caesar

Yes, both of our local papers are Can-West and support our provincial government. We also lack an official opposition in this province. Campbell's brother is a columnist in one of the papers. So much is being changed in this province and we get little or no information. Besides refusing to allow any Canadian shipyard to bid on building 3 new ferries and sending jobs out of our province. (2000 jobs plus lost tax money from that employment and the shipyards. They are quietly contracting out data management of our health records and 6 other government records to foreign sources. (American) Now they must make laws to attempt to protect our private information from the Patriot Act. Just keep them in our own province; I do not want my personal information to be sent to any foreign country. I have absolutely nothing to hide but it just really goes against the grain. Why are we sending these jobs out of our province; let alone out of the country.

Krusty; Uh? I don't think those contracts were any good after March of last year. The French sure tried everything they could to ensure theirs were still good, all the hundreds of billions of dollars worth."--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DUH. Not the old contracts; the American handled NEW contracts; after all that is what they protected; the oil fileds ; not the ancient art galleries with irreplaceable treasures no even the dangerous nuclear power plants.

Canadians were strongly againt the INVASION of Iraq; it was not a war; none was declare, It was based on lies, fraudulent, forged or irrelevant "proofs" The Iraq invasion was a waste of innocent lives; and the destruction of others through serious injuries. Iraqis, American, journalists, Red Cross and UN workers, etc. It has NOTHING to do with terrorists. The terrorists arrived in Iraq at the same time as the Coalition.

Stoker; listen to the experts; the American and the international experts; there is no difference between our beef and American beef. The birth place of the animal is immaterial as this is an aquired disease and the cow Was in the USA for 6 years. A rendering plant is not out to market for human consumption as was the case with the American cow. I have nothing I need to prove to you. If you are Canadian; you are a lousy one. The decison to keep the borders closed to Canadian beef other than that now allowed is POLITICAL not a safety issue.

quote: "Joe Clark could have lead the Conservatives to victory the same Joe Clark who lead the PC party into oblivion. " It was Mulroney that sank the Conservatives not Joe Clarke. Canadians wanted to send a message to the Liberals that we didn't like their money handling scandals; unfortunately we had no other party with a solid chance of gaining control that we could trust. We were not willing to have a leader who would want to have Canada support the USA aggression in Iraq. Canadians want to negotiate settlements; military intervention should be a last resort. The situation in Iraq was being adequately handled by the UN weapons inspectors. We want to be proud and fair Canadians not american puppy dogs.

Oh drunk driving laws do help but stopping a drunk would be more helpful. Why are they not in the parking lots. no money in it.

What do you do when you need a larger vehicle for errands; rent it. Why should I not drive a vehicle that will not crumble in an accident and leave me dead or crippled. Until they make roads for cars only without dump trucks or large trucks that will squash me like a bug; I will drive a vehicle that gives me a fighting chance for survival. A single person who lives on a good transit line may have an option not to drive but seniors or people with families would find it very difficult to pack home the groceries on a bus. Young people today have no courtesy and do not get up to give seniors a seat. I even was on the skytrain with a man who had one leg and one arm; nobody offered him a seat. disgusting.

They like to ignore the fact; that most of Saddams's atrocities occurred while he was an allie of the USA. Rumsfield assured Saddam of the USA's desire to be allies of Saddam and went as far as vetoing a UN resolution against Saddam for using poisonous gas. Now there's a flip flop for you eh. Makes one wonder why???? Why could they set up an Afghanistan government so quickly (Where the real terrorist groups were ruling) but take so long to do the same in Iraq. Gotta get those long term contracts signed first. eh.

quote: Was that before or after the origional Gulf War and 911? ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Of course, it was before the original Gulf War or 9/11. What difference does that make? It was during the Reagan Years. It was during the time when Iraq was accused of gassing the Kurds. At that time, the American War College claimed the gas that affected the Kurds was Iranian gas. (Both sides were using gas) They can't have it both ways. Just because they change allies; they change their findings on who gassed the Kurds.

Quote; from the site you posted Krusty Human Right watch: Because the Iraq war was not mainly about saving the Iraqi people from mass slaughter, and because no such slaughter was then ongoing or imminent, Human Rights Watch at the time took no position for or against the war. A humanitarian rationale was occasionally offered for the war, but it was so plainly subsidiary to other reasons that we felt no need to address it. Indeed, if Saddam Hussein had been overthrown and the issue of weapons of mass destruction reliably dealt with, there clearly would have been no war, even if the successor government were just as repressive. Some argued that Human Rights Watch should support a war launched on other grounds if it would arguably lead to significant human rights improvements. But the substantial risk that wars guided by non-humanitarian goals will endanger human rights keeps us from adopting that position. Over time, the principal justifications originally given for the Iraq war lost much of their force. More than seven months after the declared end of major hostilities, weapons of mass destruction have not been found. No significant prewar link between Saddam Hussein and international terrorism has been discovered. The difficulty of establishing stable institutions in Iraq is making the country an increasingly unlikely staging ground for promoting democracy in the Middle East. As time elapses, the Bush administration’s dominant remaining justification for the war is that Saddam Hussein was a tyrant who deserved to be overthrown—an argument of humanitarian intervention. The administration is now citing this rationale not simply as a side benefit of the war but also as a prime justification for it. Other reasons are still regularly mentioned, but the humanitarian one has gained prominence. note; no such slaughter was then ongoing or imminent

We don't need higher gas taxes. Spoken like a teenager not old enough to drive. We need our cars for many things. Buses do not serve all areas well. Who is going to do the grocery shopping by bus and end up standing??? SUVs can be used for transporting goods; can't put much in one of those tiny deathtrap cars. Can't pack much of anything in those tiny cars. People who drive them may as well take a bus where they can be more comfortable and safe.

quote: "The U.S. has announced that it will immediately require the removal of Specified Risk Materials (SRMs) from cattle carcasses and that the country will implement a national cattle identification system. Canada already has both in place.

Of course not; what has that to do with anything. Our problems with beef are their problems too. We each have admitted to one diseased cow. It matters not the cows place of birth. There is absolutely no problem with Canada's beef trade that does not exist in the USA. In fact, we have better safeguards already in place. Remember the cow found in Canada did NOT go out to market. We need to make more changes but already we have a identification program in place. We had already banned many dubious material that is/was still allowed in the USA.

The world is full of countries that we can trade with. China is a growing trade partner. Mexico is seeking new technologie. My son's company sold over 30 million dollars worth of technologie to Mexico. Oil is needed world wide. There is a big world out there. We may soon be one of the better sources for diamonds. We need not sale our souls for the yankee dollar. The USA needs our resources; they have already used most of theirs up.

I am not an expert on free trade but it seems if we must allow the USA companies to carry out trade and make bids here it would be reciprocal. Stoker makes out that it is a favour to allow us to offer our products for sale in the USA. irritating. No one is forced to buy anything just allows us to offer it for sale. We have many industries south of the border who need our products for their survival, too.

Eureka; do not believe that any newspaper report will give you the full story. That does not really make one that well informed. Most of our newspapers, television stations, and newspapers are controlled by one group: Can-West that has strong right wing ties. They only publish articles and editorials that support their frame of mind. We, unfortunately, need to do a lot of searching and seeking to attempt to get a fair idea of what is going on. We are constantly being manipulated. It is propaganda running amouk. We need to do something to stop the monopoly of our news sources if we wish to be well informed.

quote (fraser institute); " The problems in healthcare and education have little to do with how much the BC government spends but rather with how it spends those dollars.” For example, Canada as a whole already ties with Iceland for having the highest level of healthcare spending of all industrialized countries that offer universal access. “In exchange for that largesse, we perform relatively poorly for access to doctors and technology, experience worsening waiting times, and have middle of the road health outcomes,” Clemens points out." That is why we need federal government controlling where the money goes; Why give it to the provinces that will only fund their rich doctor friends; the money needs to go where it is needed by people the most; stop long wait times for treatment. This is costing us more money by allowing the disease or condition to worsen thereby requiring more expensive and prolonged treatment. Plus the costs in pain and suffering to the patient along with a poorer outcome for their health or survival. Many people awaiting tratment for injuries are unable to work. That means they will not be contributing to out tax base and will probably need financial help be it EI or welfare.

Not really shocking. They cannot give directly to the cities as that is a provincial responsibility to deal with the municipalities. An agreement must be worked out with the provinces; any deal does take time. They need to make agreements and ensure that the cities do get the extra revenue. I don't know where you live, Big Blue but gas taxes here in BC and Vancouver in particular are already extremely high. The government does not need more revenue; they need to use what they are getting wisely and to quit wasting our money. Get rid of patronage appointments and start running this country in a more business like way. Appoint the best person for the job; not whoever they owe a political favour to. That is one promise Martin made then quickly ignored.

iraqia killed 11336 to 13305; American combat deaths;672 wounded; 5934 Americans Heavy price to pay for bad intelligence. CBC;The massive files on Saddam's crimes show he was already using poison gas in the early '80s when Reagan twice sent Donald Rumsfeld as special envoy to reassure Saddam of America's interest in better relations. Washington not only ignored abuses, it vetoed United Nations moves to condemn Iraq for using chemical weapons. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Note; The USA vetoed resolutions against Saddam / Iraq for using chemical weapons. nice eh

Krusty quote; "Quagmire? An interim government well on it's way to transitional democracy and elections. !0,000 Iraq citizens killed in a time period, that in peacetime, would have been over 25,000 due to Saddam in day to day enforcement to tolatatarionism and this is a quagmire" The government of Iraq being well on its way to transitional democracy remains to be seen. Right now they have an American controlled puppet government. Where do you get your figures from on how many people were killed or would have been killed by Saddam; out of thin air I suspect.

Find new trading partners; It certainly doesn't mean we should kiss their butts or join them in their ill advised aggressions.

they don't have to purchase it ; they have to allow us to offer it for sale in the usa to those who want to buy it Go get a life troll

That is what free trade means; if we can find those who wish to purchase our beef they cannot stop the export without just cause. In fact, it seems we are forced to sell them power etc even when we do have just cause (environmental) There are American Companies that do wish to purchase our beef; it is the beef producers that wish to prevent it so that the American public must buy the American meat at inflated prices.

It is NOT a favour; it is called free trade. duh There is no difference between our beef and their beef; the trades are too intertwined. In fact Canada has had more stringent regulations and are more capable of tracing where the cattle came from. Something the USA is just now implementing. That is what their own commissioned experts and international experts have said.

Krusty; there is much more to making a difference on this planet than by wars and invasions of other countries. Diplomatic solutions and helping our fellow countries through difficult times. Meddling in other countries political systems and showing unfair favoritism in inter country disputes is counter productive. Mediation and other ways to solve problems should be used first. Military intervention should be a last resort and only with the support of a majority of civillized nations.