Wilber

I'm assuming it was no mistake because they named it after HMS Endeavour, Captain Cooks ship on his first voyage. Wasn't aware of the launch pad faux pas.

jennie I'm curious. What human rights do indigeonous people not have under the law that other Canadians do? Forget treaty rights, treaties are agreements made between individiul bands and the government. They are not human rights.

I don't know what the big deal is with o and ou. We do it differently thats all. The use of ou in words such as favour, honour and labour is something we still do the same way as the British. But so what, it's just spelling. There are probably as many dialects of English spoken in the British Isles as there are in North America. Which one is correct? Americans inherited their language and common law from Britain whether they like to admit it or not. English in all its different forms is the closest thing there is to a world language. There are two reasons for that, the first of course is the British Empire and the second is American influence in the world since WW2. Out of all the English speakers in the world it would be interesting to see how many use o or ou.

Happy Labour Day to you to.

I would hope Canada will be judged on its actions not empty declarations that are supposedly not binding. Look around, human rights have very little to do with doing business. Much of what we buy in our stores is made by people who's human rights pale in comparison to Canadians, indigenous or otherwise.

Good, I'm against anything that spells out rights for particular groups of people. All humans should have the same rights and the same protections regardless of what group they may belong to, no more, no less.

How does one country stop the UN from making a declaration unless it is a permanent member of the Security Council which Canada is not?

If they are already in effect why have a declaration if not in an attempt to bind people to its contents? It's like Harper acknowledging the Quebecois as a nation. I don't agree with it but I can see why he would do it for political reasons because he has to get elected in Canada. Why bind himself to anything for a bunch of agitators in New York. Nothing in it for him or Canada thank you very much. Actually there was a new treaty ratified by the Tswassen band in BC this spring. A very lucrative one for the band I would add. It's going to take a long time but we can solve our own problems.

From BC School Act Seems like a reasonable compromise to me.

When I see a demonstration, the first thing I ask is who is demonstrating and why. I could care less if it is against Canada, at the UN or anywhere else. The government which signed the treaty made little or no attempt to abide by it in the ten years they had the power to do so. Which is more dishonest, that or admitting that we cannot live up to those obligations? I don't know about you jennie but when I make a declaration in front of people, I consider it binding. If you consider it OK to make declarations that you don't consider binding just to avoid criticism from people who won't have to live with the results of that declaration, that's your problem. I for one am glad we have a government that is not prepared to do that on the international stage.

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Personally I am glad that Canada is taking it's own approach to both environmental and aboriginal issues. Far better than making airy fairy commitments to look good on the international stage in the short term which have no teeth and will only make it more difficult to solve Canada's own problems. We would look better now if we had been honest by standing up and saying that there was no way we could meet the Kyoto targets. Chretien took the brownie points because he knew he wouldn't have to take responsibility and someone else would end up with the problem. Harper is just being honest about Canada's real position rather than just blowing smoke to make himself look good to people who are not going to have to deal with Canada's internal problems. jennie, IMO a declaration differs from a treaty only to people who are not in the habit of keeping their word. I hope he doesn't cave.

I don't. We ask these people to put their lives at risk on our behalf. I think it is fair that we give them the best tools we can so that they have a decent chance to do the jobs we give them and live to tell about it. We keep yelling to the world about how wonderful we are but continually cheap out on the people we depend upon for our security and to do our dirty work.

Interesting take from a woman, considering that under the Taliban she would have no access to any forum and would quite possibly forfeit her life for speaking her mind in public.

Is that how you feel about our military? Just a bunch of guys and gals playing with expensive toys?

I am very familiar with Lefevre road where this took place. It is a north south rural road with mostly farms on both sides. Lefevre is just out side the GVRD and as a result there are a couple of very busy gas stations on the corner of Lefevre and Fraser Highway because they are not subject to the extra GVRD taxes. The road is not heavily traveled. The speed limit is 60K but 80+ is closer to normal speeds traveled and higher is common. It is slightly rolling in places so if the procession was just over the crest of one of these rises I can see something like this happening. If there was a mistake made it was allowing the people onto the road before the escort car was in place.

Wouldn't count on it. In the first 11 months of 2006, Chinese pasenger car sales were 3.41 million, up 40% over the previous year. Total vehicle sales were 6.45 million, up 25.5%. The same can be said for India to a lesser degree. The world has changed.

Not at all. You interpret our attachment to our water as anti Americanism. It's fear of losing control of something so fundamental and its possible effect on the country. I don't know how rational that is but it is real. It's only because the US is the logical destination. Americans have fears that don't seem rational to us as well.

aOne wonders. Considering the isolationist sentiment in the US at the time, if Japan had just attacked British, French and Dutch colonial possessions in South East Asia, it might not have been enough to drag the US into the war at that time.

You have it backwards, if people invest in something whether it is Canada or anything else, it is because of what they want.

Sure you aren't talking about the US lately?

No, you will just be sharing whatever problems that arise out of taking too much water from the lakes as you already do with anything that effects the Great Lakes in a negative manner. I wasn't aware it was charity but even more reason to be very careful when it comes to the possibility of giving up control of our water resources.

It's the political equivalent of the old sandbox, "do it my way or I will pick up my ball and take it home". It can't go on. One day they will have to be called on it and we will all have to live with the result. It's inevitable, you can't have one part of the country continually holding the rest hostage to the threat of leaving. It will only work until those being held hostage finally get fed up with it.

It is not a disappearing resource, it is being renewed all the time. It is being used at a greater rate than it is being renewed in some parts of the world but it is definitely not disappearing. Just ask those who are getting hit by Hurricane Danny. It ain't raining salt water. Canada has a small population and the majority of the worlds fresh water. There is no way we will be able to hoard it while the rest of the world increasingly goes thirsty. We will have to try and ensure its use by others doesn't drastically effect our environment.