fellowtraveller

Sorry, but this is patently ridiculous when applied to Edmonton or the U of A. There is a very large foreign student contingent at the U of A, and has been for decades. There are no problems with a warm welcome on or off campus for anybody from Quebec or anywhere else. If it makes any difference, the U of A has ranked ahead of Calgary in uni polls forever. It is also a large and pleasant campus, set on the riverbank. Public transit to the campus is good, and with the LRT you can live cheaply off campus and get to school cheaply. Last year they implemented a program whereby every student has a transit pass incorporated for cheap into fees.

OK, I had to respond to that! Calgary is brown, brown, burned and ugly . The river valleys are filled with freeways, and very few trees. The Edmonton core, the river valley, is filled with parks and is gorgeous. The rest of both cities is mostly vinyl and stucco suburbs, but overall there is no contest. And I guess you are more than a little out of touch with the Light Rail. Heritage Mall is being demolished, and a massive high density development being built called Century Park, with 10,000 people living there soon. The station there will also be the turning point to Mill Woods, where over 100,000 people in need of rapid transit will soon benefit. Somebody else claimed Edmontons downtown was dead? Baloney. The center is the scene of a massive influx of residences in the last ten years, particularly near Grant MacEwan and west of 109th street in the Oliver and Grandin areas. The old downtown is also booming with many new condos and services. Next, the area east of 97th will start smoking if the new arena is announced. The U of A just opened a downtown campus with 10,000 students.....

One very strong clue is that Canadians keep voting for and electing them over and over.

I guess you didn't realize that the Bali conference has nothing to do with CLEAN AIR! It is looking at greenhouse gases, which is an entirely different subject than air pollution.

I don't know why Harper doesn't follow the same path that Dion/Chretien took: sign whatever agreement gets the best press, then do nothing at all.

Another oddity: Hyder , Alaska, which is at the very southern tip of the Alaskan Panhandle. It adjoins Stewart BC and the only road access to Hyder is through Stewart. Hyder had a few ramshackle bars, cafes and tourist shops, but obviously is in steep decline. Stewart is bigger and has also seen better times. The area is jawdropping beautiful and easy to get to off the Yellowhead Highway from near Smithers, a couple of hours east of Prince Rupert. One administrative oddity is there are no US customs entering or leaving Hyder, likely because the road ends there.. There are Canadian officials on the Canuck side, but very casual.

So what if Trudeau met with the provinces? I've already explained why they were clearly meaningless. Pierre was not into power sharing or money sharing, centralism was heart and soul part of his makeup. Next, you'll be arguing that he was not dedicated to a powerful central govt, which de facto means that whatever the provinces wanted, they were going to have to fight him tooth and nail. The meetings Trudeau held were largely without meaning, other than to convince some yokels that he was somehow interested or conciliatory. Hold a meeting, hold your nose, then go home to Ottawa at first opportunity and take a shower. Film at six.

Dou you contend that Trudeau was not a fierce federalist who strongly favoured a strong central government? That implies that any meeting to discuss new powersharing or devolution of funding would be anathema for Trudeau, and they were. He had no interst in the West because they wanted more autonmy and delivered few seats for him. He did have a bit of interest in the howlings of Central Canada and the Maritmes because they did deliver seats. Sure he met with the provinces, which he would view as a waste of time because he had no intention of kowtowing to any financial demands, unless they served a larger poltical need. And that is the essence of federal provincial meetings, the provinces dunning the feds for whatever they can get.

Williams may have gained some votes in Nfld - votes he would have had anyway,and on a non-issue to boot- but he has burned a few bridges that were important to the people of Nfld. Bridges and relationships that did not need to be torched. Good press at home though. Film at six, six thirty in NFLD. And people will love him for it, go figure.

Any way you cut it, in the last five years homicides are up slightly, gun homicides are up sharply......... If gun control has any effect, should it not be to stabilize or reduce gun homicides. is that not one of the primary goals. to save human life via gun control? doesn't work. Actually, this whole thread is moot anyway. There are millions of unregistered long guns in Canada, held by people who will not register them in any circumstances. All the talk and all the legislation will not change that reality.

No, Trudeau was a fierce federalist/centralist and he didn't meet with the provinces because he did not give a rats ass about what they thought.

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.

The obvious thing for Harper to do is to sign whatever KyoTwo says, and do it publicly. Next, do nothing and never even consider an implementation plan. It worked well for the Liberals, why not him?

There is some interesting Statistics Canada info available: statscan In the last five years - all years where gun control was in place in Canada- homicides have risen about 4% overall. Homicides with guns as the murder weapon have risen about 25% in the same period.

That is why I did not compare them, but pointed out that both are the result of a justice system that has lost its way. Latimer derserved jail time, but enough is enough. Brutal murderers are released before they have served the kind of time he ihas. With Homolka, once the evidence and the true nature of her actual involvement was confirmed, her 12 year deal sholdhave been voided and she should have stood trial for multiple murders. When you make these deals, you are supposed to depose enitrely and truthfully and if you do not, you pay. The whole thing remains a disgrace on our justice syste. Latimer is the same in that sense.

Surely Brian Mulroney is involved somehow.

Karla Homolka walks free, and Rober tLatimer does not. Some justice system we have here.

Classic Newfies, you want your cake and to eat it too. Get with the program.

I thought a federal union was behind the arming of border staff, insisting that it was necessary for personal saftey. Is this incorrect?

I didn't say Harper was Gandhi. But Williams is on another scale entirely. He clearly has a swollen head, and I think his portrayal of the feds as enemies is dishonest, misleading and ultimately does not serve Newfoundland. In short, he is a liar when he claims the feds cheated Nfld in any way.

Boy , that must have been tough for all ten provinces to agree on what is a federal responsibility.....and federal money.

A young man is dead in difficult circumstances. Could you do his family a small courtesy by refraining from this kind of crap?

Caught some comments from Williams before the sheer tedium of the man caused me to click it off. He comes across - to me- as a giant windbag and complete a-hole.

Maybe where you live.....not in central AB. Last winter was brutal, cold, and long- the worst I can remember.

For the same reason we have wars: despite the veneer of 'civilization', we are a violent, dominating species of animal. That attitude helped get us to the top of the food chain, and helps keep us there.