Bryan

Conservatives played nice and turned the other cheek for far too long. Over the top strawman attacks have been the Liberals M.O for decades, and just taking it left the Liberals in power. Just giving them back a small fraction of what they dished out is working quite well. I do expect more of it, and I approve of it wholeheartedly. I don't want them to hold back at all this time, absolutely go for Ignatieff's throat. It'll be fun.

I sure hope so, I can't wait to watch Ignatieff's self-destruction.

Sure, but Nanos' poll last month showed the Liberals in the lead, and now even his numbers show the Liberal support dropping. Actually, if you look at the chart, Nanos has had the Liberals ahead basically since the election, and even now while his numbers do show a slight drop for the Liberals, the increase for the Conservatives appears to be mostly at the expense of the NDP. That I find more confusing than anything. Even more confusing are the gains in Quebec for the Conservatives in Nanos polling. I'd never have bet on that. http://www.nanosresearch.com/library/polls...T-S09-T385E.pdf

Those look like good numbers to me.

I've read that the Liberals have said they spent $2 million dollars on these ads. They're fairly low budget ads, how much did the ad agency pocket? Would that be a Quebec ad agency by chance? And for $2 million, you'd think they could at least afford a tripod. Who was director, Dr. Tongue? Is that Algonquin Park on the Green Screen behind him? For that budget, why didn't they film it on location? Last week he was going on about how bad our unemployment was, now he's talking about send jobs to India and China. Why are they using the flag of Monaco at the end?

The more I read about it, I think it's BOTH. I'm thinking the scenario was likely something close to this: Bryant probably was at fault in the first place, running the cyclist off the road or cutting him off dangerously. The cyclist clearly had a very bad day, and that was the last straw. So he decides to teach Bryant a lesson. Problem is, Bryant is oblivious to what he had done to the cyclist a moment earlier, and honestly believes this is an unprovoked attack, and proceeds to make a series of bad decisions to get out of the situation.

That's nothing new. Vehemently opposing conservative policies, only to implement them once in power has been Liberal standard operating procedure for generations.

What are you drinking, and how many did you have before posting tonight?

UPS Canada sucks hard, they are not an option at all. Canada Post does deliver pretty much everywhere, the advantage of bus parcel service is just the quicker turnaround. Are those low route regions you mention in the US covered by other regional bus lines? Those extensive routes in Manitoba were part of Grey Goose, our local bus line, but Greyhound bought the company. The reason some people feel the onus on them to maintain the service (besides the exclusivity contracts they have with the feds and the province), is it was already there before they bought the company. If they didn't think the service was viable, why did they go through all of the fuss of moving out of their downtown location, and into a new multimillion dollar terminal? It doesn't add up. What Greyhound is doing is just extortion. I say tell them to pound sand, then decide what to do (if anything) based on their reaction. Smallc's mention of giving the option for those routes to Beaver is a good one.

I'm still firmly in the "what recession?" camp. This was nothing compared to some of the serious economic downturns in the 80s and 90s.

That's a huge relief.

Why do those things have to be mutually exclusive? To me, the correct answer to a question like that is "yes". Bogus refugees (your second link) are a different story. That needs to be clamped down on, and we can't be afraid to just kick out people who get caught lying. Make sure the entry requirements are clear and consistent, and enforce them right across the board.

I'd like to know that too. I've never seen one.

If there's one thing Harper has proven, it's that if you think he's made a mistake, that only means you're looking in the wrong place. People said the fiscal update with the proposal to cancel vote subsidies was a mistake, based on the controversy that erupted. Yet, Harper's polling soared into the mid-50s at the time, he's still the PM, and the opposition leader lost his job and was replaced by someone even weaker. Ignatieff is going to be even easier to beat than Dion was, and that's if he remains leader long enough to even run in an election. I still think he's going to just quit if things don't start going his way soon.

Harper very clearly warned well in advance that he WOULD appoint Senators if the provinces did not get off their butts and actually elect some. The claim that Harper has done anything even remotely untoward here is not just hyper-partisan, it's deliberately dishonest.

Let's make Senate appointments like jury duty. People from all walks of life are randomly drafted to serve. THAT would be your sober second thought on legislation of the day.

Which is why he specifically had to put people in those positions who are party faithful that he can trust. Unless and until senate reform happens, the best he can do right now is appoint people who believe in reform, and agree to conditions that he can't actually force them to uphold. If the Provinces elect senators, he'll appoint them. He's done it before, and he's made it very clear to the provinces that if they don't elect senators, he will appoint them. Anyone calling these appointments anything other than a pragmatic move is an idiot in my books. "He's a hypocrite!" "He's a hypocrite!" . Great. So what should he have done with a minority parliament, vacant seats, no elected senators in waiting, and a red chamber vehemently opposed to reform?

This is a step in the right direction!! Me likey. Williamson has not been shy to criticize Harper for not being conservative enough.

Not even close. One of the very worst. This govt have been horrible at almost every turn. The wastefulness, and plain stupid decisions are staggering. They've sucked Manitoba Hydro dry, and saddled it with billions in liabilities so that they can make it look like the provincial books are balanced when the reality is they have a massive deficit. They took one of the best healthcare facilities in the country, a shining example of how ALL healthcare should be delivered, and turned it into the most inefficient worthless money pit imaginable. Welfare rolls have soared. The secure ID program has been a nightmare. Every facet of family services has been a textbook example of how to grossly mismanage a department. Manitoba has been succeeding lately (at least in terms of employment and retail stats) in spite of the provincial govt, not because of it. If any govt deserves at least some credit, it's the current civic govt in Winnipeg which finally has a somewhat business friendly outlook.

Thank GOD we'll finally be rid of him. He will not be missed!!!

It doesn't bother me where the site is hosted. Americans don't hesitate to hire Canadians if they have the best offer on the table, why should we get uppity the other way? Almost all of my clients are American, virtually all of them at every studio I've worked at too. Nationality just isn't a factor. Offer the best price to quality ratio, and you'll get the business.

Agreed. More hay can be made with with less risk and less effort with the opposition afraid of the numbers.

You could say the same thing about most provincial issues, but they have a separate forum. You could say that US events affect us all too, but not only do they get a separate forum, but they get one for their stuff, AND one for Canada-US relations.

Move to Manitoba if you're suffering. There a labour shortage here.

I know a lot of them are, but ALL of them? Surely some smaller communities own their hospitals. Nearly all the hospitals in Manitoba are operated by regional health authorities set up by the government.