overthere

You left put something important, a factor in nearly all big money players. They can get the money elsewhere. Other teams will pay big bucks for long terms. Money is not really an issue for the player. Stamkos is the kind of player that knows he is going to on OLympic and world Championship teams. He is going to get his share of those medals to feed the ego. But will he get Stanley Cup(s) in Toronto? In his lifetime? Really good players become great players and HOF candiates when they win Cups. Where can he best do that will be part of his decision.

Who wouldn't wish for the double blessings you've enjoyed with McGuinty and now Wynne?. You folks can really pick 'em.

And neither will you. Both of us guilty of a rush to judgement. You of the process,, myself of the verdict.

Yep, the Oilers beat the Marlies Leafs handily

"procedural issues"?? A procedural issue is when they fail to file on time, or paperwork gets lost. No, what happened here is that the Crown failed to prove his guilt of the crimes they charged him with. That is more than a procedural issue.

The police are rarely shy about asking 'victims' exactly what happened and are not shy about exploring their relationships with the accused. The interviews prior to laying charges were wholly inadequate. Nothing stopped them from asking the complainants the same questions that the defence ultimately did ask. And the Crtown read thse brief and incompete interviews, and went to trial with that info. Fail and fail. The accusers answered what they were asked, but they were not asked nearly enough prior to trial.

I can assure you that the cops spend far more time than 45 minutes interviewing witnesses and complainants in major cases. So does the Crown. They both failed miserably here. This one played out in public like a 'Matlock' episode. It certainly did not have to.

Sorry. I was unclear. I think either party will build a new pipeline on a simialr path as Keystone XL, minus the Canadian component. They can fill it with Bakken oil. The upgrader capacity in Texas can be used up by Venezuelan oil. It is not an environmental issue. Everybody gets what they need at little potlcial cost Except Canada.

I do blame the Crown. I recall that the first complainant had one police interview that listed 45 minutes. They did not ask her any of the questions that later caused so much problem for the Crown, like contact with Ghomeshi after the alleged incident etc. It was worse with the second complainant. Polcie failed, and the Crown should have noted that and made them ask those questions before charges were laid.

I'm not speaking in generic terms about these kinds of cases. In this specific case, the Crown blew itself up with wholly incompetent vetting of the complainants and their complaints. There is no need for you to repeat what I said about why Ghomeshi had no need in this case to defend himself directly. It's his right as a defendant to speak or not speak.

The existing projects have at least 50 year business cycles, meaning they were costed to survive ups and downs in the markets. Note that two of the biggest operations (Suncor and Syncrude) have been around since the 60s and 70s, and have seen all this before- there have been very extended periods of $12 to $25 barrel oil before.

Oh, I haven't forgotten the Venezuelans. They are one of the winners in this chain of events. The oil companies spent billions to build upgraders at their Texas refineries to handle Canadian heavy oil expected through Keystone XL. But no matter, now they will just upgrade tankers full of Venezuelan heavy oil. Mexico is also a customer, since they too now are in export mode. USA taken care of itself. Check. Venezuela. Check. Australia. Check. Russia. Check and so on. Big loser in this play? Canada. Primary cause for being big loser?. Canada.

Roger. I count that as 5, with four of them done. I expect that the next big build in he US will be a version of Keystone XL, to bring oil out of North Dakota shale to both Illinois and Cushing. They don't want or need the competition from Canadian oil, and the upgraders for heavy oil now built in Texas at their refineries (a few years ago ) and intended to take Canadian heavy oil will be fed from Venezuela and Mexico. The USA has quietly prepared quite nicely for the future oil market. For the present too actually. We have done less than nothing. And will continue that pattern, while arguing over nothing. Its what we have become, unfortunately.

It is the Loser Bowl tonight, Leafs vs Oilers. They met earlier this year, and the Oilers had one of their worst games of the year, which is saying something. Leafs are going full Buffalo now in a season ending tank job: trading their better players and not calling up their best prospects. I wonder if Babcock is part of the strategy, or just doing what he can with what he is given? Weird stat: the Leafs have beaten the teams that host 'generational' players, in their first meetings. They beat The Oilers when Gretzky had his first game against the Leafs, they beat the Pens with Crosby in their first meeting, tonight is the first game against McJesus McDavid.

'He said, she said.' In this case, there has been no 'he said' in court, no testimony from Ghomeshi, and no defence witnesses. There has been no need, since the Crown witnesses have been tainted with their own words and actions, and the case poisoned by the incompetence of the Crown.

Still stuck on that?

The entire Keystone project was 5 Phases, and four are completed and in service.

There were some Jesus big pipelines built inside Alberta in the last 10 years, mostly in the Fort Mac/Edmonton/Hardisty area. Mostly to serve present and future lines and a new refinery being built in the Heartland, but also for rail loading. A bit of examination reveals why Obama actually canned Keystone XL. It had nothing to do with the environment or the nature of the oil. XL is essentially a duplicate of the northern part of Keystone, which was more or less completed last year. An important bit of Keystone was the connection of Cushing OK, to the Gulf. It relieves big pressure on storage at Cushing, and gives the US a crucial export capacity. At the same time, the US Congress repealed the 40 year ban on US oil exports. And that is what it was all about: the US has set itself up nicely to export, and does not need a million barrel per day or so of Canuck oil as competition. Note that several refineries in the Gulf built uprgaders years ago to handle Keystone bitumen. They won't get hurt though, because those refineries will just bring in heavy oil from Venezuela. Note also that Enbridge (remember them?) are working on a $5 billion project to expand handling and port facilities. Politically, Obama tossed his Democrats a bone some renewable energy tax credits. The Republicans were cranky about no Keystone XL, now they are OK with the alternative of all-American pipelines, ports and oil exports to anywhere. So everybody is happy except.... the Canadian trade balance. The Americans, and the rest of the oil selling world, must have a hearty quiet chuckle at just how utterly useless we are in looking after ourselves. We cannot even manage to export our own resources. In the meantime, they are locking up European and Asian contracts, while we sit around exploring our own colons and arguing with The Waldos. Note that several refineries in

cite? Did nuclearwinter block the sun or something? No selfies? Unpossible!!!

Yeah who needs economists involved in the govt anyway, the budget will balance itself. Or run big deficits, what does it matter? Predictions lately that Trudeau will run deficits totaling $90 billion over his term in office(first term). I'm going with $150 billion. Your estimate?

Salary dump. Phaneuf is a second pairing defenceman making first pairing money in a very long deal. The Leafs are collecting their pennies, maybe to try and get Stamkos. Still not sure why Steve would want to lose that many games for that many years, when he can get megabucks from many teams.....

Any estimates on the selfies taken?

Lately, it is "O Canada".

Ghomeshi is the Devil, with the ability to slap women, bedazzle them after that, then look 12 years into their futures for women who will turn out to be liars. Now please reconcile your notions that he is not guilty, yet had 'victims'. The blame rests with the Crown and the police, who both failed in their duty. If they had interviewed the complainants( not victims), with any level of professionalism- this case would not and could not have come to trial. I would be willing to call them 'victims' if they were in any way credible. And now Ghomeshi has no job, no career and probably owes several hundred grand in legal fees. He is not going to let that go.....

Andrew Coyne summarized the contradictory and essentially stupid policy spouted by Trudeau thus: http://news.nationalpost.com/full-comment/andrew-coyne-now-a-word-from-our-prime-minister-on-canadas-new-role-in-iraq-and-syria There are only two options: either Trudeau is so thick he does not understand how stupid this sounds when he says it, or he has so little respect for the intelligence of Canadians that he says it anyway. On the same theme, last night The National on CBC had Trudeaus Cheerleader-In_-Chief Peter Mansbridge guidng the chorus. All three of his 'independent panel' just Loved what Justin was doing with this policy. The network and Mansbridge just get more pathetic every day. Sad to see such a once proud network turn into such relentless suckups, in public, every day.