fellowtraveller

"It is really a struggle between resource rich provinces and provinces depending on maufacturing llike Ontario. " Only in the minds of Neanderthyal dimwits like McGuinty. And his acolytes. regarding your offer on the free aerial tour of the oilsands, I'll take you up on that. Contact me by private message and we'll arrange a time.

$400 per month per kid? I may have to consider getting the vasectomy reversed and moving to Bountiful, BC.

Try to set aside your personal antipathy for Rae and review the facts. Rae: defector from another Party, no Liberal debts. Ignatieff: lived most of his life outside Canada, no political debts owed here, Kennedy: young and unknown outside Ontario. That left Stephan Dion, second choice of everybody, long time Chretienite. Easy pick as leader, and the wrong choice to win an election. Geez, you really are on a Ontario, center of the Universe kick. I would donate cash to see this happen.

It had little to do with that. Rae and Iggy and Kenndedy lost because they were considered loose cannons when compared to Dion, The Safe Guy.They overlooked that he was also The Wrong Guy, everybodys second choice. No, I'm talking about the province of Ontario as whole that gave the L:iberals 75 fedral seats in 2004 and 54 in 2006, after years of proven theft and the government of Mr Dithers. That Ontario. Nothing has changed. He'd do well nationally and OK in Ontario, but not enough to unseat Harper now.

I think the big push for our military, or one of them, will come soon as Canada tries to exercise sovereignty in the North/Arctic. If we don't act tough and be tough, the US and Russia will simply take what looks to be massive resource reserves for themselves. Yeah, yeah I know we can talk a mean streak, but when push comes to shove you'd better be willing and able to push and shove back.

Well, the province as a whole forgave and forgot the repulsive actions of the Federal Liberals in record time, why not something much older? Rae was Premier 13 years ago, I can guarantee that the vast majority either don't know or don't care what happened then. The rest of Canada didn't know or care then and that hasn't changed.

There will be Canadian homeowners in trouble, but only a few and not for a while. Zerodown mortgages are not all that common, a fairly recent product, and the majority will not come up for renewal for a few years. If the market has recovered by then, the owners will be even or have equity and will have no trouble renewing. If the market has not recovered and their home is worth less than their debt, many will still not have trouble. Keep in mind that zerodown mortgage qualification in Canada is (or was, they are banned after October 15 here) is more difficult than qulaifying for a regualr high ratio mortgage. To get a zerodown mortgage here, you must have a stronger credit score and better than average income, it is not easy at all. Plus, you have to pay higher interest, which means you'd easily cover the same standard mortgage at a lower rate. Not an issue here, yet. And unlikely to become one.

If you believe the European Union will allow a NAFTA -type agreement with Canada, you need to put down the bong. The idea is laughable, the notion that somehow Canadian agricultural products or any products will get unfettered access to Europe.

"Bob Rae could never be elected in Ontario blah blah blah." In the 2006, after a horrific Liberal scandal, the Liberal still elected more MPs in Ontario than all other parties combined. People have short memories/are willing to forgive much, half the population has forgotten Raes blunders and the other half would vote Liberal as a reflex action. Despite Raes horrific past, he waas easily elected in his own Toronto/Ontario riding and will be again. No surprise there.

Good leader? Who said anything about him being a good leader? He'd have been an electable Liberal leader in 2006. Electable is everything, and never underestimate the capacity and eagerness of Ontario to blindly vote Liberal no matter what. But the Libs chose Stephan McSafe, turning away from a new man and a new direction at the precise point they needed to do that and be seen to do that.. He'll still take over the Liberal Party when Dion quits.

I do not understand why people are still wondering why the Libs picked Dion, a couple years later. (and a choice that I picked here about 60 days before it happened). Dion represents the safe choice, yesterdays man and a holdover from the Chretien years when the Libs were successful. The Libs missed a big chance to shake those years and shake that image of Dion, instead foolishly trying to rebrand him as some sort of fresh air or innovator when he is neither. The next leader will be Rae, who would have won a minority in 2006 if he'd had the opportunity. It is why he sticks around, he knows he is the heir apparent. It will still take th Libs a while to coronate him, they have to retain some small shred of dignity in the dark days to come..

Bob Rae will be the next Liberal leader. If the Liberals had elected him leader last time, he would have defeated Harper and gained a minority in 2006.

Did you find it fascinating that, without providing any documentation or access to books or outside forensic accounting, the Liberals were able to unilaterally decide that $1.4 was the correct amount of their theft?

One of my very favorite Liberal 'estimates' was their unilateral calculation(announced by Paul Martin) that the Liberal Party of Canada had actually only stolen $1.4 million of the $200 million or so that went missing in adscam. Did they ever actually return that money to the Receiver General? Do they have an estimated timeline for it?

Hockey players don't have teeth. Are you sure you are Canadian?

Joe Clark vs what? What am I choosing here? Are some of those people running for something somewhere in your alternate universe? Have you ever thought of putting down that bong for a few moments?

I am self employed and want nothing to do with this scheme. My 'family values' are unrelated to partisan politics.

You want me to attack Scandinavia? Warmonger.......

Are you implying that the Joos control the media?

It is not correct that our more stable credit/mortgage situatuion is the result of any caution by the banks, It is largely the effect of ouyr Bank Act, which prohibits any bank from lending more than 75% of the value of a home directly. They may lend m,ore, but only if the balance is insured/approved by CMHC or lately, by GE Capital. Their criteria are much tougher than those of the Candian banks and the US banks. If the banks here had any choice, they would be lending on the same idiotic terms as US banks. Actually, between them CMHC and the banks do lend on silly terms (interest only, no down payments, 40 year amortizations), but the CMHC premiums are so high that defaults are covered. That may not hold true in the long term. The Candian economy is not entirely 'made' in Canada. Canada is a trading nation and we are subject to the vagaries of all economies worldwide. Even our beloved oil exports will be of far less value if demand drops sharply, which it may well do if the world economic crisis worsens.

So that the club can recover their costs from the club members who drink the beer.

I didn't know two parts of that: that she pranced in a catsuit or that she is a musician. I only believe one of them. If that ever happens again, and you also see a sign that says 'Welcome to Regina', you will know for certain that you have died and have been condemned for eternity to Hell.

Yes, I'm sure that is what motivates the PM.

The correct answer: leadership. The polls show Canadians just don't see him as a leader. That is a deathknell. It is confiremd by the type of campaign that Harper has chosen, whcih is to try and get Canadians to choose between Himself personally and Dion, which he knows he will win.

Do you have any insight on what issue the Liberals may have considered important enough to force an election over? They seemed to have an insatiable appetite for s**t sandwiches. Not that dumb? Given what has happened to the 'natural ruling party ' in the last 3 years, perhaps you could link to some supporting evidence? Personally, I think that donations should allow the "Joe Volpe Exemption". Cap the donation at $100 except for children under 12, who may give up to $10,000 out of their piggybanks.