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Its always media spin isn't it. It also sounds as if the problem was with that particular office in not accommodating her. I still don't understand why people let their passports expire or even why they don't have one, you never know when you'll need it.

Governing is all about making choices. No objective observer could say any PM made as many poor choices as certain members of the hateocracy chalk up to Harper. They have attacked his appearance (both weight and choice of fashion). Then they attack him for hiring someone to help improve his appearance. He is attacked for not taking enough action on the environment. Then he is attacked for not cutting gas prices to encourage driving. (Thanks for both of those Jacko.) Some people will attack him no matter what he does. So much hate, so little reason. Well said! hateocracy that's a good one.

Sarkozy has to be careful although he is not the conservative ideologue that Margaret Thatcher was, he could be in trouble if he tries to get the people to be more productive and work more hours. The unions et al have allready promised protests if he tries to reform. Remember the protest when the last pres. tried.

Actually aren't the NDP policies calling for gas prices to be even higher so how can Jack Layton claim to be for both lower and higher gas prices at the same time? The facts: – the NDP and Gas Prices: * According to economists, under the NDP supported Liberal Bill C-288, gas prices would rise 60% above today’s prices. Jack Layton and all NDP MPs present voted FOR this bill (Division No. 112, February 14, 2007) * Federal NDP leader Jack Layton wants the federal government to force oil companies to rationalize price rises (Vancouver Sun, May 8, 2004). * “Green Taxation Reforms: The NDP has emphasised the need to change existing tax laws and tax credits that artificially lower the true costs of fossil fuels and nuclear energy.” (NDP Action Plan, previously posted on NDP website) * “Stop tilting the marketplace towards unsustainable fuel and, over four years, shift government subsidies away from unsustainable fuels towards renewable ones. The first step is to reverse the tax reductions for fossil fuel industries” (NDP Kyoto Plan, previously posted at: http://douglas.ndp.ca/kyoto/en/taxpa.php)

The problem with hiring more people is obvious and the union would love it; unless they can hire people on contract. They would still need to spend a lot of time and money on training.

I checked up on this German editorial floating around the internet...Snopes says it is TRUE...check it out on: http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/dapfner.asp This is opinion from an unexpected source and fascinating that this should come out of Europe . So I'm posting it as I think its worth the read, it was in an email so no link. EUROPE - THY NAME IS COWARDICE (Commentary by Mathias Dopfner CEO, Axel Springer, AG) A few days ago Henry Broder wrote in Welt am Sonntag, " Europe - your family name is appeasement." It's a phrase you can't get out of your head because it's so terribly true. Appeasement cost millions of Jews and non-Jews their lives, as England and France, allies at the time, negotiated and hesitated too long before they noticed that Hitler had to be fought, not bound to toothless agreements. Appeasement legitimized and stabilized Communism in the Soviet Union, then East Germany , then all the rest of Eastern Europe , where for decades, inhuman suppressive, murderous governments were glorified as the ideologically correct alternative to all other possibilities. Appeasement crippled Europe when genocide ran rampant in Kosovo, and even though we had absolute proof of ongoing mass-murder, we Europeans debated and debated and debated, and were still debating when finally the Americans had to come from halfway around the world, into Europe yet again, and do our work for us. Rather than protecting democracy in the Middle East, European Appeasement, camouflaged behind the fuzzy word "equidistance," now countenances suicide bombings in Israel by fundamentalist Palestinians. Appeasement generates a mentality that allows Europe to ignore nearly 500,000 victims of Saddam's torture and murder machinery and, motivated by the self-righteousness of the peace movement, has the gall to issue bad grades to George Bush... Even as it is uncovered that the loudest critics of the American action in Iraq made illicit billions, no, TENS of billions, in the corrupt U.N. Oil-for-Food program. And now we are faced with a particularly grotesque form of appeasement. How is Germany reacting to the escalating violence by Islamic Fundamentalists in Holland and elsewhere? By suggesting that we really should have a "Muslim Holiday" in Germany ? I wish I were joking, but I am not. A substantial fraction of our (German) Government, and if the polls are to be believed, the German people, actually believe that creating an Official State "Muslim Holiday" will somehow spare us from the wrath of the fanatical Islamists. One cannot help but recall Britain 's Neville Chamberlain waving the laughable treaty signed by Adolph Hitler and declaring European "Peace in our time". What else has to happen before the European public and its political leadership get it? There is a sort of crusade underway, an especially perfidious crusade consisting of systematic attacks by fanatic Muslims, focused on civilians, directed against our free, open Western societies, and intent upon Western Civilization's utter destruction. It is a conflict that will most likely last longer than any of the great military conflicts of the last century - a conflict conducted by an enemy that cannot be tamed by "tolerance" and "accommodation" but is actually spurred on by such gestures, which have proven to be, and will always be taken by the Islamists for signs of weakness. Only two recent American Presidents had the courage needed for Anti-appeasement: Reagan and Bush. His American critics may quibble over the details, but we Europeans know the truth. We saw it first hand: Ronald Reagan ended the Cold War, freeing half of the German people from nearly 50 years of terror and virtual slavery. And Bush, supported only by the Social Democrat Blair, acting on moral conviction, recognized the danger in the Islamic War against Democracy. His place in history will have to be evaluated after a number of years have passed. In the meantime, Europe sits back with charismatic self-confidence in the multicultural corner, instead of defending liberal society's values and being an attractive center of power on the same playing field as the true great powers, America and China . On the contrary - we Europeans present ourselves, in contrast to those "arrogant Americans", as the World Champions of "tolerance", which even ( Germany 's Interior Minister) Otto Schily justifiably criticizes. Why? Because we're so moral? I fear it's more because we're so materialistic, so devoid of a moral compass. For his policies, Bush risks the fall of the dollar, huge amounts of additional national debt, and a massive and persistent burden on the American economy - because unlike almost all of Europe , Bush realizes what is at stake - literally everything. While we criticize the "capitalistic robber barons" of America because they seem too sure of their priorities, we timidly defend our Social Welfare systems. Stay out of it! It could get expensive! We'd rather discuss reducing our 35-hour workweek or our dental coverage, or our 4 weeks of paid vacation... Or listen to TV pastors preach about the need to "reach out to terrorists. To understand and forgive". These days, Europe reminds me of an old woman who, with shaking hands, frantically hides her last pieces of jewelry when she notices a robber breaking into a neighbor's house. Appeasement? Europe, thy name is Cowardice.

Good point. I thought the enviro. people wanted to keep the prices high to lower consumption, Jack isn't making sense at all in that context.

I believe that Rick Mercer beat them to it, actually. Jack certainly suggested we negotiate with the Taliban. To me, the fact that he's willing to concede anything to those pricks is in itself enough to deserve him the "Taliban Jack" tag. -k Right on!

LOL I think it was a little more than kissing, more like lewd behaviour.

Could be some kind of OCD.... If I remember there was a commission (maybe in Liberal Ontario, don't remember) a couple of years ago investigating oil pricing, it didn't come to anything. I'd like to know how they all know when and how to raise the prices, there has to be some collusion, and that is where the law can get them.

8 WAYS TO BE A GOOD LIBERAL 1. You have to be against capital punishment, but support abortion on demand. 2. You have to believe that businesses create oppression and governments create prosperity. 3. You have to believe that guns in the hands of law-abiding citizens are more of a threat than U.S. nuclear weapons technology in the hands of Iran or Chinese and North Korean communists. 4. You have to believe that there was no art before federal funding. 5. You have to believe that global temperatures are less affected by cyclical changes in the earth's climate and more affected by soccer moms driving SUV's. 6. You have to believe that gender roles are artificial, but being homosexual is natural. 7. You have to believe that the AIDS virus is spread by a lack of federal funding. 8. You have to believe that the same teacher who can't teach 4th-graders how to read is somehow qualified to teach those same kids about sex. 9. You have to believe that hunters don't care about nature, but PETA activists do. 10. You have to believe that self-esteem is more important than actually doing something to earn it. 11. You have to believe that Mel Gibson spent $25 million of his own money to make "The Passion of the Christ" for financial gain only. 12. You have to believe the NRA is bad because it supports certain parts of the Constitution, while the ACLU is good because it supports certain parts of the Constitution. 13. You have to believe that taxes are too low, but ATM fees are too high. 14. You have to believe that Margaret Sanger and Gloria Steinem are more important to American history than Thomas Jefferson, Gen. Robert E. Lee, and Thomas Edison. 15. You have to believe that standardized tests are racist, but racial quotas and set-asides are not. 16. You have to believe that the only reason socialism hasn't worked anywhere it's been tried is because the right people haven't been in charge. 17. You have to believe that homosexual parades displaying drag queens and transvestites should be constitutionally protected, and manger scenes at Christmas should be illegal. 18. You have to believe that this message is a part of a vast, right-wing conspiracy. GOD BLESS Canada Oops, can't do that either!

Tell me another one, just like the other one....

Really, I just got it from Bourque, or I thought I did hmmmm sorry Well it is getting boring around here LOL

Jack Layton is calling for gas control prices, is this a good idea? I wouldn't mind an inquiry into pricing and collusion, but I don't see how the gov't can control the prices, without controlling wages. http://www.canada.com/topics/news/politics...a2413a2e&k=6862 MONTREAL - Big Oil is getting far too plump at the pump and the NDP wants a watchdog with real teeth to prevent "gouging," NDP Leader Jack Layton said Friday. "We join with the Consumers' Association of Canada in calling for an inquiry into how these gas prices are being set, how they manage to get so high, so fast all at the same time," Layton added. Prices across the country have soared recently. "Were also calling for the establishment of an agency to review and establish what fair pricing would be," Layton said.

Here you go guys, get your calendars here: http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/stor...s_name=&no_ads= Liberal leadership hopeful Scott Brison is taking it all off to pose nude in a calendar to raise money for cancer. But Brison is unlikely to be accused of stripping down simply out of "naked ambition." The Nova Scotia parliamentarian stripped down for "What Men Are Made Of," a calendar produced by the Women of Wolfville, a Nova Scotia theatre group, to raise money for the battle against prostate and ovarian cancer. While the 39-year-old King-Hants MP is photographed without any clothes on, you won't see the 'Full Scotty.'" Darn !!

Why, Pierre Trudeau isn't loved by everyone you know.

Well said !!

Palestinians have not controlled the section of the Middle East where Israel is today since 1517 - nearly 500 years ago so current Palestinian claims to the land are baseless. From 1517 to 1918 the area was governed by the Ottoman Turks. From 1918 to 1948, the area was a protectorate of Great Britain. Great Britain turned partitioning of the territory between the Arabs and Jews over to the United Nations. No party had valid prior claim to the lands and do not have at present. The decision was made, Israel was mapped out became a free nations and the Arabs were unhappy. Life happens whether we are happy about it or not. If Lebanon is really a sovereign state she is responsible for the Hezbollah rocket attacks on Israel as the rocket attacks came from Lebanese territory and constitute an act of war. When a nation condones or commits acts of war from its territory, it can expect a retaliatory strike. Israel’s recent invasion of Lebanon was perfectly justified under international law. Good post WV

If I were living in Israel I don't think there would be any doubt as to how much anxiety I would be feeling. Rue: is there any chance that you could have access to the Hamas paper and get a translation?

The rhetoric and hyperbole is heating up LOL the CPC must be doing something right

The MSM doesn't report on a lot of what is what is said about Hamas and other terrorist groups, political correctness and all. I don't believe the PMW would actually make it up and they did give the source, which is an Arabic paper not available to all of us, and written in Arabic.

Don't bother me with facts, my mind is made up !

Good one

I doubt that they would have simply made that up as they are open for scrutiny too. I think you and others simply refuse to believe the mind set of the radicals islamists.

Those aren't the changes we were commenting on. This is dated 2007 so comments refer to 2005 and 2006, seems as if there is some improvements with more to go. They have hired 500 more people, I suppose thats not enough, maybe another 500 on the payroll. Either way, its being worked on, and I still believe that people have known for years now, it is their fault for waiting until the last minute. http://cmte.parl.gc.ca/Content/HOC/Committ.../OGGOEV37-E.PDF t Another area in which globalization has a significant impact is passport services. In 2005 we reported that the passport office, now Passport Canada, was struggling to meet higher expectations for security and growing demands for service. Since then, it has dealt with an unprecedented demand, issuing over three million passports in 2005-06. High demand pressures will continue, given the more stringent U.S. requirements for passports. The agency has clearly directed a major effort toward resolving the problems that we had identified in 2005. For example, examiners now have appropriate tools and training to determine whether identity documents provided with passport applications are authentic. Passport Canada has also significantly enlarged its watch list and has used the information to refuse applications or to investigate them further.