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So if Steve has his way, we will end up with 13 different government all heading in different direction. No standardization of rights to health care, education, and god only knows what other Canadian privileges we will lose just so Steve can change Canada into his own image. Somebody get that @#$%^&* out of there!!!

Michael Bliss, National Post Published: Saturday, November 25, 2006 By 2006 most sensible Canadian politicians seemed to believe you no more raised the "deux nations" issue in the 21st century than you waved bloody flags of racial and religious divisiveness in the 19th century. Responsible politicians simply didn't go there. Then along came Michael Ignatieff and Stephen Harper. Prime Minister Harper seems to have thrown principle and common sense and what we used to call the Canadian national interest (you can bet that phrase will now disappear) to the winds in a naive effort to court Quebec votes. Exactly how and why this has happened is unclear. Maybe too many of the old Mulroney gang have too much influence on Mr. Harper. Possibly he thinks that he is actually bringing closure to the issue by saying that Quebec is only a nation within Canada. Silly man: If Quebec is a nation within Canada, then it would be even more of a nation without Canada. None of this would likely have happened if Mr. Ignatieff had not deliberately fanned the embers of Quebec nationalism in his campaign for the Liberal leadership. Without Mr. Ignatieff's publicizing of the issue, it probably would have simmered harmlessly. He is a classic example of the irresponsible intellectual who advocates what seem like good ideas, and only afterwards comes to understand and regret the unintended consequences of the positions he has taken. He did not learn the lessons of his ghastly Iraq folly. After making mistakes that would have humbled and silenced most thoughtful men, Mr. Ignatieff instead chose to bring his carpet bag of ideas back to Canada. Millions pay the price of the Ignatieff ego. LINK I totally agree with Michael Bliss. Steve was so anxious to trump the Bloc and the Liberals that his brain shut down and common sense left him. It was all about Steve being the winner and the rest in the House being losers. And that was reported in the Globe and Mail today, how Steve was giggling and giving everyone the loser sign who didn't instantly agree with his lame brained motion declaring Quebecers a nation. And all just for a few votes and more power. Totally disgusting little man. One can understand Iggy being brain dead but why did Steve join him?

Steve and Jim DECREASED the personal exemption by $400 as they raised the lowest tax rate and the capital gains rate while lowering a user tax (GST) by 1% which does not benefit the poorest who spend most of their income on non taxable food, rent or mortgage payments, etc. I was very disappointed in the flim-flam of Jim's economic update. His paying off the "net" debt is a sham since it depends on 9 provinces, 1 nation and 3 territories but mostly Alberta. Does Jim and Steve really think that all Canadians are stupid? I found a really good summary here: http://whigca.blogspot.com/2006/11/economic-update.html

Harper did not talk about Human Rights with China's Hu. He asked about the Chinese citizen who spent 3 years in Canada and that was all. The rest is political hooey that was playing to the domestic audience. I can't believe how many swallowed Harper's political crapola. LOLOL

The Liberal BILL C-2 made it illegal for 40 year olds to have sex with 14 year olds. http://www.parl.gc.ca/common/Bills_ls.asp?...Ses=1&ls=C2

This is just the start of what we can look forward to under Harper's Belgium model. '' BELGIUM: Parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarch. Under the 1994 constitution, autonomy was granted to the Walloon region (Wallonia), the Flemish region (Flanders), and the bilingual Brussels-Capital region; autonomy was also guaranteed for the Flemish-, French-, and German-speaking “communities.” The central government retains responsibility for foreign policy, defense, taxation, and social security.'' ( SOURCE: © 2000–2005 Pearson Education, publishing as Infoplease) http://www.infoplease.com/pages/copyright.html Harper just glibly suggested that Canada might adopt the Belgium model of federal government; that he would give more powers to the provinces/territories, and reduce the role of the federal government, without spelling out the details. His hidden agenda are in the details. Here are some of the details: Harper supports an elected SENATE highly influenced by the provinces. An elected Senate would trump the primary parliamentary function and responsibilities of the House of Commons -- just as it does the House of R. in the USA. You would be paying very large salaries to Harper and his caucus for doing little work-- (remember when Harper and his neo-con caucus refused to show-up in the H or C for one of the readings of Goodale's finance bill?, or when they refused to show up for work in committees? and when Stockwell Day suggested that the H of C should shut down from Thursdays through Mondays? -- and for their vastly reduced responsibilities --four in total, ''a la Harper's Belgium model,'' expressed some months ago: (1) foreign policy, (2) defence; and Harper and his western group would only (3) collect your taxes to build up and maintain the Armed forces (to help George Bush); and his ''soc-con'' policies would probably make it very difficult for you to get (4) social security benefits (Harper and the ''soc-cons'' are promising you reduced taxes, but they don't tell you ( hidden agenda) that if they let you keep more in your pocket to spend, then you are going to have to look after yourself and families by paying much more than you are allowed to keep, for ALL the services and health benefits that you may/will need. The federal civil service would be drastically reduced since ALL other federal government services but these four areas, would be handed over to the provinces. Imagine Canadians having NO federal department of Justice, no Supreme Court of Canada (the SCC would be useless since each autonomous province would be administering and pronouncing on its own laws), of health, of immigration, of employment/unemployment insurance, of fisheries, of agriculture, of human resources, of public works, of communications and transportation, of language, culture/Arts and bilingualism, of security, RCMP, and CISIS; and all the other federal departments now in existence!! Just remember what's behind the fake smile, the nice guy, the smoothe, it's-okay-to-trust-me image. Just recall the Harris ''common-nonsense Revolution, and the anguished legacy that that government left for Ontarians. Recall the Harris-Manning 'think-tank' report on Canada's health system, as opposed to the Romanov report!! And now their latest report on cutting taxes, etc, etc. This latest move was the stupidest motion that ever came before the House in it's whole history. "I can understand Quebec's nationalistic policy which, like all nationalistic policies, has to lead to independence . I can understand this feeling, but I cannot share it. " -Stephen Harper, December 8 1994 House of Commons "The real question is straightforward. Do Quebeckers form a nation within a united Canada? The answer is yes." -Stephen Harper, November 22, 2006 House of Commons Recognizing Quebec as a Nation will be " beneficial to all Canadians because it will prepare said Canadians for the next natural step: the independence of Québec. " -Former Separatist Quebec Premier Bernard Landry , October 27 2006 - La Canal...

42 (?) of the amendments to the Accountability Act came from Tory Senators. Are you going to be honest in your electioneering and state the obvious or will every Tory parrot "over a hundred amendments by Liberal Senators" I think that the ceiling for donations should remain at $5,000 and the Senate should have their own ethics commissioner. Access to information under this Act is severely limited, but that is what Harper and his gang like, operate behind close doors. (quote-MacLeans)When the accountability act was tabled last spring, it failed to include most of the Tory campaign promises designed to beef up the access to information rules. Instead, a House committee was assigned to study possible changes to the law in the indefinite future. Critics accuse the Conservatives of trying to postpone and, ultimately, smother their own promised reforms under endless evaluation of the options. (end quote) You go and use this in your election platform. LOLOL Accountability act 'a bureaucrat's dream,'

The pension income splitting for seniors is only for income from dividends, income trust and such. It does not include CPP income, Old Age security or work income.

Canadian Press The accusations, levelled in two formal complaints filed with elections commissioner William Corbett, come as the two parties are locked in battle over the Tories' vaunted ethics legislation. In one complaint, filed Monday, Liberal national director Steven MacKinnon alleges that a Calgary-based think-tank founded by former Reform party leader Preston Manning is essentially a front for illegally raising money and paying expenses for the Conservative party. "We have every reason to believe that this non-profit organization is illegal under the Canada Elections Act for several reasons," MacKinnon says in the complaint. He argues that one of the main objectives of the Manning Centre for Building Democracy is to raise money "with the sole purpose of possibly illegally financing the Conservative Party of Canada." The second complaint, filed late last month, alleges that the Conservatives accepted an illegal, interest-free bank loan of almost $3.8 million. Because no interest was charged for at least two years, MacKinnon argues that the loan effectively amounted to a corporate contribution. Corporate donations to political parties were banned in 2004. The loan was negotiated as part of a debt reorganization plan in 2001 when the Tories' predecessor party, the Canadian Alliance, was formed out of the ashes of the Reform party. In their annual financial statements in 2004 and 2005, the Tories openly acknowledge that the loan was interest free. However, the 2005 statement indicates that the debt was to begin bearing interest this year, at the rate of prime plus one per cent. MacKinnon's charges come as Prime Minister Stephen Harper's centrepiece ethics bill has become the mired in a game of legislative ping pong between the House of Commons and the Liberal-dominated Senate. The Senate has proposed more than 100 amendments to the Federal Accountability Act, most of which the Harper government has rejected. The Tories have countered with some amendments of their own, including one that would end the legal requirement for parties to count all convention fees as donations. MacKinnon takes that amendment as tacit admission by the Tories that they were wrong when they failed to publicly disclose as donations almost $2 million in fees to their 2005 policy convention.

You mean Mulroney's Sun? As for Rae.... your dreams will end very soon.

All government money is from taxpayers, so if the government balances their books, it is taxpayers money they must use. As for the EI, Martin also lowered the rates three times and had more plans for lowering EI to only collect what was needed in a year. What has Haper's "new" government done about EI? Nothing. As a PM Martin lowered my income taxes and helped millions to have more money to pay for the necessities of living. In 2005 I saved almost $400 on my tax bill which was money in my pocket. Then Harpo get elected and takes that money back but tells me that he is cutting the GST and I have to spend $40,000 in order to save $400. What a crock.

Harper failing on communication The Edmonton Journal Published: Tuesday, November 21, 2006 Prime Minister Stephen Harper's churlish rhubarb with the Parliamentary Press Gallery went a few steps too far this past weekend when, on a trip to Hanoi, Harper allowed an utterly false reporting of the status of his meetings with Chinese leader Hu Jintao to remain on the public record for 14 hours. The falsehood appears to have eminated directly from Harper's entourage, which continued to tell reporters that the Harper-Hu meeting was off, even though the two men had in fact already met. It was only after the Chinese officials gave details of the meeting that the Prime Ministers' Office aides owned up that, indeed, the two had met and discussed some key points of friction, including trade and human rights. This was not a question of going out of their way to correct reporters who had overstated what they did or did not know. This was failing to correct misinformation that had eminated from the PMO. This obfuscation of events unfolding at the APEC summit in Vietnam steps over the fine line between managing the government's communications strategy and deliberately allowing the public to be misled. Whatever one feels about Harper's contempt for the media, it is wholly unacceptable that some government officials appear to have actively engaged in misinformation. Last we looked, Harper was still employed by the Canadian taxpayers and, even if the media isn't, reporters do have the right to know what he is doing and saying on Canada's behalf to the outside world. In fairness to many of the Canadian officials travelling with the prime minister, Harper's penchant for hoarding information probably means that many Canadian diplomats in attendance and foreign affairs officials who should have known about the meeting were also kept in the dark. Otherwise, they might well have set the record straight. But the fact that many senior officials didn't know that Harper had actually met with the Chinese leader should be a clarion call that Harper's paranoia about leaks has reached a point that risks rendering dysfunctional Canada's New Government, as the Conservatives still tiresomely like to call themselves. Harper's failings don't end with his outward communications with Canadians. Internally, communications are also on the fritz and many departments -- agriculture, trade, aboriginal affairs and immigration among them -- are reportedly in various degrees of paralysis because of a system that starves them of information and punishes initiative. Harper might well have done a good job in managing his five priorities -- cutting the GST, funding family child care, getting tougher on crime, bringing in a federal Accountability Act, and instituting wait-time guarantees -- but he runs a government with 27 departments, many of which provide vital services. To be forced to function in a political vacuum, with ministers and senior staff afraid of their own shadows, is no way to run a government. So thorough are Harper's efforts to control issues, the PMO has taken the unimaginably bizarre step of having ministerial communications staff, who ostensibly are supposed to be loyal to their respective ministers, provide a confidential assessment of their ministers' strengths and weaknesses. Staffers are caught in a no-win situation of having to be loyal to their ministers, with whom they interact every day, or to the PMO. Is this really what Harper had in mind when, as leader of the opposition, he routinely chided the Liberals for their lack of transparency? In successive elections, front and centre in the Conservative platform was his pitch to voters that his would be an open and accountable government. Such openness starts at the top and here Harper is showing signs of failing miserably. © The Edmonton Journal 2006 WOW! This from the Edmonton Journal

Harper and Human Rights at APEC http://www.ottawasun.com/Comment/Dewar/200...18/2416866.html

Interestingly, he's just recommended that the Governor General undertake state visits to five countries in Africa. None of which have any standing or power in the world.

Where has the Canada-China Joint Dialogue on Human Rights failed? Your guesses are uninformed.

I get so tired of the Harper's defenders who refuse or won't educate themselves but just blindly accept whatever the Hapless Wonder does is right and try to blame Liberals for everything. Prime Minister Jean Chretien in 1997 created the Canada-China Joint Dialogue on Human Rights, which has met every year except this one. (Quess why?) Paul Martin was the first Canadian PM to meet with the Dalai Lama. In general, Chretien and Martin were more predisposed to engage China, aggressively pushing trade links while raising the rights issues behind closed door. Not making spectacles of themselves on the International stage to fool the voters back home. All the blabbing Harper did on the plane to Vietnam about China canceling the meeting cause he wouldn't sacrifice human rights for trade was a load of crap. China told reporters early Sunday that they had never planned a full bilateral meeting as Harper claimed. And when they finally did meet, human rights weren't even discussed.

PLEASE!!!!!!!! Will you and all Liberal critics get your facts straight!! The Liberals DID NOT sit on their ass. Stephen Dion and the Liberals implemented Project Green to improve our energy efficiency and our waste management practices, conserve our biodiversity, protect our water, clean up contaminated sites, ensure cleaner and healthier air and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. He actively implementing its Ten Year Clean Air Agenda laid out in 2000. Some key elements of this Agenda include a strict regulatory action plan for vehicles, engines and fuels, which will reduce smog-forming emissions from new vehicles by 90 percent by 2010 compared with levels in 2000; a progressive plan to reduce sulphur in rail locomotives, marine vessels, and off-road construction and mining equipment; stricter transportation regulations; and the implementation of Canada-wide standards for particulate matter and ozone. The agenda for water was also substantial, and comprises the five year Water Management Strategy to improve water and wastewater services for First Nation reserve communities; the $28 million that the last Budget devoted to the first phase of the government's Oceans Action Plan; and the Canada-wide management strategy for municipal wastewater effluents currently in development. Our natural assets will be safeguarded by the additional $269 million allocated by Budget 2004 to our National Parks. This is good news for the preservation of our natural environment, and good news for our economy. Harper has erased all reference to Project Green from the government web site and he has canceled all programs relating to Project Green including Windscope while he keeps on kicking at the Liberals to cover up for his own inadequacies in dealing with global warming. He thinks that using words like “clean”, “safe”, and “healthy” “climate change” instead of “global warming” will get him the points from voters he treats as thought they are stupid and win him his majority so he can turn Canada into his own image. Except that his Republican strategist Frank Luntz has renounced his advice on global warming. So watch for Rona Ambrose to change her "mind" on "climate change". She may even start calling it "global warming". Rona will convince Harpo that he should take the environment more seriously. Gad! Politicians. So please quit buying into the Conservative lie that the Liberals were not doing anything about Kyoto and the environment.

Ahhhhhhhhhhh.... respect is earned. Tell your buddy Harper.

All it will mean is that Stephen Harper is incompetent..... really. The different regions of the country are doing just fine. There are a few voices that won't shut up slamming Canada cause they are afraid if they do the ROC will realize that their numbers are almost nonexistent. Anyone hoping for Alberta to separate should watch how many votes Snortin' Morton gets against Jim Dinning. THAT is how much support there is for separatists in Alberta. And is is a very, very small number.

Employers are Canadians.... BUT the Fraser Institute only used taxed paid by 'employers' and ignores the income earned by said 'employers.' That's why the Fraser tax freedom day is bogus.

You don't like George Galloway? Liu Jianchao, China's foreign ministry spokesman says the same thing only with more diplomacy.

Well Harper could take some advise on his spending after he increased the government spending in the past 10 months by 6.1 per cent. Promises made, promises broke.

Tax freedom day is NOT in June as the Fraser Institute falsely claims. Check this out for the truth Quote: the Institute’s calculations are preposterously exaggerated. Their calculations understate the income of Canadians, overstate their taxes, misuse the concept of averages, and are often misleadingly applied only to families with at least two members. Inexplicably, the Institute’s statisticians do not include all of a family’s economic income in calculating the effective tax rate paid by a family. They include only what they refer to as the “cash income” of the family. Indeed, since they attribute all taxes paid in Canada to individual families — including those paid by employers, corporations, and taxes paid on capital gains — their calculations treat families as having paid a good deal of their taxes out of income they are not treated as having received. More info on the flawed Fraser tax freedom day Professor Neil Brooks Critical of 'Tax Freedom Day'

Media Quote: Harper added he and Hu agreed to work on expanding a science and technology agreement but it appears he was referring to an agreement signed last year by Liberal prime minister Paul Martin. nd when it came to the awkward diplomatic dance that has developed between Canada and China, it seems the new Conservative tone — and international diplomacy is all about tone — was not all that welcome by China. Harper declared on the flight over his government would be more "vocal" than those in the past about human rights, and would not "sell out" its concerns "to the almighty dollar." "We will not accept conditions for discussions" became Harper's own condition for any meeting between him and the Chinese leader. In the end, there was no real bilateral meeting with the Chinese leader. Harper said Chinese President Hu Jintao approached him before a gala dinner Saturday night. They spoke for 15 minutes, and canvassed a range of economic, political and "consular" concerns. Liu Jianchao, China's foreign ministry spokesman, said general human rights did not come up. As for the case of Celil, the Canadian citizen jailed in China, it appears Harper's loud pronouncements made little headway. China reiterated its position that Celil is viewed as a Chinese national, and a criminal. In his final news conference, Harper made a virtue of his approach, and took a swipe at his Liberal predecessors. He said he had the "distinct impression that the Chinese are not used to that from a Canadian government." The implication was they'd better get used to it. The "fact of the matter is neglecting human rights hasn't opened a lot of doors either," Harper said. Canada's imports from China are worth $29.5 billion, while Canada exports just $7 billion to the booming Chinese market. It is our second-largest trading partner. And Harper doesn't think that will change. "China has a very successful economic relationship with Canada — one largely to its advantage — and we think the Chinese won't see any particular advantage in any way harming that relationship," he told reporters. In other words, Harper believes there's no real price to pay for his approach. It's a declaration from someone who has never been to China, or Asia before this trip, and clearly does not believe the admonishments from his people like the Canadian Chamber of Commerce president Nancy Hughes Anthony. She says the "tone from the top" does matter with China. For all the "frank, direct" talk, were Harper's counterparts here listening, and would they heed this new voice? It appeared China, master of the velvet-covered sledgehammer, was less than impressed by the lecture. Liu, speaking to Canadian reporters, sent a message that even Harper cannot ignore. "The first thing I would like to say is that China attaches importance to our bilateral relationship," said Liu. "This is the first thing. And second, we think that country-to-country relations should be based on equality, mutual benefit and mutual respect." Asked if enough respect had been shown in China's view, Liu's answer was, well, diplomatic. "I think the mutual respect would be beneficial for both sides, so if the two countries are committed to further development of China-Canada relationship, I mean all the parties, both parties, should make efforts towards this end." -end quote So while Harpo suckers the voters back home with his political "announcements" and political games, Canada's international reputation is now a laughingstock with a idiot as it's PM. OTTAWA - Prime Minister Stephen Harper's foreign policy strategy is a joke and is causing Canada to be hated around the world, British politician George Galloway said Monday.

Canadian diplomacy taking tougher approach: Harper Last Updated: Sunday, November 19, 2006 | 6:51 PM ET CBC News Talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao at the Asia Pacific summit in Hanoi illustrate Canada's new, tougher style of diplomacy, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Sunday. But a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry said Harper and Hu had spoken only briefly, and issues such as human rights were not raised. http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2006/11/19/celil-harper.html I can't believe the lies and hypocrisies of this PM. He has shamed Canada internationally. I'll bet there never was a "China snub" and the meeting was set before Hapless left Canada but this shameful PM had to play political games. China NEVER EVER said that they were not meeting with Canada.