Jerry J. Fortin

Pictures Very nice

Why not spend money on theses buildings? Why not build a new city? Why not start thinking in a forward manner?

Post war yes, never said otherwise. Not merely largely, instead completely. I do not blame the USA for our own problems and issues. These are our faults, not yours BC.

Canada owes its industrial development to the second world war and the United States requirements for raw material for use in armaments. Lets not fall into the trap of thinking it was private venture capital that was invested here, but instead US government backed efforts in the military industrial complex. Give your head a shake and think about for crying out loud. This nation has been a vassal of the United States from that day forward.

I am not sure this is even a federal issue. Provinces own their own resources, so its properly their own purviews, notwithstanding the intergovernmental issues with Ottawa of course. Alberta could and probably should start thinking outside of the box, and damned quickly as well. Before the feds actually take over our oil in the name of national interest.

So the United States is a giant arms exporter, who knew.........

Both Edmonton and Calgary command many seats in the Legislature. Time and demographics have and will continue to shift away from the once majority rural population into the evolved urban type of city dwellers. Those folks are not the Liberals, or Socreds of olden days not are they merely the PC folks of yesteryear either. Those folks are a hodge-podge of Canadians from damned near everywhere since the big booms of the seventies. Even so, by nature Albertans are tough, independent, and truly conservative. This is the land of the red neck, good for friends bad for enemies. The west is indeed unique in its attitudes and politics, not something just every citizen of the land can understand until you have lived, loved and worked here. Times are changing once again in Alberta and the right wing is not the only place to be any more.

Lets just not, and say we didn't.............

Not really, but sort of. You are actually being punished by borrowing at interest to cover what amounts to a basic necessity in this climate. The cost of accommodation is our largest expense. Next up is food then utilities. If humans were a business they would write this stuff off as incurred expenses in a legitimate effort to make money like any other business. You need all that shit just to stay alive to go out and work for your days pay. The feds just don't get it, and few professional type humans will either, just us grunts in the trenches. Want to fix our economy? Fix that little issue. Make homes affordable through tax deductions, create demand for domestic products, design and construct a viable set of secondary industries geared to local resources. Do it all through the small scale efforts of the citizens instead of small business or large business. If you can cut the corporate tax rate you can cut the personal rate. Cut it up and leave it on the floor. Allow citizens to stimulate the economy with their tax savings. The entire goal of the government should be to eliminate all forms of income tax and change to a system of taxation based on consumer activity. Focus the tax instead of carpet bombing the citizens with taxes at every step. The government, or more properly the representatives of the people in Parliament, can help their citizens or stand in their way. After todays news of how the feds are going to treat the municipalities, and what they are doing to help business with the latest tax cut, I will suggest that many folks will begin to look at things in a different light. Even so the screwing of the citizens continues.

Canadian governments are rarely seen doing what is right. This is just another business deal with another foreign nation thats all that it is, nobody should forget that. Its the governments responsibility to provide for national defense. Its our tax dollars that pay for all this crap anyway. WE, the tax payers need to grow a pair and become far more vocal and active within the political landscape. Only the people, in their vast numbers, can really implement true change. Its not the politicians that really count, its the folks providing voices to the arguments from any side of an equation. This is scary stuff for the politicians folks. Democracy and its power is fully capable of providing a fear of consequences attitude to its elected representatives. Having said all of this, the folks in this nation do not at this point in time perceive any kind of viable threat let alone a potential or non-visible threat to our sovereignty and citizenry. Their is in short, no political will to fund an arms buildup without sufficient cause. To the hawks I suggest that you keep circling, and have an eye out for the sheeple that wander away from the herd. For the fellowship of citizens I suggest we venture forward in great numbers in many directions at the same time. That is how we will find our freedom and security, by looking for friends and helping strangers. Our dollars could be better spent on trade agreements and funding humanitarian efforts. From my perspective, I see citizens chained to their opinions by their own political leadership. I see a general malaise with respect to the public opinion of politics in general and politicians in particular. We have been devoid of the kind of political leadership necessary to effect true progress in the evolution of this society we call Canada.

I guess a lot of citizens are in for a surprise. The dynasty is done.

So why don't we drill to a level where high temperatures can be found and inject water into it then use the steam to power turbines?

The Wildrose folks think that the PC's are as far left as the Liberals. The right wing is where most politicians in Alberta like to fly. The reality is that most Alberta citizens are very much closer to the centre nowadays.

Until the arrival of the Wildrose folks, I thought the PC's were crazy right wing nut bars. The shift will be to slightly right of center, in other words towards the Alberta Party.

I could very well be one of very damned few citizens of Alberta that will say to folks that the PC government has worn out its mandate. Time for a paradigm shift.

Nor do we desire or require them to. There is enough room within the constitution to allow Alberta to seek and follow a path of development different from the rest of the nation.

So we should let NATO/NORAD determine our political future? Canada must grow a spine and a pair of balls. The brain alone is no match for what we face.

This province need not separate from the rest of the nation, at least not yet. What this province, or at least its people seem to have decided is that we need to make more decisions in our own best interest. We believe there is room within the Canadian Constitution to provide for a much greater provincial role than is currently the case. Alberta has a unique place in Canadian society, whether or not people care to believe it or not. This is the land of opportunity within Canada. Alberta is open for business like no other province can be. Its not like we are for sale, but we will rent you land to make money from in the blink of an eye. WE have low taxes, a good business environment and a petroleum powered economy. Just about a paradise of economic environment to invest in. All that is needed is the political will at the provincial level to lead in a direction beneficial to its citizens. This government has never been anti-business and it never will be. It has pandered to the developers, who have traditionally been foreign investors, for sure and yet that could change. There is now money here, not just public funds but independent Albertan dollars as well, more than enough to start on a path of secondary industrial development. Conservative thinking is able to exploit this opportunity. Liberal thinking is able to make it pay enough to deliver more services and programs than we already have. Only a fool would fail to appreciate the opportunities that the province of Alberta may avail itself of. Unlike the rest of the nation, we can build on our successes and profit from our mistakes. There really is a place where the Canadian Goose laid a golden egg, it called Alberta. There is no Canadian province with as much potential as Alberta.

I maintain that this nation needs to take the time to determine what it is that we need to do in terms of national defense. What are the threats? How do we propose to deal with them? The citizens of this nation cannot make these decisions, only the government of the day can. What the citizens can do is demand that national defense becomes part of an overall mandate for the next government.

I am not sure that the party (PC) has much left to say actually. Yes they will pick a new leader, and yes they will get another Premier to sit in the office. Even so, this next election cycle will see Wildrose and Alberta Party MLA's elected and installed in office. In my view the greatest likely outcome is a minority government, the last chance for the PC folks. Given enough time they will fade away into the annals of history. The next government will be compelled to revamp the Heritage Fund about six ways from Sunday. The next government has to deal with the environment, of which there are numerous bricks hanging over our heads. The next government has to deal with the nuclear power issues, and they will be shocking to most of us. The next government will have to deal with far more than what most of us would believe possible. WE are nearing a crossroad.

He is.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinetic_bombardment

I agree. It will be fun to watch how this plays out and if Iggy has the stones for this scrap then he can kick Steve's butt and only time will tell if he does or doesn't. This is his one and only shot at the top job and he knows it, I expect he has the people skills once given sufficient exposure to do something different than what we are used to of late. More than merely a Liberal cookie cutter policy manual. The government must trim expenses and add revenues to support the desired services Canadians have already established. Forget adding services or expenses for at least one complete mandate. Slash and burn the bureaucracy into line with the public sector. Eliminate big dollar patronage appointments, assign MP's to assume top bureaucrat jobs. Make all of government accountable to Parliament by means of democratic reforms. A mandate of change sought out by the smartest group of politicians will find themselves in power with enough means to push our society into the future in a direction as determined by a majority of citizens.

Build the ancient A10 on license, and the price of the AC130 is inflated as well. Hell we could do our own version if we wanted to. The problem is we have no political will to do anything at all. No risk, no reward, we know fear and little else.

We are still freaked out from a fifty year old Arrow program. If I had to take care of this myself, I would buy AC 130's and A 10's for starters, nice little insurance policy for the boots on the ground. I would be all over F22's if they were available, but they are not. That being the case I would go for the new F15 S models. Nice bird good genes!

I don't think a fifth gen solution is in the cards for us one way or another. I offer an alternative we can afford. I disagree. Strike aircraft are the correct option in offensive efforts. For defense, there is no known way to counter stealth as of yet. You can't hit what you can't see. Modern military operations is a red herring, there is only armour and ways of defeating it. In the end the armour always loses. I was not responding directly to you, sorry.