Keepitsimple

The Strategic poll is the latest of many that show that the large majority of Canadians believe the country is moving in the right direction. In this case it was 60% who agreed and 28% who disagreed. It makes sense that this will ultimately affect how people vote when the time comes to actually cast a ballot.

We've been around this block many times. Consensus means that some people are for and some are against but discussions have led to some middle ground or agreement on basic facts. That's not science.

Here's an article (my bold) from The Star this morning that had me scratching my head........he's learned to manage Ontario's economy from Republican governors? Good for him - but I'm sure Howard Dean won't be too happy in the run-up to the Presidential election. Link: http://www.thestar.com/News/Ontario/article/305169

The record expansion of arctic and antarctic ice is indeed a very big deal. The predicted apocolypse of Al Gore and Global Warming advocates is largely predicated on the rising of ocean levels due to the melting/shrinking of polar ice fields. Secondly, the ice fields act as a reflector for solar rays - the more ice we have, the less we are impacted by solar radiation - and the earth is this "cooled". Link: http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=22610 Similar to the attention paid to the Polar regions, Gore and his buddies also focused on Glaciers around the world - especially in Switzerland. While it has been acknowledged that the glaciers have been slowly retreating over centuries, environmentalists say it's been accellerating at such a pace in the past 5 years that Swiss glaciers will completely disappear by 2050 - some say as early as 2037......so let's keep an eye on these glaciers as we continue to experience cold weather this winter. All in all, I think the best measure of Global Warming accuracy is to see how all their "predictions" actually turn out. Funny though how we see a lot of material in the media that supports Global Warming but precious little when disputing facts emerge.

I'm a Conservative supporter (at this time) but the information that I've seen tells me that our Mexican Consulate really dropped the ball. Keep in mind though - whether it's a Conservative, Liberal, or NDP government - we're at the mercy of the competence of our Consulate staff. In general, they are civil service and often survive from one government to the next. Having said that, perhaps it's time for a review of how our consulates operate to see if there is a better way of providing oversight - some sort of periodic review - so that Canadians to not languish for extended periods of time without proper and continuous representation. If in fact, our consultae blatantly lied to Ms. Guergis about visting Brenda Martin 75 times - then someone deserves to be fired.

Shakey - where is your source for Ms. Guergis lying about contacting Brenda Martin 75 times? It seems that this is indeed a case where our consulate has dropped the ball. As the article from a couple of weeks ago shows, Guergis only recently took over responsibility for Consular Affairs. After rightly being hammered by the opposition, she seems to have taken responsibility and personally flew to Mexico to meet with the higher-ups. Link: http://www.nationalpost.com/todays_paper/s....html?id=280587

You're too funny. Although the Conservatives seem to be lukewarm with the average Canadian voter, Harper actually has very good personal approval ratings. As for what will happen to Dion, he will end up being dumped. It's true that he does not have the leadership skills but more importantly, he is trying to take the Liberals too far to the Left. It's not really that he's afraid of losing votes to the NDP and Greens - it's that he truly is a left winger - anti-military, big Federal government - throw money at the First Nations (Kelowna), National Daycare, money directly to Municipalities instead of the Provinces.....soft on cfrime as evidenced by an unwillingness to push the Senate on Crime Bills. There's an old expression - Liberals campaign from the Left and Govern from the Right. What that traditionally has meant is that Liberals promise things to appease the hand-wringing Left but when they get in power, they don't follow through (they lie). For example - remember ending poverty by the year 2000? How about fixing Healthcare for a generation. And cancelling the GST? Now Dion says he'll reduce poverty by 30% in his first term and 50% overall. Dion would not only campaign from the Left - he actually would try to do it - Tax and Spend and our standard of living goes down, down down. That's why the Liberal backroom boys will turf him.

Picture an abusive husband or boyfriend - or even your everyday mugger: they assault a woman who is 7 months pregnant and kill the fetus/child. It appears that's what this bill targets. I agree with a previous poster that it won't pass - it's too sensitive to deal with and it's a tough one to put legal "parameters" around. Having said that, I would just as soon see our judges factor the "termination of a fetus" into the sentencing for these aggravated assaults....but that brings our "too soft on violent crime judges" into the argument. Seems like a bill with a noble intent but it's too difficult to manage.

As we speak, I'm in the process of watching a video rental called "Chasing Freedom". If you want to understand why we are in Afghanistan - rent it.

You make me proud Army Guy. It's not a coincidence that the majority of our Military seem to come from outside the major cities. Canada's heart and genuine caring for Canada's responsibility to the free world is still alive and well in Moose Jaw, Kapiskasing, Thunder Bay, Prince Albert, Digby, Fogo, etc.

Here is an aritcle written Jan. 24, 2008 by Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations. His article received very little publicity and although it seems to be a G & M Special Report, it did not appear in print to my knowledge. The article is presented on David Kilgour's website - a former Liberal, now sitting as an independent. Link: http://www.david-kilgour.com/2008/Jan_26_2008_03.htm

I know we've veered off course a bit but the awy they announce sentences in Canada always tick me off. A sentence announced as 9 (nine) years is actually anywhere from 3-6 years. You can be paroled after 3 years (one third of your sentence) and Statutory Release is your get-out-of-jail card after 6 years (two-thirds). So really, the sentence should be announced as "sentenced to 3 to 6 years" - not 9 years.

You're right about the Tory delegate fees being a way to circumvent rules....but that was three years ago at their leadership convention. This Liberal Fundraising effort is happening right now. In the whole scheme of things, this may be a tempest in a teapot - but you'd think that all parties would have learned that you not only have to do things fairly, you have to be perceived as doing things fairly.

While I don't doubt that there might be creative ways to donate a few more dollars, it would appear that you'd have to work pretty hard to do it. The "spirit" if not the rules of the Accountability Act seem pretty clear. Even if you can find a way to do it, everything over $200 has to be reported so it would appear that the days of massive $50,000 donations from Corporations and individuals are over. Having your wife and children make donations is one way - but they are subject to the limitations as well. Link: http://canadaonline.about.com/od/federalel...ntributions.htm

The "in and out" does not relate to fundraising. The Conservatives have done tremendous work to effectively use grass-roots funsraising at the individual level. If anything, that issue relates to how advertising money was distributed at the National and Riding levels.....and I agree that if that was the case, it should be tightened up. The Liberals on the other hand, traditionally have relied on large donations from Corporations. This "fundraiser" seems to flout the ethics of the Accountability Act which bans donations from Corporations and Organizations - precisely the target of their "Auction". I'm sure the other parties will watch closely to see if a BBQ is auctioned off for $10,000 or something similar.....after all, they said "the sky's the limit".

Liberals are allegedly holding a fundraising cocktail party that includes an "auction", the details of which are posted on Stephen Taylor's Blog at http://www.stephentaylor.ca/ The invitational flyer includes the following comment with regards to the auction: Those Liberals are a slippery bunch. As Stephen Taylor says:

You clearly need to pay attention to how Healthcare works. First of all, the Provinces are responsible for the delivery of Healthcare and each province can deliver services as they see fit, within the confines of the Canada Health Act - which basically prevents mass privatization. Provinces currently fund about 85% of all Healthcare and in doing so, spend about 40% of all their revenues. So if the NDP got into power (God help us), they would not be able to do anthing more than the current Federal government. Secondly, Healthcare used to work better for a number of reasons - mainly the population has aged because of the Baby Boomers - and older people need more services. But there is another issue that seldom gets talked about and that is respect for the system. When it was originally introduced, it was a basic system - because medicine back then was not as advanced as today. People went from having no Medicare at all to a Government assisted Plan - and they were grateful for it. They knew it came from taxes and they could see the improvement. But as years went by, people forgot that we all pay for it and they took it for granted - have the sniffles? - go to the ER. Who cares who pays - its my right to have as much Healthcare and as many doctor visits as I want. Also, there are many more treatments and medicines around today - most of them much more expensive. Look at Aids, Dialysis, Autism, organ transplants, Cancer treatments, etc. So back to my previous post on the successes of some European countries in blending Private and Public services. Canada is blessed with 10 provinces who can try different things. The ones that work - and that might include some Private Delivery - can be copied by other provinces. I hope you are starting to see the light.

Your post refers to Alberta's Provincial Government but because this is a Federal Posting area, I guess you were trying to say that the Current Federal Conservatives were taking big money from Corportaions. In fact, this used to be the Liberal strong suit - big money from big corporations. Perhaps you are not aware of the Federal Accoujntability Act that was intorduced by the Conservatives: Link: http://canadaonline.about.com/od/federalel...ntributions.htm

Jerry - that's the crux of the problem. How do you "defend the perimeter"?. If you do not go out on patrols to find where the enemy is and keep them at bay....then you end up surrounded by the enemy who simply lob rockets and grenades and kill soldiers and civilians - you actually put our soldiers at grave risk. The Afghans are not yet ready to do all the fighting so we have to teach them by fighting along side them until they are ready.....and that's why you cannot provide security without combat. The Liberals are trying to make a disingenuous argument. Don't fall for it. The motion introduced by the Conservatives clearly states that we will be continuing to transition to training and mentoring and as the Afghans get up to speed, we will reduce and evfentually eliminate our combat role.

You're a new poster - so you may not be aware of the forum rules. If you are not Jack Layton - please issue your posting as a "quote" and provide a link to the source. If you are Jack Layton, I would ask that you speak with Stephen Harper and ask him if you can fly over to Afghanistan to negotiate with the Taliban. Since the NDP represent about 15% of Canada's voters, I'm sure that 85% of Canadians would be willing to chip in for airfare and Hotel/Cave expenses. The NDP voters would want you to go as well - but they would want the Government to pay for it. I look forward to your report detailing how the Taliban have accepted your gracious path to peace and how they have promised to participate in Afghanistan's democratic government, embrace education for females, not kill anyone opposed to them, and rebuild all the Budha statues that they demolished with rockets. We wish you the best of luck.

I watched the video. What it advocates is spend, spend, spend - and it's free, free. free. The NDP is emulating the Healthcare systems of North Korea and Cuba - the only countries that completely ban Private Healthcare. I live in Ontario and our Provincial government already spends 40% of all revenues on Healthcare - I'm sure a similar amount is being spent in other provinces. The current system is already unsustainable. What we need to do is look at some of the success stories of other countries who have managed to blend Private and Public systems to create effective Healthcare delivery. Here's an interesting article about how Germany, Netherlands (Dutch) and Switzerland have managed to blend Private Insurance into their publicly funded systems. It's a real shame that our Left wing parties and media have polarized Healthcare in Canada. This is very good reading material - it analyses each of these three countries. Following is just the summary: Healthcare in Europe: http://www.canadafreepress.com/2006/brussels011306.htm PS: The video music does sound like it's Russian - quite appropriate indeed.

I guess this means that for the first time in 40 years, we finally have a Prime Minister who is not in the pocket of the Desmarais family?

Upon creation, the Senate's major role was to provide sober second thought to how a piece of legislation would affect regions across Canada. This was primarily to provide a counter-balance to the power wielded by Ontario and Quebec. As such, many bills should really be rubber stamped if there is no compelling unfair "regional" impact. Since the Conservatives have come to power, the Senate has been trying to "water down" and delay crime legislation but has also bogged itself down in details of bills that are not within their traditional mandate - as such, they are subverting the will of Parliament. As mentioned previously, this Liberal-dominated Senate knows that only the Liberals will protect their cushy jobs so it is in their best interest to do all they can to help the Liberals regain power. The NDP want to abolish the Senate - the Conservatives want to reform it. The Liberals want the Status Quo - it's their "ace in the hole" when another party gains power.

Actually Dobber, that's not totally accurate. They will support it but at the same time, the NDP and Bloc say it's not nearly enough. As usual, we're not quite sure where the Liberals stand - except that they would do things differently - which probably means more of the same old Corporate Welfare - dollar-for-dollar matching with the provinces where the money is eventually handed over to Companies - either directly or as interest-free "loans" that never seem to get re-paid. That's been done for years with the Auto companies and as a result, they never really changed the way that they did business - and look at them now. As long as Union dominated industries can count on government handouts, they will do nothing but tinker with the status-quo. But hey - it buys votes and keeps the Unions onside.

The Senate represents the Liberals Old Guard - patronage appointments from the Chretien/Trudeau years. They are not Dion supporters. They have a vested interest to create a situation that leads to an election - if only to get Dion outta there - to be replaced by a more "traditional" Liberal leader - in other words - someone to get them back in power. This is doubly important to Liberal Senators because the Conservatives want to reform the senate and the NDP want to eliminate it. Their cushy jobs are only safe with Liberals in power.