madmax

That would be those in denial yes...

I think its a good gig yes, even for 10months work... Lots of jobs are good gigs, this is one of them.

I have watched Senate Committees... I won't miss them. No different from other committees, hashing and rehasing the same thing. Government bills are often the bills reintroduced over and over again each time Parliment is prorogued... I believe when the Senate killed a bill passed by the house last year, it lost its legitimacy.

Considering what I gave was a QUOTE....on how it works, the question was answered... It comes from the general population, NOT, the Provinces. However the Provinces get the luxury of administering those monies as seen fit. That is only true for equalization , not for Health Transfers or Social transfers, which have strings attached by the Federal Government. As for Quebecs Social Programs.... Well essentially it suggests that there is nothing stopping other Provinces from implementing similar programs. A province could be MIRED IN DEBT and be a HAVE PROVINCE I think there is some confusion as what a Provinces debt is, has NO bearing on the monies that individuals pay to the federal government. Same goes for Social Programs implemented by a Province. That said a Province could be debt free, and still receive transfer payments.

I have no problem comparing an MP, and MPP to a teacher. Infact many MP, MPPs are teachers.... I have no problem comparing the wage I have no problem comparing the time in Legislature vs Time in Classroom I have no problem comparing MPs gold plated pensions to teachers pensions I have no problem comparing the pot to the kettle.

If you understood how EI works, I guess its possible but not worth the bother unless the Teacher is not returning in September. EI would not be collectable unless a ROE was received with a date of return. 1) 2week waiting period 2) All Vacation must be used first This might result in 1 month of EI... However.... anyone how understands Federal BS and propoganda vs reality knows... That EI is REPAYED come Tax season the following year, for anyone making over (Depending on region) 45, to 48K which would pretty much cover most teachers.... Lower then tha a percentage is paid back..... Thus a Teacher might go through all the EI nonsense and maybe if they are a new comer teacher collect $800 for the summer. With that comes the restrictions of not crossing the border, no holidays, even if entitled, once you apply you are under restrictions, much more easily monitored today with passport travel. One swipe at the border and toast. Seriously this is a red herring for someone who wants to make some points against teachers. EI Could be a choice for many new teachers getting scaled back as programs are cancelled and teachers removed from that school board. But for any teacher with time in, considering EI for the Summer is a very unlikely option. There is a difference between TIME OFF and VACATION. TIME OFF is Unpaid VACATION is PAID

Well, its not like they are MPs or MPPs.....You know. at Queens Park or Ottawa for a 8 to 10 week stint, then a month off in December, oh, most of January, ok all of it, then crawl back to work in Feb, off for March often, back to work till erm May or June... A very similar pattern and MPPs and MPs are paid more in Salary and benefits and Pension, particularly those Federal MPs and the six years and out clause... ...... But yes, teaching is Seasonal Work until one day when the government or boards decide to run a school term throughout the summer..

Equalization payments do not involve wealthy provinces making direct payments to poor provinces as the money comes from the federal treasury. As an example, a wealthy citizen in New Brunswick, a so-called "have not" province, pays more tax into the federal system and funds more equalization than a poorer citizen in Alberta that pays less federal tax, a so-called "have" province

This story has no lasting power.... Its not even a good juicy scandal... It is amusing in a way, kinda disturbing if you were on the flight. But we have seen MPs that behave strange at airports..... Remember Helena.....

All that information is available and in court docs.... EC is going to follow and continue to follow the electronic trail. If the trail leads to other parties and individuals ... so be it. But it seems that Conservatives, for some strange reason, want this investigation stopped and tend to make excuses as to the overall nature of the crime. Why, is that...?

Not often does something happen at a Local All Candidates debate, and its rare for a paper to comment on the night or who they felt performed the best. Normally they just report what was said and offer no insight, so often a poor performer or debater could look competent. So it was with surprise that I read todays article actually criticing the candidates (normally with this stuff only Leadership debates get the honour of being judged on their performance), It would appear that Catherine Fife is also making headway in the debates and carrying herself strongly. They also give credit to teh Liberal Candidate but it appears that the PC candidate is still a rookie work in progress. "I am not here to defend Tim Hudak and this is not a General Election" Not the best foot to put forward... http://www.therecord.com/opinion/columns/article/789254--d-amato-after-fife-s-strong-showing-this-is-clearly-a-three-way-race

Hot dawg... you are RIGHT!!! And 20 years to the date exactly.. The Canadian Senate would have been reformed, although the proposed reform fell short of the "triple-E" (equal, elected and effective) Senate pushed by the Western provinces and Newfoundland. The accord allowed senators to be elected either in a general election, or by the provincial legislatures. Six would be assigned for every province and one for each territory, and provisions would be in place to permit the future creation of special seats for First Nations voters. However, the powers of the Senate were reduced, and on matters relating to francophone culture and language (determined by the Speaker of the Senate), passage of a bill would require a "double majority" — a majority in the Senate as a whole and a majority of francophone senators.

How so? The PCs of 1992 had no intentions or policy of Senate Reform and they were a Strong Majority Government. The Liberals have never campaigned for Senate Reform, like the PCs of the era. The Reform party of whom were advocates of senate change held all of 1 seat. The NDP of the 3rd party advoacate Abolish of the Senate but had never held government. Even in 1993 the Libs had the Majority The Reform Party was the 3 party So, until 2006 could there have been any possibility of Reform of Abolishment. And it appears there is no appetite for Senate Reform Conservative Senators are entitled to their entitlements.

Wow, it was his baby sitter? Toews divorced from his wife of 30 years, Lorraine Kathleen Fehr, after it was discovered that he had fathered a child with a much younger woman

I think you have debunked the Equalization myth many times over the years that everyone should have an idea how it works by now. Some would prefer that it work they way the believe regardless of the accuracy because it sounds better and sounds plausible regardless of being completely wrong. PS you are appearing like a Constitutional policy wonk....

Agreed Agreed The Senate does not behave like a chamber reflection "Regional Interests" The Chamber reflects partizan political party interests and the "ONLY" thing pretending to be Regional is the birthplace of the Appointed Hack, even if they have lived outside of the region for most of their entire lives.. The Senate has never (to the best of my knowledge) voted by regional blocks on any issue, which if you look at the way this country political system operates, we are very regionally driven... So, a Senate representing regional blocs having never voted as regional blocs might be the biggest evidence suggesting that the Senate does not provide political regional representation. Not that those voting blocs would have helped, I am merely pointing out a fact that they vote as party, not as region.

This is the Problem. Some provinces will be more equal then others. Its like we have to create a 2nd parliment and for what reason???? People are sick to death of elections... and thats just Federal, Provincial and Municipal. While good on paper and theory, the practice of a 2nd chamber "elected" under the pretense of regional equality just won't fly and we will continue to see voter turnout decline even faster....as people tune out vs tune in. Its non stop electioneering in the US, from one level to the next, I really don't see it as effective or efficient. I have always prefered the Canadian model as we can turn on a dime, which is very useful when facing and economic crises or major policy change that is required. Its not so nice when the changes are idealogically driven but idealogs can be driven out of power just as quickly. I only see a Senate getting in the way, and playing partizan politics. The Senate today is a toothless almost useless body filled with patronage. They don't get in the way as much in order to lay low and not expose their hypocrisy or comfy quarters. My heart has been with reform of the Senate since I heard Preston Manning speak of it, but my Head prevails that the best thing is its abolishment. Ironically, One thing that could be different from the LPC and CPC if the NDP get elected is SOMETHING would HAVE to be done with the Senate, as the NDP would have difficulty appointing anyone to the Senate, (they don't allow NDP members to be part of the Senate) Which means action would have to be take to either reform the Senate or Abolish and the debate on that would actually be REAL. I think this is where the real change has to occur. The CPC have had a Majority, and ran out of excuses they have done nothing except prove they are better then the Liberals when it comes to Patronage. It would appear that this populist reform element has arrived DOA in the Conservative Majority Government and Majority Senate. I would suggest that is might be the biggest difference between Harper and Manning. I think Manning believes more in open democracy and Harper believes more in total PMO government.

1) How many teachers Elementary and Secondary are there in the Province If 2 teachers/people for every school in Ontario showed,That would be close to 10,000 But it looks like around 5 to 7000 of all stripes showed up. 2) How many teachers are affected... 70,453.05 elementary and 43,933.52 secondary teachers Thats 110000 potential protesters who , not being at work could have appeared, but decided they had more important things to do. 3) One might say there have been many many many many times over since Unions were "Legalized" and Labour Relations created that "Democracy" has been under attack. Perhaps you missed the Postal Workers Lockout and the Air Canada Nonsense... There have been hundreds upon Hundreds of rallies to stop the erosion of Union Rights across the Province and injustices within the workplace and trampling of collective bargaining. What makes this event different from other losses in collective bargaining rights? Back to the original question. Whos minds have you changed? Have you made a case to influence or modify government direction. I would suggest the answer to that question is NO. I also think that the teachers Unions are correct in NOT trying to dial up the temperature as this is what McGuinty wants. A phoney Enemy, someone to beat and look tough... Remember its YOU who suggested he is a one of the best premiers we have ever had. I look at this thread and I see Consistency. 1) Left, Right, Centre and Populist all feel this is trumped up to divert attention from the Liberal Record and possible influence the bi elections. 2) All have pretty much identified that the teachers won't find alot of sympathy from the voter. 3) Most here believe that the tactic is working I watched the News last night and its ironic to hear the comments from people thanking McGuinty for Preventing a strike. And comments like, its wrong to use my kids as hostages. Real Politik 101 absolutely

I have seen and been to massive demonstrations in the past. I have to say, that considering the school year hasn't started and most teachers are off, I was surprised at how low the turnout was considering how strong it could be. It was a demonstration, but those numbers while it may have seemed large to you, wouldn't have made the government bat an eyelid. Infact, it helps highlight the government actions, and gives the current government more press. The question you must ask yourself. Did the demonstration make a difference in public opinion or government action? If the answer to both of these is no... then it was a gathering of the converted meeting on a lawn. Which is fine as I believe in protesting government, as a civil action and even a duty.

Thanks for giving me a good laugh. The NDP hasn't got a media that supports it. Corporate media moves with the times, but is Very Much Conservative Biased and leaning. Would you like some cheese for that wine..... The reason the Conservative Newspapers are covering the story is because its a business and news sells, particularly interesting news. Are you suggesting that the Conservatives are involved in this scandal? Because what has been reported has been what has occurred, and the reason it has had a longer shelf life is that it was a story for a short news cycle after the election. Then some good reporters located alot of interesting information and its a good read, at a similar time Elections Canada announced they were officially involved in an investigation. As the key reporters belong to Post media, it only makes sense they are out scooping the other papers.... 1) Stories follow news cycles and these are driven by A) Reader interest NEW NEWS!!! The NDP story is actually 5 years old (and the news was pretty boring at the time)... there has been mention of the challenge by the Conservatives over Elections Canadas interpretation sent to the NDP, starting in 2006. The NDP continued its practice but kept records and legal council while waiting for a ruling. Things work slow and adverstising monies received at conventions were ruled as corporate and union political donations. Monies were then to be returned to the source.... ITs a story in all major papers and news outlets. I find it ironic you would suggest no one is covering it.... I simply googled NDP (not even specifying the monies, and it came up with 63 news stories. So perhaps you would like to enjoy your wine with Ezra Levant and Sun Media. They can continue to right about this till the cows come home, but its not going to sell another newspaper or gain an extra viewer... Same for the Liberals in Guelph. The Liberals got tagged good , but the difference is they quickly fessed up and the story fades. Once the Conservatives accepted guilt in the In and Out scheme, the story faded.. Thats what happens in politics. Now... if you go through a list of recent Conservative Controversies... they have decided to go the Chretien route.... DENY DENY DENY..... which keeps you popular for awhile but eventually the truth comes out. There was lots of articles about Shawinigate and adscam, but it took years and years of articles before and some GUILTY pleas before the public decided it was time for change. But the media was there reporting. I just find it ironic that Conservative supporters with their recent nasty attack streak have a stripe of yellow on their thin skin. Their is a Strong Conservative Media. National Post Globe & Mail CTV Global Sun Media There is a Liberal Conservative Media CBC (although Cons would disagree as their is a segment that just despises government public television) THere is a Liberal Media Toronto Star ( unabashed Liberal) There is no NDP media that I am aware of....nor media that is inherently friendly to the NDP. Just like back in the day there was NO media that supported the Reform Party. The Corporate Right wing media is still a business which needs to market and sell news. If its a news worthy story, it will last.

I think Canada will be fine if we Abolish the Senate. Provinces got rid of their upper chamber and I could only imagine what deadlock and upper chamber for the Provinces would create. Same with the Senate. The Senate has always been a place for Patronage. It remains so and will remain so. I see no reason to have the gridlock like in the US.

Wow 30 likes after 17 days on Facebook..... Hashtag Fail

There have been many incidents of Alzheimers in both the Upper Chamber and the Lower Chamber since confederation. Some became public most never do. Some of the interesting insider stuff, which I care not to divulge as someone would suggest I was being a partisan hack.....but there was an MPP who had been Diagnosed with Alzeimers, and was elected for 3 more terms, as the public continued to support him and few were aware of the situation. Fact is, this person voted and supported party lines and rarely made speeches.....

It is what it is, and wages for Private Sector have fallen from 40 and 50 to 20 and 30, as the jobs relocated and the new jobs don't pay highwages or use a more technical skillset as most new jobs are very very unskilled with almost no semi skilled let alone skilled workforce or they have been coopted by temp agencies. So there is alot of bitter people who have little symp for teachers. Don't lose sight that Teachers do have great benefits, many stat holidays and summers off and they will receive their pension when retired (Unlike most others), and work straight days and no weekends. Compared to working stiffs...it looks pretty good, but it is NOT the pay rates that others are suggesting, even though it is possible to get to 90,000. Like everything, there is a divide between new teachers and seasoned teachers. I am surprised that the Liberals haven't split the pay of new hires like companies have done. New hires often work for 2/3s the wage and different benefit and pension structures.

I think you have answered your own question. It appears to be a very successful tactic.