blueblood

I haven't seen any go broke, if I roll into a casino I'll get treated like dirt, if Brad Pitt rolls in it's a different story. They can afford not to have my business if I don't dance to their music. Canada doesn't have infinite resources. I'd like for the Euro's to play nice, but they have proven they don't. If they don't then mine and other's business goes down south or out east.

The ag retailers have their big whales, because they pay, pay well and are a reliable gold mine. When Europe proves they are whale material, they can play too, so far I haven't seen much for helping their cause. And if Europe dances to our tune then fine. But Europeans are historically a pain in the ass. The Americans still have a very well run economy and will soon be out of this mess when the market corrects itself.

The US can turn the tap off on us, they did it with BSE because of health issues, why don't they ban GMO's? Hence the beef with Europe. They don't play fair. I'd like an agreement, but judging how Europe does business I am skeptical. The Pacific rim is a much bigger market than the EU, then there is India and potentially Africa when they get their act together. Europe is a shitshow as far as trade issues are concerned, the asians have also been really good to us, better than the europeans and no nafta style treaty to boot. I agree with the animal lovers, tit for tat as far as I'm concerned. I'd say the more better customers I have the better off I am. Hence why casinos in vegas and ag retailers have their "whales". I like my big whale down south and the big whale out east, Europe has a ways to go.

We also export to the US, they let us import GMO's, the Europeans shut the door. Even though the US subsidizes, they have been a much better ag market than Europe. I can send a B train of roundup ready to the states no problem, Europe is a different story.

Lets see, their import ban on GMO's, their ridiculous subsidies to agriculture which results in extremely cheap European grain to flood the world market putting 3rd world ag producers out of business and hurting Canadian ag producers. Their sky high tariffs regarding ag imports from Canada. We have a much better deal with the Americans in terms of agriculture than the europeans. As for the seals, bullet holes don't make for nice fur coats. Bullets cost money and gun ownership in Canada is a quagmire. Who knows, maybe clubbing them is humane, how do I know, I'm not a sealer. Trying to impose trade action because killing seals is cruel is proposterous, yet they are allowed to torture bulls in Spain in stadiums. This is how Europeans do business, stupidly. We have a much more productive and lucarative deal with the US and the Pacific Rim. As far as I'm concerned Europe can smarten up or go fly a kite.

In terms of agriculture, the Europeans have really screwed us over. Then there's the seals and god knows what else.

This is one funny thing about the Ontario prov. gov't. Only in Ontario can a company who's sold out of product, shut down a factory. That company being John Deere, they're sold out of machinery and can't make it fast enough yet they shut down an Ontario factory. That tells me Ontario has an ass backwards business policy that is in major need of retooling.

I hope Fortier gets a good deal because the Europeans are snake oil salesmen when it comes to free trade. Europe activly screws Canada over on a regular basis when it comes to trade, we are much better expanding our trade with the US.

The minister can say whatever the hell he wants, we in Canada do have a right to free speech. However Harper has the right to can him and his constituents have the right to vote him out of office. I'd rather have an ass than a sloth. I will take this opportunity to appreciate the freedoms I have on the farm and how much more civilized it is than other parts of the country.

The fear factor of a Harper majority must still exist.

That's for Harper to decide when he picks cabinet ministers. No public input needed there. If Harper and Ritz's constituents thought he did a good job, that's all ritz has to impress. I don't know why you aren't skewering the health minister as well, this is partly his baby too.

just like ontario has a real prize with some of theirs.

This is Gerry Ritz we are talking about, he makes tasteless comments on a regular basis. That's his character, he publically called the CWB supporters the tinfoil hat wearing crowd. Comments like his don't surprise me in the least. Are they tasteless? yes. I would be taking whatever this guy says with a grain of salt. I'd far rather have someone who is an ass that does a good job then the nicest guy in the world who is lazier than a sloth.

I will give you that, you support a type of gov't who wants higher taxes and you don't mind paying high taxes. I'll respect that postition. My position is on the contrary to yours but I believe that in the end both sides want the same thing.

You are also well aware of the razor thin profit margins and operating loans farmers have to deal with. There are some farmers that are poor, there is no denying that, there are some that have done well for themselves, myself included. You also have to remember when the farmer inherits the farm, he has to either buy it out or bankroll his parents retirement which can be very expensive. Then there are some immigrants who come over and others who start one up from scratch. There are some who are good managers, and some who are bad managers. I don't see why you have a problem with established wealth, they volunteer, spend money, and pay taxes like everyone else. Why do you want to punish people for getting ahead? What if your business took off and you became a millionaire, would that make you a bad person and should you be gouged?

Yes they don't pay as much income tax as you'd like them to, they buy that expensive stuff because what else are they going to spend their money on. They aren't evading taxes, they pay huge sales taxes which aren't income taxes but taxes nonetheless. Would you rather they run junk, not stimulate the economy, and send half of what they make to the government, just because they do well? Why bother then? The sales tax on machinery and property tax on land is more than the average wage earner's income tax deductions. Some of the most wealthy people in my community are oilfield workers who happen to be wage earners. You seem to be forgetting that those assets are either actively being taxed or had the sales tax paid. By the way those new combines are 400,000 dollars. Why shouldn't the farmer be getting that kind of money, he's smart enough and is working hard enough to go get it. There is nothing stopping wage earners from starting up businesses and making the big bucks too. wage earners are wage earners because they don't want to take risks and go the extra mile.

I don't want government to cover my losses, I want the gov't to create a business friendly environment which has happened recently. How the hell am I avoiding paying taxes when we have the sales taxes on machinery, property taxes on land, and even more sales tax on inputs, and then whatever is left as income is taxed. That is the weakest argument i've seen from you. Not only that, me spending money helps out the wage earners at the implement dealership. I suggest enrolling at the U of M and taking some economics and commerce courses.

I lived on worse than minimum wage during the late 90's, do you remember the farm income crisis? That program would have been very beneficial at that point in time. You also have to remember that without the businessman/entrepreneur, your precious wage earner does not have a job and is really up the creek. Also if the company doesn't have a healthy profit margin, then the company has no business existing. Being wealthy doesn't just happen, it takes a lot of hard work and smarts. Remember money is easy come easy go. Punishing a business is the failed experiment that happened in the USSR and we all know what happens there. The business man does have it rougher than the employees, he has to keep his employees happy so they come to work the next day, he has to make money to pay the bills, live on, and pay for the employees, he takes all the risk in managing the business and making desicions. All the employee does is show up for work and do his time. That's not out of touch with reality, that's simple logic.

theoretically speaking, using your logic, if I moved to Russia and became a russian citizen, should I logically be running their government down and how they do things down? No, I don't think so, I chose to live there and I would be a hypocrite. It is the big neighbour down south that is providing a market for your job. You have the fundamental right to denounce them, but logically you chose to move to a place where we depend on the US. As BC2004 says, you voted with your feet. I won't drop the moving here, it is the centre piece of my argument, choosing to move here for a better life and trashing us is extremely offensive to native Canadians, especially this one who not only contributes big tax dollars, spending big dollars improving the economy, and helping stock the grocery store and fuel pumps so Canadians don't have to grow gardens and worry about food and fuel. Someone like Myata has a stronger case to trash the west as a person who lives here as this individual couldn't help being born here, however I still believe this person is also a hypocrite. In your case, you chose to come here and it defies logic that you trash the west and it's policies. You also have to realize with choices come tradeoffs. I would have as much right to trash russia if i move there as you have the right to trash the west as you moved here.

I love it when workers try to play the I pay more tax than me game. I run a 2000 acre grain farm that will gross approx 1 mill this year. My GST will be higher than your income tax deductions. Here's what you need to realize, you can say whatever you want no argument there, I however can also say whatever I want. When I call someone a hypocrite that is not a personal attack, I am reading what they say and am calling BS. I agree and disagree with both DrGreenthumb and JDobbin on a regular basis, however they are consistent and it makes for an interesting and challenging debate. As for you being a hypocrite, I will prove it again, you have moved to Canada and enjoy our high standard of living which came about due to our financial accumen and foreign policy, yet you bitch and complain about how evil the west is and how inferior it is compared to the USSR, yet the USSR failed. You have the fundamental right to complain, everyone does, however you must realize that when you move to a country that embraces the values you despise and you have a better life than the former USSR, when you spout how inferior the west is and how evil it is. As for growing up, if you can't tell the difference between logical/ethical rights and fundamental rights, we know who needs to do the growing up. In other words you moving here from the USSR and doing better than you could ever do in the USSR does not give you the logical/ethical right to run Canada down and tout that the USSR/Russia is better than the West; your argument loses credibility and you become a hypocrite. Fundamentally you can run down Canada and the West to your heart's content, our policy enables you the right to do that whereas in the USSR you don't have that right. Let me put it this way, myself and Drgreenthumb have a night and day position on marijuana use, if I were to suddenly start "enjoying" the "benefits" of pot smoking and still continue my position on it, Drgreenthumb would rightly call me a hypocrite and hand me my ass. Your entitled to an opinion, but whether or not is credible is not a right. If that is a personal attack, I suggest a visit to a therapist.

That is funny. I'll commence to shovelling in october...

Yet not as dumb as the NDP screw the entrepreneur platform. The EI program gets abused by workers as well, why should entrepreneurs who pay the employees EI (deducted from paycheck) not be allowed to access it. There are lots of small business owners who could benefit from this should an unforseen disaster happen. But then small business would get ahead and the NDP would have a bird. But then that's why 85 percent of Canadians think the NDP is a crock.

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dp

I'd like to see those who say the Greens are centrist make that claim after the release of this platform.