overthere

Cite required on your claim of wide nonpartisan acceptance of a requirement for electoral reform. Things are not quite going according to plan, eh Waldo? I smell the sweet taint of a lot of political capital being burned..... and perhaps no result at all......

You are right. The committee is a charade. It has no purpose, except to quickly arrive at the predetermined result. Despite what Smallc claims, I don't think that a purported majority of Canadians voted for that at all. The NDP have a quite different view on what they'd like, and since the Liberals had no detail on what ';electoral reform' meant beyond broad homilies, one promise among hundreds- the Liberals didn't either. But they do now. I did not think it would come to this so soon, but I think the Liberals have now backed themselves into a corner. There has been a big backlash, and they are not ready for it. One of three courses of action are possible. They may back down on time lines, and leave the implementation to early in a second term. Ironically, by dismantling FPTP and bringing in ranked ballots they would have guaranteed that second term. The second option is holding a referendum. This option is less likely. Simply getting to a referendum question that is supported by enough of the House will be a Herculean task/nightmare. And any referendum is risky, which is why the Libs have opposed it relentlessly. A third possibility is to gain the support of another major party in hammering through the ranked ballots choice. They may have an opportunity with the NDP. The Libs would have to trade off plenty to get it, but the NDP may be in horsetrade mode. They are far from power and influence now and will want to change that. The Liberals could then claim 'consensus' and whip the changes through both Commons and Senate in record time. I expect that if the Liberals continue with their current program on the elctroal reform House Committee, the three Conservative committee members will resign. The Liberals will have to fill the seats with their own members, for leave them vacant. The empty chairs will be much photographed if they do that.. Kabuki Theater on the Rideau.

Name me a G7 country, with the demographics and geography of Canada, that would piss away hundreds of millions every year on this pointless, endless political waste of money The VIA subsidies are stupid, and entirely typical of Canadian thinking. If The Corridor is indeed self sufficient, then the correct procedure would be to terminate all other VIA services, and sell the break even sections. There is no need whatsoever for Canadian taxpayers to fund or subsidize VIA. If it is not viable financially, let it die. if it is viable, sell it. VIA adds nothing to the 'national fabric'. I was giving examples of why VIA continues to be subsidized, that makes three undertakings (one actual and longterm, the other two proposed) where the correct answer to the question 'why?' is 'Montreal'.

Again: there are only two causes of forest fires: lightning strikes or people. All lightning strikes are tracked in Canada. This is how they are tracked https://www.ec.gc.ca/foudre-lightning/default.asp?lang=En&n=D88E34E8-1 There was a different system that tracked lightning before this one started n 1998, If I recall correctly each province had their own. There was no lightning in the area where the fire started at that time. By the process of eliminating one of the two causes......

Every single Canadian is provided with tax avoidance measures and is strongly encouraged by the government to take advantage of them- and they all do. I see you are unrelentingly in your disapproval of any kind of personal credits or exemptions this, so you must be a flat tax advocate. I had no idea you hated the elderly, infirm, disabled or those with dependents that much.

All aboard the Gravy Trains!!! http://montrealgazette.com/news/quebec/ottawa-quebec-must-cough-up-some-money-for-light-rail-network-caisse-ceo and http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/via-rail-quebec-ontario-1.3537019 I wonder if Bombardier might get invited to tender on these projects?

There is no doubt the source of the fire was man made. That is not uncommon at all.

Two thoughts: anything published in The Grauniad is suspect. And the author is a Montreal based nutcase who has a massive hate for anything related to energy, unless it is static electricity.,

You really need to drop the fantasy that any form of proportional representaion will happen in the 'electoral reform' process. Here is why it will not happen: Liberal minorities, at best. There is absolutely no chance whatsoever the Liberals would risk that. None. It does happen to be on Waldos Silly List of Supposed Alternatives, but there is no way.

The United Kingdom, United States, Canada and the largest democracy in the world(India) all use FPTP. Yes, they are all failed states too. They must be.

In a word, yes. It scared the s++t out of the Liberals to not be in power for ten years. Ranked ballots are an easy way to get re elected indefinitely. With the farce of a preloaded Parliamentary committee now underway, the refusal to actually consult Canadians via referendum, and of course the goofy pretense of the Senate appointment committee is motion- Trudeau has lined up all the Dynasty Ducks. Grab some popcorn folks, it is time for Kabuki Theater on the Rideau to begin. There will be lights, fog machines, costumes and plenty of florid language- more than enough for everybody! Don't worry if you miss an episode or two, because I will ruin the Season and Series Finale for you: it is going to be ranked ballots. In the meantime kids, lets pretend there are other options!!!

You are making the same assumption that is made about subsidizing the CBC, that somehow Canada is frozen in time 50 years ago and that there are no alternatives today. The connectivity required then has been almost entirely replaced with other modes of personal transport, highways and airports. Note also that (from long personal experience) that living in a remote place means access is difficult and expensive. All of that is voluntary, you are not obliged to stay. For example, Churchill MB has both a viable airport, and the railway hauls plenty of freight. Prince Rupert also has an airport and a very good all weather paved highway.

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What do you think the reaction would be from Denis Coderre, then Ottawa, if the incredible happened and VIA decided to chop all unprofitable routes, operate without subsidies in a modern business model and to undertake a major trimming of Montreal HQ staff? The only Crown agency that has come close to efficiency has been Canada Post, and look what happens when they try to roll out an intelligent, well organized business plan to match reality in 2016? Answer: crushed by political interference. I don't think VIA , operating as a Crown agency from Montreal, could be profitable under any circumstances. To be fair, nearly every govt since the creation of VIA has dicked around with it. Why? Same answer: Montreal.

.500 team that was expected by some people here to dominate. You call it.

To answer the OP question 'Why are we subsidizing VIA?' requires a one word answer. Montreal. VIA is headquartered in Montreal, and buys a fair bit of Bombardier equipment. Therefore the federal money just pours in, eternally. How would you feel about the consumers of that service paying for it too?

The extra innings were a neat summary of what has gone wrong for the Jays this year Some poor fielding, good chances to score wasted, an error in the 13th, and the bullpen choking- the Jays lost and the Giants didn't even have a hit in the final inning! On the other hand, it was a fine comeback from 4-1 to tie it late..... but there are no tie games in baseball and moral victories don't count in the standings.

It is way more than food and supplies: insurance companies, many govt agencies, medical care, mental health services,registry office and more are alls et up at Northlands.

I don't recall Harper trumpeting a "TRANSPARENT PROCESS". Oh unless you mean the elected -within -provinces Senator process, which the Liberals denounced. I can see why you'd love the notion of Liberal appointees appointing non patisan Seantors that only vote Liberal. It's damned diverse. And poor Junior must have wet his drawers whn he arrived in Ottawa to find 25 empty seats in the Senate. Now how can he pump those chairs full of Liberal bums, while pretending otherwise. Oh right.....like this. Because it is 2016. ah i see. Harder is not a Liberal like none of the Liberal Senators are not Liberals. Gotcha.

Ghomeshis conduct is officially and legally not criminal. I refuse to comment about the guy grinding his crotch into my ass at work.

There is no need to criticize Trudeau for the quality or amount of services provided to evacuees. He had nothing much to do with any of it, despite his lapdog Goodale blithering on as if they did. The reason so many are registered at Northlands Expo and so few stay there is that there are much better places to sleep than a giant convention hall. It is still a destination though, because many. many public and private services have staff there to help with the myriad of things people need. One stop shopping for evaucees.

There are still many more non partisan Liberals to be appointed. You know it is coming. Be patient. I wonder if anybody has approached the Duffster about crossing the floor to the non Liberal side? He'll do it for expense money.

Thats crazy talk. Some of those people might not vote Liberal. Academics are much safer when implementing the old Liberal 'more of the same' agenda. I just love the Orwellian doublespeak here. Why don't they cut the crap and just call Harder the Liberal Senate leader? Its great that he can go to Cabinet ,meetings and get his instructions directly from his masters some complete strangers. And who would have guessed that a guy who managed the LIberal transition would coincidentally be their first pick as a non partisan Senator? What a coincidence!

Old stock? This bunch is the 'New Stack'.

Klein has been brain dead for about 45 years. Is there a formula to account for that reality?