I miss Reagan

How about we take care of our own kids or pay for our own child care instead of insisting the nanny state pay for everything? Anyone remember the French language debate last month where the guy in Vancouver asks (from his obviously upper middle class home) for the government to pay for his kid's child care in French? This is offensive to me. Why should we pay money so already wealthy people can have their double income to have an extra BMW and go to Bermuda for Christmas.

You're right Quebec separation will be the trigger. The sooner we can get Quebec out the door the sooner the West will be on it's way as well. People will see that Quebec does just fine on its own. For this reason a Conservative win would be bitter sweet for me. In many ways I'd love to see a Liberal Majority to further sow the seeds of discontent in the West so we'll be at the tipping point that much sooner. This union simply does not work. I'm not sure why people even want Alberta to remain a part of Canada. Is it for the bragging rights to Banff. Is it the oil wealth. It's not like if we separated we'd fall off the face of the earth. We could still be friends.... you could still come and visit our Grizzly Bears in Banff...

Calgary is considered the nicest weather in Canada because we have so much sunshine. Vancouver may be warmer but it's rainy. Calgary is almost 10% American which is nice. However, I strongly suggest reading this article before you actually move to Canada. An American's Canadian Experience Many Canadians are very self-righteous and extremely intolerant of Americans. Even if you are liberal, love the UN, and hate George Bush Canadians will take every opportunity to take out all their inferiorities out on you. You will endless stories of "stupid Americans" who think we live in Igloos etc. etc. It could be a tough move. PM me if you want to hear more.

I disagree Leafless. Certain US officials are being protectionist at the behest of some powerful lumber companies. This is very harmful to the integrity of NAFTA. It's about time PM grew a spine and stood up for Canadian interests. I'm the first to stand up for the US and Canada's usual self-righteous attitude towards Americans, but in this case it's the Americans that are playing unfair.

Enlighten me. What's at issue here? Speaking of rules how about laying off the personal insults.

Ya where the heck did you get that figure from?

I disgree - I think the problem in the US is they have given up on the social contract where gov't attempts to provide an equal opportunity to all. Instead. the US is rapidly moving towards a caste system where if you are born poor you stay poor because the gov't no longer provides any education or similar services that would allow people to get out of the poverty trap. For now, the elite of the world migrate to the US because it is still the center of economic wealth in the world. As relative wealth of the US drops in the next few decades you will find the world's elite moving to other places. You also have a misconception about where Canada is in terms of social services: Canada is more like Britain that respect. Canada never has and never will spend the kind of money that continental European countries do on social programs. Canada is in teh unique position to find the middle road between the excesses of continental europe and brutal social darwinsm that exists in the US and, ironically. China. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> If any country has what you describe it's Britain. There is more opportunity for poor in the US than any other country. I'd like to ask you where you get this whole social darwinism idea of the US, but I have a good idea.Factor

Ooops I'm sorry, I wouldn't want to offend by casting the Liberals in a less than positive light

I can't believe your choice of words... "a giand Indan Reservation... no work ethic. " You're in the running for "most ignorant poster" .... <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Have you ever seen the effects of the soft discrimination of throwing money at a people with no expectations? It's happening on a broad scale and the people of Eastern Canada are begging for more. "You owe me for child care!" "Alberta owes me because they're rich!"

I think you are right in that the US is in trouble as well, but not for the same reasons. The problem in the US is protectionism. Canada's problem is it's competitive atmosphere, or lack thereof. Canadians are going to have to realize they can't tax like Europe with the US right next door if they want to be competitive. I think the US will shape up. Canada on the other hand is addicted to spending and entitlements.

Factor

Are we calling Liberals "right wing" now? You are correct though. (and so is Mulroney) The Liberals have been screwing up this country for a long time. All of this throwing entitlements around like candy is turning Canada into a giant Indian Reservation. No work ethic, just a strong sense of "you owe me".

GlobeHow about that, it happened sooner than I thought. Canada is not only now irrelevant in the world political arena but is now set on it's way to economic irrelevance. Canada needs to realize that it doesn't have the luxury of taxing away it's wealth if it wants to be competitive. Already Ontario is on the path to have-not status because if it's Liberal economics. On the other hand B.C. seems to be figuring it out by promising tax cuts! Finally a surplus after 10 years of NDP destruction. Even Saskatchewan's NDP's have shown fiscal responsibility. Unfortunately the socialist, more populous, East runs this country and will eventually run it into the ground.

This is typical behaviour from the Bronconier government. He is a tax and spend leader. The mayor and most of city council are Liberal. Have you heard about the recent $60,000 dollar phamphlet he's sending out to complain about the provincial and federal governments?

I am the last guy to argue that young people make decisions more based on emotion rather than sound reasoning. What's that old W. Churchill gem? something like "anyone under 30 who isn't a liberal has no heart, anyone over 30 who's a liberal has no brain". What is interesting to me is that young people are tending to side with seccession rather than the liberal policies of Eastern Canada. Whether or not young people can make correct decisions, change often starts with them in the streets and on the campus. Ya, I've thought about that. I've questions my own motivations and asked myself if my support for separation is reasonable. The difference I see is that the United States were set up for the purpose of having some semblance of autonomy. Different colonies were formed because of different beliefs. In most respects each of the states in the US has far more power to govern themselves than the provinces do in Canada. As far as a bloody civil war, I just don't think it will happen. Canadians are such passive and appeasing people that the last thing we would do is go to war. There isn't enough passion in this country for bloodshed. I disagree. There will be many complications and issues but I think each will do just fine. There are a few possible scenarios for Canada's break up, among them B.C, AB. and Sask uniting when Quebec leaves. Or Alberta even joining the US. Even if Alberta was on it's own we have been strengthening relations with the US independent of the federal government for some time. Our oil makes us relevant to the US despite our small size. Oil will be important for at least the next 20 years and given our oil sands (the second largest supply of oil in the world) we'll be sitting pretty for a long time. And since the last oil bust we have been rapidly diversifying our economy so as not to soley rely on oil. Calgary is already experiencing the inertia and bringing in of diverse business because of our size and educated population. I am not too concerned about leaving the Ontario "rust belt" behind.

BD, I love it how you talk about FOX News with such authority and conviction. Interesting coming from someone who does not have access to FOX and who gets his information from cut and paste clips of O'Reilly and literature from the far left.

Why? Why do we have to have these types of people calling themselves conservatives? The Libs love these "liberals in denial" because they tear us apart from within. I'd take an honest NDPer over a red tory any day. What did we do to deserve all of these CINO's?

This is a good point. I doubt Alberta separation will come by the election of a "Separation Party". It's more likely to come through evolution of an existing party which will bow to the will of Albertans. For instance Klein has warned of separation from time to time (although he claims not to be in favor of it). He underestimated support for separation at 25%. You get guys like Ted Morton (think fire wall) or even Stephen Harper who remain part of the PC establishment. We could see the Alberta Alliance gain more support thus pressuring the PC's to take a stronger stand against Ottawa and inch us toward being a Taiwan type of state.

I regret missing the boat on the Western separation threads as this tends to be the main reason for posting, to defend the West and the US against Eastern Canada's hubris and utter arrogance. Obviously I'm elated to see the numbers increasing, especially among young people as this is usually where change begins. I'm also happy lately to hear from normal, everyday Albertans who are in favor of looking in to separating from Canada rather than the usual radical reactionaries. Unfortunately I can't say that I've read the posts in this thread, but if it's anything like the other threads I'm probably posting just in time for the second circle. Hope you like the taste of rubber. Once Quebec leaves it leaves the door wide open for us! I can't wait!!

I'd like to see the numbers on that. If I remember correctly the US always has a higher turnout. And is there not illegal in Australia to not vote? With respect to California, the individual states have far more power than the individual provinces. Exactly why the US has the system they have, so they wouldn't have an power hoarding government like we have here bullying the different regions around to serve their own purposes.

First off he's not a journalist really. He's a commentator. He gives his opinion. You know right up front where he stands, whether you agree with him or not. I think this is more fair than so called journalists who are supposed to be reporting on a story but in reality are subtley telling a one sided story which expresses their own opinion. Secondly, a 30 second clip doesn't give the context of why he's saying "shut up". It also gives the perception that this is what he always does when he doesn't agree with someone, which isn't true. I will give you this however, he is arrogant and can be a bully sometimes. But not to the extent the radical left would have you believe.

I'm surprised he lasted this long surrounded almost entirely by neolibs. Maybe he likes the challenge of trying to keep CNN honest. Perhaps he should check out Al Jazeera next, they need some work.

If anyone saw O'Reilly last night he had Ann Coulter on to discuss the war in Iraq. O'Reilly has been argueing a lot that the war is going badly and that Rumsfeld should resign (interesting coming from a supposedly closed minded conservative). Anyway Annie was pretty tough on Bill and she didn't seem to be afraid of him one bit and she hammered him for saying the US didn't lose in Vietnam. Check into it, and form your opinion by actually watching the show rather than basing your opinion on 30 seconds worth of clips or a 3rd hand analysis from some Franken type, like many people on this forum do.

What the heck is the big deal about extending daylight savings time by a month on either end? It seems the media has made this a huge deal about having to "go along" with the Americans, as if it's the most painful thing in the world. Once again poor little Canada is being "bullied" by the big bad US. To me the problem seems to be: 1) It's a good idea because it will cut down energy usage. Why is that a problem? because Canadians hate to admit that the US could come up with a good idea. 2) George Bush is approving the move. This doesn't compute with Canadians who are indoctrinated to believe that the evil Dubya is out to consume as much oil as possible while destroying as much of the environment as possible. 3) Canadians usually like to go in the opposite direction of the US even if it means doing harm to themselves. Daylight savings "any opportunity to show its independence from its southern neighbour brings on a patriotic boomlet. If America was trying to keep the bubonic plague out of its hemisphere, Canadians would import it just to show their independence of American foreign policy."-Barbara Amiel

I usually don't venture into the "US Politics" section of the forum as it really should be called the "Anti-US" section of the forum. But it appears there is a need to set things straight. Which is what most people believe, both left and right because they are often shown video clips taken out of context by media outlets such as CBS and CBC. He reads some of the mail he gets on the air both positive and negative. Much of the mail he reads from Canada tends to read along the lines of: "Bill I now get Fox News, I was surprised to see that you aren't the radical guy that Canadian media makes you out to be". If you actually watched the O'Reilly Factor a couple times you would see that he holds both sides accountable. He consistently slams Bush for not tightening the borders, he slammed Jeb Bush quite a bit for not getting involved in the Jessica Lunsford murder case but stuck his nose in the Terri Shaivo case. He wouldn't give any air time to the author of the recent book about Hilary Clinton because he felt it was unfair despite the fact he doesn't like Hilary at all. With respect to this latest little O'Reilly slam, I'd like to hear the whole radio segment in it's context. It doesn't fall in line with what Bill has recently been saying that he felt the sentence for the radical cleric in Virgina was too heavy, even though the cleric was calling for American muslims to attack the US. Exactly. All these opinions from people who "hear about him". Not opinions from people who actually watch the show first hand.