Evening Star

The point is that we haven't been separating the two for years. Catholics and Jews could already use religious arbitration to avoid a court battle so it's hard to justify blocking followers of other religions from doing so. (Perhaps you've noticed that Catholic schools get public funding in Ontario?) My preference would be to completely separate church and state altogether, to not make 'religious arbitration' a part of the legal system at all.

'[C]onclud[ing] that "Muslim principles" should be considered an acceptable method of [out-of-court] religious arbitration" when Catholic or Jewish principles can already be used in similar situations is pretty different from passing Sharia law in Ontario. Anyway, back to Palestinian statehood.

When I typed "I can't tell if you're joking", to be clear, his post still read "those of us who are old enough can still remember when the McGuinty government held a referendum on whether to pass Sharia law in Ontario". Since he has since edited the post, I'm not sure if it was a joke or not. If it was, it was a good one.

OK, I can't tell if you're joking anymore. If you are, that was hilarious.

Cite?

I could see how your previous question was relevant to the issue of how Canada should vote on this UN motion. I'm having a harder time seeing the relevance of these questions. As Bonam has stated, one advantage of recognizing Palestinian statehood is that it makes it much clearer how to gauge an appropriate response to potential aggression.

I would, yes.

This was very well-put.

No one's voting to abolish the state of Israel though. This is a totally false choice.

Tbh, I'm not sure their policies have shifted that much since the death of Layton, who had already moved the party closer to the middle. I think some people might have had an inaccurate impression of what they stood for.

How does this seem inevitable? The Liberals came in fourth place in Victoria, for example. I agree that the NDP should take this as a sign to tighten up their game but the party that should be feeling encouraged is clearly the Green Party.

Saanich-Gulf Islands was held by a Reform/Alliance/Conservative MP for 14 years (and by another Reform MP for four years before that) before Elizabeth May won it last year.

I usually vote NDP federally and have never voted Green but I was actually a little excited/intrigued about the idea of the Greens taking Victoria. I do think they add something to the discussion in the Commons and Galloway seemed like a smart and accomplished candidate.

? The NDP did hold on to Victoria.

178/256 now with Greens still ahead

? Neither Rae nor Ignatieff is a Quebecer.

? Even people who dislike him usually acknowledge Mulcair's debating skills.

OK, I agree with this.

Perhaps but I don't see this as a problem. A day to celebrate a country does not need to be a day to celebrate a culture per se. (Do you really think Canada Day would be less blindly patriotic if it really were all about "poutine, hockey, and beavers"?) Also, I don't think you've demonstrated how what I describe is either blind patriotism or blatant condescension.

(The NDP identify as social democrats. The meaning of this can be looked up very quickly with Wikipedia.) I find the discussion about NDP policy on Israel to be interesting since I recently talked to someone who will never vote NDP in part because they are too pro-Israel in his view. The Canadian Jewish News seems to think that Mulcair is pro-Israel btw: http://www.cjnews.com/?q=node/89616 http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/israeli-president-set-for-warm-reception-from-mulcair/article4105154/

They are not foreigners! They are Canadians! Edit: As a Canadian-born Indo-Canadian, I'm not even sure what I'm supposed to see as 'my Canadian culture' vs 'other people's cultures' in this case. Am I supposed to consider poutine less foreign than curry? Is haggis non-Canadian? The Queen is still our head of state, right? Is a classically-trained violinist who plays with electronics foreign culture? Would it be less condescending if I were watching traditional aboriginal dances as opposed to Greek dances? And I was looking at the work of Canadian painters at the Natl Gallery btw. Btw, I've never seen a beaver in its natural habitat, despite living in Canada for all but three years of my life.

I was responding to a question about whether the NDP has in fact advocated for a zero tax rate on small businesses. I answered this question. Now you are moving from this to the MUCH broader and harder-to-pin-down question of whether they raised or lowered the cost of doing business overall. There is nothing wrong with questioning this but it's a different question. I did not refuse to acknowledge anything. (I do not have an answer to this question and I am sceptical that anyone who is not a professional economist could begin to seriously answer it.)

I think I would be more likely to object to it if the point of Canada Day was to celebrate some ostensible national culture, actually.

Are you joking? I can't tell. It's a day to celebrate a (multicultural) country, not a day to celebrate a culture. Edit: In any case, my only point was that there is or can be more to Canada Day than "blind, empty patriotism".

Seriously? We know nothing about these things?