Bryan

A low Canadian dollar is a good thing. It means we can charge less than our competitors (for whatever we do), but still actually get paid more than them once the currency is exchanged. That's a huge competitive advantage. The loonie "swimming in the bowl" will greatly protect the country from the kind of economic chaos that is happening in other countries. Dead industries are unlikely to come back, whatever the conditions. But a quickly tanking loonie can stop the losses and protect those industries that while hurting, are not yet gone.

The pro-life caucus is hardly secret. It's been around for many years, and has had almost as many Liberals in it as Conservatives. This is also nothing new for Rod. He has always worn his faith on his sleeve, and very openly campaigned that way. Reopening the abortion debate was one of his top priorities in the last campaign. With this right out in the open, he still increased his margin of victory from the last election, in a riding that had been Liberal for quite a long time, and with a parachuted "star" candidate as an opponent.

IMO, ridings are already far too heavily weighted towards population, and should take geography into account more than it currently does.

Bernier is the only one that even remotely qualifies as a scandal.

Of course the poll is intentionally provocative, but the point it raises is still valid. When people everywhere are having to cut back, businesses are struggling, and thousands of people are losing their jobs, OF COURSE people whose salaries are paid by those taxpayers should get thier wages and benefits cut back. In fact, govts should look there for cost savings first before anything else. There is no way in hell that someone who is paid from my tax money should have any expectation of anything. Cut the salary, cut the benefits, cut the pensions, eliminate sick days and personal days, reduce the levels of management, and eliminate redundant positions. A 25% pay cut all at once is a little hash though. I mean, I lost more than that when the US dollar tanked, and I've made out OK, but I still wouldn't wish that on anyone. A gradual 2-3% per year cut ought to do it.

We should have more of them on major issues. A party/government can them propose whatever is their ideal plan, and let Canadians decide what they want.

Exactly, which is why blaming Harper is stupid. There are lots of factors that are still not in place, so the best he can do right now is appoint those who ARE elected, and outside of that only appoint those who agree to step down if/when such a preocess is established. It would be dishonest to lump this in as a promise, even more so to imply that any such promise was broken here. It was and still is the long term goal of the party. It does not have a deadline, and it's not connected to one particular election or sitting of government.

Great. There's more vacancies coming up. If the provinces elect their senators, he'll honor that vote. If the Liberal-stacked senate actually co-operates, he'll make it the law of the land. So far neither of those two are happening. Now that they know he's not bluffing, maybe they'll actually step up before the next round of vacancies. If not, they only have themselves to blame.

Harper has clearly and repeatedly said he WOULD appoint senators if the provinces didn't step up and elect them. The only province who has elected any Senators is Alberta, and Harper honored their choice. Everyone else has sat on their hands. He's waited long enough, there is work to be done and the seats needed to be filled. If you don't like it, get off your ass and elect senators to fill the next round of vacancies.

The provincial govt bought Pan Am outright, and the WRHA took control of the Winnipeg hospitals several years ago. They are all public now. I too have had great service until recently. In the last couple of years things have deteriorated very badly.

Less than it used to be though. The govt has been crushing private care in favor of less and less efficient "soviet" care for several years now. Both the WRHA and the public purchase and conversion of Pan Am Clinic are shining examples what not to do with health care. In both cases, a lot of money has been spent, a lot of choices have been taken away, and service has deteriorated dramatically. Pan Am used to be the gold standard of how health care should be done: a fully private clinic offering services within the public system as well as value added private services. They were fast, efficient, and service was excellent. Now they are just another inefficient public hospital.

It's not what I want, it's the way it works. The PM goes through the motions of asking/advising the GG, but it's entirely ceremony and tradition. The reality is, the PM tells her what to do, not the other way around.

Most Democrats would probably consider Harper to be to the left of them.

That's pretty much it though isn't it? People who say the PM is the head of state are correct, even if the constitution says otherwise. The person who gives the orders is the real boss, regardless of their title.

Tom Flanagan

Part of the problem with confounding answers is that people are usually TOLD the wrong answers to even the technical questions. The GG is very commonly referred to as our head of state, even by what would/should be considered official sources. The media also framed the last election as Harper vs. Dion, not CPC vs. LPC. The debates, the ads, the interviews, all tell people they are voting for THAT guy, even when they are not. There's no way you can blame people who are not political junkies for not understanding the difference. Also, you have to differentiate knowledge from opinion. Are people ignorant of the way things are written in the constitution, or do they just no longer respect or recognize the monarchy's authority? Count me in the latter group. I'm well aware that we are a Constitutional Monarchy, that the Queen is our head of state, that the GG has the power to deny a PMs request, and that we do not vote directly for the PM. I would never give the first three answers to a public opinion poll though, because I know those answers are outdated and have no real meaning anymore. It's tradition for the PM to advise the GG and the GG to rule on behalf of the Queen, but the cold reality is the PM tells the GG what's what, and she does what she's told.

A shorter line at the public system also means more money per user is available to pay those doctors if needed. Taking the strain off of the public system is a strong argument for private care, IMO.

I'm mostly in agreement here, yet somewhat conflicted. The existance of a public healthcare system is a greater good. However, the way our system forces everyone to settle for the socialized system to the exclusion of all others is nothing short of evil. I want an MRI on my back. If my doctor doesn't think I need one, I won't get one (regardless of the wait time). Then, I'm not even ALLOWED to pay out of my own pocket for one at a private clinic? What kind of bullshit is that? The way Americans and Canadians do healthcare may be practically polar opposites, but they are also both equally terrible. Universal care should be there for those who are willing to settle, and for profit should also be unencumbered for those who choose to pay extra. At bare minimum, we need more private delivery of services within the public system.

A significant one. Hundreds of billions in unpaid commitments to health, education, infrastructure, environment, defense, etc. The WORD surplus is the only thing Paul Martin understood about finance, beyond that he was inept. Anyone who thinks that just not paying the bills and claiming you have money in the bank is sound fiscal management is an idiot. Like I've said before, try that with your mortgage and see if the bank thinks you're a good fiscal manager.

The only frame of reference we have where a CPC Senator was in a position to step down as agreed is Fortier. He said he'd step down and he did. Sure n=1, but it also equals 100% of all CPC senators who agreed to step down have stepped down when agreed. The only other CPC appointed Senator there is was elected, twice.

There was no surplus.

1) Harper was well aware of the coalition. he knew it wouldn't work, and he knew the public would be enraged by it. 2) He still will run against the coalition, even if we never hear another word about it from the left.

Appointing the Senators now, with a written committment from the appointees to step aside for elections once those can be brought in, is what Harper has been advocating for a while now. Most of the pro-Conservative blogs have been reporting this for quite some time, and it was common talk at the CPC convention here in Winnipeg last month as well.

We have one, although it's still getting off the ground at this time (and working out that pesky battery issue): http://www.zenncars.com/ Perhaps instead of bailing out the big 3, that money should go into an R&D fund for companies like ZENN.

Does Anita Neville know this?