The softer side of Steve

[Cobalt_Kid]

The sensitive glasses, warm smiles, sweaters and slacks, the 'come hither Canadians' glances leering out at us from magazine and newspaper photos and TV screens.

Is anyone else getting totally creeped out by the 'new' Steven Harper the conservatives are trying to peddle on us?

 

[Cliffy]

He creeped me out long before this.

 

[JLM]

The sensitive glasses, warm smiles, sweaters and slacks, the 'come hither Canadians' glances leering out at us from magazine and newspaper photos and TV screens.

Is anyone else getting totally creeped out by the 'new' Steven Harper the conservatives are trying to peddle on us?

Who would you replace him with? Another f...........g politician? May as well save ourselves $300 million and let him wind down.

 

[taxslave]

SO far he hasn't done enough wrong to justify the cost of another election, especially when the Liberals have no viable leadership either.

 

[Cliffy]

To paraphrase an old 60s saying, what would they do if they held an election and nobody showed up?

 

[JLM]

SO far he hasn't done enough wrong to justify the cost of another election, especially when the Liberals have no viable leadership either.

As long as we continue to benefit from this seniors pension splitting scheme, he can stay as long as he likes as far as I'm concerned. :lol::lol::lol: (I guess we should keep the cartwheels to a minimum in case he notices and has 2nd thoughts.) :lol:

 

[Cliffy]

He is doing enough damage with a minority. We really don't want to give him a majority. You may be happy about the tax thing as it affects you but it is not just about you. Its about all the suffering caused by cutbacks to health care and the outrageous expenses of education. We are a rich nation but conservatives don't want to share with anybody. It all about me, me, me. Where is the compassion and caring. Would you leave your brother out in the cold to conserve on heat?

 

[JLM]

He is doing enough damage with a minority. We really don't want to give him a majority. You may be happy about the tax thing as it affects you but it is not just about you. Its about all the suffering caused by cutbacks to health care and the outrageous expenses of education. We are a rich nation but conservatives don't want to share with anybody. It all about me, me, me. Where is the compassion and caring. Would you leave your brother out in the cold to conserve on heat?

I think when most people vote they vote in accordance to how the vote will affect them. However you make a good point. Education is expensive but the people educating want to get paid and people want fancy buildings and computers and actually all the schools beefed up seizmically. That stuff has more to do with people's wishes than bad politics.

 

[Tonington]

Would it shock you guys to learn that Education costs in Canada as a % of GDP have dropped over time? Computers may cost lots of money, but it's not as much as you think, and the utility of a computer far outweighs that of a single textbook. Not to mention that computer skills are a basic necessity for most jobs these days, even more so in the future.

 

[JLM]

Would it shock you guys to learn that Education costs in Canada as a % of GDP have dropped over time? Computers may cost lots of money, but it's not as much as you think, and the utility of a computer far outweighs that of a single textbook. Not to mention that computer skills are a basic necessity for most jobs these days, even more so in the future.

I hear you. If education is worth a lot (which people seem to think it is) then we have to be prepared to lay out the money. :smile:

 

[TenPenny]

Its about all the suffering caused by cutbacks to health care

Can you list the cutbacks to health care that Harper has brought in?

 

[JLM]

Can you list the cutbacks to health care that Harper has brought in?

I think the cut backs to health care (if any) were more attributable to the Liberals than the Conservatives. In British Columbia, we've seen tightening up and consolidation but I'm not totally sure about services being scrapped. However what did occur here was mainly during the time the Feds cut back on the transfer payments to the provinces. This was part of Martin's scheme to reduce the debt. :smile:

 

[captain morgan]

I think the cut backs to health care (if any) were more attributable to the Liberals than the Conservatives. In British Columbia, we've seen tightening up and consolidation but I'm not totally sure about services being scrapped. However what did occur here was mainly during the time the Feds cut back on the transfer payments to the provinces. This was part of Martin's scheme to reduce the debt. :smile:

Healthcare is primarily a responsibility of the provinces. I believe that the feds fund approx 30% and the province picks up the rest. In terms of Martin and the Liberals, they did what had to be done in terms of the debt, but the transfer payment issue is something entirely out of the feds control as it is a byproduct (generally) of teh individual provincial economies.

 

[JLM]

Healthcare is primarily a responsibility of the provinces. I believe that the feds fund approx 30% and the province picks up the rest. In terms of Martin and the Liberals, they did what had to be done in terms of the debt, but the transfer payment issue is something entirely out of the feds control as it is a byproduct (generally) of teh individual provincial economies.

Ummmmmmm it's the Feds who put up the money for the transfers.

 

[TenPenny]

Ummmmmmm it's the Feds who put up the money for the transfers.

"Stripped to its basics, what began in the 1960s as in essence a 50-50 split in costs had by 1995, through a series of sometimes negotiated and sometimes unilateral changes, changed to a national government share of as low as 16% (according to the provinces) to 32% (according to the national government, which adds to its direct cash contributions the money that the provinces now collect as a result of the transfer of “tax points” from Ottawa)"

Source: The future of health care in Canada

 

[Cobalt_Kid]

SO far he hasn't done enough wrong to justify the cost of another election, especially when the Liberals have no viable leadership either.

Wow, that's a great standard, we're being left with little in the way of an open and accountable structure to base our governance on but the current government hasn't been caught yet doing anything blatant enough to qualify for instant removal.

Could it be that has as much to do with the massive effort Harper and his insiders have gone to to firewall themselves from outside scrutiny, that alone should be grounds for kicking the electoral crap out of the conservatives.

 

[Tonington]

Ummmmmmm it's the Feds who put up the money for the transfers.

And who adminsiter and amend the formula for calculating the transfers. That's what cost Bill Casey his seat in the Conservative caucus. He refused to vote for the budget because it unilaterally made changes to the Atlantic Accord, which had implications on the equalization formula for both Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland & Labrador.