Jerry J. Fortin

The actions of the husband are a matter of public record. Her actions will soon become a matter of public record. She may or may not have done something wrong, however at the moment we have not a shred of information surrounding any accusations made, or why the RCMP was called in. Until such time as we know, its all speculation and nothing more. That is a dangerous thing to be involved in political terms. Perhaps a reason for her to resign, or perhaps not...who initiated the resignation? At any rate, the point is that the optics are bad for Harper. No matter what the outcome of events in question, its simply bad news for the government.

Yet the reality is that most people are in debt up to their eyeballs, that is a fact. There are many folks that live off of their credit cards and just make minimum payments. Their is a debt problem whether you want to believe it or not. Business has the same issues and they struggle too.

The GST transfered a business tax onto the individual. It replaced the Manufacturers Sales Tax, once you can see and understand the intent and direction of the effort you get the feeling that government does not serve the public interest.

No matter how you look at the problem, the value of money becomes questionable. In todays media there are two interesting stories; 1.) Canadian Trade Deficit 2.)Canadian Dollar Parity

Well said!

That is not the whole problem, it is only a symptom. The disease rages on.

It will be a right wing nut, to replace a left wing loon. I wish the PM, whoever it may be would stop the patronage! Why not have a job competition and take the best person willing to work for the people?

Might be a good choice.

Rather simplistic don't you think......I will suggest calamity.

Serbia and Croatia fought a religious war in my view. After all there was genocide based on religious origins.

It seems to me that there will always be conflict somewhere, its just human nature.

While we all sit back and debate the complex modern financial system perhaps it is noteworthy to suggest we all keep an eye on world currencies. One in particular I think bears close scrutiny, the Chinese one. Has anyone given any thought to what WILL happen when it ceases to be state controlled and is allowed to float in the open market?

Personally, I want to see an end to this crap. It is a complete waste of tax dollars, let the political parties spend the money of their own supporters, not mine. Having said that, I think there will be some sort of backlash a political molehill made into a mountain. It may serve to liven up the debate!

It also lead to Harper shutting down Parliament, and began the slide in his popularity.

Did not the last attempt to do this result in the coalition concept?

Hahahahaha! Good point! Maybe they should be treated like us instead!

It is my hope that someday a government will come to power with the intent of reducing expenditures and cleaning up bureaucracy. I suggest that these things need to be done first before any simplistic slash and burn process is undertaken just to cut taxes. Corporate tax is one thing, and personal tax another. Four fifths of government tax revenue comes from personal income taxes and other forms of direct taxation. Only twenty percent comes from corporations. Last time I checked, corporations don't vote so it becomes a simple case of political economics to evade the true issues here. We all need jobs, so why not just call a spade a spade and live with the reality. Corporations have lower rates, and in fact pay very little in taxes. Leave them alone, give them a tax holiday and see once and for all what the results, not predictions would be. I will suggest that corporations would flock to this nation from around the planet. That would mean jobs for us, and foreign investment for us. It would be a win then win again scenario.

I would like to see the subsidy gone. I would like to see the political parties treated like any other corporation actually. Tax them!

Yet this is not Iran. Then again when you have employment and economic problems the like of which many citizens have never before seen, then the issue of legislating personal attire takes on a different light. In my view, this is all just crap. Burka or no burka, it just doesn't matter to me because it is none of my business to tell people how to dress, not should it be the governments business.

It may have something to do with the lack of recent gaffs.....the other guys are in the big lime light and subject to a close eyeball everyday, where as Layton is not perceived on the same level.

I will suggest it is all very political.

I do not assume that such a move will resolve all problems, but I do suggest that a functional solution cannot be found until such a conversion is made. It is merely the next step in the evolution of the system, there will be other problems to resolve at that point, some of which can only be realized once the change has been made. Others simply cannot be calculated or quantified at this point at all. The functional point being that the homogenization of the system would prevent the difference in currencies from being utilized to any specific advantage. It would eliminate exchange rates and remove the cost of conversion from one currency to the next, a definite savings. The function of currencies is to formalize and finalize transactions related to goods and services, that would not change. It would however provide a modernized version of barter that would serve to level the playing field to a very real extent. Technological advancement is the key to economic salvation. The means of automated production is now here in reality and that can and will remove the cost of some human labour. Once that is accomplished the third world advantage of lower labour costs is eliminated. Let me illustrate this point from personal experience, as well as easily researched fact. The CEO of CN Rail received more than 52 million dollars of personal compensation in a single year. He was not alone amongst his peers as many CEO's were paid similar amounts. These individuals have been raised far above their value to their company, meanwhile some employees were required to take either wage freezes or benefit reductions at the same time. The people that provided actual productive value are at least as deserving of competitive compensation as those involved in the administrative functions of a company. The association between human productivity and monetary compensation for those efforts has a direct bearing on corporate profitability. To differentiate between worker and administrator to the degree we are currently experiencing is creating a class based society where a vast portion of the population are becoming little more than wage slaves. This reality has no relationship to the value of currency at all. nor should it. Yet my comment was intended to question the problem of numerous currencies and the difference in earning power from one nation to another regarding the impact to the individual. Your assertion that "Currency is a means of exchange, and in the simplest sense its value is related to the total value of goods and services in circulation divided by the total amount of currency in circulation." flys in the face of our modern fractional reserve/central banking system. Fully 90% of the money supply is interest bearing debt not hard currency. Yes production is related to wealth creation, but that was not my point. The difference between the modern ideas of production and wealth and an older version is one of the results of runaway corporatism and the advent of transnational companies. The generated wealth realized through the productive efforts of citizens in one nation are now commonly exported to other nations and other tax bases causing reduced local benefit to citizens. The human is removed by means of profit motives of corporate endeavors. There was a time when the workers of factories and the towns they lived in had bearing on the corporate decision making process, they now serve as troublesome opposition to the interests of business. Those interests have little concern for anything other than profit. What is wrong is that care and concern for fair value has been forgotten. Its all about profit! Most corporate expansions and acquisitions are leveraged with some form of outside funding. There can be many reasons for decisions made by business, sometimes to make money and sometimes to lose money. The use of leveraged transactions fuels the financial sector, its their bread and butter to a certain degree. These actions create a dependence on the industry which produces nothing but costs a great deal. You have hit the nail on the head. It won't happen soon because to do so eliminates an industry that grows fat on the efforts of others. I am convinced that you don't see the sense of it at all.

A few years back a report from a major US health insurance company was delivered to the provincial government in Alberta in a response to private coverage. The result was that the big US company decided they would not come to Alberta because of a lack of profitability based on the parameters given by the government. Small population base was only a part of the problem.

Alternatives? There are many, yet of viable options there is but one.

So the great thinkers believe that a sales tax is less problematic than an income tax! Finally a voice of reason can be heard, but who is listening?