Lost in Manitoba

'It is the British who won this country giving us their British form of government making Canada a constitutional monarchy ruled by a parliamentry democracy which forms our government and is a major part of our heritage.' We must never forget our heritage but we must evolve beyond that. Living in the past gives us no future. A monarch, even if ceremonial, is anathema to our democracy. As long as some people think there is a value in kings, queens, nobillity, and knighthoods, than what does that say about democratic values.

Crime is bad on the prairies. I don't think it is racist in the least to identify the gangs as being of aboriginal origin. There may be white (or asian, or spanish) gangs around, beating people up, selling drugs, or stealing cars but I don't know of them. And very little police presence which frustrates me the most. We don't need more cops. We just gotta use them for things other than writing tickets for traffic violations. Cars are the bane of our society. How much money goes into the infrastructure needed by personal vehicles??? (topic for another place) As for native people crying racism, why don't they point the fingure at gangs. If there were a bunch of white dudes running around at night jumping people, then I would reasonably expect that if I was walking down the street at night, someone might suspect me of being one of them. That is a life-saving stereotype (I think its called a schemata) that people use to predict what is going on. (martian gangs killing people at night = suspect and avoid all martians at night)

Everybody must know someone who learned english as their second language. As for me, I've got German connections from my wife and Mexican from my brother in law. I have heard so many times that the english language is very hard to learn. It may be a break with traditional spelling but why is that a bad thing. soft c and hard c, ph sounding like f..... c'mon. If we had gotten hooked on fonics years ago, maybe illiteracy would fade away.

'When gas runs out'. That's the big problem, it will, and so will coal. And even if it won't happen in the near future, it will become rare enough that it will only be used for top priority things (I'm thinking of security and national defense here). On a daily basis I question the opinion and info given out about wind energy. I just don't believe that a good proportion of daily life can't be powered by wind turbines. Maybe it's just because I live on the prairies and the wind is always going strong, but people in the rockies or on the coast probably could say the same thing. On kind of the same note, what's up with the electric car. They won't mass produce them because they say they can't get it up to a 200mile range, and that's what people want. I drive 99.9% of the time in the city, and on a daily basis I probably don't put on more than 30-40 KM. Give me the damn car!!! Really, I shouldn't complain. After all, gas has dropped down to only 91.9/liter

You don't need volcanoes or hot springs for using geothermal. Field mice burrow into the ground in winter because it's warmer a few feet down than it is up top (reverse is true in summer). Geothermal heat exchange uses this principal. It has a resevoir of water below the ground (the farther down, the bigger the temperature difference, but also more costly) this water is continually circulated up through the house to warm it (or cool it) and then back to the resevoir to either release heat or cool it. If it's -20C and the temp of the water is 10C then obviously it will warm the house. If you want to get really environmental, you'd power the pump with solar or wind. Either way, it's cost effective. I guess you were thinking of geothermal electrical turbines, where steam comes up and spins turbines. Yeah, were not big on the volcanoe thing in Manitoba.

I don't think I ever saw solar panels on a house until I drove through Ontario, where it seemed they were relatively common. As for geothermal, there is a company around here that install them. A friend of mine got one for his house and I think it was somewhere around $10 000. Kind of pricey but if I'm not mistaken, he gets some sort of rebate from Hydro, and they system has a very long warranty. (as a side note: same guy took 2yrs to replace his single pane windows and crappy insulation from the 50's)

Why should we be proud of equalization? Better yet, why should we be shamed? For the most part it's all a matter of geological bounty. What do I care if Manitoba doesn't have as much oil as Alberta. It's all Canada, and we're all entitled to roughly the same standards of living. It's politically expediant for one premier to tell his province that the reason public schools are so crappy and university tuition is so high is that equalization is unfair.

I'm not going to bother talking about nuclearpower, to me it has absolutely no merit. Talking about wind energy though, I went out to Halifax this summer to pick up a friend. Going through eastern Ontario on the TC, with the high rocky cliffs and lakes galore, all I could think about was I was travelling on the perfect road to transform into a hydrogen highway. Wind in the hills was never still, and the lakes provided the conveniant water supply. Only a half dozen stations along a few hundered K of highway would be enough to run a pilot project for a tucking company or something. I'd love to see government iniative on something like this. Hell, why only Ontario? Nfld could probably be completely powered by wind/hydrogen.

I remember listening to the Business Network on CBC a while ago. It was about the problem of badly managed websites. It said that no website was preferable to a bad one. Bad one being defined as poor design, rarely updated, or missing content. It suggested that if a company was going to go ahead with a website, it had to go all the way. Hire the staff to do it properly, in other words. I think the ommission being discused is a matter of tight budget = not enough (webmaster) staff. Ask the boys and girls who run this joint how easy it is to keep up on everything. I know from my 100% RDA of Radio One, that there is no shortage of coverage on the impending fall of the empire.

As a series I have always thought of Dune as a great work. Beyond the SciFi, Herbert had a great sense of ecology, politics, and the interconnectivity of the two. A Prayer for Owen Meany by J.Irving is another favorite. Though I'm not religious I am moved by stories of faith and fate. World According to Garp is another one by Irving that makes both laugh and cry (in a masculine way). For Canadian works, I like Murther&Walking Spirits by Davies, Handmaids Tale by Munroe, Mercy Among the Children by Richards, and of course I must include Life of Pi by Yann Martel amongst my favorites. If you've read all of these, you probably have an inkling of what type of values I have.

Apparently in Winnipeg last week, a guy had called an open house to form a white supremisist group. No one showed up. Regardless though, this guy obviously doesn't have warm fuzzy feelings about other races. In fact, the chances are he is fairly open about his dislike for other races. It is to my understanding though, that as long as he doesn't advocate violence towards others, or engage in inflammatory public speech, it is legal for him to be a racist. Am I right on this?

With the provinces in control of education, their is very little in the way of national standards. Personally I would like to see children in school learn English and French equally (early years are the easiest time to learn languages). I'd also like to see students learn a third language of their choice, maybe something to do with their heritage (preserving the idea of multiculturalism) or one that has future career benifits. I think with the pevalence of computers and language education programs out there, this would be a realistic goal. Anyone believing this is too difficult to accomplish should look at the multilingual abillities of some European nations (germany, switzerland, etc). The abillity to communicate gives one the oppurtunity to understand, and even to persuade others. Business and social influence over other countries and their citizens could be invaluable to Canada.

The news report about the 'soup king' actually sympathized with him. It was me who didn't. The gov't shouldn't be the best paying employer out there, they should be fair and competitive with their wages and their benifits (which I assume the guy will get, whereas most cooks probably don't).

I'm not pro-union in the least. With labor laws as they are, or as they seem to be progressing, the concept of a union is outdated. Did you all see the clip about the 'soup king" in the BC hospital? That guy makes $22 per hour. $22 of tax payers money per hour! He was supporting his position by saying how patients just loved his home-made soup, well no doubt, that's gormet soup at gourmet prices. Now the poor "soup king" may be losing his job, or at least a cut in pay down to $12/hr, which is more reasonable in my opinion. Alas, though. If this happens, he cannot afford to stay, and the poor patients will have to go back to having canned soup. I say g'bye. Try finding a cook job that pays your old wage.

How many members does the NDP have? How many other supporters besides that? Jack Layton was legitimately elected as the leader of the NDP. By writing him off and not letting debate happen, Harper is also writing off the voice and the opinions of thousands and thousands of people. Disregarding the spokesmen for a large group of people is plain stupid and arrogant. If the president of the cattlemen's federation or the teachers union want to talk to Harper and he say's 'so sorry you don't have a seat', you see what the repercussions will be.

As I understand it though, there are many ways to make a balanced budget that isn't. There doesn't seem to be a standard form for gov't to follow. Manitoba does this constantly. Changeing the rules, robbing the rainyday fund etc, to make the numbers add up. Or, as Alberta announces debt free next year, reports start coming about how they achieved this. Cuts and not spending what is required to mantain infrastructure. I've heard reports about failing roads and other public works, especially the state of education. Calgary public schools alone, need somewhere in the neighborhood of 600 million worth of repairs and upgrades. yep, $600 000 000! Is this really debt free?

I love that quote from Broadbent, and I would say, at least in part it's true. I think Ed & Jack potentially have more energy and may get more media play than all other candidates combined. I was unaware that Mrs. Arar was running. Which riding?

I'm not a fan of the angry white guys but I really doubt Harper & Co. have anything to fear from Layton. Even if Layton is supremely eloquent and convincing in the debate, it's unlikely he will get any right leaning Cons. to jump ship to the NDP. I think, if Layton does make a good show of a debate, he will draw more support from the disgruntled Liberals out there. This only weakens the liberals, and gives Harper a better shot. Also, I don't think discounting Layton because he isn't a sitting MP is very tactful. He hasn't had a chance yet to get the position, and by discounting him as legitimate, it's like discounting the entire party, and all of their supporters. ' Who cares about these people, and what they think, they don't even have a real leader. '

It would seem to me that the provinces have a hard time getting along and communicating with each other. It is always made to be a big deal when a couple of premiers have a conversation. Thinking on this, how would a senate composed of provincial reps sound. Every premier elects x# of representatives to sit in the senate, the same # for each province of course. Perhaps instead of waiting for orders coming down from the Feds, the provinces can debate better at their level. Also, if the premier, who supposedly reflects the province, is the one who gives out senate seats, than logically he will choose senators who also reflect the province.

I would like to see the CBC fall under the control of someone else. The fact that their budget can be cut if too hard on the existing gov't bothers me. I imagine the CBC under the control of a senate body. As for being biased, I hear of more unsettling news about our gov't, scandals and the like, on the CBC, than I do on cable news. Sometimes I feel they are overly harsh and prying. One thing I'd like to see with regards to the CBC, is that Elected officials or management at crown companinies, be obligated to give interviews when asked. Nothing pisses me off more when a media report on some doings of the government brings them to an MP or gov't bigwig who refuses to talk to the CBC. Even if he says 'no comment', it's better than hiding in an office refusing to take calls.

How about a discount based upon your GPA? Tell you what, if a person is going into medical school with a 4.0 they are showing either a) they are smart enough or willing to to put in a lot of work to succeed. If you want to go to medical school but cannot achieve the high grades to achieve the gov't funding, get a student loan. We reward our talented and gifted athletes for posessing physical excellence, why not the students who have academic excellence? A city itself can help out a student and itself too. Lack of plumbers in the city? Offer loans to people going to college for plumbing/pipefitting. Nurses, ditto. Creative ways to entice the grads to stay and work for the city afterwards. Pay back the student loan at normal rates or have it taken off the paycheck of your city job (interest free, of course). This may sound like indentured labour, a bit, but you'ld never have gotten there without the loan, and you can always opt out and pay back under normal means. It was '93 when I got my first and only student loan, so I'm not too familiar with how it works now. I was wondering if a possible way to help keep local talent was to forgive the provincial part of the loan if the graduate stayed and worked in province for a set time. ie, instead of graduating nurses taking off from Winnipeg to go work in Alberta, where they are payed close to double, give them an incentive to stay. Namely, debt forgiveness. Going through the BN program here, one might get something like $30 in student loans, maybe half of which would be provincial student loan. I've heard people usually pay twice what they borrowed, so chalk that provincial loan up to $30k itself. Now if you could get out of paying that loan by staying in province for (6yrs) would that not be worth it? Some would want to go to Alberta or the US anyway, because the salary is so high, but what of the people who may want to stay but need to move because of the money situation. This may give them the opportunity to stay in their home province. Take this even further: To prevent, or maybe reduce, the 'brain drain' to the US. Do this with the Canada student loan as well. Stay in Canada for x# of years and the debt is forgiven. Like I said before, this will not counter cases where ridiculously huge salaries are being offered down south, but it may give the person a bit of an incentive to stay.

Something is wrong here. Hong Kong is the model for economic freedom?? Is this just looking at the freedom to get rich or something? I know that some of the world's richest people live in Hong Kong, but it also has a huge population of poor people. Give us a link to this Craig. I have a feeling this is a ridiculous list measuring capitalist greed and 'freedom' only to screw over your neighbors in pursuit of wealth. Thank god we have tree huggers and gay activists running the country.

Heard comments on educating prisoners before that I agree with. Part of condition of parole should be self improvement, ie. becoming literate if not, and getting hischool/GED if not allready graduated. Learning tends to provoke introspection, like why am I doing this with my life, and it provides the con with employabillty after his release, so maybe he'll choose that option after his release. Do believe in work gangs, or hard labour, whatever it's called. Even if it's simply digging a hole and filling it in the next day.

I have to say Hugo, I respect your opinion on abortion a lot more, hearing your views on capital punishment. It is this type of consistency we need to make society better. Morgan brings up a point I've wondered about before. Does anyone have a problem with prisoners having the right to vote? I've got my opinion on this but I'd like to hear others.

I hear stories all the time where people of other faiths rally in support of christian traditions. There was a township in BC where the city council decided it was not PC to have a christmas tree on top of city hall, because it may offend the minorities. I listened to a group of East Indian men saying that it was a time of year that they looked forward too, their children liked it, and it made the city look beautiful. They didn't believe in the religious aspect of the holiday but they firmly supported it. I also heard a story of a group of muslims, down in Georgia?? where they were removing the 10 commandments from the courthouse. This group were involved in petioning to keep them there. In both these cases it seems that it was the bleeding heart politically correct folks that were the instigators.