Bryan

Cutting services is almost always a good thing. Far too much money is spent on the vague notion of keeping services without quantifying what is being achieved. Veterans Services is a great example. Far less veterans need the services than before, and amalgamating the services with other departments means those who are using them are better served by having more services available in one place. The federal government needs to be aggressively doing a lot more of these kinds of things.

I knew about them (I'm pretty sure we had a discussion about the NDP defectors who started the party), but I couldn't have NAMED the party.

You'd "venture a guess". Guessing is all you're doing. Not one single person who was not able to vote had been found. If that happened to you, would you be quiet about it?

You often can, that's why low voter turnout is not a bad thing. Let those who are engaged enough to make an informed decision do so, leave those who either can't or can't be bothered to do whatever else they deem important.

You're still acting like a cartoon. Nobody "stole" anyone's vote here, and Cubans absolutely do have a vote.

Those aren't necessarily mutually exclusive points.

Apparently you're really fond of hyperbole too. Let us know when you want to have a serious conversation.

We get it, you really like hyperbole.

People need to be capable of understanding the consequences of their actions. Teenagers are incapable of it -- their prefrontal cortex is not fully developed. It's the same argument for an age of majority for anything.

We probably shouldn't allow that either. Teenage brains are not fully developed. They are impulsive and routinely make colossally bad decisions that go against their own best interests. I say no military and no voting until AT LEAST 21. Even that is probably too soon for some people.

You're right, it's probably higher than that. They don't just supply tax dollars, they create jobs, produce goods and services, fund new ventures, buy a lot of expensive stuff, etc, etc.

The reason you're exasperated is you don't know what you're talking about, and need others to talk for you. The foolishness is all yours. CO2 is not a pollutant.

You don't seem to "get" much of anything. The sum total of the programs at DTES is a situation that is much worse than it was, at a cost of $1 million a day. The program does not work as claimed. They are an embarrassment to the entire nation that never should have been allowed in the first place.

No more so than water is.

People are being forced into prostitution. People are getting hooked on things far more dangerous than pot. There are no good reasons for any of that.

So you think that taxing pollution DOESN'T make sense?

The pimps and the pushers agree with you. It's been very good for business.

People's whose livelihood and reputation are at stake can and will manipulate statistics to make it look like they support what they are doing to justify continuing to ask for money. The facts on the ground do not match up to those recorded in the studies: A million dollars a DAY in social spending and the problem is getting worse, not better. What's silly is trying to argue that these programs are working. http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/11/14/vancouvers-gulag-canadas-poorest-neighbourhood-refuses-to-get-better-despite-1m-a-day-in-social-spending/

Taxing actual pollution makes sense. CO2 is not pollution. Carbon Taxes are just wealth transfer schemes that hurt those who can afford it the least.

Which makes it a waste of time and money for Vancouver to even try. Doing things for the purpose of looking like you're trying is not a reason to do anything, unless it actually does achieve the stated objective.

Go ahead. Just leave an extra $20 on the counter. No one will stop you.

It still used to be a lot more. You're getting a very good deal. Not many things in life fight inflation as hard as gas prices do.

Nobody is getting gouged. Prices are incredibly low right now. I paid 99.9¢ at Costco a few days ago. Even with the slight jump lately, most stations around here are charging $1.06. It was a buck and a half a few years ago. Gas prices today are a huge value.

You're not going to explain it, because you don't understand it. That is categorically false.

That isn't how it works. The line by which we judge what is "poverty" today would have made people exceptionally wealthy in decades past. Things that used to be considered luxury items for the rich are now considered basics that even people on welfare expect. Everyone's piece is getting bigger. It's not a cliche, a high tide absolutely does float all boats.