Jerry J. Fortin

I guess I see this a little differently than most folks. If the guy is on the government payroll, then so be it, and just say so. They can hire and fire as they please, they be da boss. On the other hand it should be clear what he was hired for and it should be clear what is expected of him. This kind of thing is the tip of the iceberg to some degree. Government spending always was and always will be the bane of the tax payers existence. This is where the money goes, this is why we borrow more and more everyday just to float the government boat. The damned boat is a pig, and that government hog is eating the public's lunch to a large degree. Taxes, that is what life is about, taxes to pay for crap the politicians want, not necessarily what we want because we have no real say in their spending habits and practices.

Holy crap. This will be interesting ......

I do not believe that anything would satisfy you. The reality is such that the oil is literally needed elsewhere, and the pipeline is designed to accomplish this task. The pipeline will be built, the First Nations will graft what they can from the deal, and the entire matter will be resolved with dollar bills. Business as usual.

The "Crown" has no functional power or authority over the nation , the constitution determines everything. The Westminister Act says it all with respect to the powers and responsibility vested in the Crown in very real and practical terms. Canada is a sovereign nation, self governing, independent of the crown. The nation itself exists whether the "Crown" says yea or nay.

Neither do I, and I live in the West! True, yet very misleading! To simply say that if we lower the tax rate, then that would resolve the conflict of the very concept of some remedial equalization concept. The very idea of using functional economies to subsidize their own dis-functional competition is simply ludicrous to me. That is all the equalization formulas amount to in fiscal terms, blatant favoritism displayed by the governments for the welfare state. Reward those who do not earn their own way at the expense of those that do. Interesting concept for a right wing government. Can we also say that every tax dollar is one removed from the free market and wasted on bureaucracy. The very idea that a province would require federal transfers at all scares the hell out of me! How can it be possible to spend more money and get less for it? Those provinces need to take a lesson from Alberta and pay off their debts. To do anything less is simply irresponsible. Well....not exactly. Some things are treated differently in some situations. For instance the creation of electricity is taxed in different ways. Yeah, then ALL governments got greedy and the dummies all forgot that there is only one tax payer! Right, and the tooth fairy collects the tab! I guess it certainly does depend on how you look at stuff. From my perspective, Alberta has paid some 100 billion dollars more into confederation then it has taken out. Just sayin'..............

V22 is our best shot.

Trudeau, period.

These things are time honored methods of governing in accordance with the plethora of established and accepted political tactics available to all members.

Non story? A question of treason is asked and that is not a story? A married cabinet member chasing a bimbo who may well be a foreign agent is a non story?

I think that taxation is the key. For everyone, tax reform is the best move. Governments need secure revenue streams, business needs less impediments to profits and individuals require greater take home pay. The only way to truly deal with the issues are to look at taxes, the one way governments influence economies.

Why bother destroying a resource? Free hydrogen can be screened out of solar wind, known fact. Not easy, but actually doable. The real quarry here is "FUSION", that is where the big bucks are. In addition, room temperature superconductors are the holy grail of those who utilize a delivered electrical power source. Not just power, but a way of delivering it without loss in the transmission, that is the key. In my view the oceans should be tapped for tidal power in addition to wind power.

Funny how that works isn't it. Just exactly the same way that the Six Nations swapped out land for dollars with respect to the Haldiman(spelling) !!? tract in Ontario. Those lands were surrendered to the government by and large through a carefully constructed policy created by Joseph Brant, who was in fact a known and accepted representative of the Six Nations. The harsh reality here is that the land was originally bought from the Mississauga ! Its all very complicated as we all know, yet there was both rhyme and reason for things ending up the way they are today. Both sides are out to lunch in my view, in truth no matter who is right and who is wrong the guy that is supposed to pay for all this nonsense had not one thing to do with it. The Canadian taxpaying citizen should not and must not be punished for the perception of wrongdoing more than a century ago. Build a bridge and get over it. There is no pat solution other than to ensure that the current citizen is not harmed in the process. If the folks in charge cannot utilize both due process and reasonable expediency then they are incompetent and should be fired immediately. This one needs to be handled forthwith. Call your local politician and support the concept of making this a TRUE priority. I tend to think most folks would support the idea if asked.

I plan to move to Belize in 32 months. There I will attain a tax free status, and the damned government will have to send me every nickel they compelled my pension fund to withhold from me. It is not a simple process, but that is exactly what I intend to do....move to avoid taxes. Besides I have no desire to retire surrounded by snowflakes.

I would suggest that the so called effective rate of 40% is a farce. I have no idea what the required rate would be, but I do think we should find out. Its something we need to know. The calculation formula is everything in this regard. First of all we need to decide whether or not changes will have beneficial impact to citizens. Once that is done the concept needs to be sold to the public. Its the public that will in the end decide what any new tax law will look like. What is taxed? Financial transactions across the board. No exemptions other than personal income. All business transactions are taxable. All personal transactions are taxable. In this manner you are really taxing the GDP of the nation. The tax base is expanded and higher revenues can be realized. I don't think we are will be as high as a 20% percent bracket when its all said and done, far less than what the nay sayer's predict.

You could say that our government has acted foolishly. We have no interest in the state of Israel, nor should we. They are an independent nation, recognized as such at the U.N. Internal issues within the nation are cause for civil, not international actions. For this nation to stand and speak on any side of the question is to detract from our own best interests and will do little to assist in rectifying the current situation.

In my view this nation has earned a place at the international table, and therefore we have nothing to prove to anyone. With that as the basis for a discussion on national defense, I will suggest that this nation not pursue avenues of aggressive natures in military terms. Our defensive strategy can be merely that, defensive. As a people we can tell our government to adopt a true non-aggressive position and incorporate into legislative terms a truly peaceful international presence. Until we at least determine what this nation actually wants, what is the point in theorizing about force compositions and strategic considerations?

I would prefer we took a step backwards. Invest in the individual soldier instead of in massive war machines. In truth, I don't think we have given sufficient thought to the simple process of defense. Boots on the ground are everything, that is a fact. So why not just start where we should and see where it goes? The individual soldier ought to be able to fly, drive, boat, and or quad his way across the nation while fighting. Mobility and operational integrity is the name of the game. Design and outfit from the soldier forward. Research into exoskeleton design and development may be found to be the ideal first step. Instead of laser weapons I would seek "needle" guns, light weight simple power source types of weapons. There are many ways to develop our military and of those ways are conventional and non-conventional methods. I think we need to do something different.

I think Alberta would support the concept, as would BC, and I cant see Saskatchewan being against it either.

Oh crap, I agree with you.

I favour the abolishment of the Senate.

These debates always entertain me. In my opinion whether or not a person works in a union environment or not should be the business of the individual. The right to freedom of association is fundamental in this nation, as it should be.

The Senate has been rendered toothless for all intents and purposes, and that at the hands of the Commons and the PMO. Even so that does not mean it cannot be worked into something Canadians desire. Start at least with a process that allows for the regions to select their Senators, all it takes is the rubber stamp of the PMO and names forwarded to the GG. Harper needs to do nothing more than that to get the ball rolling. He has the ability to do this at whim. Once done, he can simply take the concept to the First Ministers with little more than the consent of Parliament. Amend the constitution one line item at a time. Yes it will take forever, but that is the way it goes. What on earth are First Ministers meetings good for if not for this kind of thing? This isn't rocket science, it is constitutional law. Once defined, there are ways of getting around them for the most part. Which is why the Liberals desire the question be brought before the Supreme Court, whereas it is also why the Conservatives desire it does not. It depends on which side of the fence you sit.....

Isn't the smartest way to effect change to simply tell the provinces to elect representatives for their own provinces, and have the Prime Minister simply appoint the peoples choice to the Senate. The PMO simply creates a precedent, which according to Canadian tradition forms the basis of most of our law already. No messing around with the Constitution required. As each current Senator drops dead, we simply appoint Senators to a term length we desire and have those appointed simply sign a dated resignation. The problem with true Senate Reform is that it absolutely requires amendments to the constitution. This may or may not be possible, that would depend on the will of the First Ministers. The largest problem with Senate reforms are related to the debate between representation by population and representation by region. The current four regions empower Quebec and Ontario and even then Ontario is under represented if you factor in population. There is where the real argument lays. Our definitions of regions are in error and in the original concept of confederation the role of the Senate was to a large degree a means of regional representation. To my mind, the entire role of the Senate and the scope of its authority need enhanced definition. The Triple "E" proposal is by far the best model yet provided for the public to look at.

It would be nice if the unions bought a piece of the action. It would give them a vested interest in the financial well being of their employer.

Good attitude. Negotiate any good treaty concessions lately?