geoffrey

This is the way it should be run, a few million within balance. A surplus on the government side is just as bad, if not worse, than a deficit.

Bullshit. Link please?

I'm so afraid. You know what, I think I just will pass on throwing a fit in a secure area of an airport or being a real shit disturber in general. Don't break the law, you'll be ok.

Who the hell cares? Family A once had those mortgages and loans. Family B doesn't deserve family A's money just because. Your ideas are rather disgusting from a liberty perspective. Or what happens when I, the single guy, needs to pay more tax than the married couple with no kids? I'll just be happy with that? No it doesn't, not in the least. Where do you get that idea? That is the most ridiculous statement I've ever heard. If I make less, I'll have more to spend?? No. Not at all. No, the Bank of Canada has tasked itself with controling inflation. It's target is 2%. Diminishing returns, not monetary policy. Both Brazil and China actively fight inflation. No one actually believes in Keynesian economics anymore. Your ideas are 20+ years out of date. And you don't even have the theory correct. Very rarely is their a legislative response to economic slowdowns, specifically anyways. The central bank controls most of that. You may see some legislative responses to this one, but likely we saw everything in tax cuts already.

I'll take Vancouver over Montreal anyday, better attitude.

Bronco has been a terrible mayor, and I've never seen the man take responsibility for a thing in his entire tenure. It's always someone else's fault that our city is a mess. Let's face it, Al Duerr wasn't a great mayor, but that was many years ago now. What we see now is the result of Bronco's lack of planning, foresight and creativity. Calgary is not a leading innovator and has very few great ideas. Why? Because the man leading city hall is a hack with no ability to inspire. Won't happen anyways. The PC's will win the next election no problem.

Every province has that same issue. We haven't had anyone die in a bridge collapse yet, ask your Quebec friends about that one. Alberta spends much more on health per capita than any other province. The problem is Tommy Douglas socialist medicine, not how much money is being thrown at a ugly public sector beast. All of these issues are positive IMO, other than the higher taxes, which will never fly here.

For real? I'd be pretty pissed if a gondola was going over my house everyday.

Ugh. Most Canadians are a little too conscious of the realities of the world to be bogged down in patriotic rambling. Buy the best value, nothing else should matter. If a Canadian does that, great, if a Chinese does that, great or a Mexican, African, Vietnamese or American. Who cares? Really.

What does it matter? I can make that decision with my own mind thanks. If we start censoring information so that we don't have people thinking certain ways, we're in alot more trouble. What an absurd viewpoint. No, that's not irrelevant. There was a news story. And the cartoons are the essiential central element to it. If they aren't published, the journalist failed in their duty IMO. I see lots of groups criticised, some religious, some racial, some other, in print and television media all the time. Your argue is weak here. I really don't think that would matter anyways. Cartoons were the story. People need to see them to pass judgement on if they are offensive. Show the cartoons. If you don't like being offended, I suggest a facist country made up purely of those that believe and look the same way that you do. Fortunately, that's not Canada or anywhere in the civilized western world. Media will print what they think is relevant, and no one should ever try to stop them. Too bad if someone get's offended, seriously, too bad. Go cry about it or something. That's not democracy.

I'd add a lawyer to your discussion before you get yourself into trouble with that.

Via Rail, Canada Post... how about Sponsorship? All ways for the government to get around the spending caps placed on the sovereigntists. All bullshit and unethical. So much Federal money was spent in Quebec during the referendum and the year leading up. None of this was counted, though one could argue it should have been.

Yes it does. In each and every case. Freedom to think and say what you wish comes before anything else. Bottom line. Especially someone's sorry little feelings. Too bad. Grow up. Sometimes in life you may be offended. Maybe we should make newborns sign a waiver. The cartoons did not directly (or indirectly IMO) put anyone's life in danger. Not the same at all. I wanted to see the cartoons that were causing the controversy. Ezra had the balls to let his readers see what the fuss was about. If the Islamic fundamentalists didn't go killing nuns and razing villages in response, this would have been a non-issue. It's not Ezra's deal. Responsible journalism is showing all the facts and letting your readers decide if cartoons are acceptable reasons to kill people.

I'm a Haskayne (U of C) guy so I'm a little biased. But honestly, both the UofA and UofC have ups and downs. It depends on what your taking. Lethbridge is 24/7 party, Edmonton is pretty decent (no McGill or St.F-X though) and Calgary is sleepy at best. Lethbridge is cheap. Edmonton is relatively cheap. Calgary is ridiculously expensive. A livable 1 bedroom is going to cost you over $1,000 here. That said, Calgary is developing a bit more classy of a nightlife, Edmonton has more to do, but it's rowdier and more blue collar. Either way, niether is 1% of Montreal. Calgary is way better for active people. Way way better. I'd venture it's the best city in Canada for active people, ahead of even Vancouver. The UofC is pretty central now, Calgary is much bigger than you must remember it. And we don't have expressways, only one, and it's mediocre. Edmonton is a great campus, and full of great people. Calgary's campus is boring and plain. Again, you don't go to Calgary for a good time and a good liberal arts education. You go to the UofC to make money. If your going for the experience, Edmonton. If you want industry connections and nice starting salary out of a business, engineering or earth sciences education, go Calgary. Like I said, Calgary for business, engineering and earth sciences (geophysics, geology or stuff like that). Maybe Calgary has an edge for computer science. Edmonton for anything else. Especially arts. Don't go to Calgary if your looking at a liberal arts education. You won't get it. There is no better place for a professional to start out right now than Calgary. I've made it pretty good, pretty fast. All without even finishing up my degree yet. You can have whatever you want in Calgary right now. How long that will last, I'm unsure. Depends on the person is what this all really comes down to.

They cheated and they lied. And they still only won by .1%. That's no victory.

Her job was to put hundreds or thousands of lives at serious risk in order to prove a political point and flex a little muscle? Wow, your priorities are really screwed up. Anyone that makes such a ridiculous move, without proper preparation or notification, deserves to be canned on the spot. The folks afterwards said it was safe, just not the best. That's no reason to risk so many people's lives. No reason at all. She started the political game, and quickly lost. Good ridance to her.

Calgary was essientially transfat free as of Jan 1 this year. $10,000 plus fines for violators. First city in Canada. Us backwards hicks out here, hey? http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2008/01...4754438-cp.html

I may be stretching a bit, but doesn't it seem that everything Mr. Strong gets involved with is some kind of political farce where the vast majority end up getting screwed?

That's not exactly true. If any guy goes expecting all women to be like Beyonce, they aren't going to be very successful. I'm sure you find some men attractive that aren't on par with Brad Pitt or George Clooney.

Good point. That's nearly $1000 in tax credits in a year in most centres. Targetted specifically at low income.

We did it in Alberta. No real reason why Quebec can't. The fact that private interests want to do just that is proof that the market can deal with electricity and resources and even make environmentally reasonable chocies. I wasn't here in the '60s and don't remember the '80s so could you explain yourself a bit better? Teenagers only existed in the 60's? Government's only spent in the 60's? Huh? I firmly believe the best way to deal with this is to slash taxes and allow people to start their own businesses. All of this extra cash, especially out here, is spawning off many subsiduary and secondary industries to oil and gas. Calgary's tech sector is growing, and maybe it can sustain itself as a backup to o&g eventually. Time will tell. The worst way of dealing with this would be the price controls and money transfers from efficent areas to less efficent areas that we saw with the NEP. Not to mention the oil producing provinces (Alberta, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland) all know better... they all know the Federal government can't actually do anything about oil. How much is Ottawa willing to lose Alberta or Newfoundland? I think your right, for now. We'll have to see how job numbers look over the next 1/2 year or so.

If Dion understood hockey, I'm sure he would have made a statement on the issue. If he chooses not to get the free publicity, then don't blame the network, just blame foolish Liberal strategists. Or the fact that everyone would view Dion saying the same as hugely insincere and a mockery...

Because David Suzuki loves ethanol! The ethanol green myth is supported by conservative types because it helps farmers. It's not any different than solar or wind or hybrids or any of the other 'green' myths. You've only called bullshit on this one because it's backed by the CPC. If only Greenies spent as much time looking into all these other supposedly green technologies. Unreleated but farm subsidies in general are wasteful for the vast majority of Canadians. Let a few farmers produce things viably. If we need to pay people to stop farming, we obviously have too many farmers. Let the market deal with the farmers. The government may have a place with green technology, but it's not in hybrids, biodiesel or ethanol.

I'd be about the same with cutting from income tax or GST and I'm in the 60-80k range. Yup. I could have. But that's not practical. Someone has to be buying new houses.

These are kids. They have parents. And they are sliding into a life where they may be beyond help in a few years. I've seen major success stories about kids coming out of rehab amongst my friends from back in high school. I'm thankful that their parents took a hard line when they did and convinced their kids to accept treatment. Unfortunately, the Alberta law isn't perfect and alot of kids still slip by. It's, not to mention, extremely expensive to put kids through these programs. Some families may lose their kids because of the lack of ability to pay. While I have no sympathy for adult drug users, young kids need the help of society to get through. Government funding for drug addicted youth is sure to pay huge dividends in the long run.