betsy

Speaking of priorities, I am actually questioning Dion's priorities. And your priorities for that matter! Dion cannot plead ignorance since he believes that we are already on the brink of getting into deficit , and yet he keeps coming up with all these grandiose plans! It would've been credibly great if he pursues only one grandiose scheme. Let's say just offer this drug plan. Then it's believable. Perhaps you should read all of my replies. Yes the plan does sounds excellent since probably everyone will end up needing an expensive drug sometime in our lifetime. But that's all it is right now....something that sounds excellent! So answer this: Dion says, thanks to Harper we're in pretty bad shape right now, deficit-wise....then how is he going to afford all these plans?

Partisanship-aside, take stock how much spending Dion is talking about. Most of his schemes are universal in nature. Just with the Green Shift alone, with all the multiple spendings that will fall under this plan: calculator for each and every household, research and development, subsidies, beaurocrats that will be formed, etc.., UNIVERSAL child care. Cutting 50% child poverty in just 5 years! Who doesn't dream of ending poverty. But how can this realistically be do-able? Education grant for mostly everyone. Who wouldn't want to see our young people get their education...but again, how can this be do-able? Catastrophic drug plan. Their fight against crime! Gun registry, social programs for youth, more police.... Etc.., All of these at a time when there is economic uncertainty! What more, Dion knows and ardently believe that deficit-wise, we are in pretty bad shape. Then why would he keep making promises that would mean humonguous spendings? It's bad enough that he'll knowingly and deliberately drive us to our knees with all these....and what for? For half-baked plans they've SCRAMBLED to put together!

Excellent perhaps, IF properly implemented. IF we can afford it. With all these big plans of Dion (Green Shift, Universal child care, Education, Catastrophic drug plan, Child poverty, resurrection of the gun registry, etc..,), there is a big possibility we go bust. We'll end up worse off than we are now. Isn't he saying that we are now on the brink of being back into deficit? If so, why all these grandiose plans? Where is he going to get the money?

Can't they come up with a better name than that? It's one thing for it to be used by insurance companies....but when you're on a campaign trail, trying to sell the idea and you know political opponents will try to shoot it down, why provide the opportunity? Especially when the party is well-known for boondagles, this name really invites mockery. It can easily be twisted about to mean something else, like a catastrophic drug plan. Jane Taber described what she saw and sensed in the campaign plane. She said the Liberals are so dis-organized. Nobody seems to know what they're doing. It may seem petty to be taking issue with a name. But it is telling. It speaks volumes.

May was interviewed on CPAC today. Yes, she'll raise the GST. And yes, her green plan is similar to the Green Shift because according to her, the Liberals copied her plan.

Funny how the media were talking that Dion apparently runs the whole campaign. He decides on everything. And I tend to believe that. His English is bad. It's reflecting on the names of projects/policies that he approves. This names wre not coined by marketing experts. Btw, not one media described him in such an inflammatory description like what they did to Harper. Not one media ever labelled Dion as CONTROLLING.

Smallc and Bryan, you're missing my point. I'm not talking about whether it is a good plan or not.....but judging from the lack of planning on how they chosed to name that plan, "CATASTROPHIC Drug Plan," I'm not surprised at all if the whole policy is based on that: lack of planning. In other words, Harper was just stating facts that the Liberals are making up new policies as they go along. That's what's so scary about the Liberals. Their desperation. To promise whatever it takes to win. And if they win, they'll be playing with taxpayers' money and you can be sure, it'll be another boondagle...and this time....catastrophic boondagle. Well, at least we can't say that Dion did not warn us. After all, he described his plan as such: Catastrophic.

When I heard the newscaster saying the Liberals have announced their catastrophic drug plan....well I assumed the newscaster was just repeating what critics had been saying - that this new plan is a catastrophy! Catastrophic Drug Plan? Who wants that? It's just another proof that shows how the Liberals are making new policies on the fly, their policies are as half-baked or ill-concieved as the names that they come up with. First was the use of the name "Green Shift." For something supposedly so important, that was supposed to be the main focus of their platform, no one even had the presence of mind to check if they can use the name. Second, something about the "Green Farms Farm" which Dion mentioned while explaining the details of his Green Shift vision. And now, this Catastrophic Drug Plan.

I'll watch the Sarah-Joe debate too and just catch the Canadian replay on CPAC.

If I'm not mistaken he meant we should be there in spirit...as a moral support to our neighbor and our allies.

It is mostly because of everything mentioned in the various choices above. And the result is that he is simply not leader material. Of course it doesn't help that he is a Liberal, and the Liberal Party is showing that it is so dis-organized. The Green Shift only underlined their lack of planning. I see that they'd do anything just so to get back into power....even at the cost of plunging our economy into chaos. And that's really scary.

Montreal Climate Change Conference is about KYOTO! Where's the conflict??? In fact, the usual followers from Dion to Layton to May have been beside themselves with worry, screeching with panic over not meeting UN's demands regarding this! Anyway, for all the grand posturing, didn't the emission actually go up under Dion's watch? Well Harper's been insisting we have to be realistic in setting a target for this. That's what he's been saying all along. The three followers had accused Harper of being a "saboteur" of Kyoto....because Harper won't dance to the tune! And now I notice that lately Dion's not mentioning the word, Kyoto. Layton hasn't been uttering the word, Kyoto. And May's been mum about the word, Kyoto. So there you go. Just shows you, Harper is a leader!

Did we go to war over that Francophonie conference?

Suggest and hope its argument sways other world leaders. And if these other world leaders don't get swayed? We get swayed instead? "If you can't lick em, join em?" Go along to get along? That's not leadership! Liberal PMs may think and operate that way....but I long for a PM with a backbone to stand on his principles! I want my PM to lead! And Harper had clearly demonstrated that! And you said it right, we are a member of G8. We are one of the most wealthiest, industrialized and generous nations in the world! WE SHOULD HAVE A SAY! "At a summit of 53 Francophone countries last week, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper showed what it means to be a great power. Standing alone on principle, Canada forced the conference to introduce a modicum of balance into a lopsidedly anti-Israel statement on the recent war in Lebanon." http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid...ticle%2FPrinter

I cringe at the amount of dollars Dion is promising: They're all MAJOR spendings! UNIVERSAL daycare. Universal! This is a mammoth spending! It will go way, way beyond that boondagle called the Gun Registry that ate up billions. CARBON TAX! Our bills on our groceries, heating etc.. which are NECESSITIES will all go up! Why do you think people from BC are angry? Because they'd seen their bills! Calculators for each and every household. Yesterday, he's talking about green mortgages (I didn't even want to know)! Of course he'll raise our taxes! He has to.

And what is this "This is Dion" site but just a scripted video take to show that he's not "Mr Bean", but a macho outdoor guy? They're desperately toughening his weak image. UN leadership? Dion???? He was just one of the official "Yes Guy" of the UN!!! A very rich...and generous "Yes Guy." That's a typical "fan boy" of the UN! Just like the other followers like Layton and May, awed by this group mostly comprised of dictators and corrupt leaders! Nothing new there. No stellar performance there! How difficult can it be to say Yes? All it takes is just a simple up and down motion of the head. Then brags at home "we are accepted and highly regarded in the UN." No kidding. Failed to explain that this highly priced acceptance came with passing grade on the first question: "What's in your wallet?" "One of the gang?" Yes. A leader? No.

Everyday mothers can relate with her. The media and opponents had used her teenage daughter's pregnancy to attack her. Just look around you. How many mothers are there on this planet that face the problem of having an unwed young daughter pregnant? Attacking Palin and making it seem that somehow she is a failure as a mom for this reason....is giving the same message to all the other moms. And I'm just curious....I wonder how many Democrat moms have young unwed pregnant daughters compared to Republican moms? Liberal-thinking moms to Conservative-thinking moms? I'm talking pre-abortion census.

I never entertained the idea that Dion is not nice. But I don't see him as a leader. And that's with or without the Conservative ads. He simply doesn't have the qualitites required for a leader. He looks weak. He talks weak. He acts weak. At the Liberal Leadership Nomination, its should have been ABCD....ANYONE BUT CERTAINLY not DION.

We're a small country because we've been thinking small for the past fifty years. We talk "big"..."from sea to sea to sea..." but that's just platitudes. Liberals think small! We're talking about vulnerability! It's not what we've been told. It's being vulnerable to being told! Anyway, remember the DEW LINE in the North? That's basically an example. The entrepreneurship in this country is stifled from the get go. How do you expect us to compete when wings are clipped? It's the attitude that's clipping our wings! We want to be looked after. Everything should be done for us...we want everything to be controlled. And the Liberals had taken advantage of this attitude. If we're not adjacent to the US, we'd probably be just another Denmark or Finland or Sweden. Yes the US has an open immigration policy...but it's a melting pot over there! Successful immigrants in the US are the ones who assimilate....not the ones who "retain their identity." Just like the successful immigrants here who assimilated. Here, they are vigorously encouraged NOT to assimilate. Anyway, speaking of identities....What? Do we all need a "label?" This is like the attitude of a kid prancing about with spiked purple hairs. This is not all about the military. I gave you various points explaining what you asked me to explain. We're talking about Harper! And how he had successfully made Quebec separation irrelevant in just 2 years of being in office. Actually it speaks so well of Harper. Imagine what several PMs had tried to do over the years...and Harper clinched it in just two! The NDP should be thankful to Harper for opening the door to their chance in Quebec. Sepeartion has stifled us for so long. Now, Quebecers can truly choose from all the parties vying for votes without the usual pressure of separatism. We all feel as one and as one we should proceed to move on. ...in where? When? Let me re-phrase my question again: When was the last time a Prime Minister of Canada stood up to world leaders to insist on his own demand, AND GOT THE WORLD LEADERS AGREEING TO HIS DEMAND?

Blueblood and JDobbin, A competent military that is able to defend our nation ourselves. We had that at the end of world war two but down the road, we unified our armed forces. We haven't got the resources to defend ourselves in the north. We rely from the USA. It leaves us vulnerable to being told what to do by the USA. We've let our economy be resource-based instead of using our own resources to building our own manufacturing industry in various areas. Our main manufacturing industry in Canada are mostly off-shoot from the US, not that there's anything wrong with that but that's all we've got. We didn't really set up our own. We pursued an "open-door " immigration policy for our country despite evidences that shows it is the wrong way to go....instead of basing our immigration policy on our internal needs. We spent the most part of the last 50 years arguing whether we should have two countries instead of one. For those of you liberals who loves "co-relations" inspite of the fact that they're often meaningless, here's one that fits: Liberals have led to Canada's demise. Harper seems to be trying to take us out of that hole. Just look at what's happening in Quebec. All of a sudden, Bloc is nothing. For the first time in such a long time, separation is not an issue. When was the last time before Stephen Harper that a PM stood up before world leaders and stuck to his position?

I mean reaching the full potentials. Becoming a real significant major player in the world stage.

Well, the Sarah-mania continues so far. This time, women are calling for a boycott of anything OPRAH! TV show, magazines, endorsements! The leader of the Republican women-something (can't remember the name), was interviewed on the celebrity show Insider yesterday and she said she's been getting tons of emails not only from Republicans, but also from Democrats, supporting the call for boycott. Oprah had allegedly torpedoed the suggestions of her staff to have Sarah Palin on her show. Women are accusing her of being biased, that since Oprah's core audience are women, Palin should've been invited to the show!

I cannot understand French so I am not sure if this issue had already been mentioned in any of the french articles above. Charest is supporting Harper. Dumont(?) from the other conservative paryy (ADQ?) is also supporting Harper. And today, there will be a scoop from La Presse announcing that a prominent former Bloc minister had stated that Bloc is now irrelevant, and that he is going to vote for Harper.

If Harper gets his majority, he'll do much more for Canada. I think he envisions how it should've been after the second world war...how Canada should've been up there, if not much more, with the US, Britain and Australia.

The Liberals are going to increase the gas tax by 7cents per liter on top of the 4 cents making it a total of 11 cents! This was being discussed at MDuffy.