Jerry J. Fortin

You seem to be confusing Hollywood with reality.

The harsh reality is that one partisan faction is no better than the other. Once in power they seem to find ways to line their pockets at the expense of the people. What we need is a HIGHER standard for government, period. There should be corruption laws that put these people away for decades at a time. No first offense crap for coverage, whack them hard at the very first opportunity. To do this we need major reforms in our laws, that is worth doing ASAP.

What of Mulroney?

I must agree. Less government equates to more freedom.

I am an Albertan, but even I understand what they are doing. Its all about leverage, and in the context of "green" they have it in spades. Frankly I don't give a damn what the ROC thinks of oil sands development, because it is a natural resource and comes under Alberta jurisdiction. Let them rave.

Here is one of the problems of our time. Where does the buck stop?

markets are growing in size and number.

Whatever Reform was it is no more, and that in more ways than one. Social Credit was the birthplace of the Reform party concept, but not where it went. It always desired to become mainstream, they did not understand that they could never get there hanging onto their ideology. It evolved into the Alliance Party, which desolved into the merger with the Progressive Conservatives. At every turned coat, they both lost something and gave something away in the pursuit of that elusive handle of mainstream politics. Sadly it was another failed attempt to "unite" the right. Last spring the first moves of a unite the left were made, that caused the demise of Dion. The extreme ends of the political spectrum seek to own the turf but what Canadians really want is a movement to seek the balance between both ands and occupy the middle in so doing. The left and the right are neither right or wrong, they simply never agree. That isn't what citizens want, they want their elected representatives to do what is best and sometimes that will be a righty solution and sometimes it will be a lefty solution.

Numbers matter more than you think. Further to this the positions of those individuals matter as well. There are sects within all of these partisan groups and I will suggest that the social conservatives are a very large and powerful sect within the CPC.

The current batch of CPC representatives have far more social conservatives than Reform ever had.

Sorry about that....

Does that make a difference?

There are lots of things we can do, yet they are all political complications to the existing structure. We need a moral and ethical approach to this and other problems that seem to scare the hell out of the politicians.

It was a one shot deal that failed to pan out. Western Canadians are looking once again for their answers.

We have immense borders to watch. We can't even watch them, let alone defend them.

Reform was loaded with good ideas and great intentions. They ran into a wall at the Ontario border.

Banking and insurance.....The two biggest scams ever created.

It is in a minority position, so it governs with the consent of the House. Given the ability to govern as they would prefer it would be much more evident. Idealism is what we need right now, not in terms of government but in terms of a way of thinking by citizens. The rule of apathy that grips the public must be changed into something more constructive and useful to society as a whole.

You see the CPC as centrist? I see it as right wing..... It is my hope that citizens shift a little toward idealism in their thinking soon. I believe we can do better than what we have. I think the world is changing and we need to change with it.

Really, well that is a little different from where you started this.... The Official Opposition IS as close to forming a government is as possible within the law on this land. So you can spin left or right or just do circles in one place if that is what makes you happy, just as long as you realize that you are wrong. People were so disenfranchised with with the Mulroney government that they left just two of them in the House of Commons. The citizens can and do come very close sometimes without actually getting what they really want. Reform was a western version of the Bloc which was born out of Social Credit concepts. It was a regional party that outgrew its own britches.

Being the official opposition is as close to forming a government as you get. Period. The bailed out of the Reform movement because the got greedy. They joined the with the Conservatives because they wanted power. They got it after stabbing several members in the back. Much the same as McKay did to win his own party. There are lots of skeletons in the closets of these folks.

All policy is grassroots driven. That is until a government is formed, then it becomes the policy of the leader.

Reform became the official opposition, that is pretty damned close I would say.

So great and wise one, why not enlighten us with your knowledge.

The problem is that a large portion of South America is corrupt. A lot of it is in economic servitude. Lastly a lot of it is subject to the good will of America. Yes Hugo is a socialist, of that there is no doubt. Yet compare the two in terms of GDP, number three on the continent is Columbia with 399,400 million international dollars and then number 4 is Venezuela with 357,900 million international dollars. Yet the GDP per capita is a different picture with Venezuela citizens at number three with $13500 US dollars per year, and Columbia at number seven with only $8900 US dollars per year. In terms of economic growth Venezuela is running at 8.4 % and Columbia at only 7%. Unemployment in Venezuela is currently at 8.5% and Columbia is at 11.2%. The percentage of the population living under the poverty line in Venezuela is a staggering 37.9%, but in Columbia it is far worse at 49.2%. So there are numerous measurements that can be viewed and used to judge who is doing better. Right now inflation is killing the Venezuela economy at more than 18%, but in all other areas they seem to be doing better than their friends in Columbia.