KeyStone

That's certainly one perspective, albeit an incorrect one. The biggest problem identified in Greece, is that many of those in the private industry aren't paying their taxes. There is a huge underground economy - and it isn't the 'evil government workers' cheating on their taxes. Apparently, doctors in Greece report an average income of $12,000. But for the knee-jerk rightwingers, it's much easier to blame the evil government workers, than to take a real look at what's going on. As for a great example of the private sector being given preference, just take a look at Guatemala. Incredibly low taxes, both personal and corporate. Very little interference by government. Go enjoy. A real paradise. Or perhaps you could look at Ireland's tax haven - that's certainly done wonders for them.

What a selective memory you have. No mention of George Galloway who was denied by the GOVERNMENT. But the speakers who were shouted down by the people are etched in your memory.

He wants to disband world governments because they don't take Israel's side often enough for his liking. He wants a world government that says, "Hey, go ahead kill as many Palestinian kids as you need to, we understand"

Ahh, I see you're all free market on this. Surpise! There will be some that will get around this, but by making it illegal, it means that businesses won't be able to advertise it or put it on the menu, and they'll be a little nervous when people order it. This will limit demand. Ideally, this will spread to other municipalities, and eventually the province, for some real progress. The odds of it happening nationally are next to zero with our current government. While I agree with you that it is silly to make the fin illegal if the entire shark is used, I don't know if there are any solutions to allow for that, without having every shop keeper and restaurant owner claim that the fin came from a shark that was fully harvested. Until the ban is spread further, the fisherman that use the whole shark will have little trouble finding a market for the fin itself.

Conrad black is going to lecture us about being a moral leader? Seriously? That's funny. Maybe Scooter Libby can weigh in on this too.

It doesn't really make a lot of sense to have two houses, that are essentially voted in the same way. In the US, one house represents the population as a whole, and one represents the states equally. In Canada, we have one that represents the population as a whole, but what purpose does the second one serve (Senate), if we don't change the model as to how they are elected. It is still possible to do this in a way that makes sense, but only if the formula for determining how many senators each province/territory gets is significantly changed from the current system. Given that Ontario is already underrepresented in Federal elections, this does not bode well for Ontario. Harper will likely be looking to give a bigger voice to the West, given that is where his base is.

Reducing their compensation would make Canadian politics like that of the US. Given low salaries and benefits, the only people interested in the post will be the corrupt politicians that know how to convert their power into financial success through selling influence to decision making in the country.

Well, the logic goes a little something like this. Champagne socialists are wealthy, and they advocate for helping the less fortunate. Since they are live a luxurious lifestyle, they can't really care about the poor because otherwise they would give up everything that they own to help them. Therefore, they are hypocrites. It's a technique used to blur the lines. They want to make us all the same. So, the billionaire glutton who never gives a dime to anyone is exactly the same as the millionaire who gives twenty percent of his wealthy to charities because neither give all that they could to the less fortunate. Obviously, the goal of the 'champagne socialists' is to have everyone shoulder the burden a little, as opposed to only the few that care enough to shoulder the burden disproportionately. Just because someone does not want to live the life of a pauper, does not mean that they aren't willing to make significant sacrifices for compassion. But the greedy don't like to acknowledge that, and instead like to paint everyone short of perfection with the same brush, thereby allowing them to live their lives of guilt-free hedonism, under the illusion that they are as just and compassionate as everyone else.

"or believe in lynching ALL gays" So, the ones that keep it in the closet don't need to be lynched then? Perhaps, your use of the word "all" was unnecessary.

That's classic Con thinking. If anything good ever happens to the economy, it MUST be because of the tax cuts that happened six years ago.

This is hardly the fault of PR. FPTP would allow the non-Orthodox Jews to have better representation only if 1)They had a geographic concentration in a few areas. 2)There were multiple right wing Orthodox groups to split the vote As it stands now, under FPTP, they would likely have a majority in which case they could do what they want unchecked. The problem will only get worse. Perhaps the constant messaging by the Jewish lobby to refer to it as the Jewish state is going to come back and haunt them.

I think you're missing the point. If the NDP claim to support democratic socialist countries, that does not include North Korea by any stretch of the imagination. The NDP do not state in their platform that they will support any country that claims to be democratic, or has democratic in the name, they say they will support democratic nations. Drawing the conclusion that this means they will support North Korea etc, is intellectually dishonest.

It really depends on what Harper and Ford do between now and the election. Currently Ontario is going to vote Conservative in a big way. If other Conservative leaders mess up largely between now and the election, then voters might not be keen on having a full sweep of Conservatives.

This is not such a bad thing. When there are significant barriers to competition restricting the emergence of near perfect competition, government intervention and regulation is necessary. For key industries, there are goals other than profit. Without that, corporations wouldn't bother supplying internet, phone, or other services to remote communities. Ok, I'll give you this one. LOL. That needs to be updated from the 1848 text in which it was taken from. Not entirely sure what they mean by this, but again intervention is necessary when you have near monopolies. Well, you seem to be ignoring the word democratic. Regardless, absolutely nothing wrong with being friends with Chavez or Castro. Harper for instance has no issues with trading with China, Saudi Arabia or Colombia. Do you take issue with that?

There are real problems with this. First of all, just encouraging private schools means that those with extra money can ensure that their children not only receive a better level of education, but also are able to ensure that their children only go to school with children from similar levels of affluence. The real problem is that it creates two-tiers of education. Aside from the fact that private schools don't have to take all the troubled kids, it also means that all the decision makers (usually affluent) don't need to worry so much about public schools, because their children will be going to private schools anyway. That's because private schools are generally more expensive. They need to make profits. If the private system created private schools that only used the grants from the government, and didn't charge additional fees, that would be very interesting. This isn't really proof of them being better, it's proof that the students in those schools score higher on standardized tests. Generally, students that go to private schools are going to come from wealthier families with more engaged parents. There is a correlation between these things and scholastic achievement. You say that Conservatives want people to have the same opportunities, but having two-tiered education doesn't really create a level playing field does it?