blueblood

Everyone usually says that they don't like the discretion a judge has in sentencing. Well, in this case, the judge didn't have much discretion in sentencing. Even if these guys did what they was right, it had to view it from the thought of "what if it went wrong?" It is too bad the police and authorities didn't act. The judge acted accordingly. The federal government can still intervene if they feel the persons involved deserve mercy. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pardon#Pardon...mency_in_Canada In the crack house case, the vigilantes had an air tight case, they acted, and solved a problem that was the scourge of their community, this thing could not have went wrong. The judge shouldn't act on the if something goes wrong, he should act on when something went wrong, and in this case it didn't. The police and authorities couldn't act due to a left winged justice system that has them jumping through hoops to get the job done, it's like you'd rather see 20 mass murderers go free than see a person who didn't necessarily commit mass muder go to jail, it is with that thinking that is a major part of why we have a crime problem

I'll leave you alone when conservatives leave me alone to smoke pot, leave homosexuals alone to get married and leave women alone to choose what to do with their bodies. Deal? I'll get on that too when libs stop pressuring me to smoke pot, flood our culture with pot, stop forcing people to marry homosexuals when they don't want to, and quit hounding us when we see a woman being a whore and taking her to task for it. here's some more, when libs stop saying that only liberal values are canadian values and conservative ones don't count, when the libs stop their revolving door "injustice" system, when the libs stop stealing our tax money to fund pointless programs like state run daycare...

Why was the country rich enough in the past and not now ? i don't think there was nearly as much programs back then, maybe they were better with money... I don't know. If canadian health care won't follow that idealism for a two-tiered set up then some guy who can't afford health care is in trouble as the better more skilled doctors/professionals gravitate towards the better paying private sector, no there needs to be regulations in this so that the doctors get paid a set wage (which is already a nice chunk of change) health gets delivered, and wait times reduced.

You can never ensure the best bartenders work at any bar. Why do bartenders even work in Canadian bars at all when they can earn many times more money in the US? I like metaphors and analogies too however, your question leads more into the specifics of a multi-tiered system. Switzerland, Sweden, France, Japan, Luxembourg, etc all have successful systems that balance universal care with private delivery. I'm sure there are many ideas we can borrow. For example, maybe all bars will be required to serve a minumum number of free beers each week or month. That way exclusive high priced bars will not be able to buy all the best bartenders as every bar will have to deal with some of the rif-raf. I don't have all the answers as to how we can ensure that everyone can get a beer in a reasonable time regardless of income but many nations have already tackled this problem. We just have to do some research. Why not have anyone who wants to be a bartender at any bar in Canada have a set wage that is governed by the Canada bar act.

I'd trust their judgement a lot more than a liberal minded judge from Quebec that's for damn sure, because in this case THEY EXERCISED GOOD JUDGEMENT!!!

Vigilantes have hanged plenty of innocent people. That native boy from British Columbia is one example. Today's vigilantes might not kill but the judge in this case has to judge based on the possible danger to people like firefighters who are in danger when anyone sets a fire. Well that depends, in my view a vigilante is out for justice, and a lynch mob just caters to themselves. your native boy is what i call an example of a lynch mob and their racist policies which is WRONG, the crack house is what i call justice, the whole town saw a problem and solved it. It is a fine line and if i can quote a line from the movie Spiderman "...with great power comes great responsibility"

This is part of the whole small town culture, im willing to bet the farm that there was a crack grow op going on in there, its very hard to get away with anything like that in a small town without anyone knowing about it. Someone got first hand knowledge and spread it all over town, in a town where everyone knows everyone, and that this was a long time coming, they won't be making a mistake like that. For townspeople to be mad enough to resort to burning down the house and impeding justice means there was a huge problem that the police couldn't do anything about due to their hands being tied because of proper procedure. So because it is a small town it is okay? And if you "bet the farm" then perhaps the cops knew about it and were amassing their evidence to get a conviction. In this country there is due process. But I guess in small towns that is suspended. And small town people wonder why they are called hicks. In that case it was an effecient process, that is one less crack house in town. Why are the rights of the criminal more important than the right to a safe society. This wasn't something done on a whim, you have to remember that your average small town person also has a conscience too, the last thing anyone wants to do is burn down the wrong house, you also have to remember everybody knows everybody and there was even a town meeting on this, it's safe to say that guy was a crack dealer. The cops have that due process you talk about and that takes time. It's not like the townspeople are doing it to anyone they don't like, they saw a problem that the cops hands were tied and solved it.

Don't know about that, it'll be the same pissed off you see from westerners during recent history. I wouldn't say whip, I could see the Liberals getting a minority gov't next election, I could also see Harper getting unloaded pretty quick for a more progressive type candidate.

Had the CPC looked anything like the PC party instead of a clone of the Canadian Alliance / Reform party they would have won the last election. 2004 or 2006? They did win in 2006, but they probably would have won a majority. I would consider voting for a Progressive Conservative party (have to see their platform first) but I doubt I will ever be voting for Harper and the Reform....err I mean CPC. So if Harper gets the plug pulled and some of his cabinet go, would that do it. Where this new leader comes from is a good question...

This is part of the whole small town culture, im willing to bet the farm that there was a crack grow op going on in there, its very hard to get away with anything like that in a small town without anyone knowing about it. Someone got first hand knowledge and spread it all over town, in a town where everyone knows everyone, and that this was a long time coming, they won't be making a mistake like that. For townspeople to be mad enough to resort to burning down the house and impeding justice means there was a huge problem that the police couldn't do anything about due to their hands being tied because of proper procedure.

What if he wanted to go plow a field? Lots of country boys that I know despise school it wasn't vids, it's the whole idea behind it and it's been like that forever, cripes my time in university was torture, maybe girls like going to school, doing well at it and succeeding hats off to them, my response was that in the article it was some sort of emergency that boys might get left behind because for some reason some people make university the be all and end all and if your not part of that crowd it sucks to be you.

Talk about revisionist history. The PC party was headed for defeat when Mulroney resigned - they had absolutely no chance if he had stayed on as leader. The change in leadership gave the party a temporary boost in the polls but that boost disappeared pretty fast as soon as people realized it was the same party with a different leader. I don't believe anyone could have led the PCs to victory at the time. You can bet your ass that the next cpc leader will be a progressive if they want to win the next election

The boys got sentanced, oh well I can at least say this is one time I'm happy a liberal minded judge was on the bench. CBC

And I wouldn't want someone with a PhD replacing a clutch on the rotor of my combine... or I wouldn't want someone with their masters in psychology running my sprayer doing custom work for somebody. But as far as surgery goes your right, my point is it's not the be all and end all.

I've been to University back in the day, and I can honestly say it didn't do me any good. University is not the be all and end all in the world, and if girls are doing well in school good for them. I think there is a problem with society that it is placing so much emphasis on education and university and the likes. A person can still make money working with their back and can do well. Some of the smartest people I've talked to just barely got their grade 12 and are just farm workers or rig pigs. My crop inputs are probably more than most people's salaries with a university degree, There is a guy I know who's a 22 year old driller on the rigs making 6 figures. I don't like the feeling I get from society that you are less of a person just because you didn't go to University, I think that's crap.

If they don't get their small business policies in order I wouldn't be surprised if another Reform party came about...

The grain industry is far bigger in the west. And farmers in the west wanted the Wheat Board. They still want the single desk Wheat Board according to polling of their membership. I'm sure there have been some farmers who have opposed it from the beginning but it has operated successfully since 1935 and has won every fight against the U.S. there is in regards to being a fair trader. Wheat farmers in Canada don't receive subsidies on the scale of European and American farmers. Will the Conservatives suddenly provide subsidies if things go poorly for them post-Wheat Board? Or is rural life dead under the Tories? The Liberals are just as guilty as killing rural life as the Tories, who's left the NDP???

I think a lot of rural western Canada is thinking along your lines.

Tory majority.

Well ho hum. A market solution is not the quick fix for everything. The wheat board exports nearly all of the grain grown to foreign markets. This market solution is bunk, it took nearly a world wide drought to raise the price of wheat just a little bit, if the weather smartens up we're all SOL. No you don't pay too much for wheat, if you got a problem with paying too much for prices take it up with production. The CWB is a measure to help small business (farmers) compete with grain handling companies in marketing grain, its saved agriculture and worked. It is the fact that we have over 200 000 farm operations running that keeps food at a low cost as it is right now, if it was like the oil industry where a few large firms control output with 90 cents a litre gas, you get a 15 dollar box of cornflakes, i think the smaller way works and you should be caring about keeping it small. Sorry but your big business isn't as noble as you make it out to be. What I am proposing is royalty rates on food products sold that go straight to the farmer (oh around 10%)just like they have in the recording industry and with Monsanto's little royalty rate on GM canola, and the provincial governments with oil. A program which costs the government VERY LITTLE, keeps some money in Canada, and in an essence creates an industry. With this money we will be able to afford to shut down and stop the dumping which is hurting the ag industry. Oh and bring on Biofuels nothing like popping up plants and creating job opportunities plus helping the environment.

It only applies to Western wheat and barley and durum because when the board was created that was what was mostly being grown, now there is canola which doesn't fall under it. I do realise that Eastern farmers are free to sell and its bull****, they should be going through it too. This is a rare moment when I have to agree with gerry here, but this is due to keeping small business active in Canada, now if we can get royalty rates we'll be able to afford to shut down and put the market back into synch. Like I said might be some orange seats this time around...

Because you can't unring a bell. The Conservatives are hoping to get this done before the election this spring. Their haste to do this is a little scary. Okay, perhaps I should say Strahl's bullying and threats. He wants to fire the president of the Canadian Wheat Board for doing his job. If this gets done before the spring, don't be surprised if some seats go orange

If it were up to a vote I can assure you that the wheat board ain't going anywhere, when my Tory MP votes against the party motion concerning the wheat board that says that says his little office got call after call after call saying for him to keep the wheat board or our riding is going orange and also says that there is unanimous farmer support for the wheat board. As a CPC supporter I am saying that Strahl should be canned and the whole ag strategy re-thought out, there is a potential to make a lot of money with it and make everyone happy, if the NDP was smart they could blast the tories with this come election time and pick up some seats.

Plenty of people live and do well in Toronto with only very limited English. You do not need to be fluent in English(or French for that matter) to succeed.I had a teacher who had worked in a mechanical engineering firm in Toronto. Language of choice in the office? German. Right. A unilingual German-speaker is going to be a winner in Toronto, have a wife who's quoted in the Toronto Star, get invited to charity auctions. Even if he's rich, he'll be out of the loop. (Frank Stronach learned English.)--- Stephen Harper is a white-bread, anglophone, Protestant from Leaside, Toronto, Calgary who learned to speak accented French because he grew up under Trudeau. He understands Canada enough to introduce the motion about les Quebecois. Harper's motion, viewed from Quebec, is remarkably sensible. Canada has two "linguistic communities". Unlike 100 years ago, Canada no longer divides along religious lines: Catholic and protestant. We now divide on language. There is an entire world in French, in Canada, that most English-speaking Canadians have no knowledge of. It's a parallel universe. Moreover, it happens that most francophones live in Quebec. Harper's motion simply recognizes this fact, obvious for over 200 years. Canada is not a nation because nationalism would tear Canada apart. Pierre Trudeau did a great service to a federal Canada because he managed the shift for English-Canada in Quebec from religion to language, and he brought the French language to Ottawa. He perhaps unfortunately gave the impression to some English-Canadians that Canada was a single nation, a single entity. On the contrary, Trudeau was a federalist. I know that "English-Canadians" hate this implied "duality". They hate the idea that Quebec tries to be one side of a coin when the other side is so much bigger, and so much more diverse. In fact, there are two linguistic sides. People live complete, successful lives in two different languages in Canada. Canada is a country with two universes. Harper's motion recognizes that fact, respects it, states that we all have a say in any change and then requires nothing of anyone. It isn't a constitutional amendment. I cannot believe that anyone in English Canada would oppose what Harper has done. (I'm not saying this out of partisanship. On many days, I would prefer that other Quebecers give up on this obvious nonsense and this beau risque.) If Canada is to work as a single country, then the only way to do it is as Harper has suggested. Otherwise, let's change things. Really? America should be thankful that it has such a civilized neighbour as Canada. English-Canada should be thankful that it has such a civilized partner as Quebec. hmmm, there is also an entire rural world inside Canada that most urban people don't have much knowledge of, there is an entire multitude of worlds in Canada, what makes Quebec's so special? It's not like English Canada is trying to take anything away from you guys which might be contrary to some beliefs, we do know your different, good for you, if quebecers are that insecure that they need parliament to say that they are a nation that's not saying very much. It is the fact that you guys are going to parliament with these demands and threats that anger english canada. We were under the belief that everyone is equal and no one is more equal than anyone else. To be completely fair Harper can recognize all the groups in Parliament then too, what would you say to that? this is like a gay pride parade, yah your gay and proud of it good for you, get out of the street and quit plugging up traffic and get on with your lives. here's a parallel, if Quebec is say a Dodge Truck, and the other groups of Canada other brands of Trucks with White Anglo Protestant being Chevy. Canada is equated with Trucks in general, are we all not Trucks and part of a much larger world of automobiles? Im in agreement with you that Quebec is different, but I don't think it was something to make a big deal about. What I don't see is that since everyone knows you are different why do you guys need parliament to formally recognize it, and why not sign the constitution and put all this nonsense to rest. Rick Mercer was bang on with his latest rant.

The laws have changed recently (in the last 5 years, haven't they?); therefore, the stakes are higher and more people may be looking for legal assistance. To really see how drunk driving is going, perhaps examining drinking and driving related accidents and charges would be better. Although it does seem to be the older I get, the less I hear about drunk driving, MADD, etc. It seems my circle of friends are becoming more willing to drive after a few drinks. This is by no means evidence...I'm just being anecdotal. This is going to be so hard to tell, i can be pretty sure that back in the day in small town Canada a lot of guys got away with drunk driving just as it wasn't seen as much of a problem back then by the cops. I can honestly think it is going down just from what people are saying and their attitudes, but don't get me wrong there are always going to be outliers. This is one of the things that perplexes me on our society, so people ask for stiffer laws on drunk driving they get them and the judge enforces them and (in my view) drunk driving goes down, and people are happy. People ask for stiffer laws on crime, reluctantly the government passes them and the judge doesnt really enforce them, and we got a crime problem and the same people are saying we need to be rehabilitating, go easier on them etc. hmmmm. The funny thing is though our society wants jail to rehabilitate people but when they are tossed back into society, they are viewed as ex-cons not a rehabilitated person and denied many things. I think society is confused on these type of things