Jerry J. Fortin

Our society was based on Christian religion. Yet we have strayed very far from those core beliefs. Perhaps more troubling is that we can never return to those morals and beliefs. The sands of time continue to fall and we cannot prevent them from doing so. Knowing these things we ought to be able to formulate a method of development that would serve our best interests. However, politics gets in the way to the same extent that religion does. We need to embrace change, not reject it. It is time to stop rejecting concepts and simply saying no. Life is far more complicated than just saying no.

It is an expensive system of that there is no doubt. Even so it is a system under which this nation was formed. I am more concerned with the cost than the system. There is a way to control costs, and I will suggest that the next government seriously consider that as soon as they take office.

I think that racism and immigration are the true enemies of our society. It detracts from our integrity and freedom,

We need more citizens and a expanded economy. How we get there is the problem at hand. I must say that raising the standards is a very problematic solution though. If there is nothing but doctors and layers coming in, then it would make them more employable than us, we would in effect be shooting ourselves in the foot.

You need to be less partisan and admit that the entire process does not serve the best interests of citizens.

Lost money? I think not. What I do think is that the bean counters need to be counted!

Iggy was not the leader of the party at that point. If you understand how partisan politics works, then you will know that he had little choice in the matter.

My two cents worth is that the system of public education is not a bad thing. In fact, I believe it to be a good thing. Can it take a little upgrading? Sure it can, but please keep in mind that the cost of doing so is already very high. If we decide to "fix" the system it will coast a lot of money. Having said that, I do believe that it is an investment worth making.

I would suggest that Harper is busy trying to find out which way the wind is blowing. The appointments could be a point of contention if Iggy had the brains to exploit them. However in order to do that he would need a viable alternative to bring to the table. The truth is that we have an incredibly huge bureaucracy which needs daily attention. People come and go from these jobs everyday for one reason or another. The right move is to restructure the civil service and integrate it with government operations, but that would take great effort and require detailed planning. This is something that I am not convinced any of the current partisan leaders have the stomach for. The problem is patronage, paying off the supporters of the victors and doling out the spoils. This has been a problem since the beginning of politics, and it is not going to disappear overnight. I say that the government would do well to restructure itself and eliminate a lot of positions while providing accountability to the electorate.

More legislative efforts? Passing a law that restricts the free speak of partisan representatives will not likely find sufficient support inside the House of Commons In my view there is nothing wrong with attack ads. Let the folks that spend that money decide how it should be spent. I agree that the effectiveness is questionable, but does that really matter? The country needs to find an issue that resonates well with citizens, these ads are a reflection of that effort, nothing more. I do not care if these ads are a prelude to an election or not because we will most likely continue to split our votes to the extent possible which will prevent substantive change. The leaders of this country know this, and they play upon this. Partisan politics are the rule of thumb, with no single demographic developing an edge in support. We are stuck in a rut of old fashion politics, which is hardly up to the job as we know it and has no hope of providing the solutions we need.

Not too dumb are they?

Borg, dude it wasn't all Trudeaus fault you realize. King Peter had an awful lot to do with it. Before the NEP we had no provincial gas taxes, the province has made billions over the NEP. The citizens have not fared so well mind you. Business took it in the ear, but the big boys recovered in short order and have done very well thanks to the efforts of our PC government. My point was that leadership even at the provincial level is very important. You can even drop that down to the municipal level and say the same thing. Alberta is far from perfect in this regard. The sad thing is that we never seem to learn from our mistakes with respect to choosing our representatives and leaders. I have heard the same story three times about the boom and bust cycles. There always seems to be an old bumper sticker around to remind us of our little motto about not screwing up the next boom, unfortunately the politicians amongst get in the way of getting something done about it. With the wealth of this province and the dominance of the one party political system we have, my dog could have run in any of the last ten elections and secured a seat as a PC Party member and my cat could have been the head administrator. Considering what we have pissed away we may have been better off with my pets running the show.

Technical my left nut! The fools in political control of this province have once again proven they cannot find their own behinds with two hands and a hunting dog. If you were here during the NEP you would not likely speak in the manner you do. Tens of thousands of folks lost their jobs, thousands of small business operations went under and families literally sold their homes to avoid the same fate. It was a market meltdown across the board here. As of this moment Ontario is now seeing what can happen in their own backyard. Of course the feds did nothing for Alberta, but the same cannot be said about Ontario can it? Our infrastructure spending is still trying to right the wrongs of our past, not to mention the latest boom and bust cycle. Those cycles are how we live over here, subject to the good will of the free market system. Held to ransom by the supply and demand economic system we have chosen. These things are merely facts of life, yet the political realities are based on something altogether different are they not?

The rate of taxation in Alberta is in fact lower than in most of the rest of the nation. Yet we still pay more per capita than the rest of the nation into equalization. Go figure, now what does that tell you? Business pays very little in proportion to private citizens, what used to be an 80/20 split six decades ago has reversed itself in favour of business. That is funny because there is a hell of a lot less farmers and a whole lot more corporations. The other side of the economic development coin is the number of jobs created. Yet even here we are dealing with primary industry to a much greater extent than most people think. Secondary industry is where the vast numbers of employees can be found. Program spending in Alberta has only recently been reinstated. For a decade we had tight control on provincial spending because after the NEP this province had to cut far deeper than any other. The former major of Edmonton, Mr. Decore brought the debt to th public eye, Klein caught intercepted the ball and ran to the end zone with it. We now had very little debt left at all, in fact most of it is already paid off, and the balance is being met without payout penalties. Certain liabilities still exist, but are being dealt with to the point that I can say we are a long ways ahead of any other little corner of the continent and very nearly the rest of the world. Yes our resources have made this possible. Yes those resources were developed with the help of eastern Canada as well as a great deal of foreign investment capital, and yes we have many blessings to count. Notwithstanding these things the people of this province have contributed in no small fraction to our success.

Easy words to speak. The reality is far more complex. With a majority of the national demographic, and a majority of the national slate of representative to the Parliament of Canada all the chips lay in central Canada. Now since Mulroney crated the outrage which formed the Bloc, Ontario sits even more securely in its position. The rest of the nation are second class citizens in comparison, Ontario rules. No province has anything like a real manufacturing sector outside of the Toronto- Montreal corridor. No province contributes more per capita to equalization than Alberta. You realize of course that those oil companies are for the most part foreign corporations, it is only the lowlife employees of those big companies that actually pay those taxes. The province doesn't pay a dime, the citizens do. We have too because the corporations right off everything under the sun and pay very little at the end of the day. Equalization punishes the citizens of Alberta by transferring less federal money, programs and jobs to this province. Most of the jobs in Alberta are created by small business, not large business. We have almost no secondary industry, which has the largest proportion of jobs. So we are talking apples and oranges. Equalization is designed to maintain a status quo, and by definition that stands in the way of progress. Take that a step further and you see an impediment to positive change.

I agree that it is not a bailout. Sellout would be a more proper term for it. A net transfer of wealth from the public purse into private hands would be more accurate. This and the auto sector handouts are a sign of the times and a political statement. The reality is that "Bay Street" and the auto sector have much political clout, far more than the tax paying citizens, and it is clear that corporate influence has translated itself into corporate governance. Both the left and the right failed to recognize the running play up the middle of the political playing field and the citizens have been handed the bill.

Patronage is a fact of political life. There needs to be a great deal of legislative effort in this area. Such a focus would gain a lot of public support, yet yield zero political support from current elected representatives. It would make a fine platform for a true reform movement.

Wonderful program? A system of government sanctioned political welfare that rewards the less economically functional provinces for the incompetence of their own provincial political leaders at the expense of federal tax payers from other more functional regions, will never, and I repeat never, be said by myself to be a "wonderful" program. The entire system of taxation is completely reprehensible to my mind. We enacted legislation that punishes the citizens for their efforts will it rewards those who make little effort at all. It is not a "fair" system at all.

Trudeau was indeed sly. Unfortunately we have not a single person in politics that can lay such a claim today. For that reason we will continue on this path to nowhere while doing nothing.

That is true, but times do change. So I shall hold out hope for this nation.

Freedom of choice to retire? Who knows, you do, but that would be telling. The main obligation of the Government of Canada is to its own citizens, nobody else's. Do we have treaty obligations? If so please explain the rash of native land claims we seem to be having to deal with. The thing is this...we need to grow a spine and be forced to stand straight and tall and tell the truth. Canada must tell the world where we stand and let the chips fall where they may. Trust me on this please. You can gain more respect acting in an honest manner than not. The real issue is that of the security of this nation first, after that is a done deal then maybe we can help somebody else, but not until we can look after ourselves.

What can I say. The "kid" arrange to get himself into a war zone, then become captured and accused of a crime. Risk and reward, crime and punishment and all that you know.

The provinces don't "pay into" equalization. That is a myth! The citizens and business taxes from each province constitute the federal revenue stream, from that all things flow. Strangely the "provinces" get a kickback from the feds of OUR tax dollars to squander in their usual manner. The point I was trying to make was that Ontario will be a have not province for this year and as such will be getting some equalization money.

I believe that our best interests as a nation would best be served by taking the defense of our shores seriously. Until something drastic happens I think we should keep our military in this nation instead of sending them anywhere to do anything.

Doesn't anyone think we should consider probable mission requirements prior to procuring force composition assets?