caesar

The Liberals are hardly the right wing organization that Harper is. I would expect a Liberal New Democrat coalition would be much more workable. Harper is even too right wing for many former Progressive Conservative party members, MP, MLA, and Prime Ministers. Our BC Provincial Liberals, on the other hand, are very similar in ideas.

Where are doctors being capped at 150 thousand a year. I read that our doctors in BC got a 23% raise which averaged 50 thousand dollars a year. A good percentage of them have not even repaid their student loans. Why do we no longer get a run down of our visits; catch those doctors who over bill. Let people see how much they are costing the system. Seniors may need more prescription; if they can afford to pay for them but I still would like to see a breakdown of ages and how often each visits the doctors per year.

Argus; Seniors drugs are NOT paid by the government here in BC. My husband must pay the first 1100 then 25% of the next 600 before the government starts paying. Last year they started this new program in either April or May; they only had 6 months to meet this deductible before it was restarted in January. We pay higher premiums in BC than Alberta. Basic Health Care should and need not be privatized.Doctors must stop over prescribing. People must stop running to the doctor with every little twinge and sneeze. There is needless inefficiency in medical care that should be addressed. A Family doctor can no longer order a MRI; you must go to a specialist who cannot do anything until this MRI is done. Why is the government wasting patients and specialist time just to order a MRI. It is stupid government regulations. The family doctors orders physiotherapy which we must pay ourselves 3 to 4 hundred a month; without a proper diagnosis. Meanwhile a MP gets diagnosed and treated for leukenia in days; while others wait month for diagnosis.

Friends and relatives have visited Cuba nad had a great time there. The people though poor,(thanks to US sanctions) are happy and very friendly. Do not call everyone who criticizes the present US government and it actions as being anti American. My views are now shared by a majority of Americans. I expect even more will come to realize the reckless arrogant aggressive actions with Bush allowing prisoners to be tortured; He has now admitted to okaying stripping, sleep deprivation and threatening with dogs. Little by little admissions are coming. How dare they prosecute their soldiers who were following orders. Scapegoats again, they did the same during Vietnam mess.

Sully, but I thought you supported Harper????? The one who now claims to have supported Chretien keeping us out of Iraq??????? You have no valid proof of Martin having done anything crooked; If you have proof or evidence; insist he be charged. Harper hasn't had the chance to dip into anything YET

Probably do just like the rest; line my own pockets and those of my friends. Just being sarcastic. I think that would take a lot of research and confirming exactly how much money we have. I wouldn't shy away from a user fee on doctor's visits beyond acceptable level without a serious condition that needs monitoring. Misuse opf emergency rooms should pay a fee; repeated misuse; a higher fee. I would spend money of the military but it would be more for defense and for disasters within the country. Small ships, helicopters, and more soldiers. Daycare; only for those who need a hand up not a right for two working parents or even well paid single parents.

How low and petty can you get; Argus I expected better from you.

Was the information different; Yes; it came from American sources. The Iraq information came from Chalabi a convicted embezzler with visions of ruling Iraq. The intelligence that the USA used toconvince the UN to join in the invasion of Iraq was quickly proven fraudulent, forgeries. a student paper that was 10 years old. That should have given them a hint. That the USA reallbelieved that the information is valid is very questionable. I would hope they are not that stupid that they would not have been capable of checking the information they were using to validate it. Personally I don't think their intelligence people are that dumb not to be aware that this information they were trying to use was not reliable or accurate; they were just hoping others would be. Hawk, you should open your ears and eyes and read and listen to the expert opinion coming from the USA's only experts. Why should I quit posting. Does it upset your little love fest for Bush and Harper. Has the invasion of Iraq made Iraq or the world a safer place??? Has the invasion made Iraq a safer place for the Iraqi people? Has terrorism threats lessened after this invasion?

Funny thing; most are Albertans where the beef industry has taken a hit from Bush tactics and feet dragging to re=open the border to Canadian beef. Of course this turmoil in the middle east has given a big boost to oil prices?????? I believe most of our oil comes from Alberta and the north not the middle east. This middle east turmoil is lining Albertan pockets.

I am getting a little tired of the baby boomers aging and overloading the system nonsense. The younger people today go running to the doctor every time they sneeze. I am 62; In the last 20 years; I have probably gone to the doctor 3 times and then walked out once for being ignored and left to rot. Prescriptions; last one was around 1980. Most of you younger ones have probably visited a doctor more in the last year than I have in 20 years. The politicians are not the problem with Health Care; we are. Running to the doctor for nothing.

I certainly would not change my mind ; I did heavy research before the invasion. As for the torture of Afghanistan and Iraqi prisoners; Bush has now admitted he claimed the right to waive prisoner abuse laws. So far he is not admitting the whole works but what he has admitted okaying is bad enough. Stripping, threatening with dogs; questioning for 20 hours without sleep. See the Globe web page.for more

Martin has not jumped all over the west nor Alberta. Klein made that announcement that Alberta will be announcing changes after the election that may violate the Canada Health Act. For your Premier to be trying to goad Martin by breaking Federal laws. If he has any legitimate ideas; he should work within the laws and speak up so people have a say. If you Albertans don't like what he has planned; don't come crying to us. Premiers that do not obey the regulations should have the responsibility and funding for Health Care removed and have it administered by the Federal government. The Federal government can assess them the provincial share. That includes the twerp in my province who would rather use money for the olympics than anything else.

When will you Bush and Harperites get it through you thick skulls; Iraq and Saddam had nothing to do with the attacks on the /World Trade Center. That Canada did support the USA after that tragedy (and were ignored) and that we are and were involved in the War against the terrorists; Osama bin Laden and the alQaeda. It will be a well watched documentary.

Great news. Harper and his big mouth has shown its true colours. I would imagine the ridiculous charges he made that the Liberals and NDP supported child porn were a big factor. Ralph probably gave it the extra little push. It is good that Canadians are being shown his real colours. We have too many people who do not know the issues and just are happy to vote out a party that was in power for their performance mistakes. That is only adviseable if you can be confident the the other candidates offer something positive. I am not happy with Martin or the Liberals but Harper and crew scare me and what they would do to Canada.

Sully; Everytime you Harperites try to change the subject regarding the danger that Harper will destroy our medical system; I will reply. When you approve of Harper going to Bush; hat in hand, apologizing for Canada not joining the Iraq invasion; I will remind you Canada did the Right thing. When Harper makes libelous remarks such as the Liberals and NDP being in support of child porn; I will remind you that we do not need a Prime Minister who cannot THINK before he speaks. Canada has been bilingual from the start; to suggest that being changed will only create more tensions and divisions in Canada. My posts are nowhere near as long as your fellow Harperite buddies posts nor as frequent.

Bush was arrogant and wrong. He was a arrogant bully. We did try to stop him; so did many other nations. I saw the letters from Veteran Professional Agents for Sanity (former CIA and FBI agents) informing and warning him he was acting on bad intelligence PRIOR to the invasion. The UN proved to Bush and Co that the information they presented to the UN was fraudulent. There are no excuses for Bush's actions. He is responsible for the death of Iraqi civillians, American soldiers and British soldiers. He has brought the terrorists into Iraq. Harper did not represent Canada; He had no right to go to the USA and to apologize for Canadians. Canadians were NOT wrong; The USA administration WAS wrong. No More Excuses.

Bush had no business invading Iraq; He KNEW his information he was using was fraudulent; The real work of eliminating the terrorists and capturing bin Laden were tossed aside. Why did they abandon the work in Afghanistan? Canada had every right to refuse to join in an ill advised invasion of a country that was still cooperating with the UN. Bush had absolutely no business trying to strong arm our country to follow his lead. That is not the DEMOCRATIC way; thea is the acts of a dictator. Invading a country while it is cooperating and allowing UN inspectors to do their work did nothing to eliminate terrorism. It had the exact opposite affect. Angering Muslims and Arabs because of this unjustified attack. The action has only made more young Muslims and Arabs see tehmselves as being targeted by the USA and win them over to the side of the terrorists. Fortunately, the majority of Americans are now realizing that Bush's actions have not had a beneficial affect for their country. You do not follow "friends" into stupid actions. If your friend will not listen and decides to drive drunk; would you do the same? But you did see those headlines; now soon forgotten. Bush did have warnings of an impending threat before the World Trade Center was destroyed; and did nothing. You cannot attack other be it a person or a country because they MIGHT be a threat. If you do, and are wrong; as Bush was; you must face the consequences of your actions. If you allow torture of prisoners against geneva convention; you must face the consequences of your actions. I hope that you noticed that Bush said the interrogation of prisoners was done with USA Laws not Geneva convention approved. The USA is a signatory of the Geneva Conventions. They scream loud and clear when others step over the line.

Let's hit the big issues. Harper would have had us in Iraq; He had the nerve to go to a foreign country and to apologize for Canadians not joining the USA in its invasion of a disarmed country. He still wants Canada to have closer ties with the USA. This is NOT the time to make overtures to the USA. The USA should come apologizing to Canada for Bush's arrogant demands and punitive Trade relations since he took office. Canadians who were against the Iraq invasion have been proven to be 100% correct. Our Prime Minister should be actively seeking more diverse trading partners for Canada. We can still trade with the USA when they are fair trades. HEALTH CARE: Harper gives out hints of allowing more private health care. We are already experiencing a two tier health care here in BC. One can pay for using a clinic; not the actual test if they want tests to be done in a reasonable time frame. Harper lacks any class and self control. He opens his big mouth and speaks without thinking. The claim that the liberals and NDP "supported" child pornography sounds very libelous to me. Do we need someone who will be an embarassment? Not me. Martin may not be perfect but he has lowered our deficit and is a much more palatable choice for Prime Minister

Hawk; Israel was guilty of violating UN resolutions 7x more than Iraq; this despite the vetoing by the USA to protect Israel from accountability. So, do we invade Israel??????????

With the high divorce rate; marriage is hardly sacred anymore. I would prefer a different name with the same economic priveleges. I do think they should not have the same adoption rights as the traditional family.

There are Tories; and there are extreme right wing Tories such as Harper's party. Campbell from BC is Liberal and is the same type of extreme right wing style and ideas. Don't be fooled by a name. Joe Clark Conservatives are not remotely similar to these Harper "conservatives" Remember Brian Mulroney and what he did. I think Harper will be worse than Mulroney and that is scarey

Playful: I am not saying Saddam was a nice guy; He was placed in power, basically, by the USA. His sons were evil, no doubt. I am just saying that much evidence against him has been proven unreliable. There were no WMD found in Iraq. The USA can't have it both way and expect to be believed. when the Kurd gassing took place; the USA claimed it was an accident and Iranian gas;(At that time Iraq was an ally of the USA) now they turn around claiming Saddam deliberately gassed his own people. Saddam was not the only target in the invasion of Iraq; thousands of innocent Iraqis died; thousands more were maimed. Hundreds of young American/ British soldiers were and still are being killed or maimed; others will probably have trauma (mental) problems. Was it worth it; UN inspectors were still being allowed to carry on their search. Many of these American deaths were caused by their own side. Do you not think that those responsible for accidently killing their own soldiers will not have traumatic post stress problems. Is Iraq better off today; are people safer, do they have good infrastructure or medical care? Do they have jobs? Is North America safer from terrorism? NO To try to make this similar to the holocaust was a cheap shot; there is no credible evidence that the holocaust did not happen. One thing has nothing to do with the other. However, that is one of the reasons I do NOT support Hate Crimes. There are those that try to put a spin on any criticism or questions about events; using this cry of hate crimes to silence those who question events legitimately. Much like many black criminals who scream discrimination without merit.

Regarding same sex marriages; as my husband said; why not; they should suffer the same as us straight men I have no problem with allowing them to marry; perhaps a different designation with the same benefits. I do not feel that this entitles them to become parents. God may have made them homosexual but he did not make them capable of reproduction. There are many good straight families waiting to adopt. If I were a young pregnant girl with the choice of abortion or giving a child up for adoption; I would probably lean to the abortion if there were a chance my unborn child would be raised in a gay home. I am an OLD lady far beyond child bearing years; I do remember when young girls were forced to get abortions illegally in unsanitary conditions. Many died or were never able to bear children after. Young girls must have a choice; men can run away from these problems and carry on with any plans; the female cannot. Men have no right to sit in judgement.

B.C. anything but Harper's right wing conservative; too much like Campbell's Liberals. I have problems with all the available parties but will probably vote Liberal FEDERALLY; NDP for provincial. I probably would have given Joe Clarke Conservatives my vote but Harper is going to wreck our Health Care and our reputation internationally if he were to get in. He would cozy up too much to the Bush Administration. However, even if he does; the next election will come befor 2004 is over.

my numbers were : EC L/f - 4.25 Soc Lib -.92 just about on center.