charter.rights

You would have to go a long way to stop funding the Catholic Church. A right that is recognized or granted in the BNA has the same affect as being a Charter right. We would need follow the amending process under the Constitution to even think of making a change like that. And it would likely fail since 45% of Canadians identify as being Catholic. It doesn't leave much of a majority for any other representative group...

Cities have the authority to regulate uses of land through zoning by-laws and through site plan approval process. They could limit time of day, location and require period health and safety inspections. In Ontario in the last 10 years municipalities have been on a rampage regulating strip clubs. While they cannot interfere with the business per se, and always need to be fair and reasonable, or appeals could be made, taking that authority out of their hands. Where we live the strip clubs got relegated to industrial zones. What an exciting way to go see women strip....right next to the pork rendering plant....

Perhaps now that Charter challenges are turning old laws on their heads we will find guns, tobacco and medical service restrictions lifted as well. In a free and just society, only reasonable limits will be tolerated. The limits that were placed on prostitution were unreasonable. Are limits on tobacco and gun possession just as unreasonable? That would be a question to be put before the courts IF someone has the balls to pursue it.

Ya I Know. We posted at almost the same time.

Watch the government cash in....HST on BJ's should produce millions...

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/ontario/ontario-superior-court-judge-strikes-down-prostitution-law/article1730433/ HST for BJ's, what a novel revenue stream.

That doesn't look good for the federal Conservatives. Traditionally when a provincial government turns conservative it means they will vote Liberal federally.

The unfortunate reality is that we are going to have to double the immigration rate in the next 5 years just to keep the deficit under control. The Conservatives have spent the farm and the only way we are going keep it is if we can afford it....and we can't afford it unless there are lots more of us paying for it.

The problems with CFLs is that we are no longer getting the heat that 60 and 100 watt light bulbs gave off in the winter, which could amount to about 10% of your heating supply. By the time you factor in the costs of the bulbs, the extra disposal costs that will be borne by the community waste disposal and the loss of BTUs for heat input it is pretty hard to come up with a cost-savings over all. In fact they may actually be using more power if we also factor in the manufacturing costs. Every does know that CFLs are considered hazardous waste and should not be put in the garbage, right? They must be taken to a waste disposal site and put in with the hazardous waste along with batteries and smoke detectors......

Absolutely incorrect. There are a number of Christian and Jewish based arbitration systems in place that do not fall under the letters of our laws. Then we have community justice circles that also exist outside of the justice system. There are lots of non-orthodox methods to deal with disputes and issues. Sharia would just be another.

Canada has what it needs - the Rule of Law. And that Law says that we must make reasonable accommodation to anyone in the application of fairness and equity. If that means Sharia is used on a civil basis within the Muslim communities who subscribe to it, then we have no say in the matter. Community justice, and settlement conferences and arbitration have a root in Canada as part of our civil society. Accommodation is just and reasonable.

Israel is a terrorist state by any measure. The only reason the US does not bomb them or let the Arabs do it is because they need a friendly in the Middle East to keep the door open to oil and new American export markets. Without that wedge, Russia and China would have control of the exports and imports corridor and the US would lose its position as a world power.

EI is an insurance not a tax. At 31% corporations pay tax at a rate only slightly above the low income tax rate. Topaz is right we would have to lower our income taxes to be equal.

This latest vote has been the closest thing to democracy that we have had in the history of Canada. Go figure that the Conservatives don't like democracy. Maybe fascism works better for them?

Canada cannot be trusted. I am reminded how the Conservatives continue to undermine the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples - a document mostly authored by Canada but continually ignored by Stephen Harper. Harper and the Conservatives are dangerous. They have proven that in the short term minority governments they have held. The have spent over $100 billion as if it was their own cash, and much of it is unaccounted for, or has been given without a proper tender procedure. They propose to spend money on useless fighter jet without so much as shopping around for the best deal. Time to boot their asses back into the opposition where they can do what they are good at.....nothing.

Of course...did you pull your pants down then too?

I do believe Mr. C's daddy must have done time at the big house. Of course that may be where Mr. C gets his interests in gays and pedophilia. By now he should certainly have a big collection of videos...if we are to believe him...

The OP is not discussing cell phones. The issue is about "smart phones" - small hand-held computers able to access the internet, a myriad of applications and email in the palm of your hand. I have a Palm Pre and rarely use it for making or receiving phone calls. I would guess that 15% would be used for texting and the rest is for internet stuff, email and applications I have downloaded for productivity. I agree that disparity would be a problem just as school libraries in rich neighbourhoods are advantaged more than school libraries in rural communities...simply because parents and the rich communities donate more money and volunteer more time. If that disparity can be displaced (such as was done with scientific calculators being provided to everyone in the class) then I am OK with smart phones being used in the classroom. You know those agendas schools require kids to purchase for $25 or more can easily be replace with a simple appliaction any any smart phone......what a novel ideal....

My guess is that Mr. Canada doesn't have any kids...maybe he is just a "special" uncle....

Why? Did you want to check it to see if your name is on it?

I would disagree. My wife's new car last year stalled before we even got it out of the dealership lot. They fixed it and in the next 2 weeks stalled 3 more times - each time having to have it towed to the dealer for repairs. They scoped it and put the computer on it and every was stumped. They finally called the technical assistance call centre (which my father-in-law set up before he passed on) and after about 4 hours of research found out that it was a problem with some filings having been dropped in a sensor as it was being manufactured. TACC had the answer but only after they had to rip the car apart. My father-in-law however, was an excellent trouble shooter and could tell by sound and vibration where the problems in an engine were coming from. As I mentioned, he was in charge to the group that set up GM's TACC (as Director of Technical Services GM Canada) and could have easily found the problem long before the plug-in computer did.

I'm the same. I use a smart phone and have one of the best and most advanced computer systems available. Yet I could go into the bush and survive for months without hardly a blink. I also have my pantry and cold cellar stocked such that where I live I could go months without having to visit a store. Add to that, I can go out my back yard and have partridge, turkey, deer, or fish to eat in a matter of minutes. The point is that technology is a useful tool BUT if the technology uses you, then you are the tool.

OR the Asians are North American Inuit.

{BUZZER} WRONG! There are many Mohawk people with blond hair and blue eyes. "Fairness" is a trait among full-blooded Iroquois people and it has no relationship to any other parts of the world. As to migration: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/11/041118104010.htm http://www.mexicanfootprints.co.uk/

There is evidence in the Americas of human occupation that goes back some 50-60,000 years....that's almost 15-20 years past the occupation of Europe out of Africa. If the evidence is conclusive then it means that there was likely a migration out of Africa from a different route or the Pangea Theory has more reliability. As far as genetic markers go the current investigations simply point to certain strands and suggest that because there are blond and blue eyed people in Germany and there is also blond and blued eyed Native people, that once must derive from the other. It is silly at best.