Chuck U. Farlie

I don't agree with this coalition at all... because: News is already starting to come out about what they had to offer to the Blok to get them to join such a plan... something about an extra $1 billion sent to Quebec - a hell of a lot more than another election would cost. Sorry I don't have a link, and I could be mistaken... I heard this on talk radio. Even Duceppe said yesterday "What is good for Quebec is good for a sovereign Quebec". This coalition could very well lead to many things, including: 1. strengthening and enriching of the Blok and eventually leading to Quebec separation. 2. further alienation of Alberta and strengthening existing talk of Alberta separation there. 3. totally destroying any confidence people had in both the NDP and the Liberals for pandering to the Blok - further reducing their seats the next time Canadians get to choose who they want. 4. setting a precedent that any minority government can easily be overthrown in the future and creating more political instability. If the Liberals, NDP, and Blok are so inclined to work together... then great, but let Canadians decide if we want that in another election. I hope that the GG prorogues parliament as Harper is likely to ask for - as she is expected to follow the advice of the PM and is meant to be merely a figurehead. If she does not allow that, then I suggest as Canadians we fight to change our political system so that we do not have an unelected representative of the queen controling our government. While we are at it lets fight for proprotional representation of some sort so that each vote actually means something.

Last I heard a group of small grocers where challenging this saying that Miller et al can't tell them what to charge for a product that they sell. If they want to charge for bags or charge nothing for bags, that is their choice... just like if they wanted to give away apples, they can.

Before this coalition stunt was announced, I was a swing voter. I have voted for the party that I thought was best to govern at that time and place... But with this circus that I believe is undemocratic... after all, if the Coalition Party thinks that Canadians want them... then take it to the polls with Dion leading and let Canadians decide. Since they want to come in through the back door, I can say with certainty that the Liberals and the NDP will never get a vote from me again - not at any level of government. I wonder how many previous swing voters are now thinking like I am?

I didn't go through graduated licensing, but from my understanding one can go from a G1 to a G2 after 8 months provided they take a driver training course - 1 year without. So theoretically a 17 year old could have a G2 and then not need a licensed driver beside them. Now, I don't know how long it takes to go from a G2 to a G, but no doubt they should be able to get a full G by the time they are 18 or 19. It seems to me that I did a hell of a lot more before I was 20 than most kids will be allowed to here... and I was impatient to do what I did (travelled Europe at 17, hitch-hiked to Yukon and back, and rode a motorcycle to Halifax and back at 18 before joining the army). I think if you treat kids like kids, they will be kids... if you treat kids like adults they will become adults. Stop babying these adults. Like I said before... if you can join the army and go to war, you should sure as hell be able to drink a beer and drive a car without restrictions that other adults don't have. If I was 17 or 18 again I would have left this province and possibly the country by now.

All over the news for the past couple of days has been these new laws that McGuinty has been pressing - mainly as a response to that guy who's spoiled son killed himself and two others while driving drunk this past summer. If you haven't heard about it, I think the suggestions are: 1. Zero alcohol tolerance if under 22. 2. Zero speeding tolerance if under 22 - 30 day suspension of license if caught. 3. No more than 1 passenger allowed in the car (who are not siblings). There may be more too it.. I am not sure. Point 3 is particularly limiting especially to more rural young adults. How can a group of them go to the movie/church/school sporting event/work, etc etc? They would not be able to carpool, and anywhere outside if the biggest cities doesn't have public transport to meet the need. If a bunch of 20 year olds want to go to a bar or party where alcohol is served, then every second one has to stay sober and drive a separate car? Yeah right! I am well over 22 years old, so this doesn't effect me, but I can't help but be shocked at how much of a nanny state this province is becoming! Here is the letter I sent to McGuinty and a handful of MPPs regarding this:

I don't know much about this other than what I heard on talk radio... sounds like they were working at UPS wearing the same clothing that they want to wear. The difference is that they either were temp workers and not yet unionized, or maybe the whole plant wasn't unionized. Either way... when it came time to unionize, the union demanded (and rightfully so) certain safety practices be followed - including no loose fitting clothing. As I see it, the only place UPS faulted was not demanding the dress code from the beginning... and being unionized from the beginning... like Canada Post does. These sorting plants are very dangerous and people have been seriously hurt before, and then who is responsible? Funny though... on the radio this morning was some president of some muslim congress... stating that nowhere in the koran or in sharia law are long flowing robes mandated... they just must be modest - so what is wrong with trousers? He also suggested that this mosque in particular should lose its charitable status, as it is violating a rule of a charitable organization by being political.

Just reading this article in The Star: Mosque fights for rights, but slurs Jews and West. Now, I don't care too much about their human rights case... I hope that UPS wins as it is clearly safety orientated and not to do with denying any religious rights. I couldn't, however, believe what this mosque's website http://www.khalidmosque.com/en/ had to say, including: I hope what this website says is taken very seriously and that this Iman as well as many of his devout followers are under the surveillance of the RCMP and/or CSIS. It disturbs me to hear that there is this kind of hate towards us, the very people that allowed them to settle in our country and enjoy a better life than they had before (if they are immigrants). After living in Indonesia for a few years before, I became quite tolerant of muslim people - as I knew first-hand that most are moderate. However, after reading about things like this more and more often I quickly lose my tolerance for the lot of them. Where are any of the 10000 members of this mosque standing up to this iman? They are just as guilty of hate as he is if they don't stand up against this fanaticism.

I'm not sure where you are going with this Kengs... Are you suggesting that a rape victim is better off being murdered to save her from herself?

The barbarism of people in this world is unbelievable sometimes - what sort of coward stones to death a young woman?! Guardian article

If those conditions are correct, then I suppose my rant was misguided. All they said on CityTV was that the family had to do 430 hours of community service as the down payment and that the mortgage would be interest free (which basically cuts the cost of the house in half).

This one example is not the only example. It is just the one that pissed me off enough to complain. I hear regularly from people that work in the field all about the abuses of the welfare system. Often it seems like there is more abuse than genuine need. I didn't complain about that because I don't really give a shit about some woman getting extra welfare money because she got knocked up by 6 different men and I don't care about some lazy pothead getting a piddly amount for doing nothing. Personally I think any welfare should be short-term help for people down on their luck. For the most part welfare has no appeal, and that is the way it should be. The thing that pissed my off about this case is they are getting much much more than some cash to help out the cause. They are given land in prime real estate at a greatly reduced cost that in a few years this guy will be able to sell for substantial profit. This is far beyond a hand-out and is more like a lottery winning. Personally I think the family should have been given affordable housing that was owned by the City. Once they got their act together they could go out and buy their own house - just like everyone else.

Kitch, as long as I am working my ass off to try to succeed in life while other people get free (or largely discounted) rides, then I have every right to bitch. I pay my taxes and even go as far as not having kids until I am financially able to do so - what an unbelievable concept, eh? Who the hell do you think you are telling me not to bitch about things I see that are not fair and will only lead to more abuse? If you don't like my complaint, then prove to me I am wrong and that my complaint is unwarranted, don't go telling me not to complain. As long as a single one of my tax dollars goes to a single lazy bastard who is not willing to work or be responsible, then I will complain.

Yeah, I read that site and I voted for PPR last time in the Ontario election. I think it was voted down because a lot of people had never thought much about how we vote and didn't educate themselves about any alternatives (which I am trying to do here). I also think the question was worded awkwardly. I wonder, Wild Bill, is there a good way that PPR could be worked out to solve the problems you mentioned? Edit... thanks cybercoma, you already answered some of which I was wondering.

I admit I don't know that much about proportional representation or first-past-the-post like we currently have. I don't know which one would be better and I honestly hope that some that are smarter than me can enlighten me. I did notice one glaring discrepancy in yesterday's election... Bloc got 1,379,565 votes or 9.98% and got 50 seats while NDP got 2,517,075 votes or 18.19% but only got 37 seats. Green got 6.95% of the popular vote (not far from the bloc) but got zero seats. I think there is something very wrong with this... as it suggests to me that somehow a bloc voter has much more say than other voters. Mr. Canada, in another thread, said about first-past-the-post elections that 'if its not broken, don't fix it"... well something seems very broken about the way our popular vote is distributed now. In terms of how many Canadians actually voted for the bloc, there should be very little representation of them in our government. No Canadian's vote is more important than another, although that is the way it seems now.

You know... I have been thinking about this thread for the past little bit, and in Toronto I am almost better off being poor like this guy I saw on the news. Poor is the new middle class here. Look at it this way. I make roughly $50k a year (just about $25/hour). With that income I would be lucky to get a mortgage big enough to get me a small townhouse in the burbs... certainly not in Toronto. With that small townhouse I would be strapped for cash and couldn't afford to have kids - at least not being able to raise them with any extras. At work I am lucky to get a 3% raise per year, while houses go up by 5% to 10% every year. So by working hard I will never own a house or have kids in Toronto. On the other hand, if I just go and pump out 6 kids in the next 6 or 7 years, then not only will I get a pile of cash from the gov't, but it is possible I could qualify for a house in Toronto with an interest free mortgage... sounds like the way to go to me. Being responsible is actually harming my progression in this society. Screw being responsible anymore.

The one bonus... although not worth the $300 million spent... is that when the Liberals lose it might give them reason enough to toss Dion. I wonder who will lead the liberals in a year or two when we have to do this all again?

Today on the news (City TV) they did a bleeding heart feel good story regarding a Habitat home. This story was about a family with 8 kids living in a 3-bedroom apartment. They just told them they are building the family a 6-bedroom house which they get to pay off with an interest free mortgage and 500 hours of community service for the 'down payment'. Now... in my situation... I am working hard and paying over $600 a month in interest on my mortgage on a 2-bedroom condo. I don't have any kids and am holding off having any until I get my finances in better shape, but I am starting to wonder what is the point of being responsible? I may as well have as many kids as possible... even though I can't afford it. When the bank comes to for-close on my mortgage I can go cry to habitat and the media and get a house and interest free mortgage... a big step up from a condo and $600 a month in interest! All I have to do is take on more kids than I can afford and the bleeding hearts will take care of all!

I just voted something other than Liberal in a similar riding - and I feel my vote was useless. That is why we need proportional representation...

The biggest concern I would have about pharmacare would be the potential abuse of it just like medicare. With medicare people go to the doctor for the most minor of ailments - because they don't have to pay for it. If pharmacare existed it might make certain people apt to get prescriptions when they are not necessarily needed too. We are already having a problem with over prescribing anti-biotics which has served to produce drug resistant bacteria... how much worse could this problem be with I don't have any problem subsidizing the expensive drugs... but for the relatively cheap stuff I don't see why people can't pay for it. People should also pay a small amount when they see a doctor - that might make the 'chicken little' think twice before visiting a doctor for sniffles or a cough. Fewer people wasting doctor's time would mean less waiting time for real issues.

Considering I am about 15 years younger than the youngest baby-boomer, I am not really expecting CPP to come through for me. Too bad I have to pay it anyway, but I realize I had better make my own plans.

Vote what your gut tells you will happen considering the political mood in your area... not what you wish would happen.

Yeah, likely nothing would happen... still the potential for a conflict of interest is there. In my opinion if you call yourself a Canadian... then be a Canadian and only that. If you want to be something else... then see you later... we don't need you.

And I didn't bring this up to bash Liberals - it is directly aimed towards Dion... if Liberals had anyone else as a leader, other than Bob Rae, I'd likely vote for them. If Harper had dual citizenship I wouldn't be voting for him either.

So you are admitting that he cannot speak English very well... since he can't grasp English verb tenses - I taught 14 year old kids in Indonesia that had a better grasp of English than Dion, and he stands a reasonable chance of becoming Prime Minister of Canada?! Pathetic.