fellowtraveller

OP, judging by your tastes in the first post, add Deadwood, Rome and Spartacus to your watch list for this winter. At least the first two are at our library for free.

I wish Harper could do the right thing, which would be to redistribute the 308 existing Commons seats based on population. The last thing we need is more MPs and a larger govt. That would mean fewer MPs in for example Quebec and PEI, and more in AB, BC and ON. But he cannot do that, so his options are to let it be or redistribute as he is planning, which is the least unjust option. Of course, the NDP thinks he should just give more seats to Quebec too, which is utterly moronic.can you believe this crap?

I find the article confusing in itself, as it does not adequately define the issue. It meanders on about free speech and hate crimes and Criminal Code, but the real issue with HRCs is jurisdiction. Hate crimes and hate speech are currently covered by the Criminal Code, and since HRCs are not part of the criminal justice system they have no business examining any complaints about these things. But they do get involved- which means defendants do not receive due process under the law- which in itself is clearly a Charter violation. Several HRCs have demonstrated that they are unable to make this critical distinction, so it is long past time for government to make it very clear just what their mandates will be.

Did they really now? How many Liberal officials or politicians went to jail or repaid the missing $200 million stolen from Canadians?

No, the discussion was about the recent Alberta leadership election, and the role played in it by hypocritical NDP party members, who are not permitted by their own rules to particpate in party politics other than their own. Yep, ignorant. Jets? the former Coyotes that were former Jets ? Oh right, that did not happen........

Your guess would be wrong. Wildrose will get seats in the single digit range in the next election. They are polling around 16% now. Stelmach left the Tories a parting gift when he fell on his own sword, which was to purge the party of the right wingers and move the party strongly to the middle. Note that all three of the finalists for the leadership: Mar, Redford and to a slightly lesser extent Horner- are all Red Tories. The only rightie candidates were Orman who has no support and Morton, wo had little. If Redford keeps Morton in her Cabinet, it will hurt WildRose, not her or the Tories. If he leaves, he won't take anybody that matters with him. It is a source of continual amazement to me how incorrectly politics in Alberta is perceived. The right wing, Bible thumping element is no larger or smaller here than anywhere else in Canada. And increasingly, that element is further and further from any semblance of political influence. Nice job, Ed.

Of course, if the government were to abolish the Air Canada Act the impact would be greatest by far on jobs in Quebec. Bilingual jobs across Canada would also be gone, Why do you hate the French?

I guess you are not used to how big businesses and governments operate, particularly in a unionized environment...... I'll give you a lesson, explain the contractors thing for free, just this once..... The govt knows already what needs to be done in downsizing themselves, they have long identified programs and people to chop. The people that get paid these bonuses, the EX, ADM, DM levels, also know what to do but lack both motivation and courage. Here is what happens: all the execs meet with the consultants to talk about 'change management'. The agenda will have many structured and some esoeric topics, but the purpose of the meeting is very simple: for management to tell the conusltant what the result desired is to be. The consultant trundles off, makes a show of consultation with 'stakeholders', rephrases the questions and most of all repackages the decisions that management has already made long ago. The the consultant packages them beautifully and presents them to everybody as new knowledge and considered revelations. Management is delighted to discover that their unspoken conclusions are validated by a prestigious firm. Workers are dismayed to find out that the rumours are true, though they will of course get compensated.. Oh,and the execs get bonuses for their hard work. Some will also get canned as their programs and people vanish. The axe swingeth. Twas ever so.

Untrue, the hard cap has limited both team and individual salaries. What the rising cap means is simply that more teams are generating more revenue, which would indicate that gaining more cost certainty from the strike/lockout has resulted in financial benefits for both union and owners.The NFL is the envy of pro sports. The NBA players are resiting any moves towards hard caps, not surprisingly. But they will 'lose' the strike/lockout, and win financially eventually. Big, big egos at work here.......

Great, I am glad you are in favour of abolishing the Air Canada Act. Of course, that would mean major layoffs at Air Canada for rank and file workers, and the almost certain relocation and downsizing of their bloated Montreal HQ. Would either of those events interfere with the General Strike?

who do you think we should kill first in the coup?

I know you are a fair and unbiased observer so I'm sure you would support the immediate abolition of the Air Canada Act.

I am delighted to see that there are firm guidelines on how executives earn extra pay.

Not only that, but if Air Canada employees all did their jobs there would be dramatic increases in customer satisfaction and corporate profitability.

Yeah, it isn't like the Nova Scotia Finance Minister is a senior member of his own 'political organization' or anything like that........ Is he an Independent?

You must be a member of the Conservative Party to vote for the election that we are discussing, you know- the one in the OP. The Cons place no restriction on membership other than age and residency in AB. If you are a memeber of the NDP Party(unlike others) you are required as a condition of membership to not be a member or supporter of any other political party. Wyly tells me many of his brethren did just that, since they could not have voted otherwise. Hence, they are hypocrites or perhaps just comfy with the lie to the NDP. I guess you are just ignorant. OK, that was not a guess.

Yes, and her path to the Premiers office is typical of any province.Try to keep up.

read wylys post at the top of the page, then edit your own before you embarass yourself again

Once again I marvel at the sheer mass of your lack of understanding of anything about the province you live in... truly amazing! The NDP 'support' in AB last election was 8% and dropping, it is meaningless. Mason will be lucky to keep his own seat, he should just quit now and hand it over to the far more competent Rachel Notley and let her accumulate some pension time. There just aren't 'many NDP voters' in the first place, and I guess they are all hypocrites if they did vote for Redford as their NDP membership forbids them from joing other parties...... The Liberals know they are unlectable, not least because they have no money and an idiot as new leader. That is why they lined up solidly behind Redford, and they will most certainly bring a big chunk of their 26% to the polls next spring to help her out again. It is all they have left. Why would the Alberta Party be a wild card? They have no seats, no money, no hope of getting any of either. They are composed of disappointed Liberals, who have now turned to Redford.

No. I'm saying that the hard right(which was small but vocal) within the PC party has been replaced, by formner Liberals who have given up. They are substantial in number, though not nearly as substantial as the moderate who remain. Note that a recetn poll saw Wild Rose at 16% support, which is nothing in possible seats. The reality is that Alberta is filled with people who -like the rest of Canada- like their politicians with their asses planted firmly in the middle, and that is what they have now with the governing party and the new Premier. The old Premier was too, but he had to do some rearranging of power within, and this is now nearly done. The migration of Morton clones and supporters will be easily replaced by red Tories and former Liberals. I realize that the East has little clue of what AB is about and has been about for some time. It doesn't matter any more.

You are wildly optimistic if you think this will help WildRose in any substantive way. Clever Ed Stelmach ruined it for them by stepping aside when he did, it further forced Ted Morton into a position of impotence and assured a moderate voice would be running the Tories in the future. Further helping the Tories is the reality that the new Liberal leader is an idiot, a fact he will make abundantly clear soon. Wonder why Redfford is eager to marshall a full enquiry into the supposed queue-jumping in the health system? It is because there is nothing to it, she knows it and she also knows that Raj Sherman has huge amounts of personal credibility riding on it. Buh bye Raj. That clears the decks to allow all the rest of the Liberal voters in Alberta -which were a very significant 26.4% in 2008- to migrate to Redford, which will not be at all difficult for them now. They helped hijack the Tory process, and now they are going to finally enjoy some time in the sun- As Tories. That leaves WildRose, which is really just a disgruntled rightish Calgary based Tory rump, the hardcore Christians, and a few farmers. The Calgary clan will be mollified somewhat now that a Calgarian is running the show, which was a big problem for them when their decades of uninterrupted reign by Cowtowners was rudely broken by Farmer Ned Stelmach. The hard right don't even recognize that the province has passed them by, that the electorate is firmly and squarely smack in the middle, and that nobody except them gives a shit what Jesus thinks about it all. The middlers thast have been wanking furtively with WildRose will smell their own taint and desert Ms Smith in droves now. So if your hopes were realized with the election of Redford, enjoy life on the fringe of governance, because Wild Rose isn't goinhg anywhere. Seats in 2008: Tory 72 Liberal 9 NDP 2 My prediction on seats in 2012" Tory 70 Liberal 5 NDP 1 Wild Rose 7 Alberta Party 0

Don't BC and Manitoba both have public insurance?

Yep. And it was the same in SK when the NDP were in power there. A few years ago, I checked every provincial NDP website(two provinces, Quebec and PEI I think did not have one) to review their policies on PR. Every one supported implementation of proprep except the two NDP govts in MB and SK, both of whom would have been minorities at best under that system.

One thing for sure, the Manitoba NDP are not going to be putting forth any legislation to enable the normal NDP mantra of proportional representation.

Yep. It took several years to implement. The old border facilites still stand on some borders, they look like artifacts now.