Shwa

I didn't miss a level at all, but for the purposes of the expression of democracy, the individual is not an island unto themselves. So, in favour of the individual you have ignored - or dimished the importance of - the collective. Not to mention completely ignored my questions. So there is no turnabout there. How about elsewhere? Well, for one, you will note that in the OP that it is the city council that recites a prayer, in whose room the symbols are displayed; it was the city that has to pay for the so-called damages of the complainant. This would indicate to me - for the purposes of democracy - that it sure is the municipality - their representatives - is pushing back. The mayor - as mayors usually are - is the chair and main spokesperson for any city council. So let's not get confused about that. For two, your 'fair play' turnabout is a straw man, and an inadedquate one at that. I would hope that if the citizens of the municipality were that put out that they too would initiate civil disobedience, protest, sanction, etc. But there doesn't seem to be any of that at all. In fact it wouldn't surprise me if the mayor and his council has a fairly firm backing in the citizenry of Saguenay and the issue falls back to how responsible is a municipality - the citizens and it's elected officials - for it's institutions?

Yes! I was thinking along the same lines as I was trying to read this as a 'leftist ideology.' It seems to me that 'the right' are always screaming for more jails, more jail time because crime is rampant and out of control. Not only are they 'victims' of leftist ideology - with their unfair affirmative action programs, their welfare for lazy do-nothings - etc. - but they are also potential victims of crime and bombs and immorality, etc. Perhaps the nature of politics itself has 'victimhood' influencing the core values of any given ideology. This seems to be more likely than any leftist ownership of victimhood.

How come if they are the ones consumating their marriage, we're the ones getting screwed?

Hey the El Toro hojas de arce beat the Habitantes last night! Woot! EYE maganzine? Never heard of it until, well, yesterday...

Oh come on now, "Gaffafi-like??" Bob Rae should have packed it in years ago, or stuck with the Federal NDP and spare the Liberal party this sort of Godwin's Law like boobery. .

Well fair is fair. Why are you in our country and what are your motivations for being here? And don't try to horsehit me either, I can spot those Internet terrorists who go around trying to make people afraid with terror while they are standing in line to be checked. Remember, you are now being judged by your own rules. Measure up or start packing...

How is it hypocrisy when they can claim a right to display their cultural symbols? The problem is you see those symbols as religious, I see them no different than a kirpan or niqab. So, from my point of view, all you are saying here is that if the majority declared the kirpan to not be a weapon and that niqabs were a-ok, then hanging a crucifix and reciting a prayer is perfectly OK too? The problem being, which you know since you read the article in the OP, is that the "Quebec nationalists" or a wing called the Quebec Human Rights Tribunal, are the ones taking the Saguenay mayor to task in the first place. If kirpan or niqab wearers want to protest through the use of civil disobedience, like the Saquenay mayor, I certainly have no problem with that either. All the power to them wouldn't you agree?

According to some yes. But no different than the arm-chair generals, the arm-chair politicians, the arm-chair journalists, arm-chair historians and any other person who observes and comments on events of one kind or another. Hockey is just another series of events to follow, like other sports, news, television programming, film or whatnot. Heck some would even suggest comic books and their portrayal of events. Criticise our requirement for sending our young men and women to their deaths in Afghanistan and see how the arm-chair generals question your Canadian-ness. Etc.

Yes, and 'national' heroes too apparently.

And now, after making cheap excuses another goose-sauce argument. It's disgusting!

And some come out in defence of this slovenly obese, hyperbolic drug addict by a cheap goose-sauce argument. It's disgusting!

It's Black History Month. Seriously, if you have to ask that then you haven't perused the Black History Month curriculum up here. :angry:

So you are claiming double standard based on your own iffy postulation. And bringing in fascists and Nazis on top of the hysterial hyperbole of OCAP being "terrorists." Yep, this thread has jumped the shark alright.

And Stanley Nickels!

No, it's not terrorism, which has a legal definition and none of those OCAPers were charged with terrorism. Serious hyperbole. Give it a break will ya?

Caught this on BT this morning, nickname by culture committee. Eye Weekly readers give Toronto a new nickname Of course, if you want to know where the bullshit is coming from, try 'El Toro.' One thing is for certain, I won't be picking up any 'Eye Weekly' magazines when I am in T.O. next. Another interesting sidebit is that the Toronto Toros - from a city that has almost nothing to do with Spanish, moved to Birmingham, Alabama, which has more history with the Spanish, renamed themselves 'The Birmingham Bulls.'

The problem is... they are more or less the same as the urban hyperbolists who populate forums and cause threads to jump the shark. Case in point - calling OCAP "urban terrorists." Not only is this complete unabashed and clumsily written hyperbole, but it also denudes the seriousness from real "urban terrorists" in our country and abroad. I doubt anyone that has faced an OCAP "invasion" ash felt anything near the sort of terror that terrorists are aiming for. I do believe that some of OCAP's methods are over the top, but terror?? Gimme a break.

I think Carrie had ambitions to be PC back in the day, but then, well, you know what happened... but the local Libs were/are in such a disarray, the CPC was a default for anyone with any political ambition around here. Used to be NDP before Bob Rae... As for Flaherty, yeah, a real piece of work. "What?!? You don't know what a silver spoon is?"

No, he lives in a posh, gated community next door in Whitby. Our MP is the very affable and somewhat invisible Dr. Colin 'Back Crackin' Carrie. Born in the Hammer dontchya know...

Gawd. Sid Ryan. Don't jinx it Jack, I live in bloody Durham!

A link is helpful; from the Star: Opposition parties calls Ontario Energy Board ruling a ‘scam’

Let me Google that for you... Or Wiki - OCAP#Funding So in a way, your tax dollars are going into funding OCAP. If I were you, I would take on CUPE. Let us know how that works out for you.

Do you believe in self-government and democracy? At which level - national, provincial or municipal - does the self governance of that particular level's instutions cease to be it's own responsibility? For example, do you think the Feds are going to tell the provinces what they can and cannot display on their walls of their respective legislatures? So what is the harm and foul of letting a municipality decide the same for their own institutions? Do you think that representatives of each level of government - by their mere participation in that level of government - are somehow exempt from civil disobedience or protest? I seriously don't see any problem with a crucifix on the wall of a Saguenay City Council Chambers, in the same way that the Quebec Assembly has decided this for themselves. Nor do I see any problem with a small prayer recited before Council meetings. Do the people of Saguenay? Perhaps it is something left for the citizens to decide next time they have election don't you think?

That's interesting, to each their own. Hockey and a few other sports or athletes in Canada provide an outlet for the expression of the Canadian spirit which is firmly entrenched in our culture. It is unavoidable even though often misplaced as an indication of overall Canadian-ness. So I can understand your distaste at the comment. Do you watch the news?

Really? Hmmmm.... now I am betting that if we did the math, in the past 10 years more Muslims have been blown up by Western bombs than Western people by Muslim bombs. And by 'Western' I mean primarily Christian nations including Canada. This might provide a clue as to the answer to your question. I would be more afraid of Muslims than have been bombed than ones that haven't. Kinda like the Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland during the Troubles.