DFCaper

Despite my stand against the labeling of fear, I think it is terrible the BS Monsanto gets away with and the BS that the governments pass to protect them. I am not against GMOs, but we need to have companies that develop them are at least regulated into be responsible suppliers of our food.

In what Province would Duffy be in house arrest at? Maybe we should never lock up anybody till they stole more than $100K? Is that what people are propsing? Maybe that would free the jails for those pot smokers and people who own guns...

The problem is that we need to get our credit rating back to where it was, otherwise we are just wasting our tax dollars on Interest, that if we had a responsible government, that we could use to help the down and out. If we don't cut soon, and we allow the issue to snowball, then the cuts to the down and out will be drastic!!

It always shocks me that people can stand these provincial Liberals... They are thieves and people want to reward them again and again. Why would any future party care about ethics with the general population obviously doesn't!!! What is better about Ontario now then before they took over that people want them in power? The area I live, the Highschool grads ae now forced to leave the area as it is in ruins. We need more of this????!?!!?!?!?!?

I still cannot believe the union will walk out. Too many people are already wondering why we still have such tight government control of alcohol. Walking out may play into Hudak's hand. I only need to pick up one or 2 more items and I am set for the summer!!!

What helps me not hate the LCBO too much is being able to buy duty free. Enough that I only buy the occasional specialty beer at LCBOs. The prices are just too ridiculous otherwise. I drink margaritas in the summer, and Tequila is 1/3 the price to the south. I never understood why we need to have the government in the retail business. Should the government control distribution? Yes, but let ma and pa stores sell it. Support small business. If our current government of criminals were to allow private business to sell it for them, it would likely be a bad deal like the beer store.

I thought the minority governments under Harper and Martin were the worst governments. Since pending and buy voters with the next generation money.

I always thought of the Liberals being closer to the CPC than the NDP. They sound different, but govern the same. The NDP faithful are so far left that they share little with the Liberals. I do not like Harper and will definitely never vote for him again, but he has not been that bad of a PM. I certainly don't like how he operates, but most of what he appoplished has been good. With most Liberal voters I know, they would likely split evenly if they needed to chose between the CPC and NDP.

Not sure why I (519 area resident) should be forced to pay the GTA's municipality's shortfall. They already pay less than 1/2 the municipal tax rate that I pay. And the public transit here is almost non-existent. The Liberials could have done all of these upgrades if they wanted with Money they already collect if they would stop the huge wastes they create.. (eHealth, Gas Plants, etc...)

I think changes need to happen. Only changes that are to weaken the parties and strengthen the power of the elected MPs. To me, both Chretien and Harper have way too much power. The MPs are just puppets to the leaders. I would love to see reforms that make the Leader responsible to the MPs. I think the Leader and Cabinet should be chosen by the elected MPs after an election. That way they are responsible to the MPs. The way the leader is able to pick and choose who runs in a riding, etc discusses me. I always fear that the parties are the most effective way that special interest groups (Corporations, unions, etc) can highjack the agenda away from the people. One stop shopping.... I believe that is more along the lines of what TimG was referencing in the difference between us and Australia and Britian

What I fear is how this info is being released. "They can shut down our power grid" The Big scary chinese... I am always scared of the effects of fear mongering... I guess we better give up so (internet) freedoms to keep us safe from the Scary Chinese... I just hope I am wrong... but I doubt it. I expect we are about to see our freedoms erode slowly as a result of this

Despite believing that making them equal is what NEEDS to be the long term solution, it is wrong to underfund the children. I'd be shocked to hear that we sufficiently funding and managing child welfare at the provincial level, so under funding below THAT level is unacceptible. I would also be surprised if the feds could be nearly as capable of delivering an effective system, as it is not a normal responsibility of theirs. Just another example why we need to stop the DNA distinctions.... We need to stop having a goal of having them at a different level from the rest of society. People tend to not want to work for people to make them superior to them. As long as the goal is to treat them differently, don't be surprised that different is worst.

I think if Justin wins the liberal leadership, we will have Harper re-energized. I think he would love to beat a Trudeau. It would be the cherry on top. And I am sure he won't have a problem raising the money to do it.

I am personally sick of hearing about teachers at a provincial level. We had a throne speech here in Ontario, and much of the media coverage is about teachers. What this new government needs to focus on are issues, and teacher should be very low on that list. Teachers are not rich, but are far from poor. Work hours and benefits that surpass a majority of people. Why is that more important than the sick, the poor, the unemployed, the environment, service employees who are having there wages driven down by temp foreign workers, the DEFICIT, etc... Or maybe a main focus of the government should be something as major as teacher compensation or ensuring that lawyers are not getting screwed by there clients... Memorization of the multiplication table is essential to work in the field of science. If you need a computer to think... then you won't be any good. Thankfully, I am still able to get my kids to do that at home, to compensate for errors in direction by the school boards. I think we have excellent teachers working in a poor system...

I think public speaking engagements are part of his present job as MP. Any money receieved from them should be collected by his employeer. Otherwise, he is stealing from his employer/tax payers. Or am I worng to think, leading and inspiring the people is not part of being a politician. Does Harper accept cash to talk to reporters?

This still makes me wonder why we shouldn't want FN to be equals. We have communities in Toronto that have people who live happily their daily lives, not speaking our languages and celebrating their own traditions. Why is this concidered wonderful by the left on this forum, as long as it is not for the aboriginals. Attempting to be greater than the "settlers" has done nothing but made there existance, the worst in Canada. Having seen a few continents of this Earth, we are very lucky to be here. Not sure why others see being Canadian as a punishment... I certainly don't.

I think the problem is what INM wants is for everything to be better. The problem is to get there, there has to be many different steps to get there. And it will take time. I don't think INM no longer wants it to be in Steps, but one giant leap. When It first started, I thought it was about Bill C45. Then it morphed into an "Everything" movement. If they were able to stick to the original purpose, then they could have clear achievable objectives, with a great chance to be successful. A lot of conservatives are not fans of omnibus bills, so I think they would have had a great opportunity to make a difference here. Now it has become unfocused and about too many things. The general public has lost interest in it as far as I can tell and I cannot see it going anywhere. I figure when the weather warms up, it will start making more noise, but accomplish nothing. It's hard to work towards a goal when you are distracted by having too many goals. I just keep thinking Occupy... The perfect example of wanting everything, but accomplishing nothing. At least the Tea Party got people elected. For the INM that has to do with reserve conditions, they should avoid being influenced by labour unions and other political advocacy groups. I think Harper has been no worst (outside of C45) to the aboriginals than any other PM. The apology for the residential schools help educate a younger Canadian generation about that event. One that gathers the most sympathy from bystanders like myself.

I think the incentive should be on the people willing to go back to work. Why would you be willing to get a part-time job if you are on Welfare. Say you work 25 hours a week and stop qualifying for welfare. Your effectively working for $3-$4 an hour. Probably less when you consider the added expenses of going to work. Not much incentive. Especially for the single moms in that situation. I also always had a philosophy about the people who are content on 599 a month that have no desire to go look for work. That I am happier than hell they don’t work where I work. They are like a far higher tax (in loss hours due to laziness) on the company than what government welfare costs. A small percentage of our society is going to be non-productive, and that never going to change. That the most vulnerable that will be the unintended victims of these rules will be too high for this to be worthwhile. The only argument I can see is that the welfare rolls maybe growing because of entitlement issues of younger people. That many jobs are below them. Try getting a kid to mow your lawn… (edited text size)

Promises are not actions. Plus, I bet these Chiefs are amoungst the ones complaining about AFN not representing them. They represent INM to me as much as Canadian people saying Harper does not represent them is to foreign governments. I reaaly hope these protests don't follow the precedents of the previous protests you mentioned, though they worked to some extent with Quebec and Queens park. Occupy, had in my mind little to no positive effects at any level.

From what I have seen and hear in the news, it appears to me that these have been mostly respectful protests. They are informing the law enforcement agencies to notify them about their plans for the protests. I have always thought that it was a poor strategy to try and catch the police off guard. There is no better way to have the police harass you. Just as the red necks try to disrupt the INM protests are experiencing. I may not fully support the protest, but I think they have a right to continue as they have been. I will wait till thing turn worst before passing judgment against the protesting activity. I am a strong supporter of people’s right to peacefully, and lawfully protest. Although, it has been a while since a protest has been successful at convincing me of anything.

So I guess Bill 115 was necessary and a proper move by McGuinty? That the only way to deal in difficult times with public sector unions, is to reduce their rights? Maybe we should just permanently change the rules for Public Sector unions to weaken them to where they can negotiate in proper faith... Banked Sick days were an unreasonable concession by government previously, so the only way to fix it is to have legislation like Bill 115. Win some, lose some....

From what I just read about the 1975 school killings, I doubt this initiative would have done anything to stop that incident. if it would have, this initiative would have been done 35+ years ago. My 6 year olds school has this locked door policy, and it does nothing to make me more comfortable that my kid is safe. The miniscule odd of this happening at the school does. If we spent more time helping people who need help, and move to eliminate the stigmas around mental issues, then I would be even more comfortable.

In interest of not starting another thread about teachers, I want to ask this question here. Am I correct in the sequence of events that got us here McGuinty signs a fair contract with Teachers while times were OK. He then to screw whoever replaces him by making it auto renew when contract is over to guarantee another good contract for teachers McGuinty pushes Ontario further down the tube Financially Teachers Fund raise to get McGuinty back in, despite his poor track record dealing with everybody but them. McGuinty & Teachers win! Thanks to teachers campaigns against Hudak, and because of… Hudak. McGuinty has Study done as to what is needed to fix Ontario, but ignores what he needs to do and goes against the reports advice on attacking the Public service. McGuinty takes Hard-line in negotiations with Teachers unions Teachers unions upset, decide not to focus on getting a settlement, but wait till that automatically get a Great for the times contract. Bill 115 is introduced to rebalance the power towards the government (In McGuinty fashion, terribly done) Teachers now start serious negotiation… and actions, now that they cannot get the auto-renewal. Teachers complain about democracy, and right to bargain in good faith, now that they are in the weakened condition. This is how I remember it. Not sure where I am wrong, but figure the teachers can’t be as much in the wrong as I see. McGuinty usually does this in the wrong manner, even if for the right reasons, that everyone else are victims to his incompetence.

Political Advocacy will be the ruin of unions here in NA. Doing so has caused a divide for and against. It is what bothers me about the current arrangement with the Public sector unions. The last provincial election in Ontario, was a disgrace to democracy. Teacher are crying that the Liberals are destroying democracy, but I feel the actions the public sector unions was the biggest issue with our current system of democracy. And I thought Corporate influence on government was bad! No need to discuss what is wrong with Sid Ryan, as either you see him as a poison or already drank too much kool-aid. With private industry unions, wages isn't there biggest issue. The atmosphere they create in a work place is so poisonous that it makes them uncompetitive. They are stuck in doing things like they did in the past. Probably partially the result of High school drop outs running the show. They claim victories by being inefficient to create the need for more people. The added personnel needed to do the job is how they like to create jobs. In one of my previous jobs, I experienced how the CAW is just another company. If you ever were a member of the CAW at a non-automotive plant trying to get a contract, and see how much they care about the common worker. It is unfortunate that we have the unions we have today. They are essential to take on the forces against the average Joe. I think we need to look to countries that have effective and strong unions who care about their employer. The Germans I know are always shocked by how unreasonable our unions are, despite being believers in the unions they are part of. The political attacks our unions are doing is not going to result in improvements, but the Right will just attack them with policies that will just likely make things worse. I doubt right to work is going to modernize unions. Maybe opening their books can help. I think the biggest issue against Service employees is allowing foreign labour in. It is not allowing the financial imbalance to self correct with market forces. Minimum wage is not enough to fully staff the industry, so the industry should correct with increase pay and improve working conditions. If the true cost for a coffee shop in Canada with Canadian employees is $10, so be it. The people work way too hard at Tim’s for what they make, and the market is reflecting that with a labour shortage. Allowing foreigners to come in at low wages is just messing with the market to screw the service employees. I don't want to make less so others can get a cheaper product, why should they. As an Engineer, I would be in trouble if we just flooded our country with Cheap Chinese Engineers. So much so, I would likely be forced to leave this country. (EDIT TEXT SIZE)

In Canada's history, has a gun man ever entered an elementary school??? Wouldn't the money be better spent on real issues, like mental illness?