Newfie Canadian
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Posts posted by Newfie Canadian
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I'll pay more attention to your economic theories on the very first day that money starts heading West to help others, instead of the direction it is now locked into for eternity.
I'm not the least interested in getting into a tete a tete with you, fellowtraveller, I was simply pointing out that your stereotype was exactly that: a stereotype, and somewhat beneath you.
As for my economic theories, I won't beg for anyone to pay attention to them, now or ever. As a matter of fact, I don't recall stating anything noteworthy in the form of an economic theory. I can only go by what I see and read, and in my opinion, which you are free to disagree with, the deal that was struck with the Liberals is not being lived up to in it's totality by the Conservatives.
But do you know what's funny about that? I don't fault the Conservatives for trying to keep their piece of the pie, so to speak. I'm certain the Libs would have done the same if they'd stayed in power.
I can't fault Williams for trying to get this province out of the red, any more than I can fault any other premier for going toe to toe with the feds for their province.
If you think that NL is a constant sink hole on the federation's resources, that's your business. But it will never change if we keep rolling over and taking it up the backside from the feds, or anyone else, for the rest of time.
As for other items, the provincial surplus has been revised upwards to the tune of $881 million on the back of high oil prices. Oil and revenues...who would have guessed?
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Classic Newfies, you want your cake and to eat it too.
Get with the program.
I like that...Classic Newfies. I assume that you have sufficient personal experience with Newfoundlanders and Labradorians to warrant the slight that your comment implies?
Never mind. Your comment, and what I was going to write in response to it, takes to a place best left unvisited.
I am curious as to what program you are referring to? It is the primary aim of every provincial government to better their position, be it financial or political...always has been, always will be. Williams is hardly a pioneer in trying to get what he can for his province on the backs of the feds.
I always assumed the "the program" was to try to get what you think you deserve from the feds, because, as we all know, the feds will try to get from the provinces whatever they can.
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It's all moot anyway.
Danny is here to stay for as long as he wants - the latest poll puts his party's popularity at 82% - and the minority situation in Ottawa isn't going anywhere anytime soon, or so it seems, and the Liberals don't seem to have the necessary momentum to usurp minority government from the Conservatives.
The question becomes who needs who more? I give it a 50/50 split. Harper needs seats, even if NL only has 7, but that could be a lot in minority parliament. More than that, Harper needs to project to Atlantic Canada that he's a Canadian PM, not simply a Western PM or an everyone but Atlantic Canada PM.
Williams on the other hand, will be looking for help on some upcoming projects, and that help would no doubt come along easier if he dialed down the rhetoric.
Either way, it looks like we're stuck with both of them, and their immature crap.
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what a waste of money.
I agree, but it begs the question from someone like me, why wasn't it done long ago? Harper has a testy relationship with the press, but he's hardly the first PM to have a dislike for them. Either he's taking it to a new level, or there's something else...
Who knows?
The problem is if he wants to do it, who's going to stop him? The press will still go there to cover anything important, and I suspect it is the prerogative of the Om to hold news conferences wherever he wants.
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How very convenient for Williams to have a permanent bogeyman in Ottawa. If something goes wrong, blame Ottawa. If something goes right, take the credit. He must be envied by every Premier.
Doubtful.
Yet, having a permanent bogeyman in Ottawa was hardly Danny's invention, nor is he the only practitioner of the blame Ottawa approach.
I suspect that every premier of every province has at one time or another used it as a rallying cry for something.
Has he gone over board with it...perhaps, especially when one considers that Mr. Macdonald's softer approach in NS has garnered some results with todays' announcement.
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The opposition has been decimated. The NTV election panel, including John Crosbie and George Baker, are talking about Danny having to give his backbenchers more leeway in questioning the government in an effort to have some sort of accountability for the government.
Interesting concept.
Joey Smallwood, the charlatan, did the same for about two decades.Hehehe. I've heard many references made to Joey, August, but that one is in its simplicity the best.
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I think the government is making a big mistake. Hillier can sell the war that the Cons can't seem to do. I mean who would you believe more - Hillier or MacKay?
Would he run for a party that canned him because he had a higher profile and more credability than the party of day's minister? I hope not.
I was wondering that myself. However, if the General were to become involved with politics, who else could he run for? The NDP isn't exactly strong on defense in their platforms as a rule, and the Liberals were the ones who cut defense spending during their years in power.
It's all moot though. He won't run anytime soon, I think.
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So the Bloc is spoiling for a fight, or so it appears. Are the Liberals? Not likely, are they? Is Dion in particular? The knives are already sharpening after the by-election disaster (one could argue that they were sharpened the second he won the leadership, of course).
The Throne Speech will tell us, of course. If the CPC doesn't want an election, and they very well may want one, then Harper will throw the Liberals and or the NDP a bone.
What that bone would be I don't know, as it would almost certainly have to be something that the Bloc wouldn't be able to take credit for.
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Speaking as a Newfoundlander and someone who has voted for Danny's team in the past, (the future is not guaranteed), I would suggest that the idea, no matter where one thinks the money is coming from, is ludicrous. Danny would be better off, to say nothing about Newfoundlanders and Labradorians as a whole (and not just those who can procreate), if he spent the money on viable programs and initiatives to keep people in the province.
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I don't know, August. One has to wonder what success any party could have in a minority situation, especially for the CPC where the other parties are more left leaning than right.
Having said that, I agree that Harper has missed the bus on the environment. My question is, can the environment alone win it for Dion, and even if it does, can Dion deliver in what is sure to be a minority? Maybe so, with the makeup of the parties.
The RCMP was the RCMP long before Harper became PM. The fact that it all blew up on his watch is unfortunate for him. Yet I cannot agree with his appointment of an outsider to head the force. My theory is if it broke while a Mountie was running it, what chance do someone who has no idea of what policing entails have in fixing it? The gun registry? *shivers at the mention of it*
The next interesting piece of the puzzle will be the Throne Speech when Parliament resumes.
So, can Dion beat Harper nation wide? He was in St. John's a few weeks ago and I had the opportunity to hear him in person. I have to confess, there were some things that he said that I couldn't quite get, and not because of my education or my culture, but because the man can just speak English. (And I hate to point this out because I don't think it should be a valid argument, but a lot of people believe that it is). If John Crosbie and Brian Tobin failed in their respective bids to become PM at least in part because of their inability to speak French, how is Dion's broken and unsure English going to fly?
I still haven't decided who I'm voting for. Time will tell.
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Williams has certainly been able to do what many Tory parties have not been able to in the last months: win.
He is probably a shoe-in over the Liberals in the next provincial election.
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/stor...13?hub=Politics
No probably about it. There is nothing he could do now, short of joining Joey in purgatory, to lose in October. And as you so aptly put it, part of the reason is his successful politicking against the feds, a tried and true method of electoral success in every province I would wager.
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Some interesting posts in this thread, from nuts to insightful. But who am I to judge?
I'm not a fan of Mr. Williams, nor do I hate the man. I suspect that his recent photo op with Mr. Dion was just that and not much more. I recall that when Danny had his little spat with PM that he cozied up to Mr. Harper, so it's all part of the game as far as I'm concerned.
Is it logical for Danny to rock to boat so much? Of course not. I suspect part of it is he thinks he's right, (an economist from Memorial University has put out the claim that under the proposals that Newfoundland and Labrador will lose money), and another part of it is the upcoming provincial election. Going toe to toe with the feds, as someone so eloquently put it, makes up for the fact that he hasn't done what he himself has promised with regards to rural Newfoundland, with people still leaving in droves.
At any rate, Danny could go out tomorrow and run over the leader of the opposition with a Leopard tank and still get elected with a majority in October, and perhaps part of that is the fact that the provincial NDP is all but nonexistent and the grits haven't been able to recover from Roger Grimes' loss of four years ago, with electing a new leader then turfing him a short while later.
But taking on the feds, whether with true and noble purpose or not, always helps...and not just in Newfoundland.
I've ranted long enough. Let me end with this. I doubt very much that Danny Williams trusts Stephane Dion, or anyone else for that matter.
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I wonder if he will get the message and resign?
I suspect he will. He seemed pretty intent on getting a higher number. I suspect he's seeing some residual fallout from Mr. Chretien's long good-bye. Albertans don't want to see it apparently...or at least the provincial tories don't.
I also bet he will start drinking again.This is completely irrelevant and unnecessary IMO.
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While I agree that the Western Standard has the right to publish the cartoons, I equally believe that they (and by they I mean Ezra Levant) failed in their responsibilty to perform responsible journalism. There was no need to publish the cartoon, and I have to wonder if it was just an attempt to draw to themselves some publicity.
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I don't have a link, but I believe it was on Newsworld that I heard that the Canadian government was informed of the test.
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Personally, I think that the government made the only decision it could in the absence of any promise by Hamas to participate in the peace process.
On the upside for Palestinians, Mackay said that money will still go there through NGO's and the UN.
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Here's the local CBC story on it.
http://www.cbc.ca/nl/story/nf_stop_button_20060323.html
Now, Finance Minister Loyola Sullivan has told the Atlantic Lottery Corporation to remove the stop button on VLTs.The buttons let users play more quickly, which also makes the game more addictive.
"When the numbers are rolling, you push a stop button, it stops so you can get your result and feed it again and run it quickly," said Sullivan.
Ahhhh. Ok.
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I agree that the costs to society and invidual lives outweighes the revenues, but I suspect the things are here to stay.
The government of NL has issued a directive to lottery companies to reprogram the machines to elminate the stop button, with the aim of trying to make them less addictive.
I'm not sure where the logic is in that, but perhaps it's a start.
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Welcome back, Newfie.August, the Larry King thing was farcical, yes?
Despite the fact that it was slanted, scratch that, totally fixed to favour Sir Paul and Whatsherface, Williams did okay.
Anyone interested can read the transcript here. I watched it by download.
Between King mispronouncing Newfoundland, McCartney claiming to be there (when they were in PEI), Heather McCartney doing all the talking and King clearly more interested in talking about other things, I found Danny Williams handled himself well.
I guess Williams can do this sort of thing but I'm glad Harper walked away from Bardot.
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I could be wrong but I think a celebrity's mere presence no longer changes people's opinions. Charlie Chaplin was the world's first celebrity in that he was the first person recognized around the world. This notion of celebrity has been ldevalued ever since. But that's a topic for a different thread.
Thanks August.
I've been checking in every once in a while, but too many things have been happening to devote much time to the forums. Good to see some familiar names at the bottom of the board, along with a slew of new ones.Like I said, farcical. The same sort of thing would have happened no doubt in the circus that would have inevitably erupted at a Bardot/Harper meeting.
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In comment to celebrity's no longer holding the influence they once did, Sir Paul and Bardot are two good examples of why that isn't a bad thing.
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I think Stephen Harper does owe BB discussion time as she is one of the more prominent fiqures that represents a worldwide public outcry against Canada's annual seal cull.
Stephen Harper and Loyola Hearn owe BB nothing, and they did the right thing. Mr. Hearn summed it up best by saying that this is hardly anything more than a fundraiser for these groups.
BB hasn't been to Canada in 30 years. What right does she have to try to meedle in anything Canadian, especially something that provides an economic boost to some people wo really need it? I read in another post somewhere that someone said it only amounted to a coouple of hundred dollars per person. First of all, while I don't know the exact figures, I would say that's lowballing the number. Even if it is correct (and I'm not conceding that), a couple of hundred dollars is a help for people whose lives are lived from cheque to cheque, month to month.
August, the Larry King thing was farcical, yes?
Despite the fact that it was slanted, scratch that, totally fixed to favour Sir Paul and Whatsherface, Williams did okay.
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Fresh cod on the dining room table
Technically going out to catch a fish for your dining room table is against the law, as evidenced by the planned protest food fishery this weekend.
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But is making a lot of press the same as being effective? Is reaching news media as important as reaching US policy makers?
Here's the thing.
Sometimes, the only and best way to get to politicians is through the media. The reason is twofold. You directly address the issue so that politicians can see it, and you address the constituents of those politicians, who in the final analysis have the last say on the future of those politicians.
Does he think Canadians in the US haven't already been telling Americans the facts about Canada?You you sure that all Canadians in the US have been ?
Name a Canadian ambassador that has.He hasn't visibly accomplished much in the way of influencing US policy,
It's all about perception
, and McKenna appears to be trying to dispel some of the misperceptions in the US that may exist about Canada. In regards to policy change, the government and Dept. of External Affairs have done an abysmal job in the first place, making it more difficult for McKenna to get the job done.B+
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Red Tories are more electable than Blue Tories. Blue Tories are the Alliance guys, Red Tories are the old PCs
Opps. I had it reversed.
Thanks for pointing that out BBM.
It should read:
Depends on the aim of the party.IF the aim of the party is to make substantial change to policy along conservative lines, then Blue Tory.
IF they to be more electable, then Red Tory.
At least that's the way it seems right now.
This begs the question, can Blue Tories get elected in the nation?
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Depends on the aim of the party.
IF the aim of the party is to make substantial change to policy along conservative lines, then Red Tory.
IF they to be more electable, then Blue Tory.
At least that's the way it seems right now.
This begs the question, can Red Tories get elected in the nation?
Danny Williams - An Empty Windbag
in Federal Politics in Canada
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Honesty is a tricky thing, August, as there are very few people in the world who practice it with any regularity.
In regards to credit, I'm not sure anyone but the commodities traders deserve credit.
As for Danny being an empty windbag, I'd argue that that's a quality found in all politicians. Danny being a blow hard is another story...