fellowtraveller

He has little to no chance against Dinning. I don't see him as being in second place, what about Norris, Oberg, Mar et al? Dinning is surely a nightmare for the other provincial parties. He's smart, respected , good looking and totally at ease in many Alberta power circles.

Prediction: another vote for patronage, regionalism and institutional corruption. The usual.

No, what happened is that members and supporters of the Liberal Party - bureauvrats and politicians- systematically rewarded their friends and their Party. It was extensive, long term and the amounts stolen from me and you were not insignificant. It is unforgiveable. People who claim that theft and corruption are OK as long as it doesn't involve everybody are partisans who minimize the extent of the corruption for political gain.

Any speculation on the future of the PM? Overall, is he right now an asset or a liability to the Liberal Party? They have managed, barely, to put off the election - likely for a year. Will they use that time to put in place a younger leader with less baggage? No matter what he says or does, Martin will be seen as connected to Adscam, part of an Old Guard that taints the party. He is old, and looks exhausted. I do not see Stronach as ever leading the Liberals or even being a serious contender. Frank MacKenna - the saviour returning from the wilderness after a short stint hning an international statesman image? Perhaps a wild card, Brian Tobin?

Well, we do have that in common. The problem is that, for some reason that I personally find unfathomable, having your own government steal money to fund their political activities is acceptable for much of our population. Not only acceptable, but preferable to at leat a couple of legitimate alernatives. Well, maybe. But I think the situation is well beyond that now. The people doing all the talking are the same people that stole my money. Ottawa is now pretty much universally hated, mistrusted and not believed by the majority of at least two provinces: Quebec and Alberta. At least one of those provinces intends to do something tangible to change their relationship with Ottawa. And this time it will be easier, the PQ have a critical mass of resentment and grievance to draw upon. What do we as a nation have to answer that mass? Who will speak for Canada?

Post #40 is complete and utter crap, if it is referring to the Conservative Party platform. It's OK Sparky, hold off on the fear - mongering for now...... the time will come..... If the author is referring to small-c conservatism: who cares, as there is no mainstream political party in Canada that promotes any of that. Abortion for example.... Martin and Harper have exactly the same comments and attitudes privately and publicly. Privately and personally, both have indicated that they are opposed to abortion. Publicly ans as a matter of Liberal /Conservative party policy, both have repeatedly said that they have NO intention of introducing any legislation on abortion. Canada has no abortion laws, and that won't change no matter who governs.

(bawl-kuh-nuh-ZAY-shuhn) Division of a place or country into several small political units, often unfriendly to one another. The term balkanization comes from the name of the Balkan Peninsula, which was divided into several small nations in the early twentieth century. Just wondering - is there anything of substance left in Canada that all or most of us have in common? Other than hockey of course. Corruption and greed seem to be our new standards of performance for governments at all levels. Hate and isolation are replacing consensus and compromise. Is there anything we have in common to hold us together as a nation? Why are we doing this to ourselves?

Your post is much too long, can't be bothered analysing every line. But this one caught my eye: "After all, we have Chretien’s Clarity Act and the Ottawa politicians get the last word. Therefore nothing in Canada will be allowed to change " I do not agree that the Clarity Act has much clout in Quebec. Parizeau was asked this very question a couple of days ago and his response was: 'Get serious. If Quebec has decided to leave, ultimately Canada will be obliged to negotitate" He's right of course, and Duceppe is well aware of this reality. To be honest, I have to agree with Quebec commentators who declare that every day there seems to be less and less reason for Quebec to remain in Canada. Who will speak for Canada?

The NDP will be stringing out their little day in the sun for absolutely as long as they can. No matter what, they know that they will never form the govt in Canada. It's one of the very very few times that they've had any relevance at all.

What are you talking about? When Martin tabled the budget a few weeks ago, it was clearly designed to appease the Cons, and Harper indicated that although he had some reservations he would vote with the Liberals and approve it. The NDP and Bloc, in the first 'unholy alliance' agreed to vote against it. Net result: if all went according to what the leaders said, the budget would pass and the government would remain. Next, the Libs and NDP negotiated a separate side deal which completely altered the origianl budget. Cons and Bloc opposed, and still do. Nothing inconsuistent there, except of course the Liberals tabling one budget, then a couple of weeks later suddenly discovering they needed $5 Billion more in new spending. Welcome to MuppetLand.

Goodbye Quebec Goodbye Alberta Canada will be a different place after Thursday

Surely it is obvious? The Liberals are going to be wiped out entirely in Quebec. If the Libs are re-elected nationally, it will be without any federalist presence in Quebec. Step one in crisis. Step 1A when Duceppe takes over as PQ chief and wipes out the Provincial Liberals. The West will be left with a few nominal Liberals. That means that Ontario and the Maritimes will constitute the Liberal government. The regions will all be polarized. Many many Canadians will be left with the conclusion that their participation in Canada is pointless, that Ontario runs the show, and that Ontarians will tolerate theft of taxpayers money. We are becoming a nation of selfish regions. Why wouldn't we though, with the federal govt endlessly meddling with the provinces responsibilities, while making one -off financial deals aty the same time. The Politics of Division. Thanks Jean, thanks Paul. All of that equals crisis. I feel Canada as a country is on increasingly shaky ground. A Liberal win would be disastrous.

The management of acute care beds is always a political football, unfortunately. Decisions regarding hospitalclosures, downsizings and increases should be made with three criteria in mind: 1, lifespan of BC residents- will changing the nmer of beds affect the average lifespan of residents? quality of life issues - will change materially affect the quality of life for anybody? geography- health care must be available to all, but it is unreasonable for small town /rural residents to expect the same timeliness and level of care as somebody living next to a major hospital. That's a lifestyle choice with consequences. Alberta reviewed these criteria in the early 90s and learned that the province had 50% more acute care beds per capita than both BC and Ontario. Did Alberta residaents live longer or better than those in other provinces. Of course not, so what was the point of those extra beds?

I do understand the explanation, thank you. Assuming you have each Party presenting an equal number of candidates in the electoral district , wouldn't most people just vote for all the candidates in their favourite Party? What is the advantage to that? How does it improve the democratic process. Thanks again, ad hats off to BC for having both fixed date elections ad looking into this reform.

Could you summarize the proposed system for the ignorant like myself? Whatever the outcome, I am thrilled to see somebody, anybody, try to change the face of democracy in this country. Our old system no longer serves us well.

IMO the true crisis will come if the Liberals are re-elected, even with a minority govt. There are many citizens who will give up on this country completely, people that would find that unimaginable until now..

So long then, Scott. Best to practice using the washroom without toilet paper before you'll actually need to.

This thread and the poll choices are a preview of the scare tactics the Liberals will use to appeal to the electorate. Why not, it works every time. I see the re-election of the Liberals as a surefire way to precipitate a real crisis in this country.

Add in a weak, corrupt federal government headed by a PM who is apparently quite willing to do anything including spending unbudgeted billions of dollars to appease any province that whines.... does that help establish it? Get it while you can: that is the level of federal provincial dialogue now. How do you think that happened? Does Mr. Martin bear any responsibility for the truly pathetic state of our Dominion? A real constitutional crisis is surely brewing in this country, and about time too.

Not so hard to imagine for Jack Layton, he aligned himself instantly with the Bloc Quebecois immediately after the budget speech. Or has that been conveniently forgotten? The Liberals and Bloc have voted together on countless occasions too. I assume you are referring to the shameless, relentless pandering to special interests done by Paul Martin in recent weeks? You know, his recent agreements with NS and Nfld, Ontario, Manitoba and now Saskatchewans turn at the trough. Are those the policies you object to? Me too.

I would encourage 'our friends' in Manitoba to undertake absolutely anything to reduce their chronic reliance on the federal teat. Good times in the socialist paradise, at our expense. The have-not provinces are now essentially Manitoba and the Maritimes. Go figure.

Imagine how well off we would have been had he been even a fraction as careful with our money.

Yeah, let's listen to some 30 year old ramblings from a PM who had no head at all for business, then invest a few dozen billion selling electricity to Japan. Maybe we could store it in batteries first and spare the ocean floor.?

Argus, you are such a skeptic. What likely happened is that Chuck Guite, frisky and vital rogue bureaucrat, acting completely on his own with signing authority for a couple of hundred million bucks, selected a few ad agencies at random out of an old copy of the Montreal Yellow Pages. This unpredictable scamp, acting on his own and without oversight of any kind, dispensed contracts randomly without any of those corporate nuisances like a written contract with measurable performance indicators. In fact, Chuck had no expectations at all! In one of those astonishing astral confluences that keep philosophers AND mathematicians employed worldwide, it turns out that all of the ad agencies are connected intimately to Liberal bagmen! How could Chuck have possibly guessed??? Poor Chuck: going to jail for a complete accident. Did I mention that Chuck acted completely on his own?

David Kilgour is an unprincipled whore, and now we know his price. Of course he will get a Senate seat or ambassadorship, that's the part of the deal even the Liberals would be ashamed to admit to just now. At least he was cheaper than the $250 million of taxpayers money for each NDP vote. It is unlikely the Cons can force an election. At best, they can tie now, and the Speaker will vote with the Liberals.