maplesyrup

2 charged in Cecilia Zhang case: report What a terrible tragedy this has been for the Xu-Zhang family.

I presume those increases are Canadawide, which include the feds, the provinces, the regional gov'ts., and the municipal gov'ts., not just the federales. Is that correct? Perhaps some of those jobs are summer jobs such as working in our national parks, etc. Why in the world would you think civil servants are just there to manage the economy?

Canada goes to pot

I agree with the above, especially the part about the cities being prisoners of the provinces. There has been major abuse of muncipalities by provincial governments for way too long.

PM Martin announced today he is going ahead with decriminalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana. It's about time Canada came out of the Dark Ages on this issue.

Canada used to have a private health care system, and Canadians rejected that system a long time ago. The idea that health care in Canada is going private is dead in the water. Our health care system is fine - just a matter of some tinkering, but overall, it is the envy of most of the world. And to ensure that that the provincial governments don't play any games with this issue, there are going to be three full days of public negotiations with the federales, to ensure our premiers tell the truth to Canadians. Apart from some personal privacy and defence issues, we need to put an end to all this secrecy in governemnt anyways.

stoker.....so sue me. Why don't you go back to school and learn to read. All you have done since you got here is complained about Canada. Seriously please do us a favour, if it is so bad, go live elsewhere. Most Canadians like it here, too bad you don't.

No one is suggesting getting rid of local government - our municipalities. But quite frankly, the provinces are starting to drag Canada down, and the senate has been a waste, an old boys patronage club. Why would any clear thinking Canadian want to support these institutions? The reality is the right does not care one iota about reducing government waste, otherwise they would leap at these proposals. The right is only interested in power to turn back the clock to the 20th century - capital punishment, no abortions for women, no gays or lesbians out of the closet, only white Christian immigrants, etc. Maybe, while we are at it, we should take away women's right to vote, seeing as not a lot of them voted for the Conservatives. Back to the good old days, eh boys!

stoker....everybody who lives in Canada is very fortunate and we are all winners, all the time. Take a look at the rest of the planet. I rest my case.

Cartman.....good point about abolishing the senate. Wow, think about all the money this would save taxpayers. We need national standards in so many areas in this tiny populated country of ours. Godfrey the new federal municipalities minister is going to provide some gas tax relief to the muncipalities but with strings attached - the Greening of Canada. Canada needs to get going on environmental issues, and lead the world in addressing global warming. The same for the new federal health care minister - no moola without accountability, and agreeing to federal standards. It's about bloody time.

Well, if one is concerned about size of our civil service, let's abolish or at least amalgamate the provinces into the various regions in Canada: 1 - BC 2 - Prairies 3 - Ontario 4 - Quebec 5 - Atlantic 6 - North This would reduce the provincial or territorial governments from 13 to 6, more than a 50% reduction.

Cash for cities carries catch Ottawa is getting directly involved in helping out our municipalities. If the provinces object, as some of them will no doubt do, perhaps Canadians should consider abolishing the provinces. What do we need the provinces for anyways? All they seem to do is whine or complain. If Canadians are so concerned about the high cost of government, what better way to address that issue, than abolish our provinces?

stoker....Most of the people on the planet would love to be living in Canada. If it is so bad here, why don't you trade places with them?

This presents a big challenge for the New Democrats, as their national standards for the health care system are similiar to the Liberals. Usually when Liberal policies are the same as the New Democrat policies, people will vote for the Liberals. We could be back at the polls within 6 months, except that the Conservatives are frightened to death of fighting an election on this issue. (238)

Doesn't morality teach you about being a good loser?

The morality issue is a dog's breakfast that nobody wins. The Liberals think they own it, The Conservatives think they do, and the New Democrats think they do. Everybody thinks they have a handle on morality, and the reality is nobody does. Who appointed you, or the West, our God(ess)?

Who is Doug Christie?

As a Westerner living in BC, I can assure you Doug Christie does not speak for me. Martin has now appointed 5 people in BC to his cabinet, the largest ever, and perhaps more importantly than the numbers, is the importance of the portfolios. Albertans are sound financial managers, with a little help from the oil and gas resources, but their political acumen leave a bit to be desired. I remember once when Chretien visited BC, and someone was complaining to him about such and such a policy. Chretien's response was vote Liberal and maybe you will get what you want.

Dosanjh seen as a tough negotiator I think we are heading into a major battle over health care in Canada. With the appointment of Dosanjh, Martin is signaling, regardless of what it says in the constitution, that Canadians need national standards across the country, and not a bulcanization of health care services. And if the opposition gets too vocal, Martin will call an election on this issue, and win a massive majority, as he will be supported by most Canadians. Maybe our constitution needs to be updated to better reflect Canada in the 21st century, eh!

I have the feelin' that what you wanted to communicate is not what you actually wrote. Am I correct?

Even if the West had 100% of the cabinet members, some westerners would still whine about being left out. Western alienation is now dead - time to get over it. If you are going to make a statement that the west is still under-represented please at least back it up with some facts, some statistics, something with some substance to it, otherwise one might assume you are one of those western whiners.

The West is the big winner in the new Martin Liberal cabinet with 8 positions, a lot of them high profile, going to members from the western provinces. I suppose all the people who have been crying about Western alienation can now put away their tissue boxes and dry their tears, eh?

Only 8 women out of 38, or only 1 in 5, in the new Liberal Cabinet. Perhaps Martin's older generation habits are showing through.

Post the link please.

Minority Cabinet Day has arrived: Martin leans to the left Big-name Liberal rookies catapulted into cabinet Martin beefs up western team Are Canadians about to receive a treat here, from this new minority Liberal government?