Canada's wealthiest province utterly rejects the left

[Shady]

I think one of the big stories of this election was Alberta's utter rejection of leftist policies

They probably took a look at New Orleans and saw the results of 50 years of liberal rule. *shiver*

[stignasty]

I think one of the big stories of this election was Alberta's utter rejection of leftist policies

They probably took a look at New Orleans and saw the results of 50 years of liberal rule. *shiver*

That's an excellent example -- of the second quote in my signature.

The Alberta economy is running in overdrive right now, that's not a question. It's only fair to accept that the policies of the conservative government, in combination with the wealth of natural resources are responsible. The people here accept that and have voiced their approval at the ballot box. To imply that it had anything to do with hurricane relief, communist China or Bill Clinton's cigar is simply idiotic.

[Concerned]

No their digbat leftwing policies make them socialist. If you want an insight into the butchery and cruelty of Socialism and Communism here is some new stuff just translated about Chairman Mao, Trudeau's hero. www.ninecommentaries.com

Yes their dingbat leftwing policies such as lowering corporate taxes and scaling back unemployment insurance benefits make them socialist. Just like in communist China.

Note that I'm not defending socialism (which is not the same thing as communism, since you seem rather confused about it). I'm simply noting that the Liberal Party of Canada is not a socialist party. Again, just because they're not neoconservatives, they're not by default socialist.

It's really too bad that right leaning economic policies cannot be accompanied by some open minded social thinking....the liberals are not socialist or communist they simply allow for a better understanding of a diverse nation, and that individual communities represent differing social needs. In the last two terms the liberals have done an excellent job of managing our national economy to the extent that now there is room for more spending on social programs. This is more than you could say for previous PC economic leadership.

I believe the NDP did destroy BC's economy, and as a result the poor got poorer, and so did the rich. Major corporate investors to our province's economy fled. The NDP overspent by buckets, ran us into huge deficits, and socialist programs suffered accordingly.

Alberta enjoys an economically right government that reduces taxes, increases capital investment, and therefore increases the economic welfare of all of its population. More jobs, higher pay, higher discretionary income...the list goes on.

Unfortunately, we see from many examples on this website that the economically right of Alberta are also social rednecks with little understanding of cultural diversity, minority rights, or even gender equality. Thankfully this is not the case in the rest of the country.

[Boru]

Obviously you guys don't get it.

When economic prosperity occurs when my party is in power, it's due to the hard work of the government in banishing the opposition's evil policies and the genius of the populace in supporting the government for as long as they did.

When economic prosperity occurs when the other party is in power, it's not really prosperity because they're holding back even further growth which could occur and just riding the wave that my party created in the previous administration!

In neither case does prosperity EVER grow out of the people in the economy -- leaders in business and commerce, natural resources, infrastructure, or plain old good luck. Ever.

I give Martin credit for his economic management in his time as Finance Minister. Doesn't change the fact that once he became PM he became an utter failure. Or the fact that he's a member of a criminal organization. See, I can give credit on both sides of the fence (doesn't hurt when he's a fiscal conservative until he whored himself to the NDP).

You can only have business leaders doing well if they have a pro-business government. A government that gets too involved in the economy start to play favours to their friends and screws up the whole idea. For example, Irvings in the Maritimes.

He "whored himself to the NDP" out of necessity. It was the weasel Harper who was refusing to support any minority government, and fought Martin at every turn. Only after the fact, when Harper was smarting that the NDP took advantage of Harper's stonewalling, did he cry that he would have preferred Martin's original corporate tax cuts...

No, Martin wasn't whoring himself. He was making a minority government work.

Although I'd like to see this current Conservative government hold for a while, to see how harper deals with crisis and manages public services...he really doesn't deserve any cooperation from the other parties.

If they torpedoed him early on, then he is getting his own medecine.

[Boru]

I think one of the big stories of this election was Alberta's utter rejection of leftist policies

They probably took a look at New Orleans and saw the results of 50 years of liberal rule. *shiver*

That's one way to look at it.

Some others would blame recent climate change, admitted by all except the radical right, for hurricanes that are coming in greater frequency and strength than ever before recorded.

Yes, it may seem like I'm out on a limb, but at least I have something of an a rgument going, which is more than can be said for your brainless post.

[rbacon]

Socialism and Communism are cut from the same cloth they are basically the same. The Liberals are socialist by their handiwork. Martin raised taxes further faster than any Finance Minister in the history of Canada. Any regime that takes more in taxes from a family than they pay for food, shelter, clothing and transportation combined is definately a socialist regime. The Equalization Payments Scam is Marxist in nature. "From each according to his means to each according to his need." Right out of the Communist Manifesto. The U/I program has become another socialist engineering program and is no longer an insurance program for unemployed workers. State control of the media, is socialist. Canadians need less government less useless programs and deep deep tax cuts.

[Boru]

Socialism and Communism are cut from the same cloth they are basically the same. The Liberals are socialist by their handiwork. Martin raised taxes further faster than any Finance Minister in the history of Canada. Any regime that takes more in taxes from a family than they pay for food, shelter, clothing and transportation combined is definately a socialist regime. The Equalization Payments Scam is Marxist in nature. "From each according to his means to each according to his need." Right out of the Communist Manifesto. The U/I program has become another socialist engineering program and is no longer an insurance program for unemployed workers. State control of the media, is socialist. Canadians need less government less useless programs and deep deep tax cuts.

Well, I have to hand it to you. Your post is quite a garble of general nonsense.

Firstly, give us numbers that show Martin collected more in taxes than governemnt has collected from general Sales taxes. It might be a different form of taxation, but the end result is the same.

Secondly, the UI program as a social engineering program is ridiculous. There is absolutely nothing wrong with a safety net for workers who lose their job. When a recession does hit Canada, and one will at some time or other, than it is a necessary program to ensure adequare living conditions.

State control fo the media? You've got to be kidding me. CBC is a single, government SPONSERED channel. The rest is quite private and exercise their right to do so, as we all saw during the campaigns.

Your post can be brushed off as pathetic right wing propaganda.

Anything that doesn't fit in your very tightly spaced blinders is communist.

Yep.

[tml12]

I think one of the big stories of this election was Alberta's utter rejection of leftist policies

They probably took a look at New Orleans and saw the results of 50 years of liberal rule. *shiver*

That's one way to look at it.

Some others would blame recent climate change, admitted by all except the radical right, for hurricanes that are coming in greater frequency and strength than ever before recorded.

Yes, it may seem like I'm out on a limb, but at least I have something of an a rgument going, which is more than can be said for your brainless post.

Boru,

After your vicious and baseless attacks on me I am going to "go out on a limb" and agree with you.

There is no doubt in my mind that the climate issues we are dealing with are a direct result of global warming and a dangerous increase in greenhouse gas emmissions. We need to bond together as a nation to do anything in our power to create a "Made in Canada" plan to deal with the environment as quickly as possible.

You may call me a "right wing radical" for saying we need to dump Kyoto, but as someone who takes a very left-wing approach on the environment, I must say the Chretien government signed Kyoto and then sat on their asses while our greenhouse gas emmissions went up 24%.

[tml12]

88 was by the time Klein's current term is done...

Amazing. And Klein's still just as mentally sharp as Ariel Sharon is today!

Klein's term will be done in 2009 or so...the right-wing parties, not Klein himself , have been in power since 1921.

88 years!!!

[stignasty]

Klein's term will be done in 2009 or so...the right-wing parties, not Klein himself , have been in power since 1921.

88 years!!!

And it's not like it's going to change after this term is over anyway.

[fixer1]

I am old enough to remember when Alberta was not seen as a large oil patch province, and it did pretty good even back then. Yes, the advent of being a rich oil producing province has really helped them in recent times. But it is also to the practice of good government that these monies have not been squndered and wasted like the federal government has in the past. So in that context, the thread starter is rightfully so, in accrediting them for this.

Now just to show you how the fedral government can be a big problem, Look up just where the Federal oil reserves are located in Canada. These are known oil deposits that the Federal Gov. will not allow to be worked as they say they keep them in reserve. This may well then tell you something about just how a federal goverment can really screww things up. But I think everyone knows that by now.

Alberta is a very good example of a well managed government that seeks to maximum benefit of its resources for its people. It could have really taken a masty turn otherwise if the government had decided to take other views on how to manage the money.

[Concerned]

Any regime that takes more in taxes from a family than they pay for food, shelter, clothing and transportation combined is definately a socialist regime.

Well that's an interesting comment but I certainly haven't seen the math on that one. (You were referring to the Liberal government) What is your source of information for this statement ?

[Concerned]

Socialism and Communism are cut from the same cloth they are basically the same. The Liberals are socialist by their handiwork. Martin raised taxes further faster than any Finance Minister in the history of Canada. Any regime that takes more in taxes from a family than they pay for food, shelter, clothing and transportation combined is definately a socialist regime. The Equalization Payments Scam is Marxist in nature. "From each according to his means to each according to his need." Right out of the Communist Manifesto. The U/I program has become another socialist engineering program and is no longer an insurance program for unemployed workers. State control of the media, is socialist. Canadians need less government less useless programs and deep deep tax cuts.

....Secondly, the UI program as a social engineering program is ridiculous. There is absolutely nothing wrong with a safety net for workers who lose their job. When a recession does hit Canada, and one will at some time or other, than it is a necessary program to ensure adequare living conditions.

As an employer I'm relieved that the UI system exists. I certainly do not think it's perfect, but it is a necessity. Corporations have to ride the tide of economic ups and downs and not all of them are run by cut throat insensitive management that could layoff employees with complete disregard for their social well being. So as far as UI is concerned it has its roll in creating fluidity for corporations competing in capitalist market places.

[geoffrey]

UI is generally a ridiculous waste of money, that creates lazyness and resistance to change in many places of the country (*cough* Maritimes).

Two or three months of pay if you lose your job ok. Years and years of working 10 days a year and getting Ottawa to bail you out the other 355 days is a joke and an insult to hard working Canadians.

UI is social engineering. It keeps people down, poor, and unmotivated for success. Most importantly, UI leaves a big unemployed labour pool in one area of the country, wasting our money, and created a labour shortage in another area of the country. These UI workers should all be relocated to where there is jobs and forced to work. Or have forced labour for those on long-term UI, have them do data entry or something for the government and get paid minimum wage for it.

[Wilber]

Socialism and Communism are cut from the same cloth they are basically the same. The Liberals are socialist by their handiwork. Martin raised taxes further faster than any Finance Minister in the history of Canada. Any regime that takes more in taxes from a family than they pay for food, shelter, clothing and transportation combined is definately a socialist regime. The Equalization Payments Scam is Marxist in nature. "From each according to his means to each according to his need." Right out of the Communist Manifesto. The U/I program has become another socialist engineering program and is no longer an insurance program for unemployed workers. State control of the media, is socialist. Canadians need less government less useless programs and deep deep tax cuts.

....Secondly, the UI program as a social engineering program is ridiculous. There is absolutely nothing wrong with a safety net for workers who lose their job. When a recession does hit Canada, and one will at some time or other, than it is a necessary program to ensure adequare living conditions.

As an employer I'm relieved that the UI system exists. I certainly do not think it's perfect, but it is a necessity. Corporations have to ride the tide of economic ups and downs and not all of them are run by cut throat insensitive management that could layoff employees with complete disregard for their social well being. So as far as UI is concerned it has its roll in creating fluidity for corporations competing in capitalist market places.

I have been fortunate that I have never had to collect UI but I don't have a problem with the principal. What I do have a problem with is government siphoning off revenue from an employment tax designed to help unemployed people who find themselves between jobs through no fault of their own, in order to finance other programs. This increases the cost of doing business and does not help employers at all.

[Concerned]

UI is generally a ridiculous waste of money, that creates lazyness and resistance to change in many places of the country (*cough* Maritimes).

Two or three months of pay if you lose your job ok. Years and years of working 10 days a year and getting Ottawa to bail you out the other 355 days is a joke and an insult to hard working Canadians.

UI is social engineering. It keeps people down, poor, and unmotivated for success. Most importantly, UI leaves a big unemployed labour pool in one area of the country, wasting our money, and created a labour shortage in another area of the country. These UI workers should all be relocated to where there is jobs and forced to work. Or have forced labour for those on long-term UI, have them do data entry or something for the government and get paid minimum wage for it.

I think the UI guidelines are a little more strict than that. If I can recall correctly the last time I checked, an employee had to have 750 hours of recent eligible hours of employed time, and may not have had received UI for the past year.

Check out: http://www100.hrdc-drhc.gc.ca/ae-ei/dem-ap...lish/home2.html

[Concerned]

Socialism and Communism are cut from the same cloth they are basically the same. The Liberals are socialist by their handiwork. Martin raised taxes further faster than any Finance Minister in the history of Canada. Any regime that takes more in taxes from a family than they pay for food, shelter, clothing and transportation combined is definately a socialist regime. The Equalization Payments Scam is Marxist in nature. "From each according to his means to each according to his need." Right out of the Communist Manifesto. The U/I program has become another socialist engineering program and is no longer an insurance program for unemployed workers. State control of the media, is socialist. Canadians need less government less useless programs and deep deep tax cuts.

....Secondly, the UI program as a social engineering program is ridiculous. There is absolutely nothing wrong with a safety net for workers who lose their job. When a recession does hit Canada, and one will at some time or other, than it is a necessary program to ensure adequare living conditions.

As an employer I'm relieved that the UI system exists. I certainly do not think it's perfect, but it is a necessity. Corporations have to ride the tide of economic ups and downs and not all of them are run by cut throat insensitive management that could layoff employees with complete disregard for their social well being. So as far as UI is concerned it has its roll in creating fluidity for corporations competing in capitalist market places.

I have been fortunate that I have never had to collect UI but I don't have a problem with the principal. What I do have a problem with is government siphoning off revenue from an employment tax designed to help unemployed people who find themselves between jobs through no fault of their own, in order to finance other programs. This increases the cost of doing business and does not help employers at all.

I absolutely agree with you here Wilbur. The government business of siphoning revenues from one program to fund another really should stop. Each program should be run as its own profit (or non-profit) center so the public really knows what is going on. We have that problem here in BC with ICBC revenues (amongst many others, but this example is one of the more controversial).

[Boru]

UI is generally a ridiculous waste of money, that creates lazyness and resistance to change in many places of the country (*cough* Maritimes).

Two or three months of pay if you lose your job ok. Years and years of working 10 days a year and getting Ottawa to bail you out the other 355 days is a joke and an insult to hard working Canadians.

UI is social engineering. It keeps people down, poor, and unmotivated for success. Most importantly, UI leaves a big unemployed labour pool in one area of the country, wasting our money, and created a labour shortage in another area of the country. These UI workers should all be relocated to where there is jobs and forced to work. Or have forced labour for those on long-term UI, have them do data entry or something for the government and get paid minimum wage for it.

You're generalizing far too much. The program can be abused, sure. Just like many other programs can be abused.

That doesn't change the fact that it is a necessary social safety net. It's very easy to rip it to shreds without knowing the actual situations of those people who are in need of it.

The actual people using the program, for the most part, honestly in need of help following an unfortunate layoff. All it takes is a company to face a bad quarter and a dozens of jobs can be cut.

Anybody with an objective eye would also realize that it often takes alot less than poor earnings to justify job cutting.

What seperates Canada from the United States, and places it higher year to year as a better country to live, is that government is responsible to it's own citizens.

You would think differently if the same situation were to ever sneak up on you. Until that time, you continue to spew your radical right wing ideology.

[Boru]

I think one of the big stories of this election was Alberta's utter rejection of leftist policies

They probably took a look at New Orleans and saw the results of 50 years of liberal rule. *shiver*

That's one way to look at it.

Some others would blame recent climate change, admitted by all except the radical right, for hurricanes that are coming in greater frequency and strength than ever before recorded.

Yes, it may seem like I'm out on a limb, but at least I have something of an a rgument going, which is more than can be said for your brainless post.

Boru,

After your vicious and baseless attacks on me I am going to "go out on a limb" and agree with you.

There is no doubt in my mind that the climate issues we are dealing with are a direct result of global warming and a dangerous increase in greenhouse gas emmissions. We need to bond together as a nation to do anything in our power to create a "Made in Canada" plan to deal with the environment as quickly as possible.

You may call me a "right wing radical" for saying we need to dump Kyoto, but as someone who takes a very left-wing approach on the environment, I must say the Chretien government signed Kyoto and then sat on their asses while our greenhouse gas emmissions went up 24%.

I didn't call you radical right wing, although I do figure you to be far right of center on most issues.

I said that climate change is admitted as fact by all except the radical right wing.

[geoffrey]

I said that climate change is admitted as fact by all except the radical right wing.

I agree climate change is happening. But I don't buy this its our fault concept. CO2 makes up a very small percentage of green house gases. 90 something percent is water vapour, which isn't our fault. Such a small addition in the grand scheme of things is questionable. I'm sure we are not helping, but global warming and cooling are natural processes. I believe this the position that most on the right see.

Anyone that actually thinks there is no climate change at all, is either misinformed, or just not all there.

The more important environmental issues is keeping our water supply safe, our fisheries safe from heavy metal toxicity and eliminating hormones and antibiotics from our beef and poultry.

[tml12]

I think one of the big stories of this election was Alberta's utter rejection of leftist policies

They probably took a look at New Orleans and saw the results of 50 years of liberal rule. *shiver*

That's one way to look at it.

Some others would blame recent climate change, admitted by all except the radical right, for hurricanes that are coming in greater frequency and strength than ever before recorded.

Yes, it may seem like I'm out on a limb, but at least I have something of an a rgument going, which is more than can be said for your brainless post.

Boru,

After your vicious and baseless attacks on me I am going to "go out on a limb" and agree with you.

There is no doubt in my mind that the climate issues we are dealing with are a direct result of global warming and a dangerous increase in greenhouse gas emmissions. We need to bond together as a nation to do anything in our power to create a "Made in Canada" plan to deal with the environment as quickly as possible.

You may call me a "right wing radical" for saying we need to dump Kyoto, but as someone who takes a very left-wing approach on the environment, I must say the Chretien government signed Kyoto and then sat on their asses while our greenhouse gas emmissions went up 24%.

I didn't call you radical right wing, although I do figure you to be far right of center on most issues.

I said that climate change is admitted as fact by all except the radical right wing.

I am centre-right...I don't move that far right from the centre and I am not a neo-con.

[tml12]

I said that climate change is admitted as fact by all except the radical right wing.

I agree climate change is happening. But I don't buy this its our fault concept. CO2 makes up a very small percentage of green house gases. 90 something percent is water vapour, which isn't our fault. Such a small addition in the grand scheme of things is questionable. I'm sure we are not helping, but global warming and cooling are natural processes. I believe this the position that most on the right see.

Anyone that actually thinks there is no climate change at all, is either misinformed, or just not all there.

The more important environmental issues is keeping our water supply safe, our fisheries safe from heavy metal toxicity and eliminating hormones and antibiotics from our beef and poultry.

The brainless/dysfunctional Chretien government signed Kyoto and did nothing.

Chretien, and not Harper or conservatives, should be blamed for Canadian greenhouse gases.

Kind of felt bad for Stephane Dion at the Montreal convention...his tounge must have been quite bloody after biting it so many times defending Canada's hideous environmental record.

[geoffrey]

The brainless/dysfunctional Chretien government signed Kyoto and did nothing.

Chretien, and not Harper or conservatives, should be blamed for Canadian greenhouse gases.

Kind of felt bad for Stephane Dion at the Montreal convention...his tounge must have been quite bloody after biting it so many times defending Canada's hideous environmental record.

True, not to mention the horrible record we have on water quality.

[I Miss Trudeau]

I think one of the big stories of this election was Alberta's utter rejection of leftist policies.

Apart from the 26% who utterly rejected rightist policies, anyway. You know, those ones that now have absolutely no local representation in parliament. The ones that the reformers, if they were actually interested in fair representation, would be outraged about.... but not a peep out of them. Funny that.

[Boru]

I said that climate change is admitted as fact by all except the radical right wing.

I agree climate change is happening. But I don't buy this its our fault concept. CO2 makes up a very small percentage of green house gases. 90 something percent is water vapour, which isn't our fault. Such a small addition in the grand scheme of things is questionable. I'm sure we are not helping, but global warming and cooling are natural processes. I believe this the position that most on the right see.

Anyone that actually thinks there is no climate change at all, is either misinformed, or just not all there.

The more important environmental issues is keeping our water supply safe, our fisheries safe from heavy metal toxicity and eliminating hormones and antibiotics from our beef and poultry.

The brainless/dysfunctional Chretien government signed Kyoto and did nothing.

Chretien, and not Harper or conservatives, should be blamed for Canadian greenhouse gases.

Kind of felt bad for Stephane Dion at the Montreal convention...his tounge must have been quite bloody after biting it so many times defending Canada's hideous environmental record.

You seem to forget who's policy it is to pull out of Kyoto entirely.

Harper will do nothing that might crimp the oil industry in Alberta. Why should he? WHat's best for ALberta is what's best for the world.