willy

Bushmustgo, the war has happened. Now the Americans need to transition Iraq some how. You seem to think you have the answers. What should they do?

Democracy is built around conflicting views. Your view Maplesyrup is not the only one. It is great ignorance to believe one knows everything and they can make great judgments on what is right and wrong. MS you are not God and either am I. As a participating member of this democracy I will fight for what I perceive to be the best for our communities and individuals. This includes the right to protect individuals who can not protect themselves. We need to have the hard debates about what that means. I might guess you are defining me based on abortion rights by your pervious statements. This is one issue of many and the courts should not be the only ones to own the responsibility for that decision. I have stated that Christianity does not believe in legislating morality, the religion is based on choice and we need to preserve the rights of people to choose which personal ethic they wish to follow. This will always have limitations as it affects the greater community and where that balance lies is an organic process of debate and legislation. Maplesyrup, I get the scene that you don’t like my beliefs or opinions and that for this I should be censored from public debate. Tough and there are many people like me and one day you might realize we have many valid points.

Maplesyrup, you have clearly stated that I should not be involved in politics because I am a Christian. Is this an example of your tolerance.

The US is the largest and richest market in the world. This is a major reason why 80% of our trade is with them. It is also the cheapest place to send our products for obvious reasons. As China and India grow there economies, we may have a chance to diversify ours by trading more with them. Our economy will only grow where people buy our products. We do market products around the world now but we are not very competitive in a number of markets (labour costs and shipping). Eastern Europe and Russia have large lumber industries just like us for example and they are selling to China and Western Europe cheaper than we can. We should be thankful to have such a large, stable economic engine next door. This has given us the ability to have a very good standard of living and supports our social programs. MS you are a proud Canadian? I think you mistake globalization as Americanization. Americans have the largest economy in the world so it is easy to do. Multi National companies share with the world a pop culture. This has an influence but it is not the only influence on national identity. Canada’s challenge is to be clear on what makes us united and Canadian. With lack of clarity we use things like universal healthcare to define us, even when we have to wait a year to see a doctor. We don’t go to war and that defines us. We are not American and that defines us. Our national beer has probably defined us better than the CBC can. I love living in this country, and we are distinct but the beer and healthcare aren’t my defining factors. It all comes down to hockey. MS if you are not a hockey fan you are not a Canadian. The only thing that should really matter in Canada/US relations is that when our male or female hockey teams meet we need to win. When we win at hockey our national identity is unified and our esteem is high. It may be sad but I am Canadian. Seriously, what makes Canada great to me is the ability to live in my faith, support my family and build a community that cares for each other.

http://www.canada.com/national/story.html?...84-b8f1892bddd0 No suprise.

http://politicswatch.com/unity-april29-2004.htm The total cost of the unity fund $793 million. For what and yet the Liberals still have 38% support.

I will be a coward if that is what you would determine my course of action would make me. I don't think destroying thousands of jobs, shrinking our economy and hurting our economic ability to provide social services as standing up for the right and true. One must choose what they fight for carefully. This is just a recreational drug. The US would not determine our course of action. They would be exercising their sovereign right of restricting the access of Canadians within there boarders. Do they not have a sovereign right to disagree with us?

I am just going to touch on this a little bit. As I have said pot is of little real concern to me. Access to the American market is a huge concern. We are a sovereign country but this does not give us the right to do anything we want. I am sovereign over my person but if I make choices I will receive the benefit or consequences of my choices. If Canadians choose to legalize pot, our boarders will be shut right down. We can make threats of "trade war" but really we are in no position to do that. Threats are only good if you can act on them and we will cripple ourselves economically and socially by fighting this battle. We are interdependent with our neighbors like it or not. I am not willing to take the chance for a recreational drug. If the US had a big problem with soccer balls and they might close our boarders I would have to encourage a new sport.

Here is a list of reasons so you don't miss it this time. 1. Trade with the U.S. 2. Causes cancer 3. Inhibits judgment 4. Lowers motivation 5. Effects the brain 6. Reduces perception of harm for kids (the normalizing of pot has a harmless drug is influencing kids trying it) 7. Acts as cognitive depressant that causes psychological dependence 8. Makes for a boring population Just not a priority to change the law. Does need a new strategy for accountability and enforcement. Sir put down the joint and realizes that chemical giggles is not really funny. What studies, links please.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/Art...ment/TopStories Undergraduate degree in Business Administration, post graduate work in leadership and strategy. I am a speaker on ethics and business measurement. That is about all I will say as it is nice to have a little anonymity when one has to work in the business world and I like to be candid on this forum.

Back to the original topic. It must be nice to make promises you will never have to keep. This way they can be completely unrealistic. Imagine the money it would take to identify which products were meant by this, identify them at sale, then continue to okay or deny family status for GST purposes and then police retailers to make sure then don’t miss label. The missus of this would be huge. This would cost more than the gun registry. What economic school did Dr Jack go too? I just want to make sure I don't hire any alumni.

We already have hate laws that relate to violence, and we should. That is easy. Bill C-250 is about communication of hate. This might be something that sounds good. I wonder what and how the judges can use these laws to limit my expression. To make political correctness a law will only damage our need for debate in Canada. It is not about feeling being threatened, it may be only feeling threatened. What all would that entail? Religious groups have rightly been worried about the impacts the legal interpretation might have on teachings in the Bible or Koran. The only gain is that people can’t say hurtful things to gay and lesbians. I don't think people should say hurtful things but this should not be a law. Sticks and stones......

Would you want your doctor to leagally be a habitual marijuana user? Not me.

My favorite book with at message. The Bible Another book that has made me think about why we do what we do is "Crime and Punishment"

I left in the good and bad. I support the medical use and distribution. The rest of the evidence is not compelling to me as to why it is a good idea to decriminalize or legalize it. Small amounts of possession decriminalized with fines, might be a good step. This in my opinion is just a strategy to focus resources on dealers of all drugs.

Drug dealers are not nice guys. They are criminals and they break the law. It is not stolen freedom; they chose to break a law. We all know it is against the law, and no greater good is served by selling or using drugs. People with MS, HIV, etc should have access and that is the purpose of medical distribution. Those who had a long day should learn to deal with reality and not coat it over with self medication by exposing themselves to the legal ramifications. He should have gone to jail and probably for longer than the norm as he broke the public trust. If being a real Canadian means I must impair my judgment with the use of drugs, I guess I am not. I suggest that if you smoke enough, you will in fact be unthinking, irresponsible and a numbskull. Marijuana impairs you judgment. Think as hard as you can before you post on this again. You might not be rational.

War = Bad Peace = Good Bush = Bad Chrétien = Good It is easy to govern without responsibility. Canada with such a unique geographical position in the world has the blessing of not needing to defend itself. Europe is different. They have many competing interests and power struggles. Before the war the French and Germans were trying to create a counter balance to the US and Britain by using this issue to galvanize support. With their support it would have been as the article put "a legal war". The world still has to worry about dictators and terrorists. Iraq may not have been an immediate threat, but take away sanctions and let Sadam have resources and it would be everyone’s problem. Other countries may have been more of a threat however; Iraq was geographically located in a strategic place to effect the region over the long term. This war is a grandiose vision for reshaping the Middle East. Turkey, Jordan and Saudi Arabia are friendlier nations and by adding Iraq the whole region will be evolved. Iran and Syria will effectively be isolated and then hopefully influenced. Challenging yes, maybe impossible but to eliminate the Islamic fundamentalist terrorist it will take this. This has never been accomplished in this area. Good luck. The other option would have been to go on with policing the symptoms, finding the bomb layers, and never attacking the real problem. Bush was clear; he was going to win the war on terrorism. To do that you have to change the way that area of the world operates. Even if Bush falls short we should all hope it was not for nothing. As for this article referring to Harper. Harper has been clear; we didn’t have the military to help in any real way. We should have wished the US well and carried on with our business. As for the Liberals, if they were really all that high on principle they would have pulled our ships out to the Gulf and our troops that were integrated out of active duty. Instead they piss off the US, and sent troops anyway. Way to go with that diplomacy. And now we are not even at the table anymore when the discussions are happening and decisions are being made. No world influence. You could see this pan out with our futile proposals to the UN during the ramp up to the invasion of Iraq. Canada is now the irrelevant nation. No military and no influence.

I didn't see any comments about hating Svend. I wish him well. He seems a little nuts and he should take care of that. Politically Svend had some strange ways of doing business. As an MP he had a seat at the table but he still preferred to be in the protest. I don't agree with him much in the way of policy but I do respect that he was doing what he thought was right.(my impression) Those that I know that have met him said he was a nice guy. These are not people from the right. They are people who hate. Hating is not on the political continuum. It can be done from any side of the ship, even in the middle. When ever one party blames another for there circumstance and then vilifies that group, the result can be hate. BG you should check yourself because many of the comments you have made recently make me believe you would hate me for just being a Conservative. If you want to through crap against the wall do it in your own house and not in the forum.

Stats Can giving us the goods.

A couple of small points. 80% of our trade is with the US. One day of our boarders being closed is $100 of millions in lost trade. This is not them bulling us but rather just reality. Why take this risk? So people can get a buzz?. As for medical use, this is being introduced. And it will be a controlled substance like any other drug. Just not a priority to do anymore. Sometimes it is best not to just ask why not but to ask why. Real priorities: Poverty, health, education, jobs, safety, justice ect.

Policy is for direction. Look to intention and then read between the lines. You see The Conservatives as evil, corrupt business people trying to exploit the world (correct me if I am wrong about your point of view). I see the political organization of The Conservatives as people who want to serve their communities, and they believe that government has a role to play. This role is facilitator, adjudicator and safety net. How we want to help the world is different than our socialist friends. I don’t think socialist are evil, I personally like the fact they are trying to do good.( I do question what they define as good sometimes) So are The Conservatives. I am involved in politics to help create a community that can choose its own path, which gives the poor a hand up and help people be responsible. I could argue your list of criticisms but you would still only see an ulterior motive. There are none. Some people in all political parties are not to be trusted. The nature of politics corrupts. We need to protect against this. The corruption is equal to all political leanings. Having a party run and implement a strong accountability platform is in the interest of all politicians and Canadians. We need to trust our institutions.

Black Dog, to have credibility at least read the Conservative policy. http://www.conservative.ca/english/documen...ents/policy.pdf Not all is covered in this document but it would look a little like this. Some of this might be my interpretation. * Free vote on gay marriage and the idea of unions seems to fly without much debate. * They do favour increased military spending. Don’t you or should our soldiers use canoes and through rocks. * They favour more flexibility for the provinces in health care but will uphold the Canada Health Act. They want to increase direct funding to the provinces for the provision of health care. Private insurance has never been discussed or proposed. (Provincial authority: Contracting out of service is front and center for flexibility, accountability and reducing costs. Is this really privatizing health care?) * Free trade and tax cuts sure. * Want a closer relationship with the US so when we have to disagree we can do it without crippling our economy. * As for abortion, this is not on the agenda. But I have to ask BD do you like abortion. What is it to favor it? No one wants to see women go through having abortions, especially kids. How we prevent this is where the parties differ. This is a practical debate that needs to take place to help out young people to make better choices so they don't have to make this one.

Maplesyrup, the sun poll that is referred to shows Harpers numbers doubling and a large undecided. 8% - 16% is nothing to get excited about. I will make what I would perceive as an unbiased analysis of the last string of polls. They are inconclusive. Voters are volatile and a hot issue that galvanizes the vote may be the difference. Which party would be the beneficiary right now is unknown and only wishful thinking and guessing can be done. Sports analogy time, it is game time and the team that is ready to play will win and it still might not be close.

Here is another hit the Liberals will take. If the government steps in and bails out Air Canada this will hurt the Liberals the most in Alberta and BC. In BC we still remember the government not helping Canadian Airlines. This will just reinforce the traditional view of the Liberals in Alberta where West Jet is based. If the government stays out Quebec numbers will go even lower. The timing of some of these things will make this an election to remember.

Correction Maplesyrup, former seat warmer Joe Clark has touched your nerve and is saying what you have been thinking for a long time. This will all be sorted out soon. Election call next week.