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Is Toronto to Ottawa far enough? I think the drive is about 4 hours so not worth the drive for only 2 or 3 days. $57K for 20 return flights for Bob Rae’s wife, plus another 4 Canadian cities seems high. That’s an average of $2,375. per round trip. How much is a round trip from Toronto to Ottawa ? They must be flying Air Canada executive class as the flex or tango is much cheaper. How about an MP can only fly their partner with them if it's more than a week, seems fair.

I don't have a real problem with MPs travelling with their spouses, it's no big deal. I did hear an interview with Bob Rae who has the highest expenses, he said that's the way it is - get over it. I suspect that the travel could be cheaper, maybe Porter airlines instead of Air Canada, maybe cheaper seats ? They could drive I suppose, by the time you drive to the airport and check in etc. It's not much different.

No it won't, because criminals have always been able to get around laws. It will do nothing to nothing to stop the usual despots and so on from getting their hands on arms. Note that Russia and China major arms dealers, abstained from voting. After some reading I now believe that the actual threat is in fact another ‘Gun Registry’ as this treaty wants signatories to track all information including value and destination of all imported and exported guns. Considering that the Canadian gov’t campaigned and followed through on eliminating the hated gun registry, it’s no surprise that they would not want to sign on to another boondoggle. http://www.un.org/disarmament/ATT/docs/Draft_ATT_text_27_Mar_2013-E.pdf The United Nation’s Arms Trade Treaty - would require nations to create and maintain a “national control list” to track “all conventional weapons.” (See Article V and Article II.) and Article 12 Record keeping states that “[e]ach State Party is encouraged to maintain records of conventional arms…that are transferred to its territory as the final destination.” These records would include, but not be limited to “the quantity, value, model/type, authorized international transfers of conventional arms covered under Article 2(1), conventional arms actually transferred, details of exporting State(s), importing State(s), transit and trans-shipment State(s), and end users…” There really is nothing in the treaty that actually gives the U.N. the power to enforce compliance so one wonders what the point of it all is really

I don't think they got what they 'deserved', but when they entered Egypt as activists they must have known they were taking a chance attending the demonstration. How could they not be totally unaware of what could happen if they went to a demonstration, demonstrations where 100s of people had allready been killed, even if it was just en route to help out Hamas.

Ms. Chow has to decide what is in her best interests and take a gamble. If she quits as an MP before the next election she preserves her current pension, if she doesn't quit she loses some pension benefits under the new system but will likely keep her job (MP). Problem is, is if she quits to run for Mayor she's taking a gamble, if she loses she's left with no job. Financially I suppose she's secure because even if she quits and loses, she'll have a good pension. Winning or not depends on who else runs. IMO John Tory would be an excellent Toronto Mayor but he doesn't want to run but is being pressured into running. IMO if Chow and Tory don't run, Ford will win. People don't like what the media has done to him, even if they do believe he does drugs.

I think that's the point here isn't it. They weren't just innocent bystanders, they did have political motives and got caught up in it. Or so Egypt believes.

I'd love to watch the series The White Queen but it's on one of those expensive channels, Superchannel or something. I just canceled Showtime and HBO because Dexter and True Blood are finished. There's always Downton Abbey to look forward to on PBS in January. Otherwise, it's the usual, Criminal Minds, NCIS and Grey's Anatomy. Actually I did like Scandal which I think is starting this week, and Blue Bloods.

Well said !!! I think many people have a faith of some kind which helps them get through life and if it does, good for them.

Of course we should try to help them as being held like that without due process is wrong. We shouldn't be weeping as much as first thought now that I've read about their activities. They were out in Cairo after a known curfew in an area where the Muslim Brotherhood had been fighting. No surprise they were picked up, but I also wonder if Egypt was tracking them being aware of their activities. http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2013/09/13/martin-gladstone-where-is-the-gay-campaign-to-boycott-egypt/ excerpt by Martin Gladstone a Toronto lawyer and gay rights activist The irony of Greyson’s detention in an anti-gay Muslim country has not been lost on many in the greater Canadian gay community. We see Israel as what is right about the Middle East. Gays are protected under Israeli law. They serve in the military, can adopt children, and sit in Parliament (The Knesset) along with Arabs and other minorities. There are free elections in Israel, a vibrant free press, due process, constitutional protections of speech and association. Gays are not publicly hung, women are not stoned. It is a progressive liberal democracy under enormous daily challenges to survive. http://frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/member-of-queers-against-israel-arrested-by-egypt-before-trying-to-cross-into-hamas-gaza/ Tarek Loubani is an ISM activist, a pro-terrorist group linked to several Hamas acts of terrorism. Egypt may have done Greyson a favor, considering Hamas’ views on gay men.

I've been reading about that... Dr, Suzuki is now Dr. Fruit Fly... The original article said he was 'pig ignorant' but has been changed. Dr. S. has lost any credibility he had left. The point is, nothing is set in stone, the data changes and there is no definite proof that the earth is warming yadda yadda

Having lived and worked in Toronto for eons before retiring and leaving for a smaller town, I would say subways are the way to go. I'm not sure the Feds. should be handing out money for this either. Toronto has the lowest property tax rate in southern Ontario (at least), they should raise the property taxes to help pay for this. However, Toronto still contributes mega bucks to both Ontario and the Feds. I don't want to say that people outside of Toronto shouldn't have to pay for Toronto's needs because in reality, much of what Toronto contributes goes towards hospitals and infrastructure in smaller towns which don't have a decent tax base to support themselves. In other words, Ontario's tax dollars go towards the whole of Ontario. I think about some people who continually whine and moan that there particular area is ignored by the politicians but when you look at their hospitals and so on, it's Toronto that helps to support them. I suppose it's one big pot provincially, and Federally it's similar because we have the 'equalization payments' to even things out.

Hmmm... I could think of some when it comes to 'global warming'... however, I'm not convinced that everything the media reports is true or entirely accurate. However, I still think that if they really don't like adhering to a confidentiality agreement they should work somewhere else.

Pretty much... well said

Well said. Also agree that Trudeau has a good chance of becoming the next P.M.

I doubt research is thrown in the garbage. What gov’t doesn’t control information, I suspect a lot of this is exaggeration, ince the narrative starts it doesn’t stop. If people don’t like working for the gov’t and agreeing to confidentiality they shouldn’t work for the gov’t. They should quit and work somewhere where they can talk about classified information.

No one on here I know, but then, I don't read everything. Beats HDS I suppose. have fun.

Poor baby is name calling ? sheez I've seen a lot worse on here. Never mind, I'd love to delve more deeply into this HDS but fortunately I'm out of here for a while... back in the future.

Oh, poor baby, another example of HDS

All is good, Why the new view? Because the data show that global warming actually has paused since 1998. You would be forgiven for not knowing this, as in the last fifteen years climate alarmism has heated up. Thanks to multiple school-imposed viewings of Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth, an entire generation has been brainwashed into believing that unless we stop taking long showers and driving anything but a hybrid, we’re going to create a global Sahara. http://www.ipolitics.ca/2013/09/16/cool-news-on-the-climate-front/ No need for alarmism http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/1226523/new-science-report-debunks-climate-scare UN has hidden research that shows that nature, not humanity, controls the climate OTTAWA, Sept. 17, 2013 /CNW/ - "As the science promoted by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) falls into disrepute, reporters face a difficult decision," said Tom Harris, executive director of the Ottawa, Canada-based International Climate Science Coalition (ICSC). "Should they cover IPCC reports, the next of which will be issued on September 27th, as if there were no other reputable points of view? Or should they also seek out climate experts who disagree with the UN's view that we will soon face a human-induced climate crisis? "With today's release of Climate Change Reconsidered II: Physical Science (CCR-II - seehttp://climatechangereconsidered.org/, a 1,200 page report of the Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC), it is now much easier for media to adopt the second more balanced approached," continued Harris. "Co-authored and co-edited by Dr. Craig Idso, Professor Robert Carter, and Professor S. Fred Singer who worked with a team of 44 other climate experts, this document cites more than 1,000 peer-reviewed scientific papers to show that the IPCC has ignored or misinterpreted much of the research that challenges the need for carbon dioxide (CO2) controls. In other words, the NIPCC report demonstrates that the science being relied upon by governments to create multi-billion dollar policies is almost certainly wrong." Professor Carter, former head of the School of Earth Sciences at James Cook University, Australia, explained, "NIPCC's CCR-II report uses layman's language to present solid evidence that today's climate changes are well within the bounds of natural variability. Real world observations tell us that the IPCC's speculative computer models do not work, ice is not melting at an enhanced rate, sea-level rise is not accelerating, the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events is not increasing, and dangerous global warming is not occurring." CCR-II Lead Author for the extreme weather chapter, Dr. Madhav Khandekar, agrees, "When the earth was generally cooling between 1945 and 1977, there were as many extreme weather events as there are now, but climate scientists did not attribute this to human activity. The perceived link between global warming and extreme weather is primarily due to greater media attention on violent weather today than in past decades. Earth's climate is robust and is not being destabilized by human-added CO2." We should be thankful that our gov’t didn’t buy into ponzi schemes committing Canada to tossing billions down the drain. Of course McGuinty's 'green energy' has already scammed Ontario into near bankruptcy.

I'm sure the government likes science as much as any other gov't, but the narrative by opponents spins it to their advantage. They are asked to sign a non disclosure agreement, even American scientists working together with the Canadians. No doubt their protests are self serving, who wants their public grants cut and so on. I don't blame the gov't for asking employees not to blab everything to the media considering how the media can spin an issue. Actually, the gov't has been increasing investments in research and technology—more than $11 billion in the current budget.

I disagree defined plans should be scrapped. Take a look at OMERS in Ontario, they are very well managed. Alberta has come up with a plan that will freeze benefit increases until 2021; reduce the rate of cost-of-living increases and set “targets” instead of guarantees; cancel early retirement incentives and reduce benefits for those who retire early; and allow the government to escape automatic improvements during tough times. It's a solution without doing away with the plan. Cancelling early benefit packages is a good start, also raising the '80' factor would be another cost saver. I don't know what their factor is but I know some places have 75.. These things would save the plan quite a bit.

and then some. Well, he is protecting the endangered Greater Sage-Grouse in Alberta and Saskatchewan

It’s about keeping Quebec ‘pure laine’, in other words the only true Quebecois are those descended from the original French settlers.