daniel

Pardon if I am a little off with my economic theory but these are the several reasons why interest rates change. 1) Canadian dollar - like it or not, the Canadian dollar i(as with many of the other currencies of the world) is in competition with the US dollar. Canadian rates must be slightly higher than the US's so that we can attract investors to lend the Canadian government money at better rates instead of having them all flock to lend to the US government their money. This loan is what keeps maintains our social spending as well as other government obligations. 2) Inflation: Ever since the days of Chretien, Clinton, and Rae, the economy has been growing steadily. Classically, such growth cannot be sustained for such a long time without the inflation taking over. When the economy becomes overheated with excess growth, inflation devaluates the currency all goods become relatively more expensive and the currency becomes less attractive in the international market especially to bond holders and fixed income individuals. Hence, in a healthy growing economy, you keep an eye on the growth by introducing a control mechanism - money supply in the form of higher interest rates. You don't want to raise rates so high that it'll turn off investors who need to borrow money. Such a case would choke the economy. Another form of control is when the Federal Bank directly participates in the currency trading market by buying back (or putting up for sale) some of its own currency. As supply shrinks or grow, so does (inversely) the value of the currency and then inflation. You want a lending rate that can sustain the balance between investors who want to lend and investors who want to borrow. Note: none of this has to do with employment no matter what the politicians say. As I recall from Economics 100, I'll never forget what my professor stated: "When there is a choice between low interest/low inflation vs low unemployment, the choice is always low interest." 3) The Canadian dollar hasn't been this high since the mid '80s(?). It's not the fact the Canadian dollar has increased so much, it's the American dollar that sunk. Think what you want about Bush being the better choice over Kerry (or whatever), international currency traders (including American traders) have devalued the USD since Bush's war on Iraq. Is it because $1billion per week to support the Iraq occupation coupled with low-interest paying bonds are too high risk to invest? Some Canadians cheer at the rising dollar, other shudder. It depends if you are a buyer or a seller in international trade with the biggest economy in the world. It's not the actual value or difference in value of the currencies that matter, but the rate of change of the currency differences. What you borrow today, might not be able to be paid back tomorrow. Or what you lend today may not be worth tomorrow what the face value currently states. Canadian buyers may enjoy cheaper imported goods from the US, but if the US currency devaluates so much that investors stop investing, inflation takes over (in a falling economy) - or worse deflation, the economies of Canada as well as other trading partners of the US will come to a halt too. Hence, the US increases the interest rates to attract investors (lendors) towards their own currency. And then we get back to point #1 why Canada adjusts its own interest rate.

If it's diversity, Calgary is not it. On a radio show, (guest) hosted by Preston Manning he asked why Albertans consistently vote Conservative. Well, the analysts and others interviewed basically stated its the culture and the pressure exerted by everybody inside the workplace as well as socially. So much for political diversity. As for cultural diversity, the places to be are: Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal. If you're a draft-dodger, that's a bonus. Canada has respected international reputation for accepting refugees. 1777 comes to mind. Welcome.

A CBC reporter (I forgot his name, but his report was aired) went throught the US asking Americans what they thought about Canada deciding not to join the war. He found that "ordinary Americans" didn't care because they acknowledged that Canada was a sovereign country allowed to make its own decisions. Those people in Washington probably had a lot of political partisan influences that others across the country wasn't exposed to.

That can only mean we should give the NDP more credit than what you are willing to admit because if Harris took a growing economy started by Rae and accelerated it with his policies, Rae took a recession created by Mulroney and turned it around. Since the world was already going into a recession, the Mulroney FTA accelerated the decline in the Canadian economy. The recession wouldn't have been so bad without the FTA. So you point out that Rae kept taxes high but Harris cut taxes. What do you expect a government to do in a recession, cut taxes, budgets and lay people off? Rae saved plant closures and jobs, something that Harris wouldn't acknowledge because he would rather lay people off.

He didn't need to. The economy was already growing, thanks to NDP initiatives that navigated Ontario out of the recession and policies that kick-started the economy. By the time Harris took over, Chretien was the PM, Clinton was the President and interest rates and inflation was falling. So what did Harris do? D*k all except decimate the infrastructure.

Huh? Was there something in those Bible stories that I missed? Please explain.

Careful with personal attack. You might get a note from Greg. Like I said before, the NDP turned the Tory created recession into a booming economy which Harris took credit for. That recession did what the FTA critics predicted: Canadian companies got bought out by US companies and then turned into warehouses.

No surprise there, as we were all expecting them to do that when we elected them. But - surprise, surprise - the Harris Tories left a big mess when they were supposed to fix everything. By the way, that great recession of the early '90s was the result of Federal - wait for it - Tory policies.

Actually, Bush takes directions from Cheney. It's really Cheney who is running the country and Bush just aimlessly follows. Last year in October, FastNed said we'll all find out what happened to those WMD. They were never there to begin with.

Many times in the past, Canada has gone beyond it's obligations to aid the United States. The rescue of seven American hostages in Iran during the Iran Hostage crisis of 1979, the April 2001 rescue of American researchers from Antarctica, the testing of the cruise missile guidance system (of which was the predecessor of the cruise missiles used in the GWBush's Iraq war) to name a few. And most importantly, on September 11, 2001 and the days after, 224 U.S bound aircrafts were diverted and allowed to land on Canadian territory. Furthermore, without formal request, Canadian from all over Canada allowed these stranded travelers shelter into their own homes until US airports reopened. If Canada had the same outlook towards refugees as the US has, no doubt these travelers would have been in detention centres for that period in question. I don't recall similar actions from US's most favoured trading partners, Mexico or China. The reverse is definitely not true: Where was the US during the Turbot dispute with Spain in the early 1990s? It is not Canada abandoning our friend and ally in times of need. It is that the US, since the current administration taking office, that has abandoned the world with its rejection of the Kyoto Protocol, and the cancellation of various foreign aid programs. The US-UK coalition has failed to follow the process of the UN and not that the UN itself had failed. The War is a slap in the face of all war veterans and war survivors since WWII. When the UN was setup (in replacement of the League of Nations), its objective was to be a forum to resolve international conflicts at the discussion table instead of the battlefield so that the lives of women, children and young men would no longer be wasted. Starting a war without UN approval is exactly going against international law. Not only does it set a dangerous precedence allowing other conflicting nations to begin their own hostilities, the leaders of these nations are behaving like street gangs seeking personal revenge instead of thoughtful diplomats carrying the responsibilities of the lives of their own citizens.

The NDP government, that is.

Where'd they all go!? ... Freedominion comes to mind. Though I've never visited, I've heard about it. Go post something left wing (but don't be obviously stupid about it) in there and report back to see what happens.

That was a no-brainer even for no-brainer Harris to score easy political points. But you think Harris would have had the talent to save the jobs at Algoma and de Havilland or would he not have given a damn.

But Aylmer and Walkerton was. Just goes to show you how little provision was left after the Tory dissemination of the infrastructure.

Just goes to show you how little provision was left after the Tory dissemination of the infrastructure. And the Common Sense Revolution was supposed to fix everything that was wrong with Ontario? Surprise, surprise things got worse. And I don't even have to talk about SARS, Mad Cow, Education, or the Blackout (it's always someone else's fault isn't it?)

Actually, the fear the Liberals used was the return of the conservative experience that Ontarians had just experienced. In the end, there was no way Ontarians wanted that back again. So it wasn't gullibilty, it was the memory of recent experience. ~ So much for Kerry's record. More importantly, how about Bush's record? Before 9-11 he was the laughing stock of the world. After 9-11 he's the most feared laughing stock of the world. And we thought Reagan was a doozy!! Are you better off today that you were four years ago?

I guess you weren't here last year when this forum was filled with ultra-Right Wingers who won't hesitate to use offensive language in their feeding frenzy of any lefty who would care to voice his opinion.

Who said "I'm the only honest politician around here."?

Does anybody know the effectiveness of ultrasonic dog deterrents? I also read somewhere long ago that strobe-light have a strange effect on animals.

What else is it supposed to be labelled? You didn't finish the sentence. That makes Canada's labour productivity five times greater than California's!? Wrong. The one job is the forrester who cut the tree. Take another guess what the extra four are in California that's not in Canada. Uh... Protectionism?!? Wrong. Right-wingers and thier big business lobbyists. Do you mean Canada is a country of brainwashed automatons? Are you brainwashed? A typical childish response. I think that's what BC Ferries did. A German firm was deemed best.. That's not my quote but then again why doesn't Canada have manufacturing?

What if Canada had viable design and manufacturing? Then came Dief the chief who killed the Arrow. And then came Pearson/Kennedy's Autopact which guaranteed manufacturing plants in Canada on the condition that Canada does not produce it's own automobile. And then came Mulroney's FTA which basically turned any other manufacturer into a warehouse, sealed the fate of Canadian resources to the control of the US market. Any form of protection of Canadian resources for Canadian use was labelled "protectionism" and revolted against by Canadian resouce companies who want rather to sell overseas and by US manufacturers who want to control them. I forgot the exact figures but at one point, one tree cut in BC yield one job while one tree cut in California yields five. Today, Canada can be in the forefront of green energy technology with thousands of jobs created in many many fields. Guess what's holding that back? What if Canada had viable design and manufacturing? Ask our governments who come up with the policies we got, the people who vote them in, and the lobbyists who brainwash us wth their narrowminded motives.

The Right controls government with the use of money. (ie Haliburton is supposed to be a contractor subject to competitive bidding but has become so powerful and influential that the US Armed forces considers Haliburton the customer instead.) Look back into history as far back as you can remember. How do all revolutions and revolts start? It's always some oppressed people who have grown so frustrated and with nothing to lose. Times have changed, but nothing else has.

In actuality, the Ontario NDP did get elected, inherited a recession and exited leaving the economy with a boom (which Harris took credit for). And to reiterate, the highest growth of the G7s at the time. So that answers your question.

Expand this philosophy to all sectors of society (except the corporations because they are the ones that create the jobs) and you have the Common Sense Revolution, and crumbling infrastructure - ie Harris' Conservative Government Legacy.

Blame the victim. Typical.