Canadian Content - Canadian Politics

Canadian Content - Canadian Politics http://forums.canadiancontent.net en Sun, 06 Jul 2008 10:39:01 GMT vBulletin 60 http://forums.canadiancontent.net/images/styles/cancon/misc/rss.jpg Canadian Content - Canadian Politics http://forums.canadiancontent.net <![CDATA[Canada bought Saddam's Uranium!]]> http://forums.canadiancontent.net/showthread.php?t=75220 Sat, 05 Jul 2008 19:58:16 GMT Canada gets Saddam's uranium

The last major remnant of Saddam Hussein's nuclear program — a huge stockpile of concentrated natural uranium — reached a Canadian port Saturday to complete a secret U.S. operation that included a two-week airlift from Baghdad and a ship voyage crossing two oceans.

The deal culminated more than a year of intense diplomatic and military initiatives — kept hushed in fear of ambushes or attacks once the convoys were under way: first carrying 3,500 barrels by road to Baghdad, then on 37 military flights to the Indian Ocean atoll of Diego Garcia and finally aboard a U.S.-flagged ship for a 13,500-kilometre trip to Montreal.

The Iraqi government sold the yellowcake to a Canadian uranium producer, Cameco Corp., in a transaction the official described as worth “tens of millions of dollars.” A Cameco spokesman, Lyle Krahn, declined to discuss the price, but said the yellowcake will be processed at facilities in Ontario for use in energy-producing reactors.
“We are pleased ... that we have taken (the yellowcake) from a volatile region into a stable area to produce clean electricity,” he said.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servl...rnational/home
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Well, who would have thought!! If any of this is true, then I wonder why the US didn't just take the stuff? After all, they spent trillions on the war to keep America safe.... they are entitled to some reward.

Edit @ 8:52pm
The original article got re-written ... same link, though:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servl...rnational/home

Canada is the new home to a massive stockpile of concentrated natural uranium from Iraq, the last major remnant of Saddam Hussein's nuclear program.
The 550 tonnes of “yellowcake,” the seed material for higher-grade nuclear enrichment, was sold to Canadian uranium producer Cameco Corp. in a transaction the official described as worth “tens of millions of dollars.”
A ship carrying the cargo arrived Saturday in Montreal and Cameco spokesman Lyle Krahn said the yellowcake will be processed at facilities in Ontario for use in energy-producing reactors.
“We are pleased ... that we have taken [the yellowcake] from a volatile region into a stable area to produce clean electricity,” he said.

However, there was no confirmation from the Port of Montreal.
Robert Desjardins, co-ordinator of the port, said “we don't have any information” on such a shipment arriving there.
He said no ships under American flags were listed as being in the port Saturday, or as being expected.
---
But it also raises serious security concerns, an environmental activist said Saturday.
“Cameco has made it clear that this uranium will simply be integrated into their commercial processing stream at its refinery in Port Hope and I assume that this uranium still needs to be shipped from Montreal to Port Hope – if it hasn't already been sent, not clear whether that's going by land or by sea, could be either, or by air,” said Dave Martin, the energy co-ordinator for Greenpeace Canada.
“I think Cameco and the Canadian government owe the Canadian public some disclosure on that front.”
etc.
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Confusing information. It arrived in Montreal today, but no, it didn't!

I agree with Greenpeace... some explaining is due! ]]> Canadian Politics dancing-loon http://forums.canadiancontent.net/showthread.php?t=75220 Conservative Canada our future http://forums.canadiancontent.net/showthread.php?t=75215 Sat, 05 Jul 2008 14:36:35 GMT The Conservatives want to rule the world and they are doing this by studying the American domination of the world. The Republicans spend most of... The Conservatives want to rule the world and they are doing this by studying the American domination of the world.

The Republicans spend most of their tax dollars on the American war machine and if Canada wants to play with the big boys they have to do the same.

The Conservatives have to get rid of healthcare and welfare and let the people fend for themselves just like in America.

All that healthcare and welfare money can provide a better Canadian war machine that will be an envy of any country.

There will be lots of job opportunities in the Canadian military with the expansion plans.

The Conservatives will have to bring in a bill or law that will take away rights of the Canadian people just like in America like The Patriot Act.

The Conservatives have support from the Liberals who is helping pass all their bills into laws because they refuse to vote because they are afraid of an election.

The Conservative party is the best choice for Canada at this time and they will be the only choice when they finally change the Election Act. ]]> Canadian Politics Buzmeg http://forums.canadiancontent.net/showthread.php?t=75215 Canadian Workers Demand Immediate End to War in Afghanistan http://forums.canadiancontent.net/showthread.php?t=75125 Wed, 02 Jul 2008 20:08:49 GMT On 29 May 2008, the delegates at the national convention of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC), representing more than three million workers from... On 29 May 2008, the delegates at the national convention of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC), representing more than three million workers from every region of Canada and Quebec, voted overwhelmingly to demand that the Government of Canada immediately end its participation in the illegal war in Afghanistan.
This CLC demand represents a significant consolidation of labour power. Several national unions, notably the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) had already adopted policies to oppose Canada's participation in the war in Afghanistan. However, some powerful unions whose members work in the rapidly expanding Canadian military and development industries could profit from continuing the war. The women and men of these unions made the difficult decision to stand in solidarity with the working people of Afghanistan rather than act on self-interest. ]]> Canadian Politics quandary121 http://forums.canadiancontent.net/showthread.php?t=75125 Big Brother Canada: Real ID to be adopted in Canadian provinces http://forums.canadiancontent.net/showthread.php?t=75123 Wed, 02 Jul 2008 20:04:18 GMT

Quote:

The REAL ID practice is coming to birth in various Canadian provinces as a result of federal and provincial commitments to "North American integration" under the 2001 Smart Border Declaration and the 2005 Security and Prosperty Partnership Agreement. The new liberty stripping identification is being slipped into Canadian drivers' licenses incrementally in various provinces without a peep of dissent from media or any provincial or federal opposition parties.
The best the NDP and the Greens have mustered to date in opposition to the integration of North America is to work for renegotiation on NAFTA ( a uselss and deceptive action). They are totally silent on the police state apparatus coming into effect (of which biometric identifiers in drivers' licenses is one part).
They are silent on the attack on Canadian liberty by our antiterrorist act, and they refuse to acknowledge the deliberate stifling of dissent by that act,and they refuse to expose the real role of the September 11, 2001 explosions in three New York buildings one of which was never hit by a plane as being the justification for the deliberate ultimate elimination of free citizenry under a police state apparatus.
At least in the USA there are some elected forces who can read and who understand the writing on the wall, and who still have the jam to defend their people.

Ive spoken about the biometric identifiers before in other threads of mine, i was called a nut job now that this is happening in Canada will you now sit up and take notice ,or are some of you going to put this down as another conspiracy case.lets see ]]> Canadian Politics quandary121 http://forums.canadiancontent.net/showthread.php?t=75123 Canadas 1st mistake http://forums.canadiancontent.net/showthread.php?t=75088 Tue, 01 Jul 2008 20:03:12 GMT CANADA'S FIRST MISTAKE
One hundred and forty one years ago today, July 1st, 1867, Canada DID NOT declare its independence from Great Britain, but rather officially became a member of the Commonwealth.
Posted Jul 1, 2008 09:11 AM PST
Category: CURRENT EVENTS
http://desertpeace.wordpress.com/200...first-mistake/ ]]> Canadian Politics Stretch http://forums.canadiancontent.net/showthread.php?t=75088 Will Canada Last http://forums.canadiancontent.net/showthread.php?t=75065 Mon, 30 Jun 2008 20:20:29 GMT Will Canada Last? Not if we surrender our energy lifeblood to the US. By Murray Dobbin Global Research (http://www.globalresearch.ca/), June... Will Canada Last? Not if we surrender our energy lifeblood to the US.

By Murray Dobbin

Global Research, June 30, 2008
thetyee.ca

Harper: the big sellout?

What will it take persuade Canadians that if they do not act soon to reverse the course of their nation, there will be nothing left to save? I am talking, of course, about so-called "deep integration" and its official expression, the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP).
The SPP, moving inexorably on many fronts, is nothing less than a blueprint for the gradual dismantling of one of the most successful nations of the twentieth century, and its piecemeal distribution to the decaying empire to the south. Yet there seems to be, even amongst those who have heard of it and believe it is a threat, a surreal acceptance of it. It's like a meteor hurtling towards us: there's nothing we can do so we might as well go shopping while we can.
What this country needs is a little outrage -- stirred by something from the package of outrages, treasonous policies and breathtaking giveaways of our country that make up the plan to append Canada to the U.S. What will it be? The militarization of the country and an industrial policy of selling arms to the world? A foreign policy determined almost exclusively by the interests of big business, from peddling asbestos, to opposing bio-diversity, to forcing Europeans to accept GMO food? The mimicking of a paranoid United States and the adoption of its crusade against the Muslim world?
Each worthy of a good dollop of outrage. But some believe that unless you get to people where it actually has an impact on their daily lives, sustained outrage of the kind that influences elections, is too much to expect. I have never been convinced by this theory but accepting it for the sake of argument, perhaps the sell-out of our energy to the U.S. under NAFTA's energy provisions would fill the bill.
Betrayed from above
No other policy, either standing alone or as part of a larger scheme, demonstrates the extent to which the economic and political elite of this country has betrayed us. Even in the age of corporate globalization in which the transnational corporation has become the dominant institution of our time, there is simply no other example of such duplicitous behaviour on the part of a national leadership. No other country in the world has or would consider voluntarily signing a treaty that guaranteed the other party an ever-increasing proportion of its energy resource.
The perverse beauty of what is tediously called the "proportionality clause" of NAFTA is that it’s virtually guaranteed to get worse. It would have been bad enough if we had agreed to sell half of our energy production to the U.S. But the NAFTA deal says we cannot ever decrease the actual proportion of gas and oil we sell to the U.S. So, each time the proportion of our oil and gas exports to the U.S. increases (virtually every year), we are presented with the new floor. And we no longer even maintain a strategic reserve -- a 20-year supply that is ensured before any oil is exported.

There is no limit to this madness. Right now we export two thirds of our oil and 60 per cent of our gas to the U.S. Under NAFTA this means we can never reduce that proportion, even if our actual production dropped by half and we began freezing in the dark. In NAFTA there is no ceiling on what we can sell, just a floor. And each year that passes, the floor looks more like a ceiling. What makes it even worse, of course, is the new determination of the US to secure dependable supplies of oil and gas -- and that means Canadian supplies.
Harper's radicals
While the U.S. is preoccupied with its national interest and a secure energy supply, the federal government under both the Liberals and the Radicals (Harper's party is anything but conservative) trades our natural energy security for America's insecurity. We now import 49 percent of the oil we use, almost half of it from the same insecure sources from which the U.S. is trying to wean itself. Almost all of Eastern Canada is dependent on foreign oil.
The catastrophe of global climate change is upon us. Even if we started to seriously address it tomorrow it would take a generation to even begin to create a post-carbon economy. With secure supplies of oil and gas and careful government regulation of how quickly they are depleted, and who gets to purchase them, Canada's future as an environmentally and economically sustainable country would be virtually guaranteed. But our Quisling elites, for all the talk of being an energy super power and the need to be internationally competitive, has been eagerly selling off our energy heritage for twenty years while the rest of us whistle in the dark.
Time is running out
A recent study by the Parkland Institute of Alberta and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) examined the NAFTA proportionality provisions to see if there was any policy flexibility at all in this bizarre agreement. The conclusion of "Over a Barrel: Exiting from NAFTA's Proportionality Clause" is a resounding No.
The study looked at three policy areas that are increasingly critical to Canada's future: conservation and the environment, using natural gas increasingly for value-added industries and substituting Canadian oil for the foreign oil we now import. The co-authors, Gord Laxer and John Dillon, conclude that we can do none of these things without violating NAFTA and triggering American use of the proportionality clause. The only possible solution involves either the abrogation of NAFTA or the renegotiation of the energy provisions, with the aim of taking back control.
This stunning situation begs the question: At what point does a nation cease to be viable? While there is a legitimate debate about the role energy security plays in the answer, there is no debate about the role of the economic and political elite. In a market economy, once that elite has abandoned its commitment to the nation, it is just a matter of time. And time, like our oil and gas, is running out. ]]> Canadian Politics darkbeaver http://forums.canadiancontent.net/showthread.php?t=75065 <![CDATA[Northern premiers reject Dion's carbon tax plan]]> http://forums.canadiancontent.net/showthread.php?t=75063 Mon, 30 Jun 2008 16:32:26 GMT Image: http://images.ctv.ca/archives/CTVNews/img2/20080619/160_dion_080619.jpg ...

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNew...629?hub=Canada

Quote:

It appears that Liberal Leader Stephane Dion has a lot more work to do if he wants to convince Canadian leaders to back his carbon tax plan.

Northern premiers say they're not buying the Liberal proposal. They emerged from two days of meetings in Yellowknife giving the thumbs down to Dion's plan. Northwest Territories Premier Floyd Roland, Yukon Premier Dennis Fentie and Nunavut Premier Paul Okalik said it would not be fair to their residents.

"We'd rather focus on alternatives to get away from fossil fuels. But to add on a cost to very high fuel costs already is just not an option for homeowners in our territory," Okalik said.

"(In the North), there really are no alternatives for us in Nunavut to turn to, to get away from diesel generation for power and for heat,'' he said.

Dion unveiled his "Green Shift" plan earlier this month. It would put a $15.4 billion tax on carbon emissions. The Liberals say the increase in taxes would be offset by cuts in income and corporate taxes. They claim the tax will be revenue neutral and punish big polluters.

"We think there are better ways to deal with this issue than another tax being applied, especially in the North where the cost of goods and services is already predominantly higher than anywhere else in the country,'' Fentie said.

Critics have called the proposal a tax grab and say it won't help the fight against climate change. They say it will also raise the prices of goods related to energy.

Roland said the carbon tax may pass "on to the end user an additional cost of doing business.''

Critics have said they are not convinced the carbon tax will reduce emissions.

"In fact, it's not even possible to know how much greenhouse gas emission reduction would happen with (Dion's) plan," NDP Leader Jack Layton told CTV's Question Period.

"We need real, firm limits on pollution."

The NDP is about to introduce radio ads attacking the Liberal and Tory environmental plans. Layton said Canada needs to adopt a cap-and-trade system which would allow companies to buy emission credits if they go over an allowable limit -- or if they are below their allowance, they can sell the credits to other companies.

On Canada day, B.C. residents and businesses will begin paying a provincial carbon tax. It will add 2.4 cents to every litre of gas. Diesel and home heating fuel will also fall under the carbon tax.

It is a money grab and I'm glad that some premieres are seeing this, among many other problems that will arise from this scam. I'm all for looking for ways to reduce pollution, but this has no substance let alone any method of proving that it would actually work.

And as mentioned in a previous thread, they will grab more taxes overall on everybody in the country, then they would normally through income taxes. Not everybody files their taxes, not everybody gets money back on their taxes when they do.... and for people who are not citizens of the country, but living here and working here under visas or residency, those people do not file income taxes in the first place. So they would still be paying this carbon tax on the foods and products they eat everyday, on the fuel they use to heat their homes and power their cars....

and guess what? They're not going to see any of that money again.

Their so-called balanced approach isn't balanced at all and this is just another method of getting more income from the public then they originally would have.... during a time when everybody is already feeling the crunch on the cost of living. ]]> Canadian Politics Praxius http://forums.canadiancontent.net/showthread.php?t=75063 Canadians prefer Obama over own leaders http://forums.canadiancontent.net/showthread.php?t=75058 Mon, 30 Jun 2008 15:17:09 GMT A new poll suggests Canadians would prefer to vote for Barack Obama rather cast a ballot for their own political leaders, while 45 per cent of... A new poll suggests Canadians would prefer to vote for Barack Obama rather cast a ballot for their own political leaders, while 45 per cent of Americans envy Canada's health care system.
The bi-national survey, conducted by the Strategic Counsel for CTV and The Globe and Mail, showed that here in Canada, Obama was more admired than Prime Minister Stephen Harper -- or any other national leader.
"Some would read (the results) as an indictment of our political leaders," the Strategic Counsel's Peter Donolo told CTV.ca. "Others would say it's an acknowledgement of the phenomenal nature of Obama's appeal. He really is a prototype of his own; he's broken the mold."
Stephane Dion trailed far behind the other leaders, just ahead of Republican presidential nominee John McCain:

Barack Obama: 26 per cent
Stephen Harper: 21 per cent
Hillary Clinton: 16 per cent
Jack Layton: 9 per cent
Gilles Duceppe: 6 per cent
Stephane Dion: 5 per cent
John McCain: 3 per cent

Obama appealed to people across Canada's political spectrum, with 24 per cent of conservative-minded voters choosing him and 28 per cent of liberal thinkers.
"I think there's a sense in Canada that we're in a rut with our political situation, and I think there's a fatigue with the nature of politics in Ottawa as we watch it through question period -- the very cranky, minority-government style politics. There's a little more envy than usual south of the border," said Donolo.
This recent poll by The Strategic Counsel surveyed 1,000 Canadians and 1,000 people in the United States.
When it came to health care, 45 per cent of Americans felt Canada had a superior system, while 42 per cent thought the United States should stick with its own.
Meanwhile, the vast majority of Canadians, 91 per cent, felt that Canada's health care system was better than the United States.
Canada tilts to the left
When Canadian respondents were asked how to define their political views, regardless of how they actually vote, slightly more than half described themselves as liberal:

Very liberal: 12 per cent
Liberal: 39 per cent
Conservative: 38 per cent
Very conservative: 3 per cent

Respondents in the United States were slanted in the other direction, and also had more people who considered themselves on the extreme right of the political spectrum:

Very conservative: 10 per cent
Conservative: 47 per cent
Liberal: 30 per cent
Very liberal: 7 per cent

"In general, I think on a lot of issues the United States are a more polarized society," said Donolo. "When you look at the number of how many hardcore conservatives there are in the U.S., it's a pretty significant number."
Gay marriage
The same poll also suggested Canadians are far more liberal than Americans, with 70 per cent supporting gay marriage.
When it came to gay marriage, 68 per cent of Canadians backed supported it, while 28 per cent were against it. In 2005, when the government was considering whether to repeal the gay marriage bill, 55 per cent were in favour of gay marriage.
"I think this points to the reality being a lot less threatening to people than the concept. As people have gotten used to the issue, there's been less anxiety over it," said Donolo.
Aside from being more politically right-of-centre, Americans also appear to be more religious.
Respondents in the United States went to religious services more frequently than Canadians:

Every week or almost every week: Canada 23 per cent, U.S. 46 per cent
Once a month: Canada 8 per cent, U.S. 11 per cent
A couple of times a year: Canada 27 per cent, U.S. 16 per cent
Never or hardly ever: Canada 42 per cent, U.S. 27 per cent

Technical notes

The poll was conducted between June 12-22 by The Strategic Counsel for CTV and The Globe and Mail.

The sample size was 1,000 people in each country. A proportionate random national sample has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNew...hub=TopStories ]]> Canadian Politics I think not http://forums.canadiancontent.net/showthread.php?t=75058 Welfare Reform http://forums.canadiancontent.net/showthread.php?t=75028 Sun, 29 Jun 2008 11:46:43 GMT Toronto and most cities in North America is paying too much for welfare and is in need of a major review and overhaul. There are people on our... Toronto and most cities in North America is paying too much for welfare and is in need of a major review and overhaul.

There are people on our welfare roles that has been receiving hard earned tax dollars for years and will keep on getting that money for more years because this is their perceived career.

Welfare is a program to help the people who fall on hard times and is there as a temporary solution until they got back on their feet.

Lets face it, things happen in life that we have very little control over and we will need help until we can start over.

Years back when the American President Clinton was in office he came out with a simple welfare plan where a person could draw welfare in their lifetime of five years maximum.

That is sixty months of welfare and when you consider that the average crises lasts about six months before you get back on your feet and if this happens six time in your working career this equals 36 months and the person would have 24 months to spare.

When Mike Harris was premier years ago in Ontario he tried to bring in welfare reform but he tried by cutting back the welfare payments overnight to a ridiculously small amount and he said that people that were on welfare had to work a certain percentage of the time on municipal or provincial projects but he never followed through with that idea.

They tried the food stamp program but abandoned it because people complained that it was a psychological hardship for then when other people saw that they were on welfare.

Now welfare recipients get cheques so a certain percentage of them can buy their cigarettes and beer and wine and drugs and their movie channels on cable TV

With cheques you cannot follow the money to see where it is spent on.

With today’s technology welfare recipients can get a welfare debit card issued by the government so they can access their welfare account for the basic necessities like food and shelter.

People that have been on welfare that are able to work have to go to work for their welfare like government projects with time off so they can search for work and they have to provide a list of businesses that they went to so it can be verified.

If the cities and towns were to adopt the welfare debit card and working for welfare the welfare roles would dramatically decrease to the people that really need it. ]]> Canadian Politics Liberalman http://forums.canadiancontent.net/showthread.php?t=75028 Seniors Losing Mobile Homes in BC. Government at Fault?????? http://forums.canadiancontent.net/showthread.php?t=75027 Sun, 29 Jun 2008 03:21:35 GMT *Seniors losing mobile homes blame B.C. government* CBC - A group of seniors being evicted from their waterfront neighbourhood on Vancouver Island... Seniors losing mobile homes blame B.C. government
CBC - A group of seniors being evicted from their waterfront neighbourhood on Vancouver Island are imploring the B.C. government for help.
The mobile home park they live in has been sold and the seniors - some in their 70s and 80s - have been told to move their trailers out by next May.
"Inhumane is the term that I've used," said resident Joan Auld, 72. "It's inhumane to treat people like this."Auld and her husband, Terry, live at the Saltair Seaside Trailer Park near Ladysmith along with nine other residents. Last year, the property was purchased for $1.9 million by two businessmen who want to rebuild there.

Above is the caption from the internet.

I would like to know why the people believe that the government is at fault. The government did not make them pay rent in the mobile home park. Free enterprize did and when free enterprize sold the land the new owner can do what he wants with the land, as long as he complys with zoning laws.
Maybe what these people want is that the government take them from cradle to grave. The governement can do this but need some more money. Instead of paying a tax rate of 35% maybe it should be 70% of your earned income, to pay for these people that cannot think for themselves ]]> Canadian Politics justfred http://forums.canadiancontent.net/showthread.php?t=75027 <![CDATA[Dion's national program brings hope]]> http://forums.canadiancontent.net/showthread.php?t=75006 Fri, 27 Jun 2008 17:33:14 GMT June 27, 2008
Richard Gwyn

Ever since he announced his "green shift" carbon tax a week ago, Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion gives the impression of walking, for the first time in his two years in the job, with a spring in his step.
While Prime Minister Stephen Harper has pronounced Dion's plan as "crazy," Canadians themselves don't appear to believe this.
Rather, Canadians seem to be ready to at least consider seriously a plan that would impose heavier taxes on them for the sake of combating climate change but with (depending on income) part or all of this coming back to them in the form of compensating tax cuts.
There may be another reason why Dion's scheme is going over better than all the political commentators anticipated. This is that it's a pan-Canadian program.
To a substantial extent, Canadian politics is no longer about Canadian politics. It's now largely about the politics of the provinces or regions, or about the politics of identity or ethnic groups.
National programs have just about vanished from our agenda. Thus, our national health-care program now consists of 10 provincial health-care programs.
So far as climate change is concerned we were, until Dion's announcement, well on our way to having 10 climate change programs, each designed to suit the interests of each province.
While media commentators have been extraordinarily slow to recognize this, in many respects Canada is no longer a nation-state in the common meaning of the term but is instead an ever more decentralized alliance of 10 provincial states.
What twigged my thoughts on this matter was a recent, and excellent, column in the National Post by Rudyard Griffiths, co-founder of the Dominion Institute.
Griffith's column was mournful and elegiac. Canada's "civic compact" is being dissolved. The federal government has "lost the momentum, if not the moral authority, to create the kinds of national programs and institutions that previous generations saw as essential to our sense of shared nationhood."
Griffiths attributes much of this to Ottawa's response to the particular challenge to Canadian nationhood posed by Quebec. By yielding to just about every Quebec demand for autonomy, it has enabled Quebec to "achieve sovereignty in everything but name."
He's absolutely right. But as Quebec has gone, so just about every province is now going. Today, the federal government functions as little more than a combination of a note-taking secretariat and an automatic teller machine.
Thus, not only does Ottawa now account for the smallest share of national spending by any central government in the world, but almost all of its considerable financial transfers to the provinces are non-conditional. This means they can be spent any which way by any province, in contrast to the U.S. and Australia where almost all such transfers are conditional or can only be spent on agreed objectives in agreed ways.
Even as a symbol of Canada's "shared nationhood," Ottawa is fading away. The new National Portrait Gallery, which will embody so much of national achievement and memory, is to be offered to whichever city will pay the most for it. That's good for the winning city, but why should anyone bother to visit a national capital where there's nothing for them to learn about their country and its history?
Griffiths ends by writing that, "The country is fast approaching a watershed."
I believe we're already near to coming out on that watershed's other side.
Except for one thing. In their at least cautiously approving initial response to Dion's "green shift" program, Canadians may be gearing themselves up to say out loud that they want to live, not in an agglomeration of statelets but in a country, in a national community, in a society of which the whole is larger than the sum of its parts.

http://www.thestar.com/World/Columnist/article/450056

]]> Canadian Politics Avro http://forums.canadiancontent.net/showthread.php?t=75006 Chrétien wins Gomery challenge http://forums.canadiancontent.net/showthread.php?t=74989 Thu, 26 Jun 2008 21:14:00 GMT Here is finally some justice for the former Liberal PM Mr Chretien and Mr Pelletier. Mr. Chrétien and Mr. Pelletier went to Federal Court for a... Here is finally some justice for the former Liberal PM Mr Chretien and Mr Pelletier.

Mr. Chrétien and Mr. Pelletier went to Federal Court for a review of Mr. Gomery's findings, even though Mr. Gomery ruled they had no knowledge of illegal activity or direct responsibility in cash payments to Liberal organizers.
Justice Teitelbaum offered a scathing assessment of Mr. Gomery's conduct as the head of a public inquiry.
He said Mr. Gomery could not be expected to abide by the same rules of conduct that apply to a judge in a courtroom. But even applying a more relaxed standard, he said, Mr. Gomery failed in his essential duty to ensure that a reasonable person would find the proceedings to be fair and impartial.
“The nature of the comments made to the media are such that no reasonable person looking realistically and practically at the issue, and thinking the matter through, could possibly conclude that the commissioner would decide the issues fairly,” Justice Teitelbaum said.
He blasted Mr. Gomery's apparent obsession with the media.
“The media is not an appropriate forum in which a decision-maker is to become engaged while presiding over a commission of inquiry, a trial, or any other type of hearing or proceeding,” Justice Teitelbaum said.
“Comments revealing impressions and conclusions related to the proceedings should not be made extraneous to the proceedings either prior, concurrently or even after the proceedings have concluded.”

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servl.../National/home ]]> Canadian Politics Socrates the Greek http://forums.canadiancontent.net/showthread.php?t=74989 Is Canada anti-Muslim? http://forums.canadiancontent.net/showthread.php?t=74982 Thu, 26 Jun 2008 17:44:50 GMT From reading Praxius' thread about Omar Khadr's trial in the US, I have asked myself, "is there an anti-Muslim attitude in the ranks of our government, and in the Canadian public as well?"

I would appreciate your input from personal observations, articles you have read, and news you heard about.

I will start off with a complaint from a Muslim group in B.C. At the heart is an article by Mark Steyn in McCleans Magazine, titled....
"The future belongs to Islam."

Quote:

A B.C. human rights commission hearing room became the battle ground Monday for a fight between Canadian Islamic leaders who say their community has been painted as a threat to Western society and a Canadian magazine that says it will defend freedom of the press.
Two prominent Muslim leaders have demanded Maclean's magazine give them an opportunity to respond to an October 2006 article they call "flagrantly anti-Muslim."

http://canadianpress.google.com/arti...v2p307REnuvfBg
----------------------------------------------------------------
Looking up who Mark Steyn is I wasn't surprised to read that he is a strong supporter of Israel and the Jews, as well as a Neo-Conservative fan. One doesn't need to look further to agree with the two Muslim leaders.

If our government has allowed Muslims from various countries to immigrate to Canada, then there should be no bias from our leaders against them. All "Canadians" are equal when it comes to rights and obligations of any individual towards the State, as well as the State towards its citizens.

In the case of Omar Khadr it is painfully obvious that our government, liberal or conservative, is violating the right of a proper citizen to all the help and support he can get from his own government, especially since Omar was still a child at the time of his incarceration and torture by the Americans.

Unfortunately, our involvement in a war against Muslims tends to feed an anti-Muslim mindset. McCleans, I'm sorry to say, is not helping to diffuse this trend. ]]> Canadian Politics dancing-loon http://forums.canadiancontent.net/showthread.php?t=74982 An End To Art Funding....PLEASE! http://forums.canadiancontent.net/showthread.php?t=74915 Tue, 24 Jun 2008 22:09:26 GMT OMG!

According to today's Globe and Mail, a certain Mr. Cesar Saez has the plan........create a 300 foot banana, fill it with helium, and float it over the state of Texas in "a statement about advertising, sex, politics and illegal immigration"

So he applies to the Federally funded Canada Council for the Arts and the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Quebec for cash money.

The Canada Council gives the guy $95,000.

The Quebec folks hand over $55,000.

Not enough. He wants $1.5 million.

All art funding done with our tax dollars needs to stop.

This is robbery, pure and simple. ]]> Conservative Lounge Colpy http://forums.canadiancontent.net/showthread.php?t=74915 The Long and Winding Road http://forums.canadiancontent.net/showthread.php?t=74716 Tue, 17 Jun 2008 04:46:05 GMT Nova Scotia and the Province of Canada were the first to gain Responsible... Nova Scotia and the Province of Canada were the first to gain Responsible Government.
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In what year did Newfoundland win `Responsible Government`?

In what year did the Province of Canada win `Responsible Government`?

In what year did P.E.I. win `Responsible Government`?**
**When was it fully employed?

In what year did New Brunswick win `Responsible Government`?**
**When was it fully employed?

In what year did Nova Scotia win `Responsible Government`? ]]> Canadian Politics scratch http://forums.canadiancontent.net/showthread.php?t=74716 Questions About Our First Prime Minister http://forums.canadiancontent.net/showthread.php?t=74715 Tue, 17 Jun 2008 04:23:29 GMT -- who was our first Prime Minister? --was he a Grit or a Torie? --where was he born: Nova Scotia, Ireland, Ontario or Scotland? -- who was our first Prime Minister?

--was he a Grit or a Torie?

--where was he born: Nova Scotia, Ireland, Ontario or Scotland? ]]> Canadian Politics scratch http://forums.canadiancontent.net/showthread.php?t=74715 <![CDATA[Canada's First Separatist Movement!]]> http://forums.canadiancontent.net/showthread.php?t=74679 Mon, 16 Jun 2008 07:13:46 GMT ...and I quote: I do not believe that the people of Nova Scotia will ever be satisfied to submit to an act which has been forced upon them by such... ...and I quote:

I do not believe that the people of Nova Scotia will ever be satisfied to submit to an act which has been forced upon them by such unjust and unjustifiable means...The people of my province were tricked into this scheme.

Who said this and what did this person eventually accomplish? ]]> Canadian Politics scratch http://forums.canadiancontent.net/showthread.php?t=74679 Confederation.... http://forums.canadiancontent.net/showthread.php?t=74664 Mon, 16 Jun 2008 02:17:34 GMT Which was the third province to enter Confederation? Which was the third province to enter Confederation? ]]> Canadian Politics scratch http://forums.canadiancontent.net/showthread.php?t=74664 Canadian 9/11 Petition for Parliament http://forums.canadiancontent.net/showthread.php?t=74457 Mon, 09 Jun 2008 20:40:06 GMT *FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – DISTRIBUTE WIDELY* *PETITION FOR CANADIAN 9/11 INVESTIGATION TO BE READ INTO PARLIAMENT **TUESDAY JUNE 10th, 2008* ...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – DISTRIBUTE WIDELY

PETITION FOR CANADIAN 9/11 INVESTIGATION TO BE READ INTO PARLIAMENT TUESDAY JUNE 10th, 2008

Vancouver BC,
Drew Noftle
5-6-8
A few months ago various 9/11 Truth activists across Canada got together to compose a Parliamentary Petition demanding an investigation into 9/11. The first 500 signatures were submitted last week, verified, and accepted. This petition will be read into Parliament on Tuesday June the 10th, at approx 10 am EST, by East Vancouver member of Parliament Libby Davies.
Our Petition can be found here:
http://www.marchonottawa2008.org/ind...cman&Itemid=31

The 9/11 attacks not only killed 24 Canadians, but it is also our sole reason for participating in – and now enduring – the War on Terror. Upon the outset of the War in Afghanistan, former US Secretary of State Colin Powell (who will be in Vancouver June 12th) promised Canada a whitepaper linking the September 11th attacks with Osama bin Laden in exchange for our premature participation in the conflict in Afghanistan. This whitepaper never came, yet our troops are still fighting abroad.
To date, the United States of America has yet to convict a single person in a court of law for the crimes of September 11th. Both official US reports, The 9/11 Commission Report and the NIST Federal Building and Fire Safety Investigation of the World Trade Center Disaster created more questions than answers, and cannot be credited as final accounts. Thus, in absence of our whitepaper or any other credible report, Canada must now take it upon itself to investigate the crimes of September 11th, not only for the sake of those in Canada who lost their loved ones, but also to justify our war efforts in Afghanistan, or to bring a cause for an immediate withdrawal.
Ms. Davies, who is the deputy leader of the Federal NDP, has served as an MP in East Vancouver since 1997, easily winning in 4 consecutive elections. We would like to call on all Canadians to please send her an email thanking her for doing what she can to bring the topic of 9/11 into the Canadian Parliament: Davies.L@parl.gc.ca.
Although this petition has already been submitted, we still wish to collect as many signatures as we can to show our true numbers. These yet to be collected signatures will then be added to our current tally, and a total will be read outside of Parliament on September 11th 2008 in support of bringing our demands to fruition. This rally on Parliament Hill, will succeed a March on Ottawa, that will start in Montreal QC, 5 day's earlier This March on Ottawa will be the first nationally organized 9/11 Truth event here in Canada and we are anticipating on having thousands of marchers and participants rally with us in Ottawa: www.marchonottawa2008.org
If you have yet to sign this petition, please do, and mail a copy in to our mailing address:

March on Ottawa Organizing Committee
32-2902 Main St. Vancouver BC
V5T 3G3.

Contacts: Drew Noftle onehistory@gmail.com (Vancouver)
Robert Lewis robertslewis42@hotmail.com (Montreal)
Matthew Buechler matthewbuechler@rogers.com (Ottawa) ]]> Canadian Politics darkbeaver http://forums.canadiancontent.net/showthread.php?t=74457 Are we privileged?? http://forums.canadiancontent.net/showthread.php?t=74414 Sun, 08 Jun 2008 08:34:15 GMT North America consists of two countries.
Each country has a leader.
Canada's would be Prime Minister Harpo.
For the U.S. it would be President Busharoo.
Luckily for us they are on good terms.
They are both idiots and therefore understand one another.
Now are they really close as friends go? Yes, one is Stevie and the other is Georgie.
Now what scares the bejesus out of me is what they are talking about or planning for their people.

:?::?::?::?::?: ]]> Canadian Politics scratch http://forums.canadiancontent.net/showthread.php?t=74414 <![CDATA[Canada's Sovereignty in Jeopardy]]> http://forums.canadiancontent.net/showthread.php?t=74222 Sat, 31 May 2008 18:14:31 GMT Canadian jurisdiction over its Northern territories was redefined, following an April 2002 military agreement between Ottawa and Washington. This... Canadian jurisdiction over its Northern territories was redefined, following an April 2002 military agreement between Ottawa and Washington. This agreement allows for the deployment of US troops anywhere in Canada, as well as the stationing of US warships in Canada's territorial waters.
Following the creation of US Northern Command in April 2002, Washington announced unilaterally that NORTHCOM's territorial jurisdiction (land, sea, air) extended from the Caribbean basin to the Canadian arctic territories.

"The new command was given responsibility for the continental United States, Canada, Mexico, portions of the Caribbean and the contiguous waters in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans up to 500 miles off the North American coastline. NorthCom's mandate is to "provide a necessary focus for [continental] aerospace, land and sea defenses, and critical support for [the] nation’s civil authorities in times of national need."
(Canada-US Relations - Defense Partnership – July 2003, Canadian American Strategic Review (CASR), http://www.sfu.ca/casr/ft-lagasse1.htm

NORTHCOM's stated mandate was to "provide a necessary focus for [continental] aerospace, land and sea defenses, and critical support for [the] nation’s [US] civil authorities in times of national need."
(Canada-US Relations - Defense Partnership – July 2003, Canadian American Strategic Review (CASR),
http://www.sfu.ca/casr/ft-lagasse1.htm)
Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld boasted that "the NORTHCOM – with all of North America as its geographic command – 'is part of the greatest transformation of the Unified Command Plan [UCP] since its inception in 1947.'" (Ibid) ]]> Canadian Politics quandary121 http://forums.canadiancontent.net/showthread.php?t=74222 Nationalize Canadian oil reserves!!!! http://forums.canadiancontent.net/showthread.php?t=74076 Tue, 27 May 2008 20:48:46 GMT Canadians should rise and fight to nationalize all Canadian oil reserves. We should not be taken hostage against a commodity that runs abundantly... Canadians should rise and fight to nationalize all Canadian oil reserves.
We should not be taken hostage against a commodity that runs abundantly under Canadian soil. The oil under Canadian soil belongs to Canada, not to Alberta not to Nova Scotia not any one in specific except Canada.

]]> Canadian Politics Socrates the Greek http://forums.canadiancontent.net/showthread.php?t=74076 Yushenko and His Excellency... PM Harper! http://forums.canadiancontent.net/showthread.php?t=74054 Mon, 26 May 2008 22:21:19 GMT "I'm grateful to His Excellency, Mr. Prime Minister, for his clear position that was stated on behalf of Canada during the (NATO) Bucharest Summit (last April)," Yushchenko told reporters at a joint press conference with Harper.

Canada's approval of Ukraine joining NATO is in line with the United States.

However, other NATO members, such as France and Germany, have been more cautious about supporting Ukraine's bid to join the 26-member alliance.
Russia, fearing a further loss of influence, is opposed to Ukraine and Georgia joining the alliance.

In his address, Harper expressed support for a private member's bill recognizing the 1932-33 famine in Ukraine as an act of genocide.

"In Canada we aren't afraid of history or of truth,'' Harper told Parliament.
"This is why our government recognized the injustice to Ukrainians who were interned during the First World War. . . (And this bill) would provide legal recognition of what happened in Ukraine under the brutal communist dictatorship of Josef Stalin."
Read full: http://news.sympatico.msn.ctv.ca/abc...hchenko_080526
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Excellent! About time Canada is not afraid of the truth! I must remember that!

I certainly can't blame Ukraine for wanting to side with the West, if Russia treated them that bad in thr early thirties.
Shouldn't at least Putin have acknowledged the wrong his country did, and pay some sort of reparations? Perhaps that was done a long time ago, I just didn't hear of it.
]]> Canadian Politics dancing-loon http://forums.canadiancontent.net/showthread.php?t=74054 Dealing with China http://forums.canadiancontent.net/showthread.php?t=74000 Sun, 25 May 2008 06:30:22 GMT Dealing with China
China's catastrophic earthquake last week in Sichuan province has prompted words of condolence from Canada's government, in a written press release. But there is no sign of any personal exchange with the senior leadership in Beijing. Nor has Ottawa sought to mobilize support through the Chinese-Canadian community — in contrast to our active responses to the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004 and Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

This is a striking symptom of something missing in the Harper government's policy toward China on other fronts, too. In our business relationship with China, public policy matters.

Read the whole article here... http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servl...alComment/home
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Yes, what is wrong with the Harper gang? Still harping the human rights issues? Tibet? Or what? ]]> Canadian Politics dancing-loon http://forums.canadiancontent.net/showthread.php?t=74000 If I have offended you! http://forums.canadiancontent.net/showthread.php?t=73960 Thu, 22 May 2008 23:42:38 GMT I need to apologize here to forum participants if I have offended anyone who may read across my posts and witness my linguistic denigration mostly... I need to apologize here to forum participants if I have offended anyone who may read across my posts and witness my linguistic denigration mostly about the current Federal Government performance. From time to time I find it difficult to stay away from using milled profane langue.

It is common when we get mad we all experience a mental discomfort causing some to get violent, some become verbally abusive, and in short we all have a mechanism in place that appears to work at stressful difficult times.

It may be politically correct to up hold the out most civil ability, but it all depends on the circumstance one is faced with.
The most difficult environment I hate being a part of is a Conservative environment, when I know what is good for my pocket and yet a group of political thugs who at first campaign for a chance to make things better and as soon as they are in they are out to sink the country.

Modern conservative ideology is about bad economic maping and when you don’t respect what this people stood for we all rebel in our own way and my way is to call them names like CON, PIGS, LOSERS, and all the rest.
I do respect every single participant here and we all see life with our own eyes. ]]> Canadian Politics Socrates the Greek http://forums.canadiancontent.net/showthread.php?t=73960