Saturn

That would depend upon whether we are discussing Provincial Premier Idiots, or merely Municipal Mayor Idiots. Two distinct subjects here. Who's the premier? Mel or Miller?

...oh man do we have to have his name in any thread? The biggest idiot to be mayor in a long time if forever Why exactly is he the biggest idiot? I thought Mel was the biggest idiot.

It's reasonable for you to compare Alberta's best year on record with Ontario's worst in 15 years. In the last few years Alberta has done quite well. However, NFLD is expected to lead in economic growth in 2007 (must be very sad for you out there that those eastern losers in NFLD will beat you). In 2008, Ontario is expected to pull out in front (as usual). So stop gloating and be nice.

They have been for many decades. In the last couple of years, AB has enjoyed a great boom because of oil prices skyrocketing. This is not some sort of permanent state of affairs. Alberta's grown will slow down by a third this year alone and by more in the next few years.

Not true. Cities can suggest a number of projects. Then the province and the feds can pick and choose which projects to fund. Obviously, they'll fund the projects that will deliver the most votes for them in the most critical areas, regardless of the worthiness of usefulness of these projects.

They should be but how exactly do you force them to? You can't stop them from coming into the city. The 905 belt gets lots of free rides on the backs of Torontonians - not just for their commute. The only way I see it is to amalgamate the whole GTA and then everyone will be paying their fair share. Of course, suburbanites wouldn't want to do it because they enjoy lots of TO services for free. The other way to do it is to entirely pay for the project through provincial/federal funds (so that Torontonians don't get with the bills for services suburbanites use for 30 years). Obviously, neither the province nor the feds will like this idea. Can you think of any reasonable ways of charging outsiders when the come in to the city? I can't.

The PM has too much power - majority or minority. Whether it is a majority or minority all legislation comes from the PM - the difference is that in a minority this legislation may not get passed. In a minority situation, the majority opposition has little power to pass bills. Most of what the majority opposition passes, the PM can completely ignore if he chooses to. In Canada, the power sits with the PM. Parliament can only make small changes and limit the PM's power a bit (in a minority situation).

There is no transfer of wealth from rural Canadians to urban Canadians. Quite the opposite, there is substantial wealth transfer the other way around. The cities are the engines of the economy and produce far more wealth per capita than rural communities do. A big chunk of this wealth goes to the provinces and the feds, who then use it to pay for services in rural areas. When cities benefit, they generate more wealth to be distributed to rural areas. All Canadians benefit.

The fact that the PM can take Canada to war when in most democratic countries this cannot be done without the agreement of parliament, IMO gives the PM too much power. Going to war is one of the most important decision a nation can make and IMO allowing the PM to make that decision without the agreement of the House is completely inappropriate. IMO the PM in Canada has far too much power.

Canadian banks are free to invest outside of Canada and make plenty of profit there. They will of course benefit from a strong Canadian economy as they are better protected in Canada than elsewhere but that doesn't mean they will pass up an opportunity to gouge Canadians. Obviously, it pays to gouge. On the contrary, Canadian banks can't wait to take their Canadian made profits and invest it overseas - the more investments they make overseas the less they'll care if Canada takes a dive. Are foreigners prevented from investing in "Canadian" banks? Are Canadians prevented from investing in foreign banks? Why shouldn't the Canadian government back up foreign banks?

More wishful thinking on your behalf. Toronto's economy grew at 2.3% in 2006. In 2008, growth in TO is forecast at 4+%, which is higher than the forecast for Calgary and Edmonton (even for this year). I'd hardly call TO "an economically collapsing area". http://www.conferenceboard.ca/press/2006/metro_winter07.asp

Perhaps it's because the oil industry is paying for that Toronto transit line. Without it, Canada's growth would be dead stagnant. Be careful of killing the golden goose, most oil related government revenues go to Ottawa, not Edmonton. Again, Toronto generates far more tax revenue for Ottawa than the oil industry. The oil industry may be the most important to you but it's not nearly as important to the country as you imagine. In fact, the economy of Toronto + suburbs is larger than that of Alberta (oil industry included). Don't even begin to imagine that the mass transit line funding for TO is anything but a small fraction of the taxes leaving TO to be spend elsewhere that is coming back. Your oil industry doesn't factor into this picture at all.

Every dollar collected in taxes is one dollar not spent by taxpayers. You seem to think that only government spending creates jobs. How many jobs are lost because of taxes? And since when is job creation a sensible measure of the benefits of an economic policy?Dobbin, taken to its logical conclusion, your argument implies that if the government taxed us 100%, and then used the money for infrastructure, we could create jobs for all and we'd all be rich. I'm amazed by your "logical" conclusions (so many of them) that are completely illogical. Take a course in logic or something.

We don't need to create jobs. We need to motivate people to fill the bazillion jobs out here already open. Cutting all abled bodied people off welfare would be a start. Then again, that usually doesn't get votes. Cutting the 1+ hour commute to work and from work and the costs involved can motivate people to fill jobs too. Reducing commuting time means that people can work longer hours and/or spend more time resting, which can in turn increase labour supply and productivity. But nevermind, Conservative ideology dictates that forcing people to work will increase productivity. Just bring out the whip and make them walk to work if they have to.

No. I do not believe that. I believe that a free market is just -- regardless of the impact one individual has on the dynamics or the outcome. That is a major difference. Yes, that is a major difference. Is this how you justify Enron and child prostitution though? With the presence of a market?

No you have it backward. The majority is valid because the others dont care about voting. They simply do not count. It cannot be any other way. Either get off your arse and vote or shut up. It is that simple. Any reason not to go and vote is laziness....ok ok you can excuse those in hospital or other emergency concerns. May I point out that majority governments in Canada rarely get 50+% popular support? So, it doesn't matter whether you include the voters only or everyone in your calculations - the majority rarely elects the government in Canada.

And not only in the country. Another reason why Canadians don't use cellphones as much as others.

Holy red herring batman! No one needs to get cash from a ATM machine run by a bank other than the one they deal with. There are many other options available that cost nothing. I have not paid any ATM charges in years and I do use cash regularily. Are you always within a few kilometers of a branch of your bank? Do you have all your bank's ATMs in the country mapped out on your GPS? And what about the hundred other fees banks charge? Can you choose to not have a bank account?

Of course not. Do you expect anyone to fight regulations that benefit him and support regulations that hurt him?

If your tap water started costing you a buck a litter, would you choose to use it?

No, it was money terribly spent. I don't want to see this turn into a political issue like the EH101 did and end up with an expensive cancellation. By not allowing for a proper bidding process, Harper risks turning it into a political issue. Not that he doesn't want to turn everything into a political issue to score some points.

They can't admit it was a bunch of home-grown crooks. Blame Canada! Would you miss it?

Absolutely. Provincial governments aren't willing to pay the whole bill. In the meantime, cities are becoming more an more congested. In TO alone a million hours (of what could be productive time) are wasted by people sitting in traffic jams every single day. Enormous waste of time and enormous pollution from idling cars.

So if each barrel is "cleaner" and you produce 5.5 times more barrels, what is the overall outcome? Only 4.5 times more pollution instead of 5.5?

Actually, when a third of your economy is exports, people's perceptions of you can be important. Would you prefer to buy something made in the UK or in North Korea?