JWayne625

Well I think it is great, since I don't watch hockey anyway. I used to watch hockey when players were picked because of their puck-handling, and skating skills, now they are picked by their ability to act like a two-bit goons and thugs, with no other talents required. Admittedly there are still a few skillful players, but the vast majority fall into the category I just mentioned. People who's only skill is in assaulting people should not be welcome in any sport, least of all one that influences our youth as much as hockey. We now have high school hockey players bringing that violence off the ice and into the parking lots after games, as happened last winter where I live. Police had to be called in from neighbouring communities to quell a virtual riot, when the police who initially responded were swarmed by those in the crowd who were encouraging the players to continue fighting. Youth's need to be taught what it is to be a sportsman, win or lose, not how to act like some of their hero's in the game of hockey who use violence instead of skill to prevail. When spectators are more interested in whether there were any fights to determine whether it was a good game or not, that says alot about what the sport of hockey has become. Which is why I no longer watch hackey. By the way, I did watch the Girl's World Hockey, now that was sportsmanlike, and skillful hockey. Much more enjoyable to watch.

On a nicer note' Canada's Tax Collectors are on strike! Is anybody hoping they'll get back to work any time soon, I know I'm not.And I sure hope they aren't counting on major public support in their fight, because they shouldn't really hold their breaths.

You people don't really believe that those who were behind the scenes pulling the strings will ever be held accountable, do you? It has now been revealed that Cretin himself was involved in this colossal waste of taxpayer's money, and actually signed some of the paperwork, but then that is in all probability why Martin closed down the inquiry, and quickly called an election. I believe they were all in this up to their eyeballs, but I also don't believe that politician's will ever be held accountable. Why else would the Liberal Party want intervenor status to question witnesses? If at some point, they find someone to blame for this whole thing, they will pick on some poor stupid bureaucrat, who was too stupid to have ducked when the shovel full of horse---- got thrown. People like Chretien, Manley, Martin, and the rest of them will walk away unscathed. Come on people, this is Canada we are talking about! We're either too lazy or too stupid to hold our politician's accountable for anything, let alone wasting taxpayer's dollars. We returned these same people to Ottawa, with a minority, but still there to continue on with their agenda. If we really wanted to hold them accountable, this should have been the time. Not for us to send a message that, "Sure you screwed up but you deserve another chance to get fleecing down to a science, and learn to do it properly." Give me a break!

Bro; As a matter of fact I am talking about New Brunswick. And still those in authority that have been hired through bilingual policies are mostly men not women, and their qualification is that they speak French, as there seems to be no testing criteria as to their English language skills. As long as they speak French and broken English that seems to be good enough.

I'm wondering why the push for the consentual age to be lowered to 14. I worked as a youth worker for a good number of years and I have yet to come across any 14 year old who is mature enough to make a decision that could affect the rest of their life. Under our Young Offender's Act or whatever they are calling it this week, youth's are not considered responsible for their acts until they reach the age of 18 years? Yet we have some advocates of same-sex rights pushing for the lowering of the age of consent to 14. Most of the kids I have worked with are not able to made those kinds of informed decisions at 17 & 18, never mind 14. Where do we draw the line in the sand as to what is socially acceptable and what isn't socially acceptable, because the line keeps getting moved every time someone challenges someone's rights under the Charter. We have liberal minded judges being appointed who seem to feel the the sky is the limit as far as what is acceptable in our society. What society wants does not enter into these decisions, because society is not consulted. We have these unelected, unaccountable little god's making decision's which are drastically changing our society's norms, and nobody knows for sure what the end result is going to look like. We have victim's of crime being virtually ignored while the concern of the court seems to be focused on what is in the best interest's of the perpetrator, and whether or not their needs are being met, and that to me is simply wrong. And let's not forget that we have a PM who stated that as far as he is concerned any decisions make by the Supreme Court are final, and not subject to challenge, even through the use of the "Notwithstanding Clause" provided in the Constitution.. That is very scary! Who knows what our society will look like in the future if some kind of constraints aren't exercised on the judiciary, and will it be too late to change it back?

Well let's just hope that Bush loses in November, because the last thing that Canada needs right now is to further piss off the US by allowing their draft dodgers a place to hide, like happened during the Vietnam era. Iraq, like Vietnam the US and Brittain have no business interfering into the internal affiars of foreign sovereign countries. The people of the Middle East have been fighting among themselves for centuries and Westerner's have no business trying to change their style of government. They were never democracies and never will be. In fact we are really not democratic if the truth be known. Especially here in Canada where we get to elect new dictator's whenever an election is called. Once in power these people completely ignore us ordinary folks until it is time to call another election. The governing party follows the orders of one person, the person their own party has chosen as their leader, and they are under no obligation to listen or reflect the wishes of the electorate. They simply follow the leader's agenda, and I don't call that democratic.

For all of you anti-Harper, anti-USA factions on this thread, you should remember this.... It wasn't Harper that signed these flawed Free-Trade agreements. Whenever someone agrees to sign deals with "Big Brother" you have one thing to remember, and that is Big Brother is not going to sign away the advantage he already holds. Let's remember that it is Canada that need access to US markets not the US needing access to our markets. We already had a very large trade surplus with the U.S. without these agreements in place, why did we go ahead and screw that up by signing agreements that left us open to exploitation? Those agreements were adventageous for the corporate sector not for ordinary Canadian's. What happen almost immediately upon the signing of those agreements was the corporate sector starting to close manufacturing plants on this side of the border, because those agreements gave them access to the Canadian market without duties and tariffs. Before that it was these duties and tarrifs that enticed them to keep manufaturing plants in this country. Now with the signing of NAFTA those same corporatre interests are now closing their plants in the US. in favour of Mexico and S.A.where they can manufacture these same goods at very low labour costs, and ship them back into the US and Canada duty and tariff free. Let's not fool ourselves by thinking corporations are our friends. These borderless entities are all about maximizing their profits for their shareholders, and duties, tariffs, and wages & benefits are business expenses they would rather do without. Along comes the a Canadian PM that has a hate on for the USA, and did everything he could to piss them off. Then he allows loud mouth MP's to call our largest trading partner nasty names like some out-of-control child in a school yard, and the PM by not condemning it gave the perception of condoning it. So what happens she does it again under another Lieberal PM, and still nothing happens to her. The border is not open for Canadian beef, what I can't figure out why anyone is surprised by that. Come on people you can't expect to piss off your largest trading partner by calling them nasty names and expect that things are going to be okay, especially if the someone doing the name-calling is an elected representative of our national government. If she truly think's that of them and vocalizes it, then she really does not know what her responsibilities are as a representative of the people. She very well might not like what they do or say, but her place is to act diplomatically and not just shoot off her mouth. Her ramblings may have hurt people's livelihoods with her name-calling and if she truly cares about Canadian's she should resign her seat and let someone stand for office that has enough smarts to know when to speak and when to keep unhelpful comments to themselves.

I think it is a good idea for Canada to participate in the space program. The fist thing we should do is put all those Supreme Court Judges, with their pie-in-the-sky ideas into a space capsule and send it on let's say a round trip to, let me see...the sun! They should do quite nicely, and by the time they get back we should have the problems they created all worked out. Seriously though we simply do not have the money to be as involved as we are already. It has become a make-work project for the space cadet agency in Quebec.

Quebec's Health Minister's revelation about not putting all upcoming federal healthcare dollars into healthcare highlights the need for Ottawa to demand accountability for taxpayer's money before they hand over one red cent to the Provinces. I'm not so sure that other's aren't thinking of using the money for other things as well, but do not have the ball's to say so. We need to have accountability otherwise we will always have a piecemeal healthcare system in Canada, even though we are supposed to have a portable seamless system right across this country. Quebec nor any other Province can be allowed to spend the money as they see fit, otherwise in New Brunswick we just may end up with hospital lawns nicely kept with brand new ride-on mowers, but no patient's in the building because healthcare professional's have exited stage left.

I look at it this way. Canada for whatever reason through ruling's from our Liberal-minded Supreme Court is attempting to be all things for all Canadian's, without a thought as to the fiscal costs of some of these decisions. Since there is only so much money in the kitty, priorities like healthcare and education are quickly becoming thing's that we are having difficulty funding, yet the Supreme Court just keeps coming with these rulings which in reality is making law instead of interpreting it. The reality is that we cannot be all things to all Canadian's and it is quickly reaching a point whereby priorities like healthcare and education are going to have to be given the priority they deserve. When we have a situation, like we now have, with long waiting times for non-elective surgeries. We have student's either not being able to afford to attend post-secondary education at all, or are graduating so heavily in debt that they have to move back home with mommy and daddy because that is the only way they can afford the student loan payments. Let's face it people, these Supreme Court Judges' could care less what the impact of their decisions have on ordinary Canadian's and they could care less, because they are so busy living in their utopia that they cannot see that their decision's are destroying this country. What we need is for their power to be redefined, and be made subject to some common-sense, democratic rules. In other words they have to be somehow made accountable to Canadian's for their decisions. Things like it is not within their realm of responsibility to instruct the elected leaders of this country as to what laws they are going to make and how they are to be worded. If that can't happen, I fear for the future of this country. These people who sit as Supreme Court Justice's aren't god's, but somehow they have to be made aware of that fact. Right now they think they are, and our PM by saying they are they ultimate authority in this country is only enforcing that belief. Something needs to chance quickly, before more harm is done.

The biggest laugh of all is the fact that Canadian's in all of Atlantic Canada and Ontario returned this gang of theives to Ottawa to continue to run this country, or should ruin this country be a more appropriate term? God help us all! When we have Gag'me's defence attorney even suggesting that because Quebec keeps whining that it is somehow okay for any Prime Minister, without the consent of Parliament or the people who's money is being wasted, to bestow gifts in the form of taxpayer's money on their friend's in that province without some kind of accounting. I believe it is he who does not see the "BIG PICTURE." Are this gang of thieves so arrogant as to suggest that they are somehow above the law? He seems to be suggesting that the PM should not have to be accountable to Canadian's, or to the checks and balances that are supposed to be followed when taxpayer's money is being spent. Sorry, I had a momentary lapse in the realm of reality, and I realize how naive that sounds, considering the fact that politician's of all stripes, in all areas of government in this country feel that laws only apply to us commoners. That things like accountability, morality, honesty, are not applicable to politicians, yet they keep talking like Canada is somehow a democracy. The joke is on us if we really believe anything they say. Federally they have deferred the responsibility of making law to a Supreme Court, that they themselves appointed. Could be because Supreme Court Justices' are not accountable for the decisions they make regardless of how those laws impact Canadians? These are the vary decisions that our elected politician would have like to have made but fearing the political backlash they have deferred that power to the courts, and now refuse to even consider the use of the Notwithstanding Clause, and why is that? It was put into the constitution for a purpose, but Paul Martin stated that as far as he's concerned decisions made by the Supreme Court are the final word. To me that is just wrong, and as far as I'm concerned this Charter is a flawed document that needs a major overhaul, especially when it allows more rights for criminals than it does for their victims. On the aspect of the Supreme Court making law, tell me again why we even bother to elect MP's and MLA's. Maybe we should be thinking about getting rid of them and electing the judiciary instead. Couldn't hurt, at least it would make these judge's accountable for their decisions.

Healthcare is supposed to be a right as well, but government's right across this country are continually cutting back on services and resources. Emergency Room Physician's Association of Canada contends that long waiting lists for procedures nad services at Emergency Departments are a direct result of the closure of hospital beds right across this country, yet the various jurisdictions continue to cut. According to them we have lost 40% of our bed capacity in the last few years in our hospitals. However Bilingualism seems to be somewhat of a sacred cow. Cuts are made to every other service but for God's sake don't dare reduce the funding for bilingualism. I for one think that adequate funding for healthcare and a good many other iniatives trump the need for bilingualism funding every time. A province the size of New Brunswick continues to slash and burn every program nad raise every fee and tax yet not one cent has been chopped from bilingual iniatives. Our education department even went out and purchased school buses specifically for French speaking children living in predominately English speaking areas of the Province, so they wouldn't be corrupted by having to associate with English speaking children on the way to and from school. I say again, bilingualism in the only "Officially Bilingual Province in Canada has become instead segregation based on language. How is racial harmony supposed to prevail when our own government is promoting the segregation of our children? This is definitely not what I would call encouragement for the learning of the other language.

Black Dog, & Slavik44; Maybe you two bleeding hearts should apply for work at one of these safe injection sites before you try to tell me how things should be. I worked with drug addicted people involved in the criminal justice system for a number of years. I can tell that it is my experience in most cases, all we managed to accomplish was to enable criminals to escape responsibility for their offences, and in a majority of cases they are still plying their chosen professions, and they are still high a good part of the time. How do I know that, since I don't work there anymore? I read their names in the paper and hear them on the news all the time. I'm a firm believer in making people responsible for their own choices in life. To do otherwise is to enable them to continue in a lifestyle of drug abuse and crime. Do you really think for one minute that just because you provide a drug addict with a safe injection site, that they will magically stop doing crime. It is quite obvious to me that you have never worked with criminals, and if you have, you must have dealt with a different clientele than I did, because the one's I know are still doing both, even with Methadone clinics, and crime reduction strategies in place. What is the new buzz phrase in criminology now, Oh yeah, "Restorative Justice" which is all about getting the criminal and the victim together to work out their differences. What a load of Crap. This is simply a pie-in-the-sky ideal world program dreamed up by some academic from the criminology department that looks great on paper, just like safe injection sites. I had a supervisor where I worked who asked me what I thought was a success case from the group home, and my reply was to say; "Someone who has made a mistake, was tried, sentenced to custody, learned his lesson, left custody, and was never involved with the criminal justice system again." She asked me about a particular youth, and why I didn't think of him as a success case, and my reply was to ask her where that youth was at that time? She wouldn't answer the question, so I told her where he was. He was back in custody only this time in a secure facility. Why? Because he committed the vary same crime he had committed when he wound up in custody with us. The difference was that this time it was multiple offences, and the judge was tired of looking at him. She was lobbying to have him transferred to open custody so that he could go home on weekends. Where he generally verbally abused his grandparent's. Why didn't he live with his parents? He didn't get along with them becuase his father demanded that he follow some rules, like attending school, no alcohol, no drugs, a curfew, and Gd forbid his father wanted to know who he was hanging around with. I think that's child abuse, isn't it?

I really hope that none of you here really believe Canada to be democratic, because if you do I've got some ocean-front property to sell you in Arizona. No government as far back as I can remember has been elected because they were honest and truthful, especially with the promises they made to the electorate to get elected. None have any intentions of keeping those promises, and if you believe they will, you're dumber that I thought. In Can-a-Dah we get to put new dictators in place for the next term, and in most cases people vote for who they think will do the least harm, not who they think will actually follow through on promises they made on the election trail, because rational people really don't expect these lying sack's of ---- to really fulfill their promises. Our political system is set up that a party can form the government even though they garnered less that 40% of the votes. I don't call that democratic representation. How can a party claim to have a mandate from the people to govern when less than 40% of the electorate voted for them? Why are we allowing judges to make our laws instead of elected and accountable politicians, especially since the people have no way of making these judges accountable for their decisions. That smacks of a dictatorship, not a democracy.

So tell me again why that is society's problem, and why we should assist addict's in getting high by injecting an illegal substance into their veins. If we follow that same logic, ions of incarceration has done nothing stop people from committing crimes, should we maybe give them taxpayers money in the form of pensions per month so they won't be inclined to rob that corner store, to feed their habit?It is time we revamped our justice system so that jail will be a place that nobody will want to go, instead of what we presently have where all of the luxuries of home are provided, and them some. As mentioned on this weekend's news about inmates receiving spa treatment demonstrations, or holding fashion shows which Karla was able to partake of. Our justice system has become a joke, and offers no deterant to being incarcerated thanks to organization's like John Howard, and Elizabeth Fry. I don't for a minute condone inhumane treatment of our prison population, but prison should not be a pleasant place to go. Prisoner's should be offered 3 squares, a roof over their head's, clothes on their backs, and most of all work, whether they want it or not. God forbid we make our prison population work, and make them help pay for their own incarceration. If they want recreation let them work in shops that produces something. Who knows they might even learn a useful skill that could be used to get a real job. Instead we molly-coddle them and blame society as they reason these poor unfortunate soul's wound up on the wrong side of the law. I could care less about their self-esteem. These people have committed some terrible crimes against others and they are supposed to be incarcerated as part of their punishment, not treated to luxuries that the average person can only think about receiving. Drug addicts are no different since many of them are at this very minute are robbing the nearest corner store to pay for their next fix. How is that society's fault, and tell me again why society should pay to assist them in getting high. Am I supposed to feel sorry for these addicted individuals? I don't think so, they made a concious choice to inject drugs into their vein's, and now you want me and other's to somehow take responsibility for that choice by providing them with a safe injection site, while healthcare is being cut back right across this country?Cry me a river! If they wind up with HIV/ AIDS or Hep. A,B or C, who is to blame? Certainly not me, I'm not the one who made the stupid choice, they are, and they alone should be responsible, not society.

CANADIAN; Bilingualism in New Brunswick is not the success case the New Brunswick government would have everyone believe. In fact it has instead become a system of duality, in many instances. We have basically two Education Department's, and separate hospitals based on language. Although all hospital's are required to provide bilingual services, we still have hospitals that are designated as French. When we have our former Education Minister state publically that the French Immersion Program was not designed nor expected to produce fluently bilingual graduates, and most government jobs have been designated as requiring applicants to be fluent in French, who do think is being awarded these positions. I can tell you that in most cases it is not English (mother tongue) graduates from the Immersion Program. If it is someone with an English surname, in most case it is someone who grew up in a French speaking area of the Province where they have spoken French from the time they were youngsters. The reality is that most government jobs requiring fluent French, as has been the case for the last number of years, those jobs are being filled by people who's surname is French. This iniative of bilingualism was not supposed to elevate one culture over the other, but in reality that is what has happened, both in New Brunswick and in our Federal Institutions. It certainly has not created harmony between the two cultures, but since Bernard Lord went ahead an intrenched NB's Officially Bilingual Status in the Constitution, there is little we can do to turn this thing around to make it fair. Maybe you should check and see how many unulingual English speaking New Brunswicker's have settled in Ontario, Manitoba, Sask. Alberta, and BC. I can tell you they are leaving here in droves, and before too many more years go by NB will be just another pain in the ass like Quebec. Maybe at that point the two will join together, and whine with their hand's out for more of your money. By then I hope to be living in Alberta with both of my kids.

Safe injection sites are akin to condoning the use of drugs, and that is the last thing the authorities should be doing. If these addicts are stupid enough to use, and even more stupid to inject them to get high, then too bad for them. Why is that our responsibility to provide them with safe injection sites? Our government and other's say we should legalize pot because it is a harmless drug, but the reality is that it is not harmless, because it is a gateway drug to more addictive substances. Most drug addicts, if they are honest will tell you that they started out by using pot and hash, and progressed from there. I facilitated a drug awareness program designed by councellors from Addictions Service for the Province of New Brunswick, and I worked for a number of years with youth and I can tell you that a good many youth feel that it is okay to smoke pot and hash. Many of these same youth I read about in the paper now that they are adults, where they have committed armed robbery, and worse, and the excuse is that they are crack or heroine addicts. They made a concious choice to develop a habit of getting high, and now they seems to want to ignore the fact that they made that choice. It is somehow not their fault that they have gone from Young Offender's to Adult Offender's, and are now in a loop that they find difficult to get out of. Many do not even want out, because it is much easier to get high, sell drugs, live the good life, than it is to get a job and a life. Why is that society's fault? We had an instance here in the Regional Correctional Centre where an individual maimed himself by cutting off his toe because they withdrew him from a Methadone Program because upon testing they discovered that he was still using other drugs while on Methadone. The judge questioned his committment to wanting to get off drugs at all. I agree with those who say that safe injection sites are a bad idea. It will only encourage those who want to get high, to contiue on that path. That makes about as much sense as passing a law that says; a person cannot purchase tobacco products until they are 19 years of age. Nobody is allowed to sell or purchase tobacco products for anyone under the age of 19 years of age, but once that 14 year old gains possession of those tobacco products the law does not forbid them from smoking them it public. Possession and usage of controlled substances is illegal, but the government will provide a safe injection site for people to inject those substances. Doesn't make much sense to me!

I too would like to see this caeser, as it is the only way we will ever be able to attain a seamless healthcare program right across Canada. Last year for instance when Chretien gave extra money earmarked specifically for the purchase of diagnostic equipment, the Health Corporation where I live in Saint John, NB spent this money on the purchase of new ride-on lawnmowers, photocopiers, and paper-shredders. And our Premier defended this expenditure saying it was equipment they needed. I hardly call those types of equipment medical diagnostic equipment, but the again maybe that is why Premier Lord continues to maintain a policy put in place by the Liberal, Frand McKenna before him, which was to disallow Medical Doctors from serving on the healthcare corporation Boards. We have accountants and other business types deciding what medical services are a priority, and whether closing beds is feasable in order to save money. Go figure!

I agree both our sovereignty and our social programs are in jeopardy. Let's remember one thing these trade agreements are the result of the agenda lobbied for by corporate America, and in Canada it is our own corporate lobby groups that are pressuring our politicians to sign on the dotted line, because in many cases they are simply subsiduaries of American corporations. What do you mean our sovereignty and social programs are not in jeopardy, when these agreements tie the hands of our elected officials from being able to pass legislation to protect our environment, labour standards, social programs or anything else? These agreements allow these multinational corporations the right to sue our government's if they pass legislation that infringes on their ability to maximize their profits. They can sue for loss of profits, and these agreements stipulate that they have that right. If these Free-Trade Agreements are truly meant to bestow benefits on ordinary Canadian's and American's why is it that the corporte sector is sitting at the negotiating table whenever they hold these WTO, IMF and G-8 conferences, while at the same time excluding anyone who speaks out against these types of agreements. If they are truly for the benefit of the people then ordinary people should also be sitting at the negotaiting table when these agreements are being formulated. We all know that will never happen, and we all know why it will never happen, because these agreements are not about what is good for ordinary people they are all about what is good for corporations. I watched an episode of Counterpoint on which a representative from the corporate sector stated that corporations should be under no obligation to contribute to the funding of social programs. When she was asked how she proposed they be paid for, her repeated response was to say, get it from the people. Obviously these corporations put themselves above the people and think that they should be somehow exempt from paying their fair share of the costs to fund this social safety net. Of course when you are paid obscene salaries and bonuses it is quite easy to feel that you are somehow extra special, and that is how these corporate bums view themselves. They are however always quick to stick out their hands for taxpayers money when they are looking at locating a call centre operation. Factories and such they locate in third world countries where they can exploit the workforce. I read an article that stated that an unfettered free-market system is not sustainable, and I believe that someday real soon the whole thing is going to come crashing down, and we will be in another scenario like 1929. Let's remember people it wasn't the poor people who were jumping from skyscrapers when the market crashed in 1929, it was those who thought themselves to be top-of-the-heap. Their time is coming again, as history has a habit of repeating itself. Stupid people never learn!

SVEND ROBINSON WANTS TO RETURN TO LAW Svend Robinson, who pleaded guilty to stealing a $21,500 ring at an auction in April, has applied for re-admission to the Law Society of B.C. Now there is a dose of justice Canadian style. Here we have an admitted thief, and he now wants to be accepted back into the BC Law Society, why does this not surprise me? One thing he won't be able to say to a perspective client about to be sentenced is I know how you feel, because in all likelihood his client is probably going to be going to jail.

The truth is that attending French Immersion from K. to graduation does not qualify you as being bilingual. " The French Immersion Program was not designed nor expected to produce fluently bilingual graduates." That is direct quote from New Brunswick's Acadian former Education Minister, Elvy Robichaud in an interview a couple of years ago. The Director of Second Language Training for the Moncton School District, I believe her name was Lise Robichaud (no relation) also thought it funny that student's entering High School who had enrolled in French Immersion in Kindergarten thought of themselves as fluently bilingual. They were being interviewed because of the large number of students who were switching to the English Program in High School to improve their chances of being accepted into an English Language University. If the French Immersion Program is not expected to produce "Fluently Bilingual" graduates" as it was promoted to do, then what is the purpose? It was supposed to provide a level playing field for graduates who were applying for jobs designated as requiring fluency in French. In New Brunswick it has become nothing but Affirmative Action in order to ensure that bilingually designated jobs are filled with candidates who's mother tongue is French. Don't believe that, check out the surnames of those who are awarded those jobs, and if you don't believe that perhaps you should call a Government of New Brunswick Office and check out the accent of those who answer the telephones. In most cases you will find that that person's mother tongue is not English, but French. Even New Brunswick which is the only Officailly Bilingual Province in Canada is nothing but a myth, because the reality is that only a very small percentage of people speak both languages. I don't think I would not be amiss in saying it is no more than about 17 - 20%. Also it is not all harmonious as our provincial politicians would have the rest of Canada believe, since the Premier felt the need to hire is own language police. I think if the need is that great for the use of French why does the government feel the need to attempt imposing it's use even in areas of Canada where it has absolutely no relevance, that is only creating an artificial demand for a language that few of us speak, and at what cost to us all?

I am Canadian born and raised, however not a proud Canadian. I say that because we sit back and watch things like this happen and smugly say how sorry we are about the tragic loss of life, but we continue to allow our politicians to follow a trend of making sure anything they do is geared towards making sure the corporations maintain their obscene profits, and not to enact any legislation which interferes with those profits. We haven't gotten it at all, we are no safer than our American partner's south of the border, an attack against us could happen at any time. It was not just American's who were killed on 9/11/01, many Canadian's were among those killed. These terrorist's do not distinguish between American's, Canadian's or citizens of other countries of the world, or whether they are adults or children. This horrendous act of terrorism in Russia is no different than what Hamas suicide bombers are doing to Israeli civilians by walking onto a crowded bus and setting off a bomb made to kill as many as possible. If this is a taste of Islam, then I want nothing to do with a religion that thinks it's okay to kill innocent women and children for the sake of any cause. I don't care what their struggle is, it does not justify the taking of innocent lives! However I don't think that that mainstream Islamics agree with these tactics, but they allow it to go on just the same, by not raising a finger to stop it. Arafat talks a good talk but does nothing to rein in these militants, and I'm sure that people who are donating money to groups like Hamas and others are helping to dispell that image. Their newest tactic is to kidnap and kill innocent people and threaten to behead them if their country does not pull people out of Iraq. I'm not talking just soldiers, but civilian worker's who are only there to help rebuild their country, and are not there threatening Iraqi lives. We need to have our government's put a stop to exporting the corporate agenda around the world. These corporations will only be happy when they control the whole world, and everyone in it. Prophet's predict a world with one government before it all comes tumbling down. :angry:

First of all Maplesyrup Canada is not a bilingual country just because Ottawa has said so. The reality is that less than 18% of Canadian's even speak French and that figure has increased from 14% since the inception of the declaration by Pierre Trudeau. We now have our Prime Minister stating that Canada is a French nation. There are more people in Canada that speak Chinese than speak French. Call it bilingual if you want but let's at least be honest and realistic. Most people in this country speak the universal language which is English so why the need to learn a language that you will never need to use. Even in New Brunswick, the only "Officially Bilingual" province, is not bilingual. Yes some people speak both languages but they are definately not in the majority, and never will be. Where I live in Saint John, less than 1.67% of the population professes French as their mother tingue, and maybe 8 to 10% of the population is bilingual, and that would be stretching it. That is only because they took their schooling through French Immersion. Our former provincial Education Minister, Elvy Robichaud stated a couple of years ago that; "The French Immersion Program was not designed nor expected to produce fluently bilingual graduates." Yet in order to qualify for employment in a government job designated "bilingual", federally or provincially, the candidate must be FLUENT in French. If they have come from a French Immersion Program they simply do not qualify. What you will find however is that the majority of those jobs are being filled with people who's surname is French. The reality is that it has simply become Affirmative Action, Canadian style. Bilingualism was supposed to be all about choice in learning a second language, but it has become something quite different. As for Quebec leaving Canada, the reality is that they already have. They have their own QPP, their own Income Tax Department. The only difference is that they still get to go begging for cash from the ROC. Even the other have-not Provinces' are at least smart enough not to bite the hand that feeds us, namely Alberta, and Ontario, Quebec never seems satisfied, it's just a continul whine. Maybe we would all be better of if they just left, and they can take all their Quebec MP's with them, including the PM, and his inner circle. Now that's beginning to sound like a good plan.

Exactly caeser, even in drug rehab programs one of the things they attempt to instill in the participants is that they cannot go back to their old ways, by associating with the people they used with. The influence is just too great that they will resume their old ways. The same holds true for criminals. Why is that many probation orders specify that they are not to associate with known felons? If one hopes to rehabilitate themselves they must first make better choices as to who they are going to associate with. Has anyone ever listened to the conversation that goes on between resident's of a group home in the case of a Young Offender, or a half-way house in the case of adults? I have, and I can tell you that they often brag about their crimes, and about how stupid the cops (pigs) are. Remorse is not something that is a common topic of conversation. Most offenders who break into a person house believe it to be a victimless crime. I have had youth's tell me, "If the person who owns the home is too stupid to have insurance, that's their own fault." It has not been all doom and gloom with the people I have worked with over the years, some have managed to change their lives around, but they are the one's who do it on their own. Those who go back to their old neighbourhood's, and resumed hanging out with their old friend's, usually wind up right back in the system.

TakeANumber; As for New Brunswick, stats show that far less than 25% of New Brunswicker's are bilingual,and that is a far cry from a majority. That includes even those who have graduated from French Immersion Programs because only a very small percentage of these graduates qualify as fluent in the French language, and thus qualify for consideration for government employment. THe vast majority are classified as having only a working knowledge of the French language according to the former Education Mininster, Elvy Robichaud, and also by the Director of Second Language Training for the Department of Education. Her comment was something to the effect that it surprised her that student who have been enrolled in French Immersion from K to Grade 9 would consider themselves to be fluently bilingual. It was in that same article that Elvy Robichaud stated that " The French Immersion Program was not designed nor expected to produce fluently bilingual graduates." If that is not the goal of the French Immersion Program, than what is the goal of the Program. It was sold to the English speaking people of New Brunswick as the way to create a level playing field for graduates of both the English and French Programs to compete equally for jobs designated as requiring FLUENCY in both Official Languages. But we now have a situation where you will that government has changed the rules of the game again and now requires anyone seeking promotion above a certain level to be bilingual. This has quickly created a situation whereby just about every deparment head within the government mysteriously has a French last name. My self I don't call that a level playing field, I call it like I see it Affirmative Action, and by any other name is descrimination. Saint John for instance the 1996 Cencus states less that 5% of Saint John resident's mother tongue to be French. Media Digest 2001 - 2003 shows the cultural diversity of Saint John as 1.67% French. I am quoting from a letter written by one Jacques LeBlanc, who is an Acadian, who speaks French. He said, and I quote from his letter which appeared in the Telegraph Journal, "Health care, police, fire services, lifeguards, and lower taxes are far more important services for the citizens of Saint John than language. Saint John cannot afford this unnecessary expense of providing bilingual services when the numbers do not warrant it." He went on to state that many French people he has spoken to feel exactly the same way. That is a service that is not required, because they keep their language and culture alive by speaking French at home and teaching their children the language at home. Obviously some people have a problem with Leonard Jones, the former Mayor of Moncton, NB, but one thing he was right about. He thought that all students should be taught both languages equally all through school, only by doing that will all of our children be able to speak both languages upon graduation. Instead we now have virtually 3 separate education systems in New Brunswick. We have the French, English, and French Immersion. All three doing their own thing, and none producing fluently bilingual graduates. What we have instead created in New Brunswick is segregation based on language. We have French students riding on their own buses in Saint John, because God forbid they be corrupted by an English speaking driver. We even had the head of Ecole Samuel de Champlain state that some of his students can't speak English as the rationale for the separate buses, but these student live and play in Saint John, NB, basically a unilingual city where it would be next to impossible to function without speaking the English language. Give me a break!