madmax

There is nothing wrong with a PM spending money for a photo op. Sure it was a waste of money, sure it was a failure as far a photo op goes. But it could have been worse. He could have announced the environment policy with a banner behind him. "Mission Accomplished".

A convict whom was released after 10 years imprisonment for murder back in 1978. The supreme court rule him released because ... off topic here An interesting delema. He has been ordered to provide a DNA sample and has to comply. He's lucky he didn't get convicted 30 years ago when the death penalty was around. If he's got nothing to hide in his past, then the DNA sample won't be a problem. Remember this when another thread shows up again about problems with the CPC crime bills before the house.

When the US betrayed the Kurds, and to make a deal between Saddam and the Shah of Iran, this policy of supporting Saddam became more entrenched with the Shahs departure. The Prodding of Saddam to go war with Iran (opportunism at its finest) unfortuneately led into the problem that Saddam started to lose the war, and the Kurds loyal Iraqis that they were, openly supported Iran. Rummy came by to visit Saddam ole buddy, since Iraq was miraculously no longer a terrorist supporting country, and opened all the doors for him to get bio/chem weapons. Of Course later Saddam needed to better ways to employ these chemicals, and the US provided doctrines, Satilitte photos and "observers" to aid in the chemical warfare attacks as well as the defences against such attack. Ofcourse those nasty Kurds were a thorn in the side, and were dealt with according to the doctrine. Halabja happened back in the 80s and not a peep from the US, other than to blame the Iranians. The Kurds are next in the trial of Saddam Hussein. You saw him have to many moments in court to speak. The interest in killing Saddam before the next trial, wasn't for the benefit of the Kurds.

I too am against Capital punishment, because of the fear of a Milgard, Morin or Moore possibility, or even the other kid that was sentenced to hang. Steven Truscott. And yes Saddam knew his fate and prepared for it his whole life killing off rivals. Saddam was the only Iraqi Leader to take power without executing his predecessor. His Predecessor being the only iraqi leader not to be executed. But the trend is pretty clear, You rule in Iraq, you are going to get it someday. I don't see it changing. It's too bad for them, but Iraqis rejecting capital punishment would be like getting them to accept democracy by force Doesn't that second smiley look like a terrorist?

There is nothing wrong with the information.

Sure, boycott it. Good selling point, I can't wait for the adds. No I am not.

Good for you. You are not alone, and I commend you for publicly putting it out there. There are MANY MANY MANY people whom will never disclose that they used welfare at one time or another. Some don't even have the courage to stand up for it amongst their peers, even though it helped them get through a tough time. I know that it can be done, because the people I have met, the people that I know, many are making figures well above yours, and they had to feel the shame that was attached. That shame does not often or easily go away. You are not the only person to have bawled when applying for welfare. I watched many a grown man breakdown, thinking they were failures and that it came down to this. Even this wasn't enough, as suicide became the easier route then the climb back up. I don't believe in policy based on stereo types. I don't mind constructive ideas for a system, that can at times become very strained when the economy takes a tumble. But clearly, this thread, bashing the poor is never the answer, is often the only aspect that keeps this thread going. Poor people are easy to bash by self righteous types and its fun to, with no threat to oneself. So what's new, strong attacking the weak. big deal.

Are you saying that the government provide jobs for people on welfare that pay minimum wage and 40 hours/week?

that was the original intent when built by the NDP. It's a 99 year lease, although I may be going on bad memory. Either Harris was a fool, or fiscal conservatives are idiots. Read that 1st paragraph. The price of selling the road didn't account for the money spent to aquire the land over 27 years. The more I look into this the more p****D I become. What a stupid government.

The 407 was built during the Rae Government. It's goal was to be a toll road that would pay for itself while government revenues were down, and the government really couldn't finance the necessary expansion of Ontarios highway system. Harris Government completely undervalued the road and its potential and sold it. The Lease is a licence to print money, and the Ontario Government Got Peanuts for it. What a fool.

So what? I don't really care, close the highway, it's a ripoff and a licence to print money. As for waiting on the 401, you can wait on the 407 and I don't see any credit coming for your wait. It's not a time guarranteed system. Quite frankly the high cost of the 407 and its use of transportation space available for traffic control, actually bogs down the flow of traffic. More people that would normally use the 407 use the 401, yet this highway was needed to address increased traffic. Not to create a fast route for the rich. Like I said, I really don't care about the robbers stealing some miles on the 407. oh boo hoo poor 407.

Ditto. I also would like to lease a section of the road where I live and charge people to pass through

What is the percentage of abuse vs need? It does paint an ugly picture. While this is the stereo type, the ones you see, how does this compare to the percentage that go to churches, volunteer to help, go to food banks, church lunches for christmas, look for clothes at Olive Branch's set up in churches, as well as pay the rent, and get the kids off safely to school with full bellies, so that their kids can be the next notable rich person whom came from poor. Most third world countries have no taxes or welfare system or ei system or healthcare. They do have Money, resources and profits. Are you suggesting we are headed to third world status? It feels that way, and is our middleclass deminishing. I think so.

I am surprised that anyone is surprised by any of this. I remember the Harris Conservatives, smaller government, but these guys abused expense accounts like any other fat cat. Perhaps you were expecting more from the CPC. Maybe you thought they weren't human. But really, who's gonna do it differently. Not the Liberals. These guys abuse and take advantage of the system. Do you know a better way?

The Arar situation is very clear. The unbelievers will continue to be just that, just like there is still a flat earth society. With regards to compensation. That will be left to the courts, and if Syria is willing to release the photos, well then, you would be writing a check for $36million, with this logic. I would disagree with this completely. I don't know what the compensation should be. I remember people complaining that Milgard was suing for compensation. Same with Moore, Same with Morin. You don't like the figure, I don't either. You think it is high. I think it is very excessive, probably won't be provable. Canada's role is only the incompetence of the RCMP. The Role of the US and Role of Syria are other factors in his detainment, which Canada should not be compensating or apologizing for.

Well, that's good, we haven't had peasant rioting since the times of RB Bennet Workers of the World Unite That was you right? Just kidding.

Yes, you are correct. However, many of the religions are Catholic, Evangelical and Muslim and do not condon the use of condoms. Many members of these corrupt governments are dying of aids. Also workers in these countries often leave their wifes for a year or more, meet other women, and bring aids back into the household. With regards to Pharmacy companies. The governments allow for laws that protect these companies from competition, and they often expand these protections. This is what allows these companies to earn such huge profits. They are not going bankrupt. They corner the market and their intellectual property is protected against generic manufacturers. If government protects these companies to allow them to prosper, governments can also choose to co-oerce these companies into reducing the costs of the drugs for humanitarian purposes over profit. I understand what you have mention above, and agree with most of it. The argument can be transferred to the other issues you speak about.

The Liberals under Jean Chretian, and Paul Martin as finance Minister, did not prioritize health care. The Liberal Government ran Surplusses year after year after year, yet their contribution to the provinces transfer payments under the CHA and their proportion of Provincial/Federal ratio declined. Even if the demand of the people exceeded the resources available, there is plenty of evidence that the Liberals on exacerbated the problem by strangling the provinces. Actually, yes, I am going to say the Liberals are quite responsible for the problem and they were responsible for dealing with the problem, large surpluses, and little was done. The Liberals made choices but these choices weren't to carry their share of the Canada Health Act. No Need for a Liberal Apologist here. Liberals were government liberals were responsible. Liberals did not enact any recommendations of the Kirby Report or the Romanov Report. Criticise these reports if you like, but there are good recomendations in them, and the Liberals Enacted Nothing, nor if they disagreed with these reports, did they do anything else. Problem with Health Care. Liberal Inaction didn't do anything to help. It's why liberals are on the sidelines.

Well, Geof can correct me if I am wrong. But I believe he was stating that fiscal conservatism is more important amongst voters than Social Conservatism. Also listening to him talk about Health Care and the Environment, shows me that these were not the issues he was commenting on. May is providing false hope for die hard anti abortionists.

I just want to clarify what you are saying. Are you suggesting that these people work in a place of employment for Welfare? Or are you suggesting that they do community service for Welfare? I would also suggest that people I know whom have worked in Law firms like McCarthy Tetrault have had to be on Welfare prior to their employment there, but after a period in which they worked at places like Mc Donalds, Farming, and Direct Sales. I wouldn't totally suggest that there are people whom claim welfare whom haven't contributed to the system either. I don't know why people feel they have the right to someone else earnings. Why do drug companies, industrial companies, gas companies, and use my money for their own development. Do you have a serious welfare problem in Alberta?

I still don't think it will mean a hill of beans difference come election time. And I am not surprised that the CPC is acting like Liberals. I am only surprised at how fast it started to happen. I did realize that this isn't the party of Preston Manning, or someone else with the integrity of Ed Broadbent. But alot has come loose pretty quick, and these apologists, rather than just saying, yeah, we got caught, and then it would go away, continue to dig deeper.

Poor People don't vote. So while there are poor in Canada (What you call poor I don't know) the percentage of lower income households often don't vote. If you look at strong polling stations, you will see that these are generally middle class homes and up voting for one of the two major parties.

And Mulroney, and Grant Devin.

That is a very interesting statement. I do wonder why countries with far less taxes than the US and Canada have never managed to get out of the cycle of poverty. I also believe that there are some that would argue that it is the right that looks for simple short term solutions, and the left that proposes the complicated long term solutions that the right believe too difficult to put into practice so choose the kiss method whether or not it is a better long term solution. I don't believe that the left of the right, is any more far sighted or short sighted then the other.

I read the thread, and I don't believe anything said can be construed as what you are posting. BBM posting of putting welfare abusers in the military reminds me of Press Gangs. But worse than the Press Gang concept, I as a soldier would not want someone in my platoon whom isn't with the program when my life is at stake. Why should an abuser by my problem at a time of combat? Why should it be the militaries problem? We are not social workers, and we don't need deadbeats. Even some of the most troubled people whom volunteer for the Canadian Forces, can't cut it. It was just a stupid idea, that wasn't well thought out. You can continue your "war" of words with whomever, but nobody in the Canadian Military is going to think of themselves as Slaves, without conscription or other forced service.