Jerry J. Fortin

Pony up to what? The last great race to the bottom of an endless hole for the tax payer in Canada? Your military industrial complex represents far too much of your national spending in America. They of course need to justify their spending and protecting private venture assets around the world smacks of the taste of an empire in demise. America can no longer carry the torch into the future, all because they spent their way into oblivion. AS to letting somebody else do the job....buddy where have you been because that is EXACTLY what we have been doing since the time of the guy Pierre replaced in the 60's, good old Lestor B. Many Canadians have been hurt since then and there will likely be more to come in the future in our peacekeeping role. It is a role we designed for ourselves, one to which we have a real destiny.

My reply to this little nudge.....grow up.

Nobody needs to be pissed off. We need to remember that little point. Getting pissed off gets people hurt.

If it happens you will be very pissed off.

I support the previous system to the extent that if it isn't broke don't fix it.

The truth is that before we can reform the system in any way , we simply have to address the entire wait time issue.

If I am the PM and I really want to do something....I will not give up until its done. I am not a fan, but that is what Harper is doing, and there is nothing wrong with it in my view. For as long as he leads this nation that's about how I want him to do it. Any of them, do it their way, and make it plain and clear why its being done that way. Once again I will say that this form of government leads to these kinds of problems. Perhaps this is all good because maybe the people will start to pay attention and figure out that if the citizens pay attention their will be done. There are more than enough citizens to impose their will on government. Consider the reality of a really pissed off public and an outside agitator leader type, better still one with an agenda. If someone was to organize themselves well enough to start a fire the incumbent movement then things would change rapidly. Get rid of every damned one of the previous group of elected representatives and start with a fresh approach. It needs to get done folks.

Well said.

A no bid contract smacks of smelly things. We should have looked around in my view. The T50 , SU35 and the Mig 31 are impressive to say the least. The F22 is a piece of junk, it is not all weather and has a veritable herd of problems to solve before it is worth a good look. Too bad the program was canceled with no fixes for its issues. The F35 is only one of the available options, some of the Russian birds built on license here may be a tempting alternative to buying from the Americans.

Partisan zealots abound in todays politics. In my view any zealot is an issue, no matter what stripe they wear.

All true, yet not all hope is lost. There are many things we can do to improve our position, yet damned near everything will have to be paid out of pocket so to speak, the days of borrowing need to be realized as long gone. Citizens need to remember that a government has huge resources to utilize which are far above and beyond the ability of financial institutions to compete with. It just takes a little effort and the support of the people. We can fix this in relative short order but the partisan slant needs to be shimmed into level before we can move on. The time for politics is just before and during an election, after that what SHOULD happen is administrative effort. We need to change HOW we do things, not just what we do.

Metis heritage? The First Nations own that issue do they not? Its time to settle the claims in Canada, put a bow on the deal and move on.

The concept has been proven to be useful in the past, as per usual the government screws up the simplest things.

So it is put up or shut up time for Iggy then. Can he get off the dime in time to accomplish anything?

Perhaps another government mistake. An open competition is what I would have liked to see. Invite European bids!

The F 22 is something of a strange sort. The funding for the completion of the program has yet to be dealt with by the Obama administration. Really. Since late 2009 the unfunded production run of 185 continues, even though it is capped at 76 aircraft. The F 22 is riddled with problems, and has failed to meet expectations in some respects. Even so it is a beautiful bird that is not likely going to be exported, and so it faces certain doom.

I would suggest that they are all citizens entitled to voice their opinion just like we do. I will suggest that their chosen form of expression is fine just as long as it stays peaceful, but quickly becomes depraved once it inches toward violence. Peaceful protest is wonderful, and I think a vast majority of those citizens were just that, peaceful.

So you suggest that this is the simple evolution of processes already in place within our political systems?

Legal or not, blessed or damned, the Nation of Israel exists now and has for some time. So it was and so it shall be, bet on it. The reality is such that Israel requested many thousands of Palestinian nationals to stay before, during, and after the formation of the nation...multiple opportunities offered for those who chose to stay. Keep in mind these folks were there at the time and owned and ran most business and industry. The Jews took it over and changed everything. The place was a desert, its now in blossom. It feeds its own people and employs them too. It is a fully functional democratic nation, and that cannot be said of Gaza and their pet Hamas government. The world needs to consider many things, but the outcome of events in the middle east shall overtake events soon enough, and answers will determine the outcome.

See what I mean?

Legislating the airwaves is a good thing? Our southern brothers have this neat concept called freedom of speech. Of all the things for the government to have to pay attention to, is this one rated that high? Let the markets decide who or what is successful where and when, thank-you. Has capitalism turned a corner here? What is with this state intervention style of governance anyway?

Same pooh, different location.

According to the contracts(s) there is a hell of a lot of that money staying right here in Canada. On the other hand, if could build the damned things here we would save a lot more money. Ahhhh for want of an Arrow...

The only numbers that count are tabulated on election day, and may that day come soon.

Lets apply that to the big cheese plate first shall we. Lets look at our elected representatives before we look at the low-life pond scum citizens who are just working for a living. Sure there is likely to be a few bad apples, expensive rotten bastards at that for sure but still...... I do agree it is time to fight corruption, but lets set our sights on the right target to start with for a change.