Jerry J. Fortin

89% of Canada is held in trust by the Government of Canada.

Climate change is a two edged sword. Many will benefit and many will lose.

The problem with the current system is that the courts are interpreting instead of applying the law.

I certainly don't see the government backing out of retirement planning. In fact I see what appears to be the opposite, from what I understand a Canadian version of the American 401K will be created to supplement existing RRSP's, CPP's, RPP's and OS's. The cost to the government will be in reduced revenues realized with personal income tax deductions for the new plan.

At some time in the future, we will have far more sources of alternative energy, but for now what we have is abundant "natural resources" that will meet our own internal means and provide immense returns for external sales. It is folly to ignore the reality of our available existing energy supplies. It is folly to allow external pressures to dictate the use and development of those resources. The federal government can and will do what it wants, yet the ownership of those resources in Alberta will forever be OWNED by the citizens of Alberta, and their right to dispose of the assets under their ownership is protected by the constitution. Alberta can and will do what it wants to the same extent the federal government does. Only a fool would squander the opportunity that natural resource wealth provides. This province and this nation need to realize that their own interests are paramount.

I continue to think most people onboard with global warming or climate change are just nuts. Extremists are at both ends of this issue and both cite science as their basis of support. From my point of view, when it rains you take out the umbrella, when it is cold you add layers of clothing and when it is hot you remove layers of clothing. I can't control the weather, and don't know of anyone who claims to. I simply react to the environment to the best of my ability. I do this for the reason that I believe it is in my best interest to do so. I don't live on a flood plain, nor do I live next to a volcano. I don't live on a shore line or up in the mountains. I live in an area of reasonably predictable weather. That is just me. Now with all due respect to folks, the only smart move for citizens is to adapt to the changes of our environment. I am a little pissed off at my government for jumping onto the bandwagon of Kyoto, and a little choked about our position on climate change. In my view the government needs to put together a panel of our best scientists and have them provide a professional opinion about the issues. The government should not be able to dodge the bullet and should be made to listen to the report. Once we have that report we can then decide what to do, but not until then.

This nation has lost much face since Trudeau left the PMO. We have become wishwashy over just about everything. Governments seem to go through entire mandates by flip-floping on issues. We now have a minority government who has to reach out to other parties in order to have sufficient support just to pass legislation. Things have changed, and they keep changing. My big issue with government is the lack of transparency and patronage. That is not to say I don't support massive democratic reforms, but that is another story.

Canada is a doomed democracy. We are afraid of our own shadows up here. We fear change and it amazes me no end that we even have electricity!

The USA adapted the Briish system to a large degree. You could say that they re-invented the wheel but that isn't the half of it. They wanted checks and balances, they wanted accountability. They fought and died to achieve this end. Our system was handed to us on a silver platter for the most part.

The decision to outsource is purely economics based. Why pay more for labour than you have to? The same conept plays across the board, companies are profit driven and stockholder accountable. They produce things where the costs are lowest and the profits highest.

Now that rates as a ten point response!

Damned straight!

CBC News Looks like a grasping for straws move that will end up never recovering the costs to the tax payer has put out for this effort from its begining until now. Now if we can realize an actually profit from the sale, that may in fact be a different story.

The polls will swing from day to day, let alone week to week. Each and every little thing contributes to the woes of a government. The only way to provide themselves with a safety blanket is to be operating during "good times".

Oil will go up over the next few months. It will eventually reach 200 dollars a barrel. That little fact is what the government in Alberta is betting on right now. They need this just to clean up the books. Once that happens, all bets are off. The entire planet is energy dependent for production. Those with alternative energies available will save money, those without will be forced to spend money. Either way, money is involved. People seem to forget that business requires money to make money. There is a big gap between capital investment in productive efforts and the realization of profit from those ventures. The bridge is the financial system of banks and government monetary policies that provide support for productive efforts and realize great profits for doing so. This cost is what the real driving force behind inflation stems from. The banks dial up and dial down the availability of credit through interest rates and create business cycles that allow them to take advantage of market corrections using their own internal investment capital. Strangely that investment capital is just like all others in that it was brought into existence not as a hard currency but instead as an interest bearing debt in the form of credit. Central banking, the fractional reserve system have more absolute control over business than even the owners of the productive capacity because the supply of credit determines the levels of production and therefore the profits and profit margins available to the owners of industries. The government has left the playing field in real monetary terms because literally 90 percent of the worlds money supply is "credit" not the so called hard currencies issued by governments. The real issue here is far more complex than most of us are willing to believe.

The impact to the health system? Then make booze and smokes illegal! Or just wake up and smell the coffee, legislation doesn't prevent the citizen from doing the things they want to do anyway. It still gets done.

It is a good time for investing in research and development of super conductors. It is a good time to invest in the design and construction of fusion power plants. It is also a good time to invest wind,water,and solar power systems. It is time to legislate geo-thermal systems for new developments. There are a great many things that could and should be done that are "green" related efforts. But carbon taxes and cap and trade have the international focus.

Another reason to elect citizens to sit in the court system.

All members of the House of Commons are in this up to their eyeballs. The public will soon start asking some hard questions about this jobless recovery. It is in fact all about jobs. The jobs have moved to places with lower production costs. That is not simply the fault of the government it is a symptom of the economic reality of a changing global situation. A situation that will not be solved without monetary reforms and domestic investment. The public in this nation are going to start demanding answers.

I have heard nobody accuse any member of the Canadian Armed Forces of any wrong doing. The government has standing orders given to the military. The military comply with their orders. The real issue here is whether or not the government had any information regarding prisoner abuse. It is clear they did, it is clear they have been attempting to spin their way out of it. It is clear that the only viable accusations are against the government.

I think that by spring the economy will actually be worse than it is now. Real estate bubbles number two and three will be discovered by then.

I would not take a bet that had any kind of majority any time soon. Harper is now dealing with the HST and prisoner abuse. It is likely he will be dealing with the economy again in spring which will also be when a new budget is due out. There will likely be spending cuts along with program cuts. The debt and deficit will start to become problematic and at that point taxes will have to go up. These are not good things for a minority government and will likely prevent a majority government.

Knowing the spending is an issue, while maintaining my position that it is really a revenue problem, I suggest massive reforms to the CRA and the nations revenue stream generation and collection. I will suggest that the CRA is a large bureaucracy where many cuts can be made with a change in the method of taxation. Switch to a "Consumption Tax", and farm out collection to vendors of products and services. The entire CRA can be gotten rid of with this change.

The impact of allowing a cap and trade or flat carbon tax on developed nations while not applying the same tax on developing nations will have a permanent and detrimental impact on western production. Investment capital will dry up over here.