More than a wonk? Help found the Slim Canada Party.

[john kuti]

The ultimate challenge for every political wonk!

Help create The Slim Canada Party at www.Prosered.com.

Help create a new political party that can pay off the national and provincial debt in 6 months and change Canada from resource to innovation society. Help debate the political, social, economic, environmental, aboriginal and constitutional implications of a radical, but perhaps feasible way to put a trillion dollars in the Bank of Canada in 6 months. No this isn't a ponzie or pyramid scheme. These are just open forums to discuss a revolutionary idea that may be so wild and crazy, it might just work. This is as serious or as silly as you make it.

[lost&outofcontrol]

quoted from the link

The Slim Canada Party Program: How We Pull It Off!

Recognizing that 95 percent of the Canadian population lives within 100 miles of the U.S. border, the Slim Canada Party proposes that within six months of becoming the Government of Canada, it will offer for sale the rest of the country to the highest bidder. The opening bid for this sale will be set at $1 trillion U.S. The closing bid might reasonably be expected to be between $2 and $3 trillion. This would easily retire the $1 trillion national and provincial debts and leave enough money to make Canada the most prosperous and socially progressive country on the face of the earth. With a trillion or so dollars gathering interest in the bank rather than being the measure of our debt, the possibilities for the country are limitless. Such wealth could create a social and economic infrastructure that is unparallelled. Who knows, we may even want to buy up a few dozen multi-nationals just to get the old NDP rolling around parliament like cats in a bed of catnip.

[SirSpanky]

We should also sell any of the natural resources that happen to lie in the 100 mile belt we are keeping. Who needs them anyways?

[August1991]

Canadians would probably be the highest bidders for the territory since we know what's there and how to use it better than anyone else in the world. We would just be selling the territory back to ourselves.

In any case, we do now what you propose. Those (foreign or Canadian) who tap natural resources must pay royalties to our governments. In the case of hydro, it is usually provincially owned corporations that obtain the benefits.

As to paying off the government debt, why would we want to? All Canadian governments (federal and provincial) have been in debt since confederation (Alberta may be an exception) and I would expect they'll be in debt far into the future.

It is useful for Canadians to hold Canada Savings Bonds and one could argue that federal debt is a measure of our confidence in the federal government.

As to moving from a resource-based economy to an innovation economy, I have no objection as long as it is not bureaucrats making the decision to move. I think Canadians are best placed to decide whether they want to chop down trees for a living, or write software programmes instead.