Jerry J. Fortin

Partisan politics are decidedly dirty. They are another reason to seek political reforms for this nation.

Our people need sufficient leadership to create a national will. This political will can be focused into purchasing domestic production. Real leadership would encourage the development of domestic business that would serve to support our own economy. Transnational corporations export profits from their sphere of operations back to the corporate headquarters. This does not benefit the "host nation" to the degree advertised at all. This is the basic problem with the advent of globalization and the rise of corporatism. The government needs to lead the citizens into a direction that provides benefits to people not companies. Corporate influences will declare this to be a case of social engineering, and so it is. That is the function of government, to preserve and protect citizens.

While us arm chair quarterbacks are pondering the questions our soldiers are in harms way and are at risk. The events of 9/11 took us to the field, we are now there and fighting a war. There is only one way to win a war and that is to fight to win. Exactly how that is done is not up to mere generals in the field but instead ultimately the politicians that send them into the field. The politicians can spend 3.5 billion to save some corporate profits and some jobs, but hey cost lives in the field of battle for want of equipment and munitions for our soldiers. That is the sad reality. Maybe we can't win but we can't possibly know unless we try. We are not trying.

The fact remains that this nation is committed to military action in that country. The fact remains that our soldiers are being killed in military actions in that country. The fact remains that our government was responsible for sending them there and is responsible for the security and well being in that country. Those are the facts, dispute them as you will. The reality is that our soldiers are in harms way, fighting under the flag of our nation. This country has a responsibility to these men and women and that is specifically to protect them to the best of our ability. Now having said that, we can choose to let them die by the numbers or start doing everything we possible can to protect them. In that sense, this government has chosen to spend billions of dollars to support private enterprise at the expense of the lives of our soldiers. There is a very clear question of priorities here, and in my veteran fathers name I state without fear, that the lives of those soldiers is of greater importance than the profits of corporations or the employment of those citizens. Lets leave the choice up to you then my fellow citizen, bailout the auto industry or spend more Canadian lives in Afganistan. We have had choices to make. and you as well as the government have made them. Three and a half billion dollars would buy a lot of hardware and pay for a lot of troops, but go ahead and put those lives at risk for the political value of staying in power. Get a grip people, war is no freaking holiday, people die. When nations put their citizens lives at risk they should do so with very special care. This nation can do more for those soldiers then they have, and that is the responsibility of the government.

I am suggesting that we have accepted the responsibility of conducting an aggressive military operations on foreign soil and it is the duty of the government to now prosecute that conflict to victory. We are at war, our soldiers are experiencing death and dismemberment in our names as Canadian citizens. The only moral option is to bring the conflict to a victorious end as quickly as possible to prevent as much harm as possible to our own soldiers. Do you see another viable solution?

The carbon tax, which would at least have benefited the nation in terms of absolute reductions has morphed into a cap and trade system owned and operated by polluting businesses. Guess how well that will work! Iggy has yet to be heard from.

You are right, by the standard method. There is however the clarity act, where citizens can vote with a 51% majority question resolution. It is my hope that in terms of a limited debated that this formula could be applied.

Canada is at war, and the citizens of this nation don't know what that means. War is no more than failed diplomacy that results in the death of citizens. Canada needs to wake up and take the bull by the horns and make every effort to end this war in victory. We have accepted the responsibility and we have been paying for it with the lives of our citizens in the Armed Forces. What needs to be done to win? Start from the location of our headquarters and expand a circle of influence building schools and hospitals, roads and power plants, water treatment plants, market places and homes that are all safe and secure. How do we do that? By finding and destroying every weapon and every person in possession of a weapon within that sphere of influence. Design an expanding perimeter and leave a core at the centre governed by the people living there.

We live in a class based society whether we choose to believe so or not. It is not up to the rich folks to bail us out. The rich will be hurt just like the poor will be hurt, we are all going to get hurt. Even so, we will prevail and move on.

I truly think that the only "Provinces" that would be opposed to this would be Ontario and Quebec. Everyone else gains from this. This could fly with only 7 provinces and 50 percent of the population to support it, provided that it passed both the Commons and the Senate of course. They could open the constitution with a limited focus on just senate reform, this is possible.

We do not elect a Prime Minister, the partisan factions elect leaders and the partisan faction with the most seats forms a government. To say that we elect a leader is simply false, the citizens of Canada do not get to pick who gets that job. The Government of Canada has three different functions as designed by our constitution. The House of Commons is elected and is where a government is chosen from. It is populated with representatives based on a formula of X numbers of citizens per seat. The Senate of Canada is made up of appointed representatives chosen by a Prime Minister based not on population but on five regions within confederation. Three of those regions are actually provinces, and the two other regions contain four provinces and three provinces respectively. It is supposed to reflect a regional conglomeration of representatives. The third and final function within the political system is the Governor General which is another appointed position. So you can see that two of the three separate identities of government are appointed, not elected. Finally it becomes clear that the design of government is the concentration of power and authority in unelected positions. The Prime Minister is not elected as such, they are only elected as representatives from their own constituency. The Senate is not elected, and neither is the Governor General. Understanding this can anyone even conceive of a government in this nation that is not subject to manipulation? Our system supports and promotes patronage in the extreme. At every step the will of the people is subverted to a degree that is hard to believe. Even so we have been lead to believe and even trained to accept our system as democratic. These are the reasons that I decided to become a separatist. The country is as poorly designed, as it is poorly administered. Ministers in charge of huge bureaucracies are partisan appointments of the Prime Minister that are not based on anything other than patronage. These ministers makeup an inner cabinet where all power is concentrated and decisions are made behind closed doors far from the ears of the public. They are not designed to solve problems but instead to act as a funnel to facilitate even more patronage appointments. Virtually all of the top bureaucrats are appointed by the government with a very partisan slant. In my mind this constitutes a form of corruption that is so insidious that it has permeated the entire structure and form of government. I do believe that the greatest political document of all time was the Declaration of Independence written by our southern friends. "We the people", that is the basis of their political model. It speaks volumes about who the true power of government is vested in. Yet even those southern friends failed to achieve their desired goals in formulating a government, but they came damn close. The most advanced method yet devised of democratic government is the Swiss version of direct democracy. It comes even closer to what I believe is a fully functional system of governance. Yet even it has its drawbacks. While I have concluded in my own mind that there is no such thing as a perfect system, this system of ours is firmly fixed in my mind as a failed and non-functional system. To end this little rant, let me state that Senate reform is only the tip of the iceberg in terms of things that need fixing in this nation.

In order for that to happen the Conservatives will lose an election. I don't think that this is impossible, just unlikely anytime soon.

Each province should have an equal say, that would be fair. The entire notions of regions in the Senate is declared null and void with Ontario and Quebec being declared regions even though they are only provinces. Don't count your chickens before they hatch. Bring on the "cap and trade" system and see how well Alberta responds to it.

Lucky for you it is not! Allowing Quebec to invoke the notwithstanding clause for the language law Bill 101, when they were not even a signatory to the damned document was a farce that made me laugh for days! The great Constitution you cite has contained within it an obligation for elected members to swear allegiance to the nation, something the Bloc has refused to do, and they get away with it because of folks like you! That document took away our right to own property! Yes I am a bad man for wanting to change such an honourable document.

All of Western Canada gets the same number of seats as Ontario and that is fair? Eight provinces have the same voting power as two and that is fair? You are applying population to a regional setup and that is fair? This type of mindset is what fuels separation! On the other hand, that works well for me because I am a separatist!

A viable constitutional model? You must be joking! What we now have is complete dominance of the nation by folks who occupy less than 30 % of the land! The current model is detrimental to the other half of the country!

That is not true, we are not equal in confederation! Confederation is supposed to be based on the reality of equal representation at the federal level. All provinces should therefore have an equal number of representatives in a house supposedly based on regions instead of populations, and that is simply not the case in the Senate..

Our Constitution is ass backwards on this issue. We have the government determining what is right and wrong instead of the people making that determination for themselves. Let me put this into a set of points for you to ponder; The Constitution of Canada 1982 was ratified by Provincial Legislatures, but not by the people directly. There is no such thing as a citizen initiated referendum in this nation. I think that given a choice, citizens would prefer to elect a specific leader I think that given a choice citizens would prefer to participate in the political process by being able to vote on or ratify legislation I think that given a choice citizens would like to see fixed election dates, term limits to public office, and some form of electoral recall I think that given a choice citizens would prefer a triple "E" Senate In my opinion the Canadian public is fully capable of making personal choices.

I would think that it is up to the people what options to give the government. They don't own us, we OWN them, they are bought and paid for with OUR tax dollars.

Should the provinces be equal partners in confederation or not? Under the current system they are not, that is a fact.

Governments are making choices for us, they have for years. The real question should be phrased; "Should the citizens be entitled to have a specific say in a specific issue?" Where do we draw the line with respect to individual choices? When harm or the potential for harm to oneself or another individual exists? Does the majority rule the individual in this society or not? Do we have a form of democracy or not? In my case, I advocate a direct democracy where the government proposes legislation and the public ratifies or sanctions the effort by democratic method. The individual is the basis of our society, and the right of the individual must prevail. To your point August, I never claimed the right to speak for others. I very carefully stated that I could speak as a Canadian citizen who has the right to a form of free speech. To answer your question; my answer to this question is yes, it is a fact that government is charged with the responsibility of providing regulations for public safety. My answer here is that government should not subsidize private ventures. Governments already legislate a form of morality the serves that specific purpose. The thought police are already in position, they are the partisan spin doctors so omnipresent in our society today.

Cap and trade; pollution levels set by governments then excess amounts must be purchased from another company with a smaller carbon footprint. Company A is taxed by company B, provided B has a carbon tax credit for sale. In the case of Alberta, with coal fired plants and the oilsands development there will be much buying from one company to the next. Of course the credits for sale will have to be bought from other provinces. So it becomes an Alberta business tax. Carbon Tax; Liberal greenshift concept has pollution taxed and paid to government to reduce poverty and fund "green technology" Either way it will hit my province hard. In either instance the consumer is going to have to pickup the tab because business will simply add the cost to the net price of the products. Too bad you can't see the folly of these approaches to a problem that cannot be solved. Start down this path and you will end up with an international carbon tax credit market in short order.

The Nazis denied the holocaust was planned, they lied. The governments deny that a cap and trade system isn't a carbon tax, they are lying.

Only the public was surprised, the governments and corporations knew exactly what was going on.

Five Senators each, ten year single term of office. Elections to be held provincially, appointments abandoned.