overthere

Perhaps you are unaware that Gulf refineries have already built very expensive heavy oil upgraders and increased refining capacity long ago in anticipation of Keystone XL supply.(these upgraders were originally planned for western Canada, spefically the Heartland area of Alberta. They can still be built there) And of course US traded oil companies have invested hundreds of billions, a serious play, in the source of the heavy oil in Canada. You might be able to supply the refineries with conventional oil to keep them going, but you do not have a domestic source of heavy oil for the upgraders already built. It's either Canada via XL, or via ships in the Gulf from Venezuela. Why do you hate your own refiners? Why do you hate the fisheries of the Gulf?Do you need all those workers on welfare now?

That statement illustrates that you have no idea why Germany actually bails out Greece. Germany is an exporter of high quality things. They get paid in Euros. As an exporter, it is very much in their interest to keep the relative value fo the Euro moderate and stable. Propping up Greece or rather propping up the Euro currency is exponentially cheaper than the alternative of not propping up both the country and the currency. Becuase Germany did not do it, the Euro is at risk. If Germany was obliged to shift back to using the deutschmark, the relative value of the mark to other currencies( like the dollar and pound) would skyrocket instantly. Of course that would instantly make German exports extremely expensive, uncompetetive and destroy the German economy. Propping up the Euro/Greece is peanuts. You're welcome. What is far more worrisome to the Chermans is the state of other south European economies like Spain and Italy. They are far larger than the problems in Greece and portugal and far more dangerous overall. Another one that is in deep doo-doo is France. They have more or less completely failed in doing what they must to get out of massive deficit spending. Big problems ahead for a big economy.

Not really. Services are part of all economies, but the most successful economies are all exporters and often exporters of value added goods. China, Germany, USA for example all make things that everybody wants to buy.

I avoid travel agents too and have travelled a lot.in spite of that. I have only been once on an all-inclusive, which was nearly as horrible as expected. My usual plan is to book the cheapest airfare possible to wherever, plus one or two nights accommodation at the destination. Once I'm there and rested a bit, we search out the kind of hotels we like, which are not in travel agent brochures. Istanbul will have many such hotels at a fraction of package rates.

Yep. We have been paralyzed for a while now, and no end in sight to it. We are a resource driven economy that is unable to help itself. BC has now screwed itself out of a boatload of LNG money. Apparently they'd rather export dirty coal. Bizarre. But.... only some pipelines are built in the US, can you think of a notable exception?.

No. The US may be the most important ally for the UK, and that may strengthen if the UK leaves the EU, but that certainly does not mean the inverse is true. This is what matters: It also matters that we share a 5000 km land border, and three ocean coastlines, and the path of ballistic missiles from a bunch of Americas enemies pass over Canada. Y'all get a little moist when the Royals stop in for a visit, but your real buddies are right next door.

I like my local liquor store in sunny AB. It has about 600 different kinds of beer in stock. Six hundred. It's yet another example of how privatization destroys choice. God Bless the Beer Store for protecting you from capitalism in Ontario.

Looks like once again you have not even read your own link. Sony is not quoted in the link. They didn't say anything. The 'journalist' who wrote this posts a giant photo of the Sony CEO, but the article contains only speculation from outsiders who are pecking at crumbs. There are always hens on forums like this willing to spread the excrement resultant.. The reference to a disgruntled former employee found on social media is meaningless. It does not mean that the employee did or did not do the crime. Yet another example of witless speculation being seized and presented as EVIDENCE.

By the end of 2015 ON and PQ should be duking it out for the championship. Wynne is an achiever. "The Bill" It must refer to the harsh times when Central Canadian banks and manufacturers screwed both West and East with the active connivance of Ottawa, then tossed a few stale bones to the survivors and pretended it was charity. That bill.

We take it for granted because we are fat, lazy and have forgotten what is costs to have that wonderful security of person. Rule of law is not a 'common value', it is something that has to be bought and paid for constantly and in a common awareness of just how vital rule of law must be to each of us in this country. And you cannot contract all of it out.

A great number of Canadians are blissfully unaware of the massive free ride we have been enjoying for many decades from our well armed and friendly neighbour. I don't know what you mean by 'what security means'. You can argue to your hearts content, but there are really only two variants : external and internal. External means the ability to independently protect your own borders with your own forces. We fail miserably at this and have for at least 60 years. Our sole strategy is to enter into alliances that provide for joint defence with allies, mainly NATO. We have all our eggs in this basket. Australia, for example, also has alliances but has far more independent capability. They also spend more on national defence. Internal security means police, courts and a respected and effective justice system. In spite of all the whining, these work well in Canada. It operates on the basis that if you break the law, you will be found and punished in a consistent way. The other and more important side that means so much to every citizen is that to a large degree we can each live with personal security and will not be persecuted by courts or police. It seems obvious that this is the very foundation of freedom, but you;d never know it by the amount of bitching from supposedly aware people that should know better.

Students who reside in a home with a moderate to high household income do not qualify for student loans where I live in Canada. If the rich parents choose not to fund their childs education, there is no choice but to move out if the student wants loans. Publkic universities in Canada do not have income qualification requirements on entrance applications.

One of the worlds more interesting places and does not suffer from the relentless sameness of so many large cities. Much of it is best done on foot and the food is good to excellent. Take a harbour tour to see the place as it was seen for a couple of millenia prior to land transport.

Nope. Every time you insure, you are asked specifically if the vehicle will be used for hire/compensation. I just insured a vehicle over the phone yesterday in a recorded call. It is asked for a reason. It is recorded for a reason. What could that reason possibly be?

Not at the banks, or at least not at the two banks where I have seen their redundancy planning up close. It would take several hours to staff up at a secondary location, but the data should be flowing in minutes if not seconds. I don't think Loblaws or Walmart would be crippled if HQ networks collapsed, the stores can run on their own. But banks......

security of citizens is or should be the #1 priority of any government. The 1% spent on the armed forces is only one of many expenditures on security. Police and the entire justice system consume much more than that. And common values are secondary to rule of law, unless you consider rule of law a value. I don't, I see it as far more fundamental than that. Rule of law is what many, many immigrants to this country actively seek and what many residents take for granted. eta to remove major typo

UK and France have or had free tuition for decades and their economies have floundered far more in the last half century than Canada , which has typically had heavily subsidized but not free tuition in the same period. You need to demonstrate that: lower income families have no access to student loans and grants, and that bureacracy is reduced, since you imply that there is no screening whatsoever under your system of free money for anybody. To be fair(as is done elsewhere, like France) you'd also have to have a system of financial support for rent, food and sundries for all students. Otherwise, the evil middle class and higher would have an advantage over the less wealthy. Let's see your estimates on the whole enchilada, not just tuition. Perhaps you could use the nearly -free-tuition schemes of Qubec as an example. Obviously Quebec is thriving under that scheme and is far ahead of the ROC in every measurable way.

$.75/liter at Costco yesterday

Diesel in AB has been more expensive than gasoline for a long time. That is counter intuitive since diesel is a lower quality fuel. A farmer explained it as being simply supply and demand. There is chronic high demand for diesel, so they charge more. The demand comes from truck and train traffic, not fuel oil use here. A new local upgrader/refinery will be online soon that is specifically aimed at cranking out diesel, perhaps that will help.

I think it is now about even odds that the UK is out of the EU within five years. The next step for all EU members must certainly involve a large loss of sovereignty, which must be ceded to Brussels. There is no way to have a coherent joint fiscal policy without that step. Britain won't be the only one to balk.

He is a victim. I blame society.

The Imitation Game: very good Blue Ruin: a small indie movie about revenge gone wrong.... also very good. It is on US Netflix if you have access. eta: The Hobbit Part Whatever: it was pretty good but only if you are into the Tolkien story told in massive detail. The three parts of the Hobbit movies run something close to 9 hours to relate the story of a 200 page book. Thanks for doing this Peter Jackson and thank you for mercifully finishing.

Must be one of those Onatario reporters. He may not have noticed that Harper already has all the seats in two provinces in the West. He is right that having those seats helps achieve a majority, by some quirk in the Constitution those Western seats are part of the total. And contrary to rumour, there are several women in the West that vote, and by golly they vote for all the parties!

They are already very heavily subsidized. They also have no obligation whatsoever to remain in Canada after graduating so citizens may enjoy the benefit of the enormously expensive gift they've been handed for many years of post secondary training.

Levelling the field? Govt assistance is already tilted hard towards those who are short on money. The interest free student loans and free money from grants in some provinces are only available to low and working class families/students. If you or supporting parents have resources, you don't qualify. I have also never understood why buying a large future income stream that lasts a liftime and is a prime reason for attending university- should be free. It isn't for trades people and entrepreneurs, why only for uni students?-