I miss Reagan

Jeez Cartman, I think this rain is affecting your mood. No matter who the Conservatives have as leader, he will be vilified by the media. But the Liberals do run better campaigns. They are dirty with their accuasations of hidden agenda's and scare tactics of "that's not my Canada" BS about abortion etc. The difference is the media doesn't call the Libs on it but watch out if a conservative MP mutters dipstick and all of a sudden the CPC is front page news as racist, chauvanistic etc. Oh come on.

Gosh Jerry, what about me I'm feeling a little neglected here. And what about Newfie? Anyway I voted Cartman. Even though he's left and I often disagree with him, I think he tries his best to be objective and open minded. He's pretty respectful. Sparhawk is fairly decent as well. Of course Argus and August are the most ideologically correct of the bunch . And Kimmy's pretty quick on the draw.

Obviously you find other values in Canada to keep you here. Your higher taxes pay for some of that value. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Ya Sweal, I don't deny that. Thankyou for not pulling out the "why don't you leave then" garbage, BTW. I think the main thing is family for me. Health care doesn't play into it because we had better health care (no waiting etc.) in the US and the company paid for it. I like the fact that there aren't the gun problems and as much crime here. I like our appreciation for the environment. I love Alberta too. There are positives and negatives to both. I will probably head back down though.

Pretty consistant with Eureka's line of thinking, demanding that you reach his conclusions from his premises.

I'm glad you posted that article, even though I disagree with it, because it points out that there are different factors to take into account. As far as taxes are concerned, for me all that really matters is my personal experience. Compared to the taxes I paid when I worked in the US, I pay far more in taxes here. My take home pay was far better in the US. I don't really care what creative statistics you Libs come up with to try and convince me tax rates are similar, because they simply aren't. That's my personal experience and the experience of my counterparts living in the US. I have many friends and relatives who have the same experience as well.

I love it! (see my quote below) But whatever you say Eureka. Maybe if you say 'our taxes aren't high' enough times it'll come true. The difference between people like you and people like me is when you see the big house on the hill you say "no one should have a house this big". While we say "everyone should have a house this big" Keep killing that Golden Goose Eureka.

You mean the places where the Liberals currently have almost zero support as it is? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> By our cause, I mean the cause of me and my firewall and separatist buddies. We need liberals to keep the offensive comments coming to keep the fire going.

I hope you get what you want. And I hope your type of rhetoric makes it to the press in places like Alberta and Quebec. It's great for our cause!

Eureka, your name calling responses to oposing views are as predictable as the salavation of a Pavlovian dog. Childish tantrums? I think we're all quite reasonble even though we may disagree. You seem to be the one with the anger issues. I know you Ontario folk consider Canada to be the equivalent of Ontario, but in this politically correct day and age I prefer to be called an Ontario hater rather than a Canada hater.

Says you. I may work well for Ontario and some of the beneficiaries in the Maritimes but it's not working for the rest of us. And ya we can all debate till the cows come home, but there hasn't been any meaningful change. In fact things seem to be getting worse. The system almost seems to encourage corruption with it's centralization and abuse of power, lack of transparency, and lack of accountability. Regionalization and alienation seems to be at an all time high and growing. We are increasing our spending on entitlements at an unsustainible rate. Our health care system is ready to fold because it is poorly designed and people are finding loopholes to pay for better care. Overtaxation is driving away our most talented people. Real income has not increased in 15 years while inflation has. Our GDP is comparible to that of the poorest state in the union; Mississippi. Canada may lead in being socially progressive but is stagnant in all other areas and seems to be regressive with respect to economic freedoms. I don't think Quebecers are naive enough to believe that there won't be any consequences. But I think they see that in the long run things will be better. I think this is the big ideological difference between Quebec, Alberta and many other Canadians. Ontarians can't understand why Alberta and Quebec just don't let them run things as long as they recieve sufficient funds for their needs. After all the Maritime provinces are fine with this. It's kind of like the Loyalist vs. Patriot mentality. Some people value autonomy and individual freedom more than emotional loyalty to failing political structure. This is interesting to me, and I think we'll see more and more of this. We'll see Francophone federalists switching sides because they realize separation isn't so radical after all, it's just evolving. No argument here. However, I think the belief that there will be any reform is a pipe dream. If Canadians won't reform after the current scandals plagueing our government right now, they never will. The last election sent that message pretty clear and the next election will send it even clearer. There's nothing I'd like to see more than a Liberal majority that'd send Quebec over the edge and solidify more support for Alberta separation.

On the contrary. Finally there is a very intelligent and capable leader ready to take the reins and to outline very rational reasons for going. There are plenty of rational reasons for separation. In fact, I see no other reason other than emotion for Quebec to remain a part of Canada. No offence but you seem a lot more emotional about this than separtists like Bakunin.

I understand completely, the guy is annoying as hell.

I agree with every word except for the ultra right wing comment. He seems to have no problem with gay marriage and he defends the liberal Canadian press. Conservative, yes. Ultra right wing, no. But yes he's pompous and abusive to those who disagree with him. He's really quite annoying to listen too. Serious anger issues.

I think Quebec should be able to do whatever they want. But I think once Quebec leaves the provinces should be allowed to rid themselves of bilingualism on every public document and commercial item. West of Manitoba French is useless unless you're a government employee, then you can get paid a little extra to say Hello-Bonjour whenever you answer the phone before proceeding in english.

I don't think he'll have any problem gaining support. He'll have the traditional base plus he'll appeal to the more passive crowd. He's the perfect guy for the next step. In fact he's the closest you'll get to being "all things, to all people". Think outside of the box. Canada doesn't work, except for Ontario. Either fix the system, which will never ever happen, or let them leave.

I believe it's called Trolling.

I have to say, Jeb Bush is pissing me off by pushing an investigation into Michael Shaivo. I wish this thing would just die. Meanwhile Jeb refuses to push for the prosecution of the of those who aided Jessica Lunsfords killers. Although I can't stand the left's mud slinging at the evangelicals, I do think they need to get their priorities straight. With respect to the family fight, it would appear that Michael is a major league A-hole with the inscription he put on Terri's grave: StoryTotally insensitive and an obvious attempt to piss off her family.

Don't look now nationalists, but the next generation is leading Quebec out the back door. I heard an interview of this guy yesterday on CBC radio. If anyone has what it takes to lead an independent and successful Quebec it's this guy. He looks at sovereignty from a positive standpoint, not the bitter anti-Anglo attitude that we used to hear all the time from the previous generation. He is tuned into the reality the Quebec would be far more successful on it's own and have more say in the world arena. He's doer, not a whiner. It's what I've been saying all along. The balkinization of Canada need not be a bitter divorce. We need to face reality that we're too diverse to remain together in an unhappy marriage. Alberta should take a lesson from this new Quebec attitude. Boisclair

Would you happen to know the title of the legislation? I find this rather interesting. (Hey IMR, don't you just love the weather in Calgary today? :angry: ) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Brutal eh? Aren't you down in Lethbridge? I hear the Oldman is at capacity! Anyway it's called The Oil and Gas Conservation, Stabilization and Development Act, 1973. Basically all oil and gas rights down to and including the then producing zones become vested in the Crown as of the first day of 1974. I can give you more specifics on the history if you're really interested, but it's kinda dry.

Pardon me, but allow me to hand you your ass. Saskatchewan has a lot of natural gas, and quite a bit of oil too. All of my work is Saskatchewan oil properties. The funny part is I've never set foot in Saskatchewan for my work. It's all done here in Calgary. Really the only work done there is drilling and sucking it out of the ground. The oil and the money funnels right back to Alberta. All the planning, organization and high paying jobs are here. Why? Because the NDP's in the early seventies decided to put into legislation an act that would allow them to take away lands from the oil companies. They stole the lands. Good idea right? The government gets the oil and the money from the lands and gives it back to the people right? Wrong, they not only shot the "Golden Goose" they blew the hell out of hit. The oil companies left and took their money with them. They established their infrastructure, their refineries, their head offices etc. in Alberta. Sask. was left with nothing, crappy roads and all. It only now that companies are starting to put some major money into developing Sask. again. Lorne Calvert has tuned into reality as well, he's always kissing butt to big Alberta oil to get us back. This has caused some friction between the fed. ND's and the Sask. ND's.

I'm so glad you started this topic. I always have a chuckle when guys like you and Eureka claim "conservative bias". It's such a lawyer like tactic to concoct a defence by going on the attack to try to deflect the problem on to us. You look foolish though. The press, by their own admission is liberal. Polls taken show the overwhelming majority of the US press, for example, vote democrat. Of course they deny any bias entering their content, as we all know they are professionals and can remain objective in any situation . And I think, with the exception of a few outlets, like the CBC, they try to be objective. But when you have such a hugely skewed work force of journalist, reporters and editorial staff being ideologically left there is no way you can avoid bias. There's no argument that there are conservative talk radio show hosts. The difference is they are openly conservative. For the most part they don't subtley inject their bias into the content, they openly and unabashedly proclaim their conservative biases. But, to me, this just proves how biased other media mediums are. Conservative talk radio is relatively new and is so wildly popular now in response to the hidden bias they get from TV. I think because you can call in to the radio, the people are what have shifted it. You could say it's a grass roots movement because people can interact with the host and call him/her on any B.S. You bet he does, and he does it hard. But you should also mention Dave Taylor, his former counterpart who recieved equal air time in the afternoons. He was a hard core conservative basher, now he sits as a Liberal MLA. Dave Taylor. Done. You should also look into Air America in the US. CBC radio, while not as bad as CBC tv, does a pretty good job at conservative bashing, though not openly liberal (which is part of the problem). I can't name any else in Canada because I don't listen to radio in other cities, but I'm sure there are dedicated conservative bashers elsewhere. I know in the US that liberal talk radio just hasn't been successful. They try but often fail. Like I said before, the success of guys like Limbaugh, Hannity, Liddy, Savage, etc. is the result of a counter reaction to the liberal control of the other media. I guess you could say the same thing for the recent success of Fox News as well.

I don't think NDPers really have a concept of money and where it comes from. They don't really understand that just because they are hungry, killing the goose that lays the golden eggs is economic suicide. They're like Churchill described that just like someone who thinks they can stand in a bucket and lift themselves up by the handle, so can they tax themselves into prosperity. They destroyed BC's economy by doing this and for this same reason Saskatchewan is poor while Alberta is wealthy. Their most defining characteristic is their sense of entitlement. For some strange reason they feel like the world owes them. I'd like to know why they are so ignorant of economics. Is it because they've had everything given to them as union or government workers? But the biggest problem with the NDP in Canada is that they shift the political spectrum.

nice try Sweal. Your little quibbles hardly count as "thoroughly discrediting".

Ah, interesting. But that really doesn't affect my suggestion. No one uses terms like that. Odd they would both even know what it meant, let alone use it. They both have the same bitter, venomous left wing politics, and share the same bigoted, simple-minded view of Americans. Sweal = Eureka? Has there ever been a topic where they disagreed? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Hmm, makes sense to me although I figured Sweal and Takeanumber were one and the same. I tend to group the venom spewers together under "the usual suspects" category.

Isn't education a provincial responsibility? The last thing I want is some central Canadian program indoctrinating our kids. Why don't the Ontario feds stick to what they're supposed to, rather than sticking their noses into other jurisdictions.