August1991

What did Tim Horton know about coffee? Eyeball, I was being ironic. Tim Horton was a hockey player. He knew nothing about donuts or coffee. ==== Bureaucrats in Ottawa know nothing about dental care in Quebec. Trust me.

Moonlight Graham, you pose a typical racial/communal wedge issue: "Canadian". In 1988, we Canadians voted on a wedge issue. And we crossed lines.

We in the civilised world won. Peacefully. ==== Since 1990, Americans don't seem to understand this. You Americans won.

Dentists? Of course they want to have more insured clients. ==== Tim Hortons, what do they know about donuts.

Wedge issues divide voters. You must vote A, or vote B. In Canada, we have such federal elections. In 1988, we voted on Free Trade. In 1911, we voted on Reciprocity. ==== In Canada, the worst happens when the wedge is on religious/linguistic lines: the Conscription Crisis of 1917 is an example. Another one: Les Gens de l'air in 1976. An issue that divides people on racial/tribal/communal/religious/language lines. Americans will know this is as the OJ Simpson trial. === We Canadians get along.

What cliff are we jumping off?

Edge of the cliff? Jump off? Radical change? You are a revolutionary. ==== The world changed in 1989, peacefully.

New immigrants have to live somewhere. They typically live where previous Canadians live. IMHO, the rise in land values in Toronto and Vancouver is a measure of the success of Canada.

Disagree. Canada is a federal state 1. Health is better organised at the provincial level. 2. Dental care is not a problem of health.

Dunno. ==== Catholics pray by ritual. Orthodox stand and write notes. Hindus (like Buddhists) sit and bend. Muslims repeat to themselves phrases. Confucious burn paper. We humans all talk to ourselves. All the time. We all have an internal conversation.

As to "transborting" (transferring pension years between countries), I both entirely agree - and disagree. I am happy that someone who works in Denmark and then in Canada can easily cross borders. I am happy that people who have worked in Canada and in Denmark can count years in both countries toward a pension. ==== My problem: Why is the State involved? Why not give the person a PV of the future pension?

You did say that. You want a federal system because, in your view, central bureaucrats can negotiate better terms. ==== I prefer a federal system because local bureaucrats know better, are free to go about their business.

Quote me. Getting rid of Trump will be as hard as getting rid of Diefenbaker. Remember Dalton Camp?

Since 1600 or so - even before, we Canadians largely get along. Peacefully. Despite our disagreements, few of us get killed.

On the contrary, our neighbour to the south has a federal Constitution - each State is sovereign, and sends delegates to decide federal issues. And their system has worked - despite, uh, one bloody civil war - for over two centuries.

Myata, You don't understand life, or even the universe. I recommend that you first learn calculus. Then, read Tolstoi's War and Peace. Finally, understand the Central Limit Theorem. And at the very end, read Pasternak's Doktor Zhivago. ===== To me, the pre-1914 European world was good, civilised. Then the lights went out.

As I say, Trump is another Diefenbaker. A blowhard.

In 1976, after Diefenbaker, after Stanfield, the federal Tories reached past Wagner and Mulroney - to choose Clark. When the Republicans lose in 2024, look who they'll choose. As I say, Trump is like Diefenbaker.

There are several provinces/counties in the Netherlands. Some counties are known as Holland. The people in the Netherlands are both Protestant and Catholic. Many years ago, I was in Venlo during the Carnival. Venlo is in the south. During Carnival, they wear clown costumes one day, and farmer costumes the next. I was a clown.

In 1976, the Tories chose Joe Clark rather than Claude Wagner. I would have been a better choice than Clark - and I was kid, unilingue at the time. Mulroney and Trudeau Snr both knew that.

This "by the people, for the people... " Already done. ===== And Laurier's, cross religion... Already done.

I was surprised to learn recently that Holland was in fact a county of the Netherlands. You people in the Netherlands are both Catholic and Protestant. And like the Swiss, you had a republic before the Americans. Lincoln's Gettysburg Address is incorrect.

Clark was elected in May 1979. Trudeau Snr resigned, grew a beard in the summer. Rae presented a motion, the government fell. Trudeau Snr returned, and was re-elected with a federal majority in Feb 1980. In May 1980, Levesque lost his honest referendum. ==== Get along? Let me explain what happened in 1995. Or 1917.

I largely agree. But we need more flexibility. === Teachers in Montreal do not face the same problems as teachers in the regions.

Strongly disagree. I - the renter - chose to pay you money every month. ==== Real estate is a difficult business. As Charlie Munger would say, Too many people know too much.