TOhasCLASS

The coalition Government is the best case scenario for the good of Canada and it's political system. I would rather the minority government work with the other parties to provide leadership through these tough economic times however it is quite apparent that this will not be the case and for the following reasons I see a coalition government necessary. 1. Harper insists on destroying the other political parties in Canada rather than looking out for the average Canadian and the future of Canada. Harper is too self indulgent and is caught up in his needs and it seems to have caught up with him. 2. While I am not a CPC supporter I would probably be more angry at the coalition if the CPC had a leader who was more open and willing to get down to business and work through the task at hand. I feel that most of the CPC MP's would welcome a more flexable PM and that many are truly intrested in looking out for their constituents. Harper is a control freak who doesn't understand that he has not been given a full mandate (majority) to lead this country. He still hasn't figured out that he is required to make concessions with the other parties in order to get things done. 3. He has trouble understanding that the majority of Canadians DID NOT vote for him and that his bully tactics and lack of accountability to Canadians through communication with the media and accepting the official opposition parties as part of our political process has gone too far. Best case scenario - Harper resigns and a new more colabrative CPC PM steps in. (never gonna happen) What will happen - coalition government This may be good at this time because all the parties entered into a contract which excludes partisan ideals ie. Green Shift, Separtism ... and includes concrete goals like meeting the needs of the average voter in this time of economic turmoil.

Yee Haw ! I hate Trudeau cuz hez too dang smart usin' that fancy edumacation talk to make us look bad. I hates him a lot BlueBlood ... I hate liver and onions but can you at least support your argument ?

Justin Trudeau happens to be a very eloquent, respectful and itelligent young man who connects with the average man as he was a school teacher and did some valuable charity work with world poverty organizations ..... gains under Harper ? .... interesting terms you use ...... I don't call spending $300 million on his own personal quest for ego and power against the wishes of the public a gain for us .... Do me a favour call your local CPC candidate you canvased for and inform him the public wants Harper to get back to work and make the minority function by actually developing some policies with the other parties and quit whinning about ... Boo Hoo I can't work with these people.

Behind the scenes Harper must be seething .... he was so focused and sure of his majority that he spent 300 million dollars on an election that we did not want .... voter turnout was at an all time low and the Liberals had a weak candidate. I for one will be pissed if he calls an election within the year. That will be a half a billion dollars of taxpayer money thrown away for his own personal agenda when the voting public is saying get to work we don't fully trust you. (makes sponsership look like spare change) If Harper couldn't make things work last minority ..... watch him this go around ........ he will be at his testy best. Actually I am more than happy with how things worked out .... we get rid of Dion and Harper is forced to work in an environment he absolutley loaths. It forces Harper to compromise and negotiate and he will be miserable (some have even said he may resign .. which I doubt) Control freaks are most agitated when the have to compromise and concede things. If Dion had have won a minority Harper would have got of easy .... he could have quit and done his own thing however now he is caged in and will be forced to sit through a few more years of the worst case scenario. PS - if Harper calls an election any time soon he will feel the wrath of the voting public.

But almost all of this increase was in part-time work, representing 97,000 positions Hardly something to get excited about

All I can say is wow .... very classy ... if you are embarrassed by disabilities you depth of character is something to be proud of proof that our society has a long way to go

Anyone who doesn't see a problem with taking advantage of a person's diability whether directly or indirectly for their own personal gain is in my books a little lower on the food chain then the rest of us. Shameful to all who approve PS - as we all age our hearing will be affected and it will impact all of us .... keep that in mind I hope opponents of my view are just stating their case for banter and not based on personal views

From some of the comments on the board I think some people are too focused on what they want and what their belief system is .... We have to keep in mind that life is never black and white it is always grey. The only way anything works is balance, concessions and colaboration and the Harper government just don't see the basic human element that is a very important component of people's decisions. I would not necessarily say that people are all sheep ... there are a contigent that don't have the time to research politics or are swayed by public opinion, tv ads ect. but the general uninformed don't vote period. Each person decision is based on their personal belief system and to say one person's vision of Canada is wrong becasue they want more social programs or they want comfort at a time of need is wrong. The truth of the matter is we can only truly evaluate what governments do by looking at what they have done right and what they have done wrong and determine if the next guy deserves the opportunity to do better. Armchair critics and so-called professionals in their chosen feild can only be trusted to a certain degree because we are all imperfect in our prognostications. I personally think Steven Harper and the CPC are far to rigid, distant and oblivious to the average Canadian to lead in this time of change. His lack of human intrest and understanding of the human element is his undoing. I truly believe his party has done nothing positive for Canada unlike parties of the past who have had failures but also brought something to the table which when built upon has given Canada it's standing in the world. Pearson introduced universal health care, student loans, the Canada Pension Plan, the Order of Canada, and the current Canadian flag, convened the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism and groundbreaking work at the United Nations, and in international diplomacy. Trudeau national unity, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, showing Canadians that confidence and passion in your country is important Clark while histenior was short his considered by many to be a good man who cares deeply about Canada and was respected by his political foes in a very sincere way. Mulroney Probably our most vilified prime minister however the NAFTA agreement has provided many opportunities for Canada .... (provided we don't give our water and oil away ) Chreitien / Martin brought unprecidented economic stability to Canada and managed the finances better than any party in Canadian history ... dug Canada out from financial problems and brought Canada unprecidented prosperity.

Let's look at the CPC, Harper and their actions and words and compare it to the slide in polling that has occured. First we have to give us the Canadian electorate public the respect we deserve ... We are not as easy to fool as our leaders would think us to be. While I have more often than not voted Liberal because of my own personal view on how I see our country and where it's heading. That being said I am not against voting another party if I believe that their path fits with my personal expectations of Canada. Major Blunders always come down to simple human reactions and basic belief systems 1. Being critical of the other parties economics when the CPC had not even bothered to prepare anything the public could compare. Basic human reason for impact on polling - People don't like to be critcized by others who bring nothing to the table it always raises the ire of people who have put forth an effort - the voting public can relate and finds this very annoying. 2. People who preach and act in an parental role - Harper comes across as preachy "I know whats best for you and I don't have to explain myself or take your concerns into account about the economy" Basic human reason for impact on polling - People don't like to be preached to by others and always like their views and concerns to at least be considered and not summarily dismissed without evaluation. 3. People have no simpathy for arrogant individuals with double standards when they fall flat on their face. Income Trust, Election spending investigation, calling an unecessary Election etc.. Basic human reason for impact on polling - People tend to kick the arrogant when their down especially when they have been wronged and no concessions or appologies have been granted from the arrogant individual. 4. People like to be treated as equals - Harper never has given the voter and their concerns the respect they deserve u]Basic human reason for impact on polling - [/u]People will punish the people they see as disrepecting them.

Unfortunatly the average farmer is squeezed by the commodities middle man who makes all the coin .... also it is these same commodities distributors who buy up small farmers and create corporate farms. While I agree we should protect the family farmer ..... the corporate farmer needs to be treated aas a different case. The key is to make Methonol from the organic scraps ... that way we will not need to use food for fuel ...

1. Their are rumours and articles written by many (allthough unproven) that big oil was behind those environmental penalties which intern allowed them much more control over supply and demand while using the excuse that they were at capacity for refining and new refineries were not cost effective. - Take it for what it's worth 2. Globalization is a crock and being in the international business field I have seen many abuses from low cost Chinese manufacturing ... I know of Toys our children play with not made to spec by suppliers in china who substitute cheaper toxic materials for higher quality materials to increase their profit margins ..... the NA companies knowingly ignore if discovered and peddle these items to our children for fear that a recall may damage the brand while they scramble to fix the corrupt practices with Chinese vendors. Fact - Did you know that the government can't go into a retailer and pull products at random and test for lead for instance ..... they are legally only able to do a full investigation if a Toy manufacturer volentarily discloses a recall ... at that point they can legally do an investigation of other products they sell as well .. if they so choose. It's a disgrace that our government protects the corporation before the consumer .... The auto industry is ripe with inequalities in trade barriers and our government needs to grow some b*lls ....oh but that would isolate some campaign supporters and funding now wouldn't it

Yes ... but not in a direct in your face way ... How do you think the drug companies in the US are able overcharge for medications .. lobbyists who wine and dine important senators, important medical people who influence decisions. What I am saying is the oil companies employ lobbyists, scientists who support their views and people who represent themselves as credible voices against the technologies oil would be afraid of to influence the politicians on one side and manufacturers & consumers on the other. So you have politicians who change the current society we live in pick and choose who they believe. If you are a self absorbed politician who doesn't have the time to research in great detail every societal problem and it's solution Who are you going to believe the independant scientist who presents the oil alternative backed by a shoe string budget from power point on his lap top or A big oil back scientist who is employed for years with limitless funding making a six figure salary outlaying his beliefs at a posh function / seminar at the Ritz in NY with a round of Golf after the event.

you are bang on

Ahh ... nothing is as it appears on the surface ... do some digging and you will find that big oil spends money on biofuel research, hydrogen fuel cells etc. .... ohh but what a pitty their investments can't seem to make it viable to compete with oil. The reason why you don't believe me is because if big oil always lurks behind in the shadows working the room with little fan fare ... it wouldn't be in their best interest. it only takes a few in the pocket politicians to do their bidding

FACT - There is no need for using corn when Methonal can be created from organic non-food scrap. The technology is there ... the US is wasting good food crops then ! Not sure how many times I have to explain it .... Big Oil always leads governments down a path where they know they have the upper hand. Ever hear of lobbyists ... the reason why the US is gouged on drug prices while Canadians drugs are called inferior and dangerous ( hello your drugs are identical to ours in every way ) Wake up Sheep

Ya I agree he probably was picked last in schoolyard sports and kids made fun of his awkward social skills, ill fitting cords / velour tops and beady little eyes

Fact - Big Oil is behind the propaganda that biofuels would impact world food supply ? Fact - Methonal can be created with any organic matter (i.e. corn stalks and husks, non-food) which could be grown in area where non-food organic matter is the only use for the land Fact - Big Oil killed the electric car and now want to kill biofeuls Fact - Biofeuls are a transition fuel source toalieviate the need for 100% oil dependance Fact - Biofuels would take money from OPEC and big oil and distribute money to third world farmers

I the day this law is enacted we should raid every Canadians household and charge them ... that includes Prentice. I bet 95% of the Canadian population has something in their possession that would break this law. Little 2 year old billy's grade 1 crayon picture of his birthday party at McDonalds broke the law when he recreated the logo for McDonalds in it. How much do you want to bet this ill concieved, hasty written piece of legislation garbage costs the Canadian tax payer millions in tax dollars in court cases while the corporate conglom's laugh with glee as they sell a poor 14 year kid who makes $6.80hr at Burger King the Justin Timberlake album 6 times ( 1 for his CD player, 1 for his Ipod, 1 for his phone, 1 for his computer etc.) Better get the goon squad out to nail that kid singing the theme song for Titanic at his school talent contest with getting copyright privileges. A complete joke ... as it is currently written.

You really are not getting the point ... the powers that be "big oil" do everything they can to subvert cheap fuel prices. 1. They fund the badmouthing of cutting edge technology ... which would be available now if people didn't believe the propaganda the spewed 10-20 years ago. 2. In Ontario Canada alone ... big oil has less refineries now than they did in the 70's & 80's when consumption was far less 3. Sure China and India consume more oil now than the world can supply .... however there is enough oil in Canada for NA alone for the next 200 years. Artficial supply and demand. Oil has known for years consumption would increase and they did nothing to adjust (becasue they new prices would rise as well if they kept supply low) 4. So after saying all that GM execs have to be morons or just flipping lazy not to dictate the technology they develop for future transportation (flex fuel, electric, solar etc) this is where the problem lies for auto makers ... they did not dictate to society which fuel they want their cars to run on (they didn't even have a back-up plan) ... they let big oil dictate the terms of the marketplace

Politics are very sad these days ..... there are very few worthy politicians now. Kind of like picking through a dumpster out back of Loblaws for your apples .... for every 1 edible apple you get 10 rotten ones. Problem I have with this government is that there seems to be more rotten fruit than past governments ..... The CPC party seems to have very little quality in it's ranks and Harper (while the most itelligent of the bunch) lacks vision, flexability, interpersonal skills and most of all integrity. If Harper were the stand up guy he claims to be " I will make goverments accountable with my policy " he would have dumped Bernier ages ago. Now he has to face the music ... and he's obstinant about it. If Rae had been elected Liberal Leader instead of Dion ... we would be having an election right now. The only thing holding the Liberals from getting back in is Dion (while i believe him to be a good man) because he doesn't garner that strong image of a leader (unfair or not)

Reality - Big oil controls the prices through artificial supply and demand problems ... 1. not building new refineries and controling available consumption 2. investing hundreds of millions of dollars in propagana against alternative sources of fuel and influencing auto makers to keep making 100% fuel vehicles in NA 3. dumping hundreds of millions more into lobbiest that influence government decisions Reality - Scrap organic waste can produce methenol and is abundance around the world ... anything that is organic can be turned into methenol .... 1. The ocean is a limitless farm that could grown organic material and be harvested 2. A corn field produces more waste than food (stocks & husks etc.) 3. human waste can be turned into methenol. Problem is Science is fighting against paid shills of the oil company to quiet their voices and projects ... money talks Ethanol is old technology .... waste matter to methanol is the bridge to get us to solar/electric (limitless) .... Big oil squashes these options by influencing the auto makers and government to keep oil around. If you think all the big oil are looking to improve society with new found energy sources you are living in a dream world.

Bottom line ..... If the fat lazy corporate exec's at GM and the US auto makers (who are supposed to be planning long term) had used their brains and mustered up some b@lls over the past 10 years they would have had flex fuel trucks or hybred trucks ready to roll off the assembly line years ago .... instead they sit around cow towing to big oil money and their propaganda machine while their only concern is making sure they count their million dollar bonus' for less than stellar ROI's. Fact - We knew we needed a new fuel source in the 70's Fact - Fuel can be made out of scrap organic waste not impacting food supply Fact - A drop from using 90% gas to 50% and 50% meth/ethonol would force the hand of big oil to lower their prices While I do agree that line workers have a less than stellar job their wages need to be fair and brought in line with reality ..... however reality shows that execs / shareholders would pocket any savings or pay for their mismanagement of the business before re-investing in the future good of the business unless absolutely forced to by extreme market conditions. If done right their is enough for everyone however it takes too much work, sacrifice, creativity for the fat lazy US exec's to chart the course.

Totally agree ....... How can the CPC actually run this country when they are constantly acting as if they are still running an election campaign. Since day 1 it has been all bluster with no substance. Truth is the current government has very little to offer us Canadians in the way of leadership, ideas, intelligent political policy making. There seems to be no substance to this current government ... they see the only way to hold onto power is to attack the oppostion parties as if they were sitting in the leadership seats. Reeks of insecurity ..... Harper - "Dalton, Dion, Jack, Gilles are bad ... why won't you listen to us ! ... Daddy make them listen, make them understand that we are right and they should blindly follow" As long as the people "sorry sheep" are happy with a government who does absolutely nothing substantial to improve this country, I guess we better get used to the "30 second sound bite generation & the I am too comfortable, lazy and short of time boomers" to use their vote to employ the best and the brightest "excuse makers and not my faulters" to run this great land The Liberals should come out with an X-Box game or sitcom to lure these people to vote for them .... Note: don't make the game too complex or the sitcom too long

This whole issue of NA Manufacturing jobs lost can be explained in very simplistic terms with some very complex underlying details. 1. The dysfunctional US/Can education and political systems - people are trained to be sheep (there is only one way ... the way the book in school says) while the need for a creative progressive independent thinking society with new ideas & new technological development is stymied 2. Corporate Greed, Shareholder Greed & Incompetent Greedy CEO's - The sole focus for corporate exec's is to make ungodly salaries and bonus' for providing very little leadership and solid decision making (remember these are the same people educated by the dysfunctional system above). They are compensated whether the company is floundering or on top. There is no real incentive to build something for the future or look at improving, re-tooling or forcasting down the road when you'll get paid even if you dog it. The trickle down is that the middle class worker is the first cut or downsized to pay for the sins of senior management so that the share holders can feel satisfied that they get a return. Nice little piece of creative accounting that doesn't hold up for future financial reporting. If you think that downsizing puts money in the pockets of the exec's to re-tool your wrong ..... How often does corporate culture change (never until exec are tossed with their golden parachute) 3. Globalization Unfortunately you have emerging markets around the world with many things to offer such as unfair cheap labour, unfair import restictions ( Japan - auto), corrupt governments, abusive working conditions etc. .... so instead of rolling up their sleeves and re-tooling for the future and being a beacon of new development NA exexc's roll over and hit the snooze button and take the easy road and become just like all of these other nations which intern puts us on the same competitive level as them. 4. OPEC & The Oil Money With regards to the auto industry OPEC and the oil money dump millions of dollars into disputing new technologies and options for the future of transportation. These groups are always looking to subvert new manufacturing that would lessen the need for oil. 5. Unions While I believe the working man deserves a decent wage ... I do also believe that making 70k as a line worker is excessive. Problem lies within the fact that why would you give up what you have if you knew that the moment you conceed an inch the same greedy exec's would take not a mile ... but every little thing their greedy fat fingers could grab. While I am by no means saying all companies are " out of touch with reality " the NA car manufacturers are in dire need of a cultural shake-up

Sad, very, very sad world the US lives in when for pete's sake the sheep just sit and watch soldiers, children and human beings die in Iraq without so much as a peep even though it is common knowledge (for years) that President's office was breaking laws and lying about this "war aginst terror". The US society (NA for that matter) is very sick and is in need of medical attention .. now ! Outrage ..... Let's impeach a president for having a sexual relationship but Apathy from the same society ....... When their kids are sent off to war to die for lies and greed. All I can say is I don't get it ..... Can any one explain this this to me ?