Jerry J. Fortin

You miss the point, not just misunderstand it. I do not dispute that progressive taxation results in a higher burden being placed on higher income earners. The fact does remain that those higher income earners have greater opportunity because they make more money. The fact is that they are not being treated EQUALLY by the taxation system. As citizens we should have a reasonable expectation of equal treatment under the law, unfortunately that is not the case. The grand illusion of the noble little guy paying taxes and getting no benefits compared to the higher income guy is indeed BS, and once again I never said that. As a matter of fact I took some pains to differentiate between benefits and deductions, or if you will the difference between receiving government funds and the ability to claw back funds from the government. The real illusion is that tax paying citizens are treated equally. The vast majority of taxes are not paid by the rich folks because there just isn't that many of them. Most of the money comes from the average citizen. I have been looking at the tax system since 1970, the year I had to file my first return to the CRA. From that time forward I have planned to take advantage of deductions to the best of my ability, just like everyone else. We ALL pay too much tax in my opinion. We pay too much tax in order to feed a fat bureaucracy and a government with an economically challenged fiscal/monetary policy. The entire system feeds off of the citizens to the detriment of their disposable income. It is that disposable income that the entire consumer society is dependent upon. Every dollar the government takes from the individual is a dollar not immediately cycled back into th local economy. Taxation is regressive and works against the enrichment of the individual. The point is that income taxes are bad news, period.

Good solid points! However the reality is that if you are paying a lot of tax, you have have a lot of income. We are not talking about benefits but instead about deductions. RRSP's are the tip of the iceberg, there are RESP's and dozens of other programs. Those programs require available disposable income to be able to participate in them. That is the kind of stuff I am talking about. You are trying to mix apples and oranges to muddy the water. The point is that the tax system favours those with greater incomes. I didn't say they paid less tax, I did say they had the opportunity to realize greater benefit.

Make up nonsense? Really, just what part about the quote did you fail to understand? The tax system favours those with sufficient disposable income to utilize the available deductions. I am not talking about the top 5% or the bottom 5% of all Canadians but instead the average Canadian. That is 90% of all of us and in fact represents as much as 70% of all taxes paid to the government. Tax deductions are stacked in favour of the more affluent in society and that is a fact. Prove me wrong on that please. I am not saying there are no available deductions for most of us or that very few benefit from those deductions but I am saying Canadians earning over 100K a year have a lot of opportunities with respect to the tax system.

At least you seem to suggest that the tax system favours those with sufficient incomes to exploit the loopholes. Unfortunately those loopholes are what I see as part of the problem.

While in opposition he was against free trade. Turner looked into it and changed his tune. He fought and lost the election to the PC's over the issue. From that day forward we have become more dependent upon the US than we were to start with. Foreign ownership of damned near everything is up. A great business environment was created, however it was not in the best interest of this nation by a long shot.

I would like folks to consider this question; Why does the middle east make so much difference? To my mind, I think the entire notion is a fools errand. No solution has been, nor will be found because the opposing sides want to make war not peace. So why should we become involved? There is nothing to gain and everything to lose for all living outside of the area of conflict and therefore we all need to step back from the edge. Sadly it is a problem they have created themselves, and it is a problem only they can solve. For us to become involved merely risks more lives and has the potential to cause even further harm than what is currently experienced there now. This is in my view, a problematic issue with only one viable available option in terms of foreign relations, and that is to declare ourselves neutral and abstain from any international resolution against anyone. The entire concept of sending our troops out of country to fight, instead of training to and actively defending our own nation is a political boon-doogle of the first order.

Rights? The man was apprehended for abusing the rights of our allies! He was involved in the machinations of individuals and groups that sought to inflict harm upon people. He traveled thousands of miles and risked his life to do so. There was both intent and accomplishment of his desires involved and both of these things he did at the expense of others. He was caught in the act and detained. All because of his wants and desires. I say let him wait his turn for "justice".

The province will return to the black this year. Our big problem is that the government spins economic information for political reasons. Lots of government and lots of expenses to cover for, that is why they do it. Everyone else does too, so that is not news. What is news is that Albertans are starting to pay attention. They see the boom and bust cycles and they have both profited and lost from them. They are starting to ask questions like why does this keep happening and why doesn't the government do something about it. Stability is not an easy achievement from a resource based economy subject to an international marketplace. In steps the younger and more educated group that starts talking about diversification and value added development plans. Factor in the tree hugging folks and you begin to see just how diverse our own citizens are. Add it all up and you get a population that is conservative by nature and liberal by forced design. We know that changes are needed its just that we are not big on changes because they usually end up costing us money. So we change tyo meet the needs of our society and pay the bill. It is possible that the WRAP folks have a few answers for us. They want accountable MLA's, representatives that actually represent their constituents instead of the party. They offer considerations and alternatives for doing things a little differently in order to enhance existing services while reducing the expense of delivery. WRAP supports public education and public health care so they are not that far to the right. Many of my fellow citizens in rural northern Alberta favour less taxes, less public servants, less bias toward business and more focus on the citizens. Yet they are no where near supporting the NDP or the Liberals. Strange but true. Alberta has potential, but that is all it has until such time as the politicians realize that they need us and corporations to realize our dreams.

Harper will have much to answer for. The opposition has much they want accounted for. There are lots of questions for the House to address and the people want these things taken care of.

It is a wait and see game of that there is no doubt. The PC brand is deep and it will take the entire remaining mandate to finally weed them out. Have an eye on a couple of things though, one is the return of higher energy prices. That will turn the economy around here, but more importantly the royalty framework has not been finished. There are a lot of irons in the fire right now from infrastructure spending to revamping social institutions. The PC's have lots in mind to rebuild their image, they will not succeed but they will try.

You missed the two MLA's walking out on the PC's? Not to mention any of the party workers or aids and assistants. There is a lot of walking to go hand in hand with the talking here right now. The next election will be as long from now as the government can make it, because they know that that will be their end.

A lot of bother to clean up the federal act without doing very damned much for the nation itself. Why not just eliminate fractional reserve banking and enforce central banking as designed. We own the Bank of Canada, and we can turn the tables in a heartbeat. The debt would disappear overnight. The Bank of Canada would be making billions of dollars a quarter and no bank failure could ever adversely impact a depositor.

You can call whatever you want, whatever you want. Come out here and ask whether Albertans want more or less government. The big government party is the PC's! They have built a dynasty of bureaucracy over the last four decades to reward their supporters. That is part of our problem right now. That is one of the reasons the government is under fire, because of their spending habits and right now the public is not exactly behind the party and the government. Albertans want the government to clean up its act. I have not talked to a single person that is in favour of the budget deficit. What are Albertans telling you?

Alberta is a conservative province. That is not a partisan cant but a peoples disposition. We are not all big PC members or even little WRAP members, just truly conservative to the core. WE like the idea of less government instead of more. We sort of gravitate to the right, especially in terms of social policies. We allow unions but don't like them very much. We have social assistance but don't like that either. We don't like being told what to do. Alberta is a very different place when it comes to attitudes compared to the rest of the nation. The Tories will eventually depart the political arena and suffer the same fate as the Socreds. We will look back at another failed attempt at governance and move forward. That is what we always do, keep going forward. We are not marred by our political mistakes to the same degree as other provinces and tend to put them behind us as lessons learned. We actually do something different when we replace a government. It doesn't happen often, but it does happen.

Run as an independent.

This partisan crap is just that...crap. No single group is 100 % right or wrong. The entire question of intelligence and education ought to prove that point.

They are only a provincial party. At least right now.

I will second that.....

The truth is that BOTH sides are out to lunch. They always have been and always will be. The truth is that this is an internal problem for the region and outside solutions are neither welcome nor warranted. The first group to stop the killing CAN win international approval and support.

Education is not a definitive measure of intelligence. Granted it goes a long ways but it is not the end all and be all of wisdom. Most Canadians are NOT partisan. They will swing left and right to suit their needs wants and desires. Too bad the politicians don't seem to capture the moment and use this to their advantage more often than they do.

I am not sure about that. I am sure that neither political party stands a snowballs chance in hell of forming a government. I think they know this as well, don't you? That being the case they are not very damned serious about their policy formulation. Most of their stuff is designed to draw folks into their idealism, nothing more. The WRAP folks are the only real alternative in Alberta.

I don't blame anyone. I am just man enough to admit that the system is not perfect and in fact far from it. I am saying that we need to do something about it. Failing that we should leave. Since the dingbats outnumber me it looks like I will leave.

No real problems? The budget looks great, right on target! Debt levels are fine, no problem there. Cuts to social programs are on the way, and Ontario is juggling the books to become a have not province...its all wonderful. I will leave this place when I retire, because you folks will have it your way.

Just a minute, how do you reach that conclusion when the last person in this province to have seen a Liberal government would be nearly 100 years old. The reality is that you are making an assumption, and by jumping to conclusions you find yourself making these kind of statements. In truth the Liberals or the NDP have NO history of government in living memory. That said, I don't see them on the political horizon anytime soon. The simple truth is that the WRAP folks represent the best chance to rid ourselves of the PC dynasty. The down side is that we are looking at replacing the right wing with another right wing. The end result will probably be that we fly in circles and achieve nothing.

All of which leads me to continue to believe that violent offenders should be put away for the duration of their lives. That is the only effective way to protect society, anything less constitutes a risk.