blueblood

It's the same logic as if you never did anything wrong you don't have anything to hide. This brings accountability and gives a much better excuse to do a better job. That is a problem with appointed people in gov't jobs, they can screw up and the chances of getting canned are small. In a private outfit, you screw up and its can time. Judges, civil servants, etc. should be able to get in trouble even be fired.

Well considering there is a good size pipe underneath the field supplying one house, I'm wondering if the pipe could run some more, but compressors are obviously still needed. -20 today and It's a balmy 25 inside, and it's not that garbage oil/natural gas type heat which I can't get any sleep off of. Sure beats going out to the bush to get wood, although I do miss the exercise, but gas is too expensive to go get it. No expensive baseboards either.

I didn't pay 20K for mine, I just make the payments on the little program offered by MB hydro. I don't agree with Dobbin on much, but he's right as far as geothermal is concerned. We get 40 below for a lot of time during the winter and the geotherm keeps up. I don't know how the soil is in Southern Ont/PQ, but if you own a home and a decent size yard in MB, it pays. I wonder if they can rig up something in WPG, with a communal sort of pipe, all under say the sidewalk or something and have it piped to individual homes/appts instead of everyone having all sorts of uneccesary pipe.

From reading this, it appears that the law in Canada is very finicky and full of loopholes that both sides can exploit. For example, in my younger days I used to work security at some events. There is a problem of people sneaking stuff in. Legally you can't up and frisk them at the door. To my understanding, I would ask them if I could search them, if they say no, they don't get into the event and I don't get in trouble. Lesson from the anecdote, the cops have to dot their I's and cross their T's when searching. But if they find something, the case shouldn't get thrown out, the cop should instead catch major crap and be punished.

Ho hum Geothermal energy = best thing since sliced bread, power bill even when paying the damn thing off is reduced in half. If you have an older house and plan on setting up shop for a while, it is a wise investment. As for that individual from princeton in the McCleans mag, he needs to go to his Alma Mater and ask for a refund and take a basic algebra course. He's bitching and complaining about fertilizer etc for ethanol, well I mean honest to God does he think that just because it isn't ethanol that we are all going to stop using fertilizer. That guy believes that farmers should be bloody serfs giving their crops away so city people can have cheap food that they're "entitled" to, he has as much credibility in agriculture as that fool Wayne Easter. What that ivory tower phd doesn't realize is that the economy of the west is going to be much more sustainable now that there is another profitable industry other than oil. Having an extremely profitable ag sector is very good for our economy, and helps out significantly if our extremely inefficient unionized manufacturing sector goes in the toilet. If high food prices are such a pain in the ass, there is nothing stopping people from growing their own food. Also high food prices helps out the economy in developing countries as it makes their ag sector profitable and gives out jobs. Instead of us flooding their market and putting their farmers out of business, lets let them have a go at it and make some money too. I for one am happy that I have money to spend, don't have to be running old junk anymore, can afford to have a safer working environment, and I can actually contribute instead of watching others go hat in hand for shitty Wayne Easter Christmas presents.

Well when the English for their entire history of being England have been kicking ass on a regular basis have earned that privelege.

They didn't fail, they let them keep their homes/businesses, language, and religion, that's pretty fair for a conquered people if you ask me. Should they have sold them into slavery, bayonetted them, or burned them alive in churches? No They could have done that, but chose wisely not to.

Laugh of the day, see above post. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

It says alot about the electorate of Manitoba when you have to bend the way of supporting cop killers to win votes

So it's only a fair trial if the jury is stacked with Riel supporters??? I'll hold my nose the same way you do when Liberal MP David McGuinty suggests a 10% ethanol deal. It's sad when we have been taught that it's acceptable to kill mounties/soldiers to make a political point, and god forbid you disagree with it, because you'd need that mentallity to win an election in Manitoba.

I think the OP missed one; it is wrong for the police and army to use the appropriate force they are entitled to, but when they are killed themselves we honor the man who was responsible for this with a stat. holiday in Manitoba.

The time when Canada took over is up for debate then, it was transferred in 1869, they just paid later like people do with other things. I think it happened in 1869 and the link says so, you think it happened in 1870 and the link says so, but if the money was paid before March 4th, then the debate is over. Canada let Manitoba become a province, I'll let my point stand. I find it funny when left wing minded people who denounce violence by gov't forces find it perfectly acceptable to commit violence to soldiers and policemen. Celebrating Louis Riel day is a slap in the face to the RCMP and the Canadian Army. Manitoba and the West in fact would also be a different place had the NWMP and Army not came over here, you and I might not be around for that matter of fact. link But you want to celebrate a man who was responsible for the deaths of some of these brave people. The Mounties were ambushed/killed in battle, along with Canadian soldiers. Pulling a stunt like that gets you charged with high treason among other things. Martin Luther King didn't resort to killing. Riel's trial in Regina is more fair than the one he would have got in Winnipeg

link I beg to differ. According to this the land belonged to Canada at the time of Scott's murder. Riel went and signed his name in the registrar under disguise. He made the trip, he can sit in his seat. My beef isn't with Riel being a historical figure in the province of Manitoba, which he is. My beef is that we as a civilized society are celebrating someone who is responsible for murdering a political opponent and responsible for the deaths of Canadian soldiers and mounted policemen (which resulted in a conviction of high treason) and unilateraly declared a government not subordinate to the government of Canada. Sam Steele, who is buried in a cemetary in Winnipeg is far more deserving a day in his memory than a traitor, a murderer, and a mountie killer. The government of Canada is just as responsible for Manitoba becoming a province.

Except that Manitoba was already the property of Canada purchased from the HBC. If Canada wants to put soldiers there because some madman is executing his political opponents, that's not only their right, it's their responsibility. If your from Winnipeg and you feel that they got the short end of the stick so bad, put your money where your mouth is and cough up your house, I know some Metis families who would like a house in Winnipeg on the cheap. That last point is pure speculation. If you want to honor somebody who kills mounties to achieve political goals that's your cross to bear. Martin Luther King didn't kill any police officers or soldiers to get his agenda through, he gets his day and rightly so. Was Riel an important figure in Canadian history, yes he was. Does he deserve a day, no. There are other more famous people buried in Winnipeg who deserve it.

Look, Riel was a convicted traitor in a fair trial and was responsible for the deaths of mounties/soldiers. Celebrating someone who is responsible for that is ridiculous. How many American soldiers and policemen were Martin Luther King responsible for killing? I'm happy he gets his day, he fought for the rights of black people in a responsible, brave, and dignified way which in the end made a huge difference. Did Martin Luther King execute someone who disagreed with him? HBC owned the land sold it to Canada, and the gov't of Canada at the day has any right to do with it as they see fit. Riel was also an elected MP, he shafted himself by not going to Ottawa and making his point there. There was also a great chance that Alberta and Sask could have as well. Why would they stop at Manitoba? If Riel wouldn't have executed Thomas Scott and was not responsible for the deaths of those mounties/soldiers (which helps in that he was a convicted traitor), didn't set up in Batoche with his wannabe country, then he would be a hero and rightly so, but the fact of the matter is that he did those things and celebrating someone who does that is revolting and I equate it to going to Regina and dancing on the graves of those mounties who gave their lives bringing this criminal to justice.

Why did the army come, because Louis Riel executed Thomas Scott who disagreed with him. Riel fired the first shot. When you not only set up a provisional government/claim sovereignty from Canada and start executing people who disagree with you, you bet your ass the army is coming. Then there is Riel's little adventure in Batoche, where the Mounties were ambushed and killed.

Wrong, the Mounties came and set up forts all along the former Northwest Territores (Sask and Alberta) to prevent that from happening, all that would happen is another fort. Without the Great March west, it was figured that the Americans would get farther North than the 49th.

The attitude that convicted traitors, murderers, and mountie/soldier killers should not have a day named after them is not an Ontario attitude, it's just common sense. It's also the attitude of rural Manitobans with a British Heritage (which isn't very much people anymore) Why not have James Roszko day? He's an inspiration to low lifes everywhere. If it was their land, where was their deeds? It was also HBC land sold to the gov't. Riel didn't recognize that he was subordinate to the gov't of Canada and paid the price, so did Canadian soldiers and Mounties.

My feelings about Riel aren't about those items you mention, it is the fact that he is a convicted traitor, murderer, and a mountie killer, the facts speak for themselves. I also live near a Metis community, and get along with them great and some have done very well for themselves. I have no problem with them, I do have a problem with making a hero out of somebody who kills people who don't agree with them, commit treason, and kill Canadian mounties and soldiers. He was a member of parliament and that wasn't good enough for him, he had to set up provisional governments. His stand at Batoche is similar to Waco in Texas.

I have a question, are the Toyota, Nissan, etc. (Japanese/foreign owned) auto plants in Canada unionized by the CAW? I was wondering because there sure are a few popping up and I know those Toyota Tundras can't fit in a crate. If these plants were not unionized then it would appear old Buzz is on crack as since the market share is slipping from the big 3, the workers are now working at non-unionized plants.

Any leader of the Russians would have taken on the bulk of Germany's military. Russia throughout history is the largest quagmire in the world, ask Napoleon how Russia went for him. Stalin is still a villian. A 12 year old boy could be leader of the USSR and still have accomplished the same thing.

Who cares if Manitoba existed or not, how many other provinces are around without resorting to traitorous activity? Manitoba would most likely have came about anyway. Louis Riel made the mistake of killing the guy right in the middle of negotiations he would have won anyway. Canadian troops came and he ran away like the coward he is. Thomas Scott died for expressing a point of view different than Riel's, should we not execute all the members of the BQ then? Then lets not forget his adventure in Saskatchewan where he was responsible for the deaths of NWMP officers, and we are celebrating this man? Give your head a shake.

Who won that war, the French or English? as history suggests, the English won and it is by their benevolence that the Quebecer's even got to stay and got to keep their way of doing things.

Kosovo and Quebec is apples and oranges. The UN does not have control over Quebec, people aren't killing each other in Quebec, and Kosovo isn't dependant on Serbia. We already had our scrap with Quebec; the Plains of Abraham, where the Quebecers got the butts handed to them. We should be having General Wolfe day. The Southern US states declared independance, and I don't think anybody recognized them.

Washington won his war, Riel didn't. Washington wasn't tried in a court of law and convicted by a jury. All Riel had to do is not execute that Thomas Scott and he would have been entitled to his day. But he did, and was also responsible for the deaths of NWMP officers and Canadian soldiers. That logic of Riel day makes as much sense as in a hundred years, we having a James Roszko day? Heck he's fighting the system too.