oreodontist

I'm not even certain of the issue. What does it have to do with parents? An 18 year old is an adult. When I was 18 I was on reserve duty with the Canadian Forces in Syria. Our nephew recently came from PEI to live with us here in Alberta. He just turned 18 so can walk into one of the 4 liquor stores within walking distance of our house. Some friends came over and we sent him at 11pm or so out for a sixpack. We started talking about the difference from our youth. Basically at 11 pm, if you were 18, you 'drove' with your frinds to the bootlegger and picked up a six pack. Chance are you all popped a beer in the car. I doubt if a minimum drinking age of 18 or 19 or 21 makes much difference. Adulthood begins at 18 and an 18 year-old ca vote, drive, join the military, etc. If he has poor judgemnet at 18, I doubt if he'll have better judgement at 19 or 20. Less government the better. In the case of alcohol and drug laws I doubt if prohibition of drugs to everyone and alcohol to young adults makes much of a positive impact. I've never touched a cigarette or illegal drug in my life and that choice has nothing to do with availability or legality. In theory restrictions might sound right, however they are hollow in the real world of young adults.

Does anyone else see the irony of that statement? what's that saying about the pot calling the kettle black?

The CBC played a role in culture up until 1990 or so. Today, in the age of the Internet and a thousand channel television, the CBC as a cultural medium is irrelevent. Public information is fine at a national level. Perhaps local infrmation in some rural areas. Otherwise, it's an anachronism in 2008. I turn to CNN, FOX, MSNBC, BBC for my news. Sometimes CTV if something relevent is going on in Canada. I'll watch CBC during elections, etc. while flipping from other Internet or TV stations.

Good grief. According to the CBC it was a 'comedy' show. It was suppose to be funny? Typical government-funded mediocrity: A money trough for 'Canadian' cultural insiders to feed at.

No. the voters overwhelmingly re-elected the current aldermen and mayor with a couple of exceptions. For the the best educated population in Canada is pleased with the city administration.

This is why these issues are so difficult to walk through. Simplistic solutions often ignore consequences. The Mom and Pop corner store doesn't pay Sally and Bob 8.75 because they are scrooges and insensitive to their needs as a person. They may be stretching their own budgets to provide these jobs. Raise the minimum wage for two employers 3 bucks an hour and that's about $50 more out of the store each day. $50 more they have to clear in profits. Already their can of soup costs 40 cents more than at the chain store and now they have to tack another 40 cents a can. Guess what? Nobody buys the soup and they close their doors. No job for Sally or Bob. Multiply this by tens of thousands of individuals.

Solution? Why do you think that making the situation worse through a higher minimum wage is good? do you want the few remaining independent stores, restaurants, hotels, etc. to close their doors? Not every mom and pop corner store can compete with Walmart now so why do you need to make it even more impossible for them to eek out a living? They can barely afford 8.75 now to pay a cashier or stock boy. That cashier might be the difference between the owners working a 60 hour week instead of 70 to survive. Push them a tad further and the close the doors for good.

How would raising the minimum wage help? Many of those minimum wage jobs would disappear and not be available at higher wages. Most minimun wage jobs are in retail, restaurants, service industries and seasonal work. Many small business people are on the edge of hiring another person or cutting a position or even closing their doors.

????? What is 'the Free Trade'? And what does the trade act you are speaking about have to do with the peach industry?

Excuse the pun but thank heavens to that! My siblings and I were subjected to the terror tactics of the Catholic Church in Quebec. Catholicism and Christianity is increaisngly flushed down the toilet in Quebec (applause). Language without an underlying distinct culture is a veneer that will slip away. The oppresive influence of the Catholic Chruch was the anchor that the French language survived in. In the 1970's that anchor changed from religion to nationalism. With a changing sense of community and 'real' daily culture, nationalism will decline in Quebec and elsewhere. There will always be flag wavers in Quebec just as there will also always be 'Catholics'... and both of those are on he down slide. It's silly to think a language will survive by having 'more babies'. Those babies will grown up wired ito the English-language world and most likely will go to college outside of Quebec and move to California or Portugal in the year 2030. Incentives for women to have babies is actually funding future labour markets wherever the opportunities will be.

I don't like censorship of an individual...control of speech, writing, etc. An even greater danger than what people are charged with is that for every one who takes a risk to speak freely, there's a hundred who are intimidated 'to shut up'. Pubic intstitutions, corporations, etc. are fair game for being held to standards. I have no problen with the 'Nazi Party' being held accountable but not when an individual member speaks out on his own volition.

'Identity' based on geography will decline in the western world whether it' Quebec, England, California or 'wherever'. Quebec, in North america, is one of the few areas that a sizeable amount of the population, Francophones, has retained mobility largely within it's own borders. That is changing and the pace of that change will accelerate in the next couple generations. The Francophone 25 year old will look to Alberta, New York and so on as a place to move to. When that person moves they become assimilated into the 'real' new culture of as you put it 'daily living'. Their spouse and children are not Quebecois as much as possibly speaking French language for another generation. Even culture in Quebec will be Walmart, Mcdonalds, Microsoft with a veneeer of French language, but not culture, on top. A big part of 'daily living' is on line and not geographic based. In fact the wired-in part of 'daily living' will be much more significant than physical interaction with a sign of a store that has French print larger than English.

There is another phenomenon happening that we in Alberta see but doesn't get much press. In the last two or three years the number of young Francophones moving to this province has skyrocketed. There's always been a lot of in migration from Quebec but it was nearly all Anglophones. Now many Francophones are loking for careers elsewhere.Out of 18 employees we now have one from the Gaspe and one from Sherbrooke. Last summer we had requests from students in Quebec wanting to come out West for seasonal work. What used to be a trickle of Francophones leaving the province isn't a flood by any means but is now much more of a reality for those starting ot in life. The demagraphics in Quebec may change dramatically in the next couple decades.

I find it all amusing in the year 2008. The 'state' promoting a language, religion, culture, etc. is similar to the boy with his finger in the dyke. There may be some temporary relief from the onslaught of outside forces but it is futile in the long run. The Internet, etc. has more or less boosted the English language into the stratosphere as a lingua franca around the world. I grew up in a bilingual household in Pointe-aux-Trembles and everyone who was well educated, etc. speal fluent English, but more importantly, USE English as the principal language of work or the sciences. The sign on the store is irrelevent. Tokenism. I still prefer watching a hockey game in French, some music and so on but, for the most part, since moving to Alberta and travelling around the world, the use of the language is very much a niche. Ones 'community' has become like minded individuals on the Internet and not necessarily the person next door. The common language of the 14 year-old in Tokyo, Trois Rivieres, Glasgow and Jakarta is English. French, like most languages, has been relegated to a physical locale (Quebec, Belgium, etc.). In 50 years most higher education in the world will be in a few languages with mobility being second nature among students. Classes will be an international mix needing a mass language....English, Mandarin Chinese and Spanish will dominate. Educated Germans, Indians, etc, will study in English. Almost all science will be conducted in English (as it largely is now).

Our Calgary municipal governmnet has a decent record. With a few exceptions, aldermen and the mayor are re-elected with large levels of confidence. City governments are in an awkward position. They are closest to the people and thus subject to 'in your face' issues yet at the same time have no authority not granted by the province. They don't have guaranteed sources of income yet have a long list of tasks to accomplish. In a way municipalities are a provincial management level on day to day issues. Decisions on health, education, roads etc, are ultimately under the whim of the province and not the city government.

That is why the Conservatives will probably win another majority next election like the last dozen. The opposition parties never do a real assessment of their deafeat. They excuse away the results. they keep banging their heads on the same wall.

Bush is an incompetent ass but the American President can neither take the country to war or have much impact on the economy without the approval of the people (Congress). The Congress is not subservient to the President but in recent years been a gutless bunch of A-holes. I'm in the Pat Buchanan camp when it comes to assessing Bush...Pat calls him a one man wrecking ball who has destroyed the imageof the USA. Unfortunately a lot of conservatives still suport Bush because he is a Republican and not because of any belief in conservatism. Bush, in fact, has been almost the antithesis of a conservative in foreign policy and fiscal responsibility. The Democrats will win the Presidency and the Senate and H of R's in 2008 elections. They will make big gains. So-called conservatives supporting the idiocy of the Iraq war will ensure a massive Republican defeat. When Bush stands up and says on balance that the Iraq war has been a positve then he is either a liar or more stupid than he even comes across. When Republicans don't call him out on such an idiotic statement then they are enduring a big loss in the November elections. The Dems will win 59 to 41% of the vote....way more Dems and independents will make the effort to vote. Mccain is offering more of the same idiocy on Iraq and the party will go down the toilet. Unfortunately the Iraq insanity will toss out the Republicans and bring more control of the economy by the government. Conservatives are throwing away control of the economy to the Dems because of a ridiculous support for Iraq policy.

More baloney. Such infantile assessments are self-fulfilling. Blaming 'the process' and other phoney obstacles when the real reason for pathetic opposition is ignored...THE MESSAGE. Keep talking down to workers and farmers as if they are children and they will ignore you. People are intelligent and don't need protection from the 'evil Conservatives'.

I'm not sure Canadians are all that influenced by 'the leader' as we once were. Mulroney and Chretien put a bad taste in some mouths. Harper and Dion both lack charisma but perhaps this is less of an issue than 20 years ago. Layton certainly has more than the other leaders combined but the party is on the slide. Here in Alberta Stelmach wins an overwhelming majority and he's a dead stick in charisma in comparison to Klein. Where a strong leader there may be more impact is within the parties themselves. Dion doesn't seem to have the presence in his party to rally the troops. Harper, being the PM, has more carrots to quell the dissidents. Polls have shown Canadian satisfied with a minority government. I'm in the same camp. We're leary of the almost free rein given to a PM with a majority. It becomes all 'Mulroney' or 'Chretien' and less about give and take.

The results give everyone their own read into them. The big loser was the NDP. They are getting squeezed out by the Liberals and the Greens. The other parties can all 'claim' some victory. What the Toronto results indicate is that the next parliament will, again, be a minority. The NDP will fade and the BQ may have the balance of power.

At least your more honest than most of us! My father was a mechanic and he said it was a toss up what was worse...the do nothing driver or the one that gets everything serviced on schedule. The more they fiddle with your vehicle the more chance they'll totally f...k something up....leave a bolt loose, forget to tighten a hose, etc.

Why would that make a difference? For there to be a difference the total number of cars used by rental cars would need to decline. Rental companies are going great guns. If they aren't buying a GM product then it is another make and those cars come on the market. The reason our Nissan held it's value was because at 160 thousand kms it was only half way through it's life when we sold it. In contrast Our Pontiac Sunbird, the junkmobile, was at 120 thousand and we gave it to the kid next door.

We have had a variety vehicles over the last couple decades. The best service by far was By Toyota and Nissan (never had a Honda). The worse Chrysler and GM (never had a Ford). We're in the market for a subcompact runabout to supplement our aging Jeep. We'll buy a Japanese model precisely because of holding the value and service. There's little things they do that make the difference. As simple as always keeping a parking space open next to the service center, follow up call to make sure all is well, etc. I'm sure the Big 3 American companies spend hundreds of millions a year over the last 60 years on customer service but somehow I still feel like I'm the problem when taking a vehicle back when not serviced correctly. In contrast, the Japanese car's service department apologizes to me and I receive a call from the service manager.

We're making a bundle. It's called free enterprise. Not based on tariffs. Lots of free market jobs for the hard working ... And yes, I would buy a car made in Mexico or elsewhere if it's better value for the dollar.

True. We should be more understanding. Sven was a victim. We should put his photo on a postage stamp as a reminder that jewell thieves are humans like any other. The fact that the NDP praises a jewell thief in just another feather in that party's cap...they represent the real victims of soceity, jewell thieves, and not those seedy farmer and unwashed workers. I bet the NDP gets at least 90% of the jewell thief vote...no need to up their 5% of the farmers' vote. The NDP has its priorities right!