fellowtraveller

We should do this the Canadian way and award the shipbuilding contracts to a Winnipeg based shipbuilder. But we already know that the bulk of the work will go to Quebec.

There, fixed it for you.

They have little to fear now from public unions, so I expect the hacking and whacking to begin soon, I certainly hope so.They can start with CRA, Defence, Indian Affairs and Health. CBC and Canada Post are also candidates for some reality therapy.

is answered by

Here is all you need to know about that shameless asskisser Jacques Layton

Your physical person can be deemed public domain, the state frequently orders you to do or not do things: sell a kidney, be paid as a surrogate mother, kill yourself, refuse a medical procedure.

Right, keep believing that Desjarlais left her seat willingly......and that Jacques Layton had no influence...... I noticed that Pat Martin was just demoted in the shadow cabinet. Another of your coincidences?

he recognized what he had to do to win power by observing the Liberals?

Of course she was. She was warned not to vote her conscience and reaped the whirlwind when she did. Your entire post is just self serving nonsense. She served her constituency well and faithfully, and her riding association was told to terminate her by Layton, and they did. There was absolutely no other reason to get rid of her other than her actions with the SSM vote. Obviously. Every NDP except her voted the party line. The Liberal cabinet were ordered to vote their party line, the rest were free. The Tories had a free vote. That's what happened, and it doesn't matter at all if you like it or not. In any case, Parliament got it right that time.

That had nothing to do with it, the fear was that the technology was unproven on that scale. In fact, Syncrude has made very major changes to how it does things at least twice. You don't really know anything , do you? Bechtel was a construction contractor not an oil company, they f**kec up so badly they have never been back. wrong. Syncrude was built in the mid 70s. GCOS(GReat Canadian Oil Sands, now Suncor)was built in the 60s. what is your point? MOst if not all the developments in the oil sands are joint ventures, they are massive projects on any scale and companies like to spead risk.I would venture that nearly every large petro company in the world- coporate and state- has some investment here.

Bullshit. The NDP is without a doubt the most whipped party in Parliament. You follow polcy or else. Ask Bev Desjarlais, who voted her conscience on same sex marriage and was ousted for it.

Semantics? Not at all. Abortion is not mentioned in the Charter because compared to the other rights it is essentially trivial. And a lucky thing for prochoicers it is not mentioned.....or you can be utterly certain it would be subject to Charter challenges over and over ad nauseum. And what laws are those you speak of? There is no real law in Canada on abortion, only some local/provincial regulation on how they are provided, not if they are provided as part of medical care...... And that is the genius of the Canadian situation, much to the frustration of prolifers. They have no legal access, no legal challenges, not real way to keep their issue in the courts where they may find a sympathetic ear. It is because abortion is not considered a legal issue, it is considered a medical issue thus privy only to whatever choices are made by doctor and patient. It is not an important distinction, it is a critical disctinction. So no, if you support choice the last thing you want to see is abortion or fetal rights anywhere near the Charter.

It is rare indeed to see or hear anything about the NEP in Alberta, it was a long time ago.Truth be told, nobody much talks about the Liberals either. It is likely because all thses events happened so long ago, nobody cares anymore. Trudeau is somebody the old people knew, and economic refugees from elsewhere worship the guy. If Albertans need to get a hate on for the Liberals(and why bother, really?) they just need to review Chretiens term.

Not that much really. The first big project was GCOS(now called Suncor) in the 1960s, built with Canuckbucks mostly. The biggest play was in the mid 70s with Syncrude, with major investment partners the Governments of Alberta, Ontario and Canada, and private sectors partners including Esso/Exxon. The private sector investors, those bold Americans, would not invest without govt cash partners and absolute ironclad guarantees on both contruction and operation. They literally cpould not lose, and dod not lose. Syncrude was built by Bechtel Corp(American of course) and did such a hideous and horrifically f**ked up job in a financial sense that they have never done much of anything in Canada since. Bad move on their part, they have lost out on the many many billions since buit and much more to come.

First, abortion is not a basic right. The actual basic rights are found in the Charter, abortion is not mentioned.Second, there is essentially no abortion law in Canada, so if Harper were to change anything he would almost certainly have to introduce federal legislation, and it would have to somehow address funding as well as law since in reality the provinces provide and fund abortions, not the feds. Third, introducing any such law would be political suicide, andf Harper is much too clever to pound a stake into his own forehead. I take him at his often repeated word: that he will not address this issue at all. Whe he was first elected as PM, he was obliged by his party to reopen, however briefly, the same sex marriage issue. He dealt with it swiftly and with finality. He won't even bother to go that far with this one, it is done. All you have presented are your fears and fantasies. Funny they never emerged when Chretien and Martin, both staunch Christians, did much like Harper- no action at all on abortion. When the govt presents a bill that defines when life begins, when govt delists abortion as a medical procedure, I'll listen. Until then, those that support choice including myself will be happy to have Canada in the enviable position of having no target at all for the pro lifers to target, it must be very frustrating for them. You and Molly should get together and sing this little ditty in harmony.You're both wrong, Harper has obviously moved his party to the center, in the knowledge that it is far far easier and demonstrably more profitable votewise to do that rather than try to move any of the electorate in any direction. If it somehow not obviopus to you, slowly count from one to 165 and it may becone clearer.

Yes, I think that is pretty accurate. It is also true that both sides have shades of conviction. For example, some pro lifers would permit abortion in cases of rape and incest, others think it wrong in any circumstances. Yep, and classic liberals are far from united either. it is truly an issue where just about everybody has a strong opinion and it is not directly related to political conviction. But those that oppose abortion have won the semantics war, hands down. They have appropriated the highly charged 'pro-life' phrase, which implies that if you are not prolife you must be pro-death. Brilliant, though not apparently entirely convincing.

And therein lies a part of the4 problem in this discussion: characterizing people in terms whereby if they either oppose or support abortion. Like so many people, I do neither. I support the right of a woman to choose. If she chooses to not abort, fine. Choose to abort, fine. It is not my business or right to choose for her. And that is far, far away from supporting or opposing abortion.

I rarely agree with you, but if you are referring to small business we are miles or perhaps kilometers ahead of many West European countries. From personal experience, operating a small business in UK or France is a nightmare compared to Canada. large business there is heavily supported by govt, small business is the opposite.

I wonder if Quebec likes Harper any better now that he just gave them $2.2 billion in pure gravy. Jacques Layton can easily top that though by....by.... oh forget it.

I guess you have not noticed Harper saying over and over he has no intention of opening the debate. Is there something doishionest about that. Like many Christian Cons, Liberals, NDP he no doubt has a personal opinion on it, but acknowledges that the majority of Canadians support the right to choice, so will let it be. His two predecessors- Martin and Cretien- were both church attendees and avowed Christians, and they took the same course. But nobody cared about them....... and all of them know there are no net votes to be gained......

It is pretty simple. The cost of delivering first class mail in and between large southern centers is very profitable for Canada Post because of volume. The cost of delivering a letter to Iqualuit is more than $.57 and is essentially subsidized by the profit from first class mail elsewhere. The volume going to remote areas is miniscule, and the subsidy is small on the grand scale. It is a central argument by CPC for keeping the monopoly, is greatly overstated, and you have swallowed it whole. The cost to Iqualuit would go up, and could easily be handled by other means for far less cost than you or CPC make out. The cost overall for first class mail would drop for the vast majority of Canadians.

Richelieu is Jacques Laytons house now, let him worry about those optics. The feds will still send money, nobody really gives a shit about anything but that. I meant fed money for Quebec, I doubnt anybody in Slave Lake expects much, the province will look after them. Harper was in Afghanoistan, a place Jacques wouldn't dare to go.

No Air Miles on Via Rail?

I know that Walmart had to pay well above minimum wage in Alberta through 2007-2007 because otherwise they'd have had to close the doors. A fair number of businesses did just that in Alberta in 2006/2007 because they just could not attract staff and could not pay 50% more than minimum, which was what it took. Walmart- like others- cut wages after the recession hit and they were able to find staff. No doubt they'll face the same situation again with the same wage increases soon as the labour supply once again starts to tighten later this year and next.

Wow, what a complete and utter misread of reality. In fact, the Tories have moved themselves the other way- to the center-and brought a buttload of former Liberals with them. It is the Liberals worst nightmare, losing the center. The NDP have no hope whatsoever of claiming significant ground in the ROC unless they do the same. Here is the problem for the NDP over the next 4 years, and it is very real one. They are on probation in Quebec with Quebecois. They have to do what is expected of the party that represents Quebec: gain maximum advanatge, maximum clout, maximum and disproportionate money for Quebec. That of course comes at the expense of the rest of Canada, as the pie grows no larger. If they fail, they will lose seats there, lots of them. If they succeed, they will alienate voters outside Quebec. Tough job for poor Jacques, he is going to be dancing on coals for 4 years. We've already seen that , with a different message inside and ouside the province on what it takes for Quebec to separate. It won't get any easier.