fellowtraveller

The status of First Nations within Quebec and Canada was raised by the First Nations many times in both referendum campaigns and every time the separatistes angrily shouted them down. It is the last thing they want to talk about. The notion put to them is that 'if Canada is divisible, then so is Quebec', given that the First Nations and likely Montreal have no interest in a sovereign Quebec and would prefer to remain within Canada. It is not a topic for polite company in La Belle Province.

Ummm, from the actual cost in Canadian cities for NHL season tickets...... Oilers tickets range from about $2500 for nosebleeds to $11,000 for the best seats. $7500 per seat is not at all unreasonable, double that if you have a friend or companion willing to spend three hours in your company. Then there is is beer, parking, food and babysitters......This isn't the Moose or the Goldeyes....... That's $15K per pair, every year. People keep saying Winnipeg has changed and gotten wealthier since the Jets fled last time. Here's a newsflash: the NHL has gotten much, much more expensive too. Good luck, you'll need it. The situation is even worse in an even smaller economy in Quebec City.

The arena is too small. AHL franchises cost a fraction that it takes to run an NHL team.

This is the kind of post that keeps me coming back.Thank you William Ashley

If the Manitoba/Winnpipeg economy is so strong, why is the province the only Western province that eternally requires billions in equalization money every year? Why are there so many skilled workers from MB now residing in AB?But let us move past our own ponderings, why hasn't the NHL leapt at the opportunities to relocate one of their many struggling teams to Winnipeg? The answer is simple: they've done the math too and would rather not have yet another flop there. Having said that, they may well allow a move. They have done dumber things, quite a few of them. Oh, and I need to adjust my math. Season tickets in Winnipeg will be around $15,000 a pair on average, not including any playoffs. That is after tax money too for the ordinary patron, or around $20-$25k before tax income required. Every year, Forever. Ain't likely in Winnipeg, and you need about 6,000 to 7,000 families with that kind of coin.

The Liberals and the Cons have long known that you survive and perhaps thrive smack in the middle of the polticial spectrum. Let us hope the NDP never learn this reality, so far they have stubbornly resisted the idea.

One thing for sure, Mr Ignatieff is free to resign anytime he decides his position in the Party in untenable. IMO opinion that day is close at hand.

Willing to take one on is not the same thing as running one profitably. The easy part, and it is not so easy, is to build an antertainment palace with public money to house a pro team. The hard part is to sell out the building of perhaps 19,000 capacity with single tickets costing $100 to $250 per seat for 82 regualr season games, 6 preseason games and playoffs. Repeat this every year forever. It is going to be really hard to do in all three of those places, they are small and the economies are small. A pair of season tickets will run you around $25,00 cash per year payable in advance. How many Quebec city or Winnipeg fans can afford that every year. The corporate base is small. Are they expecting the feds to also buy a few thousand season tickets? If you were wondering about Bettmans reluctance in moving failed franchsises into high risk places in Canada, wonder no further.

Pat Martin is a very strong candidate. Not because of anything he says and does, but he has a strong power base in the epicentre of NDP support- Manitoba. He is old school, and the NDP mainstream has long denied any move to the centre. People like Mulcair represent a risk at a time when the party cannot afford any loss. Laytons future depends on the party performance in the next federal election, not his health. He has increased seat count, but if that stalls he will be gone. The NDP have had an unprecedented opportunity to bury the Liberals and take away their seats in the last five years and have not apparently done so given their eternal 15% polling results. That is why Layton won't be pushing for an election now, he knows he and the Party are not going to do too well. It may well be that he votes to turf the Tories, but only if he is certain the Liberals are in even worse shape and don't want an eelction, and both of those things are already in place.

Hey Mr Ignatieff, in fact you can put a price on culture! In Edmonton, the price is $450 million for a new downtown arena and the project is short about $150 million at this point. You can send the cheque to Mayor Steven Mandel, before Friday would be great. Thanks.

The Liberals have a real conundrum on their hands....They know now that Ignatieff is unelectable as PM. Do they: a) force an election, get whipped and quite likely hand a majority to Harper, then replace Ignatieff as leader in a leisurely manner while the Libs rot in Opposition or delay an election and replace Ignatieff immediately, then force an election where they may hold Harper to a weaker minority or perhaps oust him with a coalition? It gets worse for them, since in neither scenario do they have anybody both willing and able to produce a win for them. The only person likely to be able is Frank McKenna, and he does not appear willing.

The Liberals would have done it if only they had some money.

The Mission Lawrence of Arabia

You lost me there, sputnik. If the platform appealed to Candians, they'd vote NDP. They don't, mostly they vote for other parties. Therefore, the NDP does not have broad appeal to Canadians. Wishing it were different does not make it so.

Mulcair has little base in the NDP and his appointment as Deputy Leader is largely symbolic. He's the Linda Duncan of Quebec. Layton has no qualms about public smackdowns of rogue NDP MPs, yet generally lets Martin run his mouth. There is a reason for that. Martin is a candidate, and a serious one. Layton is on shaky ground, he needs to increase popular vote and seat count or he'll be under pressure to quit. He has had opportunity for both in the lat few years and has to take more seats from the Lierbals next election to keep his job.

OK, we are going to start with your OAS and CPP benefits. Thanks for caring.

Regarding the OP (anybody remember the OP?), it seems ridiculous to eliminate 'discrimination' between genders for insurance purposes. Some groups are higher risks and should pay higher premiums. Teenage male drivers have much worse risk than middle aged women, yet those women will be obliged to pay extra because... it is politically correct. Long ago Saskatchewan had an interting take on insurance, which was govt run. The govt insured the vehicle, not the driver. That meant that every year your insurance on the same vehicle would drop a little bit, as the vehicle depreciated in value. The drop was offset by increases in repair costs, but eventually it would be fully depreciated and insurance would be very cheap indeed. But wait a second, what about bad drivers? They accounted for this by having annual renewal of drivers licenses, and any traffic violations during the year meant your renewal fee went up dramatically and stayed up for a few years. An annual renewal that normally cost $25 might be several hundred or a couple thousand dollars. I don't know if they still do this.

I think he hopes the same thing but.... Martin is an ambitious guy and he wants Laytons job.Who knows, he may have it sooner rather than later.

His party already appeals to the extreme left, his basic problem is that as leader he has failed to sell the message outside that group in any substantive way during his tenure. Now he is facing some migration of that vote. At worst, he has to keep what he traditionally has had. I reckon there is a new pragmatism in big l;abur as there is in many working class Canadians that may be hard on the NDP base. And if they slide backwards in seats, how can Layton stay on as leader? And that is why Layton won't force an election, for his own sake and because there is no pot of gold for the Party at the end of that rainbow, not now.

Let us not forget her hiring of Deputy leader Georges Laraque. Yeah, he was nabbed because he has some profile as a gentle giant former NHL player. There is no doubt that George is a passionate advocate for the things that move him, and a genuinely nice guy. But... he does not have the kind of profile that moves people to vote Green and lets face it, George is not the brighest bulb in the string. Bad choice.

I reckon Jack can hear the knives being unsheathed backstage.... Despite a solid five years of opportunity including a very vulnerable Liberal Party , the NDP is presently sliding backwards in the polls. He needs to maintain or bump his seat count at the next election, and in this environment that is really unlikely. He is personally between a rock and a hard place as leader. To be fair, I don't know if anybody could do better than Layton, the problem is not so much any leader but the message and platform of the NDP nationally just does not appeal to many voters. But speaking of Layton posturing.... the other day I was watching a replay of the Gold Medal hockey game from the 2010 Olympics, a sports network has been running highlights from the Games for the last few weeks. Sure enough, they showed again the scenes from that Toronto bar where Layton has pushed himself right in front of a TV camera and is seen keeping an eye on it for cues on when to look patriotic. It was just as embarassingly transparent now as it was then. A clever Liberal media hack could make some mileage from that footage in an election campaign.

Gotcha, I misunderstood what you meant- govern as if they were a majority. And still agree, the only people that can afford an election are the Tories(in all ways) and the Bloc. It even looks like the Greens are vanishing, I rarely hear a peep from May and they need to win a seat or two to remain viable.

Is that the same Ireland led by President Mary Macaleese for the last 14 years? Why, yes it is,

IMO Daniellle Smith has absolutely no chance of leading Alberta, certainly not in the next election. The Tories will bide their time, elect a new leader(Gary Mar is about to enter and is a very strong contender), then hold an election and win easily. Write that down.

What an astonishing statement,women are not electable asleaders in the West. There are many examples of just that right now, and many more in the past. Here is a list of current female leaders just the current ones. Ever heard of Merkel?