Newfie Canadian

If you were Ralph Goodale right now, and you could spend the surplus, what would you do? It seems pretty obvious that the government of Paul Martin is continuing the tradition of lowballing the surplus estimates. http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/stor...?hub=TopStories

Well, I have never claimed that Canada was perfect, nor do I believe the doom and gloom reports/comments/statements of various foreign media outlets/personalities. Could we do better? Sure. I still think it's a great place to live and I can say proudly that I am a Canadian. I can think of a lot worse places to be living right now. In regards to taxes and money, I wouldn't mind our taxation level if we would get the proper use out of it, and by proper use I don't mean lavish pensions for politicians, kickbacks to various party friendly ad agencies and so forth.

The important distinction to be made here is are you anti-US or anti-Bush? There is a difference. I am very far from being anti-American. I do consider myself ant-Bush, and before I get lambasted by Americans I was also anti-Chretien, and I can probably consider myself anti-Martin, because it was Martin as Finance Minister that presided over the Sponsorship mess and the cuts to various programs, including the military. As far as I am concerned, I can be anti-Bush without being anti-American. I thought it was important to point that out.

The Chicoutimi has arrived in Scotland. http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/stor...?hub=TopStories As far as I am concerned, if the government wants to continue the policy of peacekeeping/peacemaking, as we're doing now in the Balkans and Afghanistan, we're going to have to come up with the funds for the military. It is obvious that they underfunded and under equipped. We have no in air refueling planes, for example, which caused a group of Canadian planes to stop in Ireland, after the American refueling plane travelling with them developed problems. I'm not asking for space age weapons and massive troop formations and nuclear weapons. But it would be nice to be reasonably self sufficient in regards to military capability.

I would suggest maplesyrup, that the only thing wrong with this statement is the time factor. In the World Wars, time was available to raise an army and produce equipment and train them. In this day and age, that time would not be available because of faster equipment and longer range, more accurate weapons. I don't like the idea of men and women risking their lives unnecessarily because the government wants to penny pinch. If they aren't going to give them the tools, prepare for more of what just happened. Unfortunately, that's a political decision, not a military one. All the same, I like the idea. I'm with you there %100.

I never watched either of them, but from what I did see on various news programs the format was a lot better than the first one. I think it suited Bush more. When he stands still behind a desk or podium he looks wooden, but I thought he looked more comfortable in the second debate.

Well, some of these questions may be better asked in the "The Rest of the World" section. Off the top of my head (without looking anything up, so I may be wrong) here are a couple of opinions. 1)PM Trudeau stated Canada's position as a 1 China policy, which was reaffirmed by PM Chretien. 2)I'm not exactly sure what you're asking here. We are one of 2 G-8 nations in the Commonwealth, along with the UK. This link tells of Canada's special place in the history of the Commonwealth. 3)Don't know 4)We were, more or less, but in the last few years we have, as I understand it, been pushing for more cooperation with the Palestinians and have been calling on Israel to stop a lot of it's policies. In the UN for example, we used to vote in favour of Israel, but lately have been for sanctioning some of their activities. 5)How much weight do anyone carry at the UN besides the 5 Permanent Security Council members? I think Canada has a valued place at the UN in regards to diplomatic endeavours. We only have to look at the recent Iraq deliberations, where Canada was trying to broker a deal between the US/UK and other nations. I'm willing to be corrected on any of this, as I may be way off base.

Yes, a nice touch of class there.

New article on CTV website about the SAR Cormorants. They are costing more to maintain than was advertised by EHI, the company that built them. Go figure. http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/stor..._10/?hub=Canada

Update time. Even with the Iraq mess, Howard still wins the election. http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/200...ion_041009.html

Danny Dumaresque, a former Liberal MHA and director of Newfoundland Hydro is raising the alarm of the spending of $57 million. Now I assume that people are out there saying "No surprise there, he's a Liberal and now there's a PC govt." But wait, most of the money was spent during the premiership of Brian Tobin and Roger Grimes, both Liberals. The first link gives a little background, the second is the current story. Link 1 Link 2

It all depends on the order of the bills to be introduced. There is a real opportunity to get things done, but if the Liberals let success (if it happens) go to their heads and try something silly, the government will fall.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. I'll agree with playfullfellow, and say that family is what I'm most thankful for. My wife and daughter are what makes the world go round for me. I'll also buckle and admit that British Columbians have a beautiful and great province. I'm also thankful that I live in a very great country. With the events off the coast of Ireland in the last week, I am also thankful that we have an incredibly professional Armed Forces that do a great job under difficult circumstances. And I am thankful that the incident aboard Chicoutimi wasn't as serious as it could have been. Lastly, I am thankful for the service that Lt. Chris Saunders provided this country, and by extension all Canadians. "Thank you Chris."

I thought that was pretty well summed up Argus

Agreed, Stoker. There are a lot of details to be looked at. The subs aren't nuclear. I assume that they are or were capable of carrying nuclear weapons, as the UK is a nuclear power.

Layton isn't totally dense. He knows that the sooner the government is brought down, the more likely the Conservatives will get stronger and the NDP will get weaker.

I agree Stoker, but you have to admit that the fact that all 4 subs have had problems gotta make you wonder.

The rescue mission was performed by the Royal Navy, so none of our decrepid Sea Kings took part. You're right though, they are Sea Kings, but not ours.

Well maplesyrup, we've got a female deputy PM and a female Chief Justice of the SCOC. Now, if only Stronach could get rid of Harper....

I'm not ashamed to be a Canadian, nor am I ashamed of our Armed Forces, as they continue to perform their duties with professionalism despite a serious lack of funding. I am ashamed, terribly ashamed, of a government that will not support the Armed Forces in the way that they should be, while the PM, ministers and MPs get all sorts of allowances, salaries and pensions for sitting on their butts. Senators gettting the same things and some of them don't even show up, and for the longest time one of them didn't even live in the country. I also agree with maplesyrup that the British, and the company that refitted the subs for Canadian use, should be forced to answer some very serious questions and be held to task if they are responsible for any of the problems that any of these subs have experienced.

To me, it's not so much that was bound to happen (planes being diverted) and that it had to happen somewhere, but that it happened with such kindness and outpouring of support merits a better understanding and acknowledgement that it has gotten. In regards to Mexico and diverted planes, you must admit that the geographic area of Canada compared to Mexico means the lion's share of diverted planes came to Canada. Furthermore, the fact that small communities came together in a very short period of time to respond to a situation of that magnitude speaks volumes about the character of Canadians. Keep in mind, many of these communites are small and have limited resources and infrastructure to handle big scale emergencies. I think they are unsung heroes. Here are a few links: http://www.theganderconnection.org/ http://groups.msn.com/TheRefugeesofAirFran...?pgmarket=en-us http://www.ua929.org/

For those of you who have not yet heard, a Canadian sailor injured in the fire aboard Chicoutimi has died. Politics and blame aside, I'd like to offer my condolences and prayers for this brave Canadian. http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/20...timi041006.html http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/stor...?hub=TopStories

The official word is that the Brits mothballed these things because they decided to go to a totally nuclear fleet, but after seeing this happen it makes me wonder if they decided to go to a nuclear fleet because these diesel/electric subs were duds.

No. I think money for nuclear weapons would be better used to solidify, re-equip and beef up our currently underfunded and undermanned military.