if it was their Holy Grail! (hahaha). Amen sistah. And for as much as he blows about corruption in the federal Liberal Party, i'm going to wager a guess that there's far more corruptions and handouts in the Alberta Government's PC party than anything. The guy has been unchallenged by even his own members..and if anyone speaks about leadership inquiries or disagrees with him, they move to the back of the pack in a hurry.

You and I must live in different Alberta's than For sure, its a 630 Ched favorite topic for that blowhard Dave Rutherford. But I guess I must just hear about it more than you do. I work with a great deal of conservative minded people, i have family that live in rural areas. I'm not saying its openly talked about out loud..but it is talked about. Otherwise, it wouldn't keep being brought up on the news... and mentioned by Klein as a "possibility he has heard about" when asked in scrums.

hehehe..dude..have you been to Alberta lately? Seperation has become part of our daily dialogue..

ROTFLMAO I was drinking pop when i read that it almost flew out of my nose. Thats hilarious. Thanks for my daily laugh! K..seriously. I live in Edmonton. Its fine. Calgary is fine. From a completely practical point of view..if you live in Montana and have family in Montana, you would probalby want to live in Calgary because it is closer. If thats not an issue, than it comes down to various things. Like whats important to you. Calgary is very much of a conservative business town. I don't say that in a mean way..it just is. Its expanding so much that the price of living there is slightly higher than Edmonton. And yah..it does stay yellow/brownish i think..hahaha. But it is closer to the Rocky Mountains...but Banff is the commercialized part of the Rocky Mountains...where as if you drive 3 hours from Edmonton, you get Jasper..the not so commercialized part of the Rocky Mountains...but...i still like Banff better... Calgary rolls up its street earlier at night...if you go out to the bars and stuff, Edmonton closes their bars and have their "last call later". Plus we are admittedly more cultural and play less into the yeehaw cowboy syndrome. But you can't smoke in Edmontons restaurants or bars. We do have the mall..i live very close there and i like it. But if shopping is not your thing, than its not so much of an appeal. But when you are bored, its good to have it nearby. We also have really good river valley trails and stuff. There are tons of jobs in both cities. The people are nice in both cities. It depends on what you are looking for in a city. Both have their pros and cons. But keep in mind, we have the winninest football team and our hockey team (The Oiles) rock. hahaha. Sports is what divides us! Edmonton also has more festivals to participate in...and they are fun. Either or, you will do ok. If you have specific things you are looking for, ask. Tell us what you are moving her specifically for. If its for jobs..i say both are good. If its for Culture or Education, Edmonton. Calgary for convenience and location.

I have no problem with getting money But i do have a problem in the way its dolled out. Do you give me who pays more than my fair share of taxes 400.00..and give my 8 year old sister (yes..i have a sister 20 years younger than me ) 400.00? She does not work. She does not pay the energy bills. She does not contribute to the society in taxes. Nor does the kids of the lady who has 5 kids.. What they should do, IMO...is give every adult over 18 (because those that work who are under 18 do not pay in goverment taxes) a rebate. But not just a rebate. A rebate based on the percentage of taxes paid to the province as per your income tax return, with a garunteed minimum of 300.00 and maybe 100 extra for each kid if that is the issueto each person (if you didnt have to pay provincial taxes ) So say its a flat rate of um...10%. If you paid 1000 dollars in Provincial tax..you get 500 dollars (the minimum). But if you paid 10000.00 in taxes..you get 1000.00. But my sister should not get the same as me when i pay, and she doenst.

Going away from the left vs right debate for a second... As a moderate voter who votes on the candidate and the party as it suits my needs at the time (yes..my vote has to be earned..its not a given)... I just plain don't like Harper. I am sure he is a nice guy, but he has about the same media appeal as a turnip. That is not to say that he wouldn't do a good job in leading the country. But the fact is that for the majority of people that really don't pay much attention to politics, that don't take the time to get to know a party or its policies, that beleive what they read in opinion peices of page 6 editorials.... Image is everything. I live in Alberta. Alot of people have wondered why conservatives never penetrate the Ontario border. It would be too easy for Conservatives here to say...Ontario voters are stupid. And they do But, if there is even the slight perception that the leader of any party is boring, shifty, an hardcore ideologue, and so on, than they won't win. And i think the biggest thing that stops the conservative party from attaining anythign is the perception, right or wrong, that Harper is a moralist leader and he will pass moral based laws. If people want advice on morality, they will go to their teacher, parents, pastor, reverend or what not. They most certainly do not look to political leaders for moral guidance. For me personally though, i will not vote for a government that is the appearance of the reform party in disguise. I will vote for the Conservatives if its lead by a former PC party person, like Peter McKay though. Its a shame that the PC party as it was dissolved.

Oh..and btw..if you are going to nominate Preston Manning because he developed an political ideology and made a political party out of it, than i guess its only fair to nominate Lucien Bouchard who helped create the Bloc Quebecois? For all its worth, I have met Preston Manning and he is very kind and intellegent in my opinion. He would be a good choice...but i'm just demonstrating how that kind of nomination could be applied to others of the same vein.

This question about who is Canada's best intellectual is absurd. Do you put up an obvious choice who spouts off intellecual thoughts verbatim is the best choice? Or do you measure intellegence by someone who takes their words and actaully applies them in a meaningful way through action? So is the stuffy professor who spouts out a book every semester on the theory of the canadian political sphere any better than the person who comes up with a scientific theory about a disease than goes out and attempts to create a cure? Or the writer who writes a stellar book that becomes standard reading in highschools, helping to prepare the minds of youth for the real world? Or what about the person who says, hey, life sucks, so i'm going to go out and raise awareness about such and such cause and raises bucketloads of money, helping relieve the various strained charitable agencies? Yet one more reason why i think the National Post is intellectual dribble.

Left wing..right wing If one hides behind their political ideology as an excuse to be an idiot, than their arguments have no valid merit. Your question can just as easily be interchanged to ask why any political person who suscribes to an ideology behaves that way, liberal, communist, socialist or otherwise. Irrational blanket statements do not contribute to any meaningful dialogue. Critiquing and ideology is one thing. Blanket statements are another.

I worked at Safeway under UFCW Local 401. We got less after the strike than was offered before hand. The people that crossed the line got the same offer. I who voted for the intial offer felt like I had no choice but to stay out because of the so called "black list" that quite frankly does not exist. I wish i had to choice to belong or not belong. I continued to work for years after, never got anywhere near to full time after 10 years of being at safeway because of senority, despite having a better work ethic than four lazy ass mothers effers above me. So after about 10 years they offered a buyout which was negotiated with the Union. A buyout that was an embarassment at best...was this the best the Union could negotiate? Not even 6 months wages? Puhleese. But i took it because the union did not protect me from almost being fired. Why? Because i let my mom (who lived in the same household) use my airmiles. It wasn't until i personally spoke to the non-unionized Human Resources manager and explained how i live wiht my mother was I able to protect my job...because the union decided i had no case and would not speak on my behalf. The union i payed dues to. So i took the pathetic buyout.... I am now working for a major financial investment firm in the admin section. I realize that yes, my job is not protected, but neither is it protected in a unionized environment. The union cannot prevent a company from closing its doors and economy going to hell in a handbasket. I am full time. I work regular hours. I have Waaaaaaay better benefits than my fulltime counterpart at Safeway. I get regular job performance bonuses. My manger just recently out of his own pocket gave me a 200.00 Costco card for doing extra work on his behalf. Fair compensation. I do not have to negotiate my holidays based on seniority and I have already been given a promotion after two years....based on my own hard work and performance, not on some set senority wage scale. I am far better off financially than my unionized friend and i just recently was able to negotiate my wages. Now i realize that not all people are that lucky in a non-unionized environment. And I realize that in non retail environments unions have a benefit. And i also realize that historically, Unions have initiated changes to better improve working conditions for all. And I am greatful. But what are they doing now? I think Unions need to evaluate themselves in todays society, not some gangster 30's society, and improve their mental approach to employer-employee negotiations. And i think that if there are employees that do not want to become enabled to the whims of their fellow coworkers and be non-unionized, than they should be able to negotiate their own salary and no be given the benefits of their unionized coworker. Therefore they do not need to pay to the union.

I just want to say that this is a great site!I have been looking at it for a while and have fianally decided to join up. But i do have a few questions. I am a moderator on a military girlfriends/wives support board (that is also powered by Invision). I notice that you cannot post avatars or signatures on this board. Will we be able to do this at some point? I can definately understand if that is no though. Bandwidth is expensive enough!!! And secondly, I notice too that there is no off topic forum where we can get to know each other beyond the political sphere. Have you given any thought to adding such a forum? I notice that some member get quite..um..heated with each other and maybe its a good idea to get to know the people behind the thought? Its just a suggestion, but either way, this is a great forum!

Maybe this is time where we reevaluate the Indian Affairs Act, that might have worked in the 60's but clearly does not work now. Perhaps it is time to dismantle the concept of Indian Reserve. I have always wondered why aboriginals need to live on the land they are entitled to. Could they not live off the land but lease the land to the private sector and collect money from them, instead of the government, but on their own terms? And the royalties from that land leasing split amongst the aborginals wherever they may live.... Should we not enable aboriginals who live on the reserve to be self sufficient? I am sorry, but I should not have to be told to leave if the water is yellow and making my kid sick. That would be something i would hopefully take my own initive on. On the other hand, would the government wait so long if this water was like that in a..um..how should we word this...caucasian neighborhood?

I think maybe its too easy to expect the exact same deal be extended to a provice that has a quarter of the population than Quebec? Perhaps what they are asking for works out so that that province (in this case New Brunswick) gets more funding per person than any other person? So before i offer any more comments or blanket statements, what exactly is Bernard Lord asking for? I would hate to label our governement as authoritarian or assymetrical before I evaluate the facts.

Hi all! My name is Danielle, I am 28 and from Edmonton. I do not belong to any political party, rather I vote for the candidate that will best represent my interests and for the party that I agree with at the time. So in the time I have been able to vote, my votes have been pretty evenly split between conservative and liberal. Yes...my vote has to be earned...hahaha. Ok..back to the topic. In all honesty, does it matter? Why should the tax payer have to foot the bill for his validation tour? Does he really need to come to Canada to validate the new wife? Do we have to pay for it? In the big scheme of life, Canada has way more important things to worry about than hurting the feelings of royalty. Hi..nice to meet you! In all due respect, the only obligation we have is to welcome the sitting monarch, which in this case is HRH Queen Elizabeth II and her spouse HRH Prince Philip. The obligation does not extend to royal family members. Its something nice we occasionally do..but until Charles becomes King we are not obligated to host him.