Molly

Municipalities don't have puddles of money waiting around in anticipation of one-time matching grants, nor do they have the unrestricted power to borrow-- both of those circumstances largely due to regulations that they have no hand in making. If they don't have, and can't get that money, then they can't match, and there is no grant. Right now, there is serious urgency about getting projects up and running. To force the wheels to slow to the pace at which municalities can access matching funds is to OBSTRUCT the stated objective of the grants. (And you already knew that, but blow smoke for the similar sake of partisan obstruction.)

Yeah, but in the face of estate taxes, I'd work hard to make sure that I die penniless and a ward of the state.

That matching crap is about as slow-motion and dishonest as it gets. I didn't like it when done by previous administrations, and to do it now is nothing short of obstruction. Worse, matching provides the most cash to those who need it least, and the least to those who need it most.

That refrain: 'the Liberals did/would do it' is specious anyway. If the Conservative government lacks integrity (whether that is said in isolation, or even with the word 'too' brayed at the end) then they LACK INTEGRITY. Full stop. Moral bankruptcy is an important trait to take note of in ones leaders and representatives.

Wall-to-wall rhetoric folks? That's pretty boring. There are knives to political throats all round. The very best reason for Ignatieff to let this budget pass is to let the Conservatives reap what they sow. Since we are looking at this ugly deficit in the name of stimulus- Heck, even if there was no deficit, but especially since there is (and it's a whopper)- then a bunch of stuff better show some serious sign of having been stimulated PDQ, - a handful of months at most- or the Conservatives will be rendered about as electable as the CHP. IMO, folks in here are seriously underestimating the magnitude of the economic hurt, and broke, stressed-out folks are very unforgiving. There's lag between events, and seeing the official numbers. When we have the economic descriptors in hand, I'm betting that many will be horrified.

Except... they aren't talking about the $1.95 putting them in the black and giving them cash in hand. They are talking about the OTHER political party welfare... the 60% of election expenses that is paid out by taxpayers, for every riding where they recieve 15% of the popular vote. That's the one that was massaged to the max through the in-out scheme. The $10,000,000 or so that they would reap via $1.95/vote would be IN ADDITION to that, along with the benefit from the 75% tax credit for donations. The Conservatives are awash in money taken from taxpayers. They don't need the $.195.

Phoney logic is equating a fundamentalist sexist nutbar whose opinions are so far out of line as to make the news, with the mild-mannered reverend from down the street.

What overstretched pot and kettle claptrap! Mr. Canada, this story is for you: A few years ago, I was sent as liaison to a conference of battered womens groups. During the coffee break, I found myself sitting beside an ex-neighbour whom I hadn't seen in years. I asked her what brought her to such an event- and that was the first I knew that she had been regularly pummelled and/or raped by her husband. She elaborated to say that when she went to her (devout) family for help, they told her that she should shape up and try harder to be a better wife; and when she went to her priest for help and advice, she was told she should shape up and work harder to be a better wife. So she kept her mouth shut, and put up with the rapes and beatings-- for a while. Then she dumped her husband, her church and her family in one nasty package, and hasn't looked back. Welcome to X-tian Canada, Mr. C.

I know this will just incite rants, but I'd be happier with Ralph Goodale than anyone else I can think of... and by a margin. He owns the riding he's in through plain hard work and integrity, not 'cause it's a 'Liberal Riding', and has won election after election against the odds for decades, 'cause the people who know him best admire him most.

Gadz! I spent so many years fighting with government to avoid being thrown into the same financial pot as my husband.... Call me someone who doesn't even want to do the math, because every time government could find a way to consider 'couple' instead of 'individual' they found a way to screw us (especially the individual 'me') over. 27 times burned, shy on the 28th. ........................

I don't want to vote, because what WILL happen, what SHOULD happen and what I WISH would happen are three different things. (Moonbox called it. )

A good friends boy was offered a full ride scholarship to Harvard based on very good (but not extraordinary) marks (A's and B's), excellent references, maturity and leadership qualities.... and very fine hockey skills. He turned it down as a poor fit and terrible timing.

.. based on the information provided, Kingspan wins, hands down.

Isn't that the truth, though? Even while having very mixed feelings about the Harris administration--- that many of the things done were so, so very overdue, but others were so downright dumb-- it carries the feeling as though the last rats off the sinking ship were rounded up and recruited to the federal cabinet. Some of those individuals are the exact reason 'Harris' is a four-letter word to so many in Ontario.

Scriblett, I hope you also checked out 'some guy- Trevor Harrison', to find out something of what he actually had to say, and whether he was qualified to say it.

That requires comment, Blueblood, but leaves me wondering quite what to say... I would like to think that he is NOT 'smarter than his own MPs', firstly because I don't for one second believe that he is nearly as bright as he seems to being given credit for, and secondly because MPs, for the most part, aren't exactly dummies. But I must also acknowledge that Mr. Harpers minions don't impress me. Coming up with suggestions for a successor to him, for instance, is more difficult than it should be. And... I have to look at the crop of folks he appeals to. He's made a career out of 'Animal Farm'-style disinformation, and of appealing to impressionist, uncritical assessment. You might be right. Maybe he is 'smarter than his own MPs'., but it's no compliment to say so.

Ha ha! I daresay the _new_ US administration will be less freaked out about all sorts of things, but this is one that I sort of figure they can go suck an egg over, anyway. Just because they're crazy enough to chase their tails and spend their life savings counterproductively jailing citizens over a non-issue/non-event doesn't mean that we should do the same. I doubt that non-traficking treaties should have much impact on domestic activities. Cross border, certainly, but not purely domestic conduct. Our laws are already fairly divergent on the issue, after all. Now I'm going to have to go do some research....

You don't have to legalize wholesale marketing of it in order to de-criminalize own-use possession and cultivation. There's not much wrong with adopting most of the rules that go with liquor. You can make your own, and give it to a friend, but you can't sell it, give it to kids, or drive under the influence... etc. The same package of laws could fairly readily be adapted. We don't need the government actually producing or selling it, but governments are pretty good at selling vices. Tobacco regs and/or liquor stores should cover most of the sales issues if that part is deemed necessary.

... Baird.... **shudder**

Wilbur-- in extreme situations, you can also arrange for a returning officer and witness to come to your home. I don't know first-hand of it being done, but it is part of the list of options.

Well, being allowed to vote absentee might have been a tiny fudge of the rules but Jules was given a very inappropriate runaround- sounds like, by people who didn't know the options they had at their disposal, or what proper procedure should have been. No excuse for it. Thing is, electronic voting wouldn't cure that. Make it far worse, in fact. The tiniest glitch- a typo, the use of an initial instead of a full name- the kind that is routinely sorted out at a polling station without it being an issue at all- would simply mean 'come back next election'. Our current registration system is currently VERY flexible and user-friendly. It is probably a good thing that you bring it back up as Riverwind points out the choice between security and convenience with more detail.

There are mail-in ballots, advance polls, polling stations set up in hospitals and long-term care facilities... Polling staions are supposed to only be set up in accessible sites, there are braille templates, and several options for aid for for folks who need hands-on assistance... (I've even heard of the whole poll hardware and manpower packing up to go to the parking lot outside, so that someone who couldn't leave a vehicle could vote.) It probably doesn't manage to accommodate absolutely everyone, but it's a heck of a good try.

I've got no great objection to it, but figure it's likely a waste of time, because 'interest' and 'thought' can't be made mandatory to go with it... and in the end, that's what we really want-- for folks to value, and properly exercize their opportunity to choose. I'd like to see some serious mandatory civics classes, so more actually understand how it works, and something of its importance....

No one is wondering how much money Joe Who accepted from a bag man.

LOL A dollar and 95 cents anyway... It's actually a darned good point... that votes would be instantly, easily saleable commodities. I was about to ask what 'one vote' was worth to the Conservative party in light of the Cadman affair-- but I really don't mean that in the partisan sense. One vote, give or take, can be huge. Saskatchewan, while they were in the throes of the worst urban/rural split, resulting in tiny majorities (and a coalition government) also ran smack into a dead tie in one riding. The Returning Officer cast a deciding vote, but that notion was over-ruled, and a re-vote was held (with a reverse result). One riding, one representative... it's not a thing to be dismissed as irrelevant, because that one can be the key to the whole show.