stamps

"I came to this city as an businessman, I'll leave as one. It's a wicked place to do business, so long as you have the right people with the right attitude." Networking, hmmmmmmm... you sound like one of those Amyway or multi-level marketing type of guys... I really am not an expert on this type of thing but maybe Calgary is'nt the right enviroment....

"Anyway: Calgary has it's downsides. I just find it sad that some people feel as though they have to lie about their city to strangers....(Calgarians do have a tendency of patting themselves on the back when it isn't totally deserved)" I am just curious as to what specifically you think I lied about here, you sound bitter about something..... if our great city is not for you maybe you should think about moving someplace that will make you happy, if you do'nt fit in here it's foolish to stay... good luck brother....

Stamps and his family would like to take this opportunity to congratulate President Bush on his victory... I think this was a victory for substance over insincerity and emptiness, if you are just telling people what you think they want to hear there comes a point in time when most people detect that hollowness.... I just wish we as Canadians were as astute as our American brothers and sisters....

What do other provinces pay per month to their disabled citizens... is it more than the 850.00 that Alberta pays....I am just curious.....

Is Co2 causing the climate to warm or is it a byproduct of a warming climate.. cause or effect..... and if anyone knows this answer I would like to congratulate him or her as being the first person on the planet to do so.... according to Scientific American the only real answer they have is that they do'nt have an answer..... climate change is the rule not the exception and when it does happen it is quick and violent.. our climate over the last 1000 years or so has been unusually stable... the oceans and deforestation contribute the vast majority of Co2 and that of fossil fuels pale by comparison....

Split the surplus up between Alberta and Ontario, it's all our money anyway, maybe by treating our surpluses in this manner it will give the provinces that are'nt producing some incentive to pull up their socks and start producing....

I thought the NDP was the working mans party... if they dropped their labour special privileges within their party would they not be just another flavor of the current liberals... if they did do as you say they should they would cease to be a party with any real substance and lose all relevance in my mind... and the working mans voice would disappear from the national stage politically... I myself have never and would never support these people but I believe the universe needs balance and the NDP's roll in that universe is to help keep that balance...

Alberta has the best health and education system in the country, if it was gutted so terribly what does that say about the rest of the country? As for welfare we look after our own out here.... if people need help they get it but this everybody owes me something and it's everybodies fault but mine attitude that is rampant across this country is not very popular in Alberta, self reliance and accountability is the norm not the exception in our great province....

Harris tried copying Ralph and probably would have been successful if he would have stuck to his guns..... trying to fix a mess created by an NDP government also did'nt help and put Harris that much further behind the eight-ball....

Klein came in at a point in time when we were running a provincial deficit, his platform from the beginning was to cut spending and reduce the debt, he passed a law saying it was illegal to run any kind of a deficit and that was when Oil was well below 20 dollars a barrel, he has kept his word and slashed provincial spending, has not run a deficit once(even when oil dropped below 15 dollars per), any surplus we had was put towards our provincial debt, provincial employees took a 5% roll back, the fat was trimmed from our government, we privitized and sold off our liquor stores,Telus and PWA airlines, our provincial campgrounds are privately run, I'm sure alot of other services that were once publicly run were turned over to the private sector.. the debt was on track to be payed off in a few years anyway but the recent surge in Oil prices moved that schedule ahead.. so to answer your question we have had developed oil activaty in this province for over 60 years but never have we had the leadership and responsible mangement like we have today, Alberta has developed our resources within the rules and contrary to the typical Canadian model and we are now reaping our reward... whatever the rest of this country thinks is really not that important anymore because the truth of the matter is we (as in Ralph) have created a model for our province with a philosophy that is bussiness friendly and condusive to economic growth and not the typical socialist philosophies the rest of this country adheres to, when Oil hit 12 dollars a barrel in the mid nineties my city of Calgary did not miss a beat, the high prices we have today have just exacerbated everything in an enviroment that was doing very well inspite of high oil prices.....

Yes Ralph did go and plead our case to the VP but the point I was making was that he did get that meeting, something our Federal government was unable to accomplish..also as previously stated the USA has banned every country that has ever had a positive BSE case from exporting live cattle to their country and has never once lifted that ban.. but I'm confidant it will be lifted in our case eventually and we will probably be the only country .. and yes the money ment to help our ranchers was not doled out properly, the guide lines used to determine who received payouts was flawed and not very well thought out... and as for our freezing paradise I will keep it thank you very much.. I think the tallest midgit theory applies here when any part of this country tries to win some kind of weather superiority contest, Calgary is one of but not the tallest in a very close race.....

Is that your way of saying I'm right...

Ralph Klein with his drunken outbursts against the poor is right up there with Lyin' Brian Mulroney and Gordo "DUI" Campbell, competing for the title of most despised politician in Canada. And we have all been impressed with his magical abilities, his global savoir faire in solving the blocade of beef from Alberta in the US. Truly remarkable feats Klein has performed. NOT! The big slaughterhouse owners like him though. :angry: Keeping him around gives Martin credibility and provides our PM with a good punching bag! What Ralph lacks in style and tact he more than makes up for in substance, for your information all countries that have had their cattle tested positive for BSE have and are still banned from exporting live cattle to the USA.. including their greatest ally in the war on terror Great Britain, if the USA ever imports live cattle again from BSE positive nations it will be from Alberta.. how did Ralph get a private meeting with the American Vice President when our Federal Liberals were constantly brushed off, and I'm sorry but to have Trudeau as the most important Canadian and not have Ralph in the top 100 is a complete joke, thumbing through that list is depressing, who ever wins it is akin to winning a contest for being the tallest midgit.. our federal liberal government is a joke inside and outside of our country, we have been invaded by the Danes and we do NOTHING, is that not our land up there? Our country has turned into a doormat, our very rich PM talks like a socialist and behaves like a capitalist, he moves his companies out of country so as to avoid paying taxes to his own country,I repeat he is our leader and does'nt pay any taxes from his companies to his own country!!! This Bozo has zero credibility and is nothing but a lame duck.....

Your comment only shows how much you are out of touch with reality brother.... Oil afforded Ralph the theater, what he has done with it is what is remarkable, he set out his agenda and stuck to his guns.... if Canada was the sole benaficiary and recipient of Alberta wealth like many outside this province dream of it would have just been squandered away.... say what you like because Ralphs world is alive and strong and the jewel that Alberta has become was brought about with his guidance... my life and that of the majority of Albertans is very good under the system and enviroment Ralph and his government have created and they will be rewarded with a vote of confidance next provincial election.... like the old saying goes "if it's not broken do'nt fix it"......

Ralph Klein has to be considered the most important man in Canada today, his tight fiscal policies are admired throughout the world, just how influencal Ralph is was recognized by his invitation to the Bilderberg conferance in the mid nineties as it's Keynote speaker.... Ralph and Alberta are more well connected with the people that really matter Globally than our Federal Government....

I think it's great these inner city communities are developing an artistic conscience, I hope we as a city continue to evolve in a direction that helps enrich the lives of all Calgarians... our pioneering, never say die, personally accountable hard working culture is what I think is this city's most valuable asset and what defines us.....

I spent two weeks in and around the Toronto area a five summers ago when my brother married a girl from North York, they met in Isreal and soon after she moved to Calgary and the rest is history, anyway your central Canadian arrogance is well known and confirmed in your response, yes Toronto as a city is probably one of the most culturally diverse in the world, it was a nice place to visit and cottage country is very nice, as so far as your shot against Calgary being a cultural wasteland I think for a city that is less than 100 years old we are doing very well in the culture department, as in we actually have our own, western culture as in pioneering, native american, cattle(hense the name cowtown), and we continue to develope, the condecension by eastern canadians toward our western attitudes and culture is really just a sad statement on where they actually lack any kind of real identity themselves, defining yourselve by other peoples cultures tells me that you lack identity, I will tell you something that is very real and common that I have experianced personally in respect with eastern Canadians and that is their low opinion of America and Western Canada, I will let you in on a secret, people with low opinions of others is a sign of low self esteem.. I really do'nt care what eastern Canada thinks of me, my city or it's so-called lack of culture brother.....

If you are thinking of relocating to our fair city my American friend expect some cold weather, but on a whole it is probably second only to our west coast in temperatness in Canada, we have the most days of sunshine of any major Canadian city, our population is the most highly educated per in this country, the Rocky Mountains offer year round recreation plus they are breath taking and you can look to the west and see them everyday, 2 years ago we won an award for being the CLEANEST city in the WORLD just ahead of Helsinki Finland, the biggest party this country has to offer is our annual 10 day Stampede at the beginning of July that is embraced by a city like nothing you've ever seen, our nights are cool in the summer but that comes with being at a high altitude( great for sleeping), on one of the opening days of the Olympics in Febuary 1988 ABC made the comment that the tempeture that day in Los Angeles California was 16 degrees celcius(about 62-65 F) and the temperture in Calgary Alberta Canada was 16 degrees celcius, all the snow the world was looking at on TV in the opening ceremonies was sand brought in to give the illusion of snow, by the end of the Olympics that year our weather had turned to a balmy minus 20 celcius, temperture swings can be drastic in our fair city to say the least, it does keep things fresh though, our climate is quite dry but if your from the american west I'm sure you would'nt notice any differance, I'm sure I could ramble off forever about our great city but to cap it off I would like to say that I have been to alot of great places in my lifetime but I have never been to a place that matches the beauty and aura of my hometown of Calgary Alberta Canada.....

Staighten out a U of A professer? You truley are deluded...

Bay street jumped on an opportunity that was already established, the point that you seem to be missing is that when Alberta needed venture capital to originally develope the industry PRIOR to 1960 eastern Canada would'nt help us, BTW do you have some kind of reasoning deficiency because you seem to be having a hard time grasping this point..... and so far as Americans buying up some Oil companies in Alberta is concerned I have no problem with it, they were there with us from the start when nobody else would help us....

If they want a mountain named after this guy name one for 'em in the east.. if there is any.. Trudeau did nothing for the west to merit any kind of tribute for himself here... maybe build a statue of him in the Jewish neighborhoods in Montreal he use to ride his motorcycle in while wearing his Nazi swaztica(spl?)....

People or money being invested from Toronto was just a byproduct of the original efforts by the people of Alberta and the Americans whom found and established the industry here originally, eastern canada came onboard after it was established... when Alberta was first looking for money to invest in exploration we were ingnored by the east thus in stepped the Americans with their money and expertise.... on the subject of expertise it was developed in Alberta with help from the Americans,not eastern Canada, Ontario jumped on an opportunity to invest in junior stocks that was brought on by absolutely nothing they did...

"In the heady exploration days of the 60's and 70's, the money to float and grow all those exploration companies was coming from Ontario. In those days, the people and expertise came from Ontario and overseas - not Alberta." The Oil industry in Alberta was developed and funded by the Americans, for eastern Canada to take any credit what so ever is a complete and utter falsehood... Alberta is built on the American not the Canadian model and is successful because of it, the constitution says we (Alberta) OWN the resourses... eastern Canada can cry all it wants but my suggestion to you would be to get use to it, Alberta is the economic engine driving this country and will only get stronger as the years go by...