Evening Star

I didn't think it was the worst recession in half a decade for Canada? I imagine the 73/74 crash must have been worse? This confirms my suspicion that this was milder than the early-80s and early-90s recessions: http://www.thestar.com/business/recession/article/795766--canada-s-great-recession-not-according-to-statscan You're right about bailing out the auto industry. I wasn't a fan of the way that was done at all tbh. The government should not bail out private corporations (especially American corporations!) without at the least placing severe conditions in the public interest. At least Jack Layton and Carole James did want the bailout to be tied to the development of greener technology. I kind of think those funds should have been redirected towards public transportation development.

"... without some of their other spending choices", sorry. I mean, pretty much every Canadian govt that governed in difficult times has responded to recessions with stimulus spending, hasn't it? But this is the worst deficit on record, even though the govt was left with a surplus.

Wild Bill, it's possible to advocate economic stimulus and also question the way stimulus funds were allocated. It's also possible to think that, even with stimulus spending, the deficit might not have been so high without the tax breaks/tax cuts the government implemented or with some of their other choices. Also, a minority government that never listened to the Opposition would be a short-lived government indeed. That said, I agree that the opposition, especially the Liberals, have not been performing spectacularly.

It is possible for government investment to create more sustainable long-term jobs though. I'm not sure if it did in this case.

What do you understand about the school's side of it?? If the article is giving us the whole story, this seems like a completely indefensible action on the school's part.

Another look at the Erickson-Rodriguez 'scandal': http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/second-reading/spector-vision/sun-tv-and-a-conservative-scandal/article1816284/

This is one of the funniest phrases I've heard in a while!

The bill has been passed, punked.

But even that petition was just concerned with whether SunTV got a Category 1 licence.

I don't even see the connection between the two issues. Why assume that people in favour of the gun registry must also be opposed to this, or vice versa? I didn't have a strong opinion on the gun registry but I still think this is stupid.

You do raise valid points though.

I suppose. I just kind of think that if Parliament is going to spend time on new laws about marijuana anyway, the most sensible thing to do would be to decriminalize it. There might be a nuance I'm missing though.

(I haven't been a smoker for a long time btw and I don't think it's an especially healthy habit but I also see no purpose to this kind of approach.)

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Senate+passes+bill+with+mandatory+jail+sentence+growing+plants/3887047/story.html This is really retrogressive imo. What is it supposed to accomplish? Does anyone seriously believe marijuana is a serious threat anymore? I'm surprised by the Liberal support for this.

Who has been fussing or having their head explode etc? Most of us were just making fun of the prospect of Sun TV. (xpost with eyeball) Well, CTV is another issue but why would a public broadcaster be treated exactly the same as a for-profit private broadcaster? Our taxes pay for CBC so we should all have access to it. In any case, as Kimmy notes, the CBC and CTV news networks weren't going to have Category 1 status anyway. I agree here.

At least it's not getting a Category 1 licence and being paid for by everyone's cable fees. Morons have a right to express themselves too.

So are they naive idealists or ambitious greedmongers? Get your story straight.

That was helpful, thanks.

So is it just that the production/manufacturing base is less fragile in the US and that's why a high $US doesn't seem to pose problems for them? Ah, so this is the problem then? The relationship between nominal value and purchasing power?

I love my tiny Accent!

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/892868--millions-spent-in-clement-s-riding-never-meant-for-g8-summit-officials http://www.680news.com/news/national/article/130982--g8-legacy-fund-in-clement-s-riding-never-meant-to-support-summit-officials http://www.cbc.ca/politics/story/2010/06/16/g8-g20-spending-liberals-clement.html http://www.thestar.com/news/world/g8/article/824640 Defences?

I'm not even sure that the LPC's unpopularity in the West was ever mainly because they were seen as poor on the economy as much as just that they were seen as representing Central Canada. I'm not sure that St Laurent or C.D. Howe were seen as poor economic managers.

Actually, iirc, the best the LPC ever did in AB was in 1968, in PET's first election.

I get that. I'm just wondering why a high US$ doesn't seem to hurt their exports or at least why the US seems less concerned about it. Is their economy less export-driven than ours?

On the provincial level, we have seen major green energy programmes in at least ON and NS and reforestation programmes in ON.