fellowtraveller

No, you do not have to join the union at all with the feds. They cannot oblige you to sign anything. However, you must pay exactly the same dues, deducted at source under Rand formula provisions

Morton will never be premier of this province as long as he has the Christian fundamentalist loons as supporters. You can take that to the bank.

Absolutely f***ing delusion analysis by Jack Layton, starting with this premise: He conveniently overlooks the rather important fact that nearly four million ordinary Afghanis have returned to their lives in the last few years. Many if not a majority are women and children. Now why would they do that? Unfortunately for Layton but luckily for Canada, few Canadians have much interest in what he thinks or says. And fortunately for Afghanistan, the NDP and Liberals have invested everything in believing the polls. IMO, the support from Canadians for our polciy in Afganistan is much stronger that the polls indicate. Harper thinks so too, witness his willingness to fight an election over it. Looks like Dion is also now getting the drift, witness his major backtracking this morning.

The Wildrose Alliance will go nowhere, because fringe parties on either side of the spectrum ultimately go nowhere. Their numbers will grow though, if only because the loons from the Christian fundamentalists who were crushed when they supported Ted Morton, need a home. Good place for them, out there on the perimeter. As always, the center of the mix in Alberta is the Tories, and the middle ground almost always wins in Canada.

Agree that the three gang types are Asians(Vietnamese specifically), First Nations and Hells Angels. There are also smaller Southeast Asian (Indian) bunches, that are starting to make their weight known. No doubt it is racism or at best profiling to not let your friends into the bar. It is explicable in an odd way though..... Hells Angels are much more likely to own the bar than stand in line outside. The First Nations guys don't operate in those circles. The Vietnamese are easily identified and standing right in front of the bouncer. Easy decision, though not the right one.

Does that mean Manitoba will some day catch up to Newfoundland and free itself from the scourge of relying on others for their existence?

I truly hope that the Liberals share your fascination and utter reliance on polls. Harper has already won this one, again, with Dion- or at least gotten him into an untenable postion. Harper has not actually committed to anything, and has given himself a few boltholes on Afghanistan. Dion has now committed himself firmly to the gone -in -2009 position. And this is just the beginning moves of this latest chess game, in which Dion seems to be eternally playing with less than a full intellectual grasp of the rules and manouvers available. Advantage Harper. As I predicted several months ago, Harpers election strategy will have at least two big topical hammers to pound on Dion during the upcoming campaign. The first will be Afghanistan, where the Tory message will be simple: Canadians are not cowards who cut and run when the going gets tough. Speaking of polls on Afghainstan, IMO the LIbs/NDP have read the mood of Canadians wrong, and will pay the price. Second, the Tories will point out the intransigence of the Senate in obstructing the passage of important legislation, and will point the finger of blame directly at the puppermaster, Mr Dion. And of course, Harper always has the reserve hammer, which is Dions record as a Cabinet Minister. There won't be anything left but a greasy smear on the campaign trail after a few weeks of that.... And how is that Liberal fundraising going?

Why are Manitoba politics so monolithic? The NDP has a third consecutive majority with the same 48% the Tories have in Alberta. All this despite a grim and thin record of performance, and an economy that largely depends on the welfare and kindness of others. Do you have an explanation for this?

Monolithic: Constituting or acting as a single, often rigid, uniform whole 2004 election results: The PCs won 61 of 83 seats in the provincial legislature, with 47 percent of the popular vote (CBC, Alberta Votes). This represented a decrease of 13 seats for the PCs from the previous election in 2001, although the Party edged up slightly in the popular vote. The win represented the tenth consecutive Progressive Conservative government in Alberta, beginning in 1971. The Liberals won 17 seats and 29 percent of the vote, returning to the legislature as the province’s Official Opposition (CBC, Alberta Votes). This represented a sharp increase from the Liberal Party’s seven seats in the 2001 general election, and a slight increase in popular support. The other major political party, the Alberta NDP, won four seats and 9.8 percent of the popular vote (CBC, Alberta Votes). In contrast, they won two seats and eight percent of the vote in 2001. That is why. As you can see, they have less than 50% of the popular vote, and that will drop this time. They will lose both popular vote and seats this time. What will cause them to lose power eventually? The combination of an articulate Opposition leader, and a sharp downturn in the economy. There, now you have a correct perspective.

This article is a pack of innuendo and half truths. The Chinese wanted to invest in a huge project a couple of years ago, with exclusive use of a pipeline to Prince Rupert and the harbour there. The implication that China only wants to deal with places like Iran and Iraq and the Stans or even Venezuela is laughable. They are far less stable than Canadian supplies, and far more likely to toss out the contracts on a whim. I say screw 'em. Leave it in the ground if need be.

Both the Liberals under Lawrence Decore and the NDP under Grant Notley had strong shots at government, Decore in particular in the early 90s. Politics in Alberta are far from being monolithic. This time we'll see some large cracks in the Tory facade, and notably in Clagary where th eLberals are stronger than ever. That should not be overemphasized, since they could not have gotten much weaker. Getting stronger was the only possible change, really. Kevin Taft, Lib leader, has simply failed to catch the interest of the electorate, despite ample opportunity. Brian Mason is not taken seriously by many, he overplays his hand constantly and shrilly. \Neither has offered much that is positive or visionary, both content to generally yap at the heels of the big kids. Ed Stelmach will likely lose some seats and some [popular vote, but he won't be around forever either.

Fat people die young, think of all those hundreds of uncashed CPP and OAS cheques. Supersize 'em all!

Nicely summarized. I wonder if attendance at this conference would be better if it was held somewhere like Bali? If nothing else, they could concentrate all the hypocrisy in one place.

Virtually - not all, but nearly all- major stadiums and sports venues built in North America are built with at least some public money.

Any other questions?

Were the options available to Harper or Manley any different before, during or after this report? Did any surprise options arise? No, they didn't because the choices are relaitvely simple: do we stay or go, and why? If we stay, in what context? if we leave, when and how?

Thanks for the insulting and superfical handful of words on Albertans. Try not to delve so deeply into the psyche next time. Albertans have not voted for Liberals or NDP because they have little to offer, so far. It is quite simple. Calgarians are unlikely to be so stupid as to promote Bronconier as Liberal leader and 'next premier'. They may be self serving, but I'm going to guess that they may have learned something from the fiasco that was Jim Dinning. Or maybe not, by reading this OP.

none of the above. There is no need for the rank and file RCMP to speak French in Quebec, since Quebec has chosen to have their own highway and general police force called the QPP. They may speak whatever they choose, though I expect it will be French unilingual since French is the official language of Quebec. The only bilingual province is New Brunswick, and they do have RCMP as highway cops, so they should be bilingual. Otherwise- English only is required. There, problem solved and that should ease recrutiing.

My take on Vancouver winters is exactly the opposite. Ugly grey skies pouring down misery for weeks on end. No thanks.

"At least at South Edmonton Common the parking is free" Parking has nothing to do with it. Nobody shops downtown anymore and hasn't for 20 years.

South Edmonton Common? What does that have to do with the new energy of downtown. Parking rates have nothing to do with it. The challenge is to get folks living in and near the core, and that is well and truly underway. The catalyst for central Edmonton was Grant MacEwan college. The catalyst for the big boom west of 109th street was the demographics of baby boomers. The next boom, which will be in The Quarters(the trendy name for the long decrepit east of 97th area), will be driven by a new downtown arena.

First Nations governance, governments and laws are all subordinate to Canadian government, governance and Criminal Code. If violence and extortion are occurring, the Ontario government has a duty to end any that occurs in their jurisdiction. If they can't or won't, the feds should step in and end it. The rule of law is hierarchal and the basis of our mutual safety in this country. We will not be ruled by hooded thugs. if some people think otherwise, they can challenge it from prison.

He'd do better than Taft as Liberal Leader, but that still does not mean he'd be elected. The real question is: is Calgary willing to be humbled by the defeat of their golden boy? Despite all the derogatory press about Stelmach, Albertans look at the NDPs Brian Mason and Liberal Kevin Taft and go: no thanks. Same for Bronconnier.

The auhtor of this piece will soon discover that Calgary is prone to bouts of sudden, extreme weather too.

I would guess none, though there are half a dozen swankt ones happenign that are a bit shorter. The amazing shift in downtown - I guess you live in suburbia, or you could not have failed to notice what has happened - has taken a different route. The towers are shorter than 20 floors, but that isn't where the action has been. Several buildings have been retrofitted from Class C office space into residential, a couple into seniors residential. Many. mnay , many new lowrises have gone up on the lovely tree lined streets of Grandin and Oliver. An equally large number of rental lowrises built in the 60s and seventies have been converted from rentals to condos, a source of much controversy and a contributor to skyrocketing rents. Finally, perhaps twenty heritage buildings have been converted to loft style housing, and perhaps half that converted to comercial condos. The area around Grant MacEawan is booming, and now is spreading north from there. Alberta Avenue is undergoing a transformation from the toughest part of town to yuppieland. It has already happened in Queen mary Park and all the river valley communities. Sorry, but the downtowen area transformation is inarguable.