The reinvention of the left

[petros]

It takes both left and right to paddle a canoe.

 

[damngrumpy]

There is some things that have to be done for sure, but some of the ideas will fall short.
I agree with a measure of protectionism, even if it means the all products for the vast
majority of them must be done as finished products. Raw Logs, raw Iron ore, and other
materials that can be manufactured. It is crazy that we would enter into an agreement
to ship crude oil south without insisting the refineries be on this side of the boarder to
secure Canadian jobs.
In addition I think the oil business should be informed that those who exploited us for so
long with high oil prices (Middle East) interests should not own these facilities. We must
put restrictions on and hold to them. Remember the rest of the world needs what we have
and we should be guaranteed first access and the rest sold at higher prices to the world.
If the WT|O does not like it too bad the resources are outs. Lets see we have more forests,
more water, more oil, and a lot more raw mining materials than most people in the world,
and we should use that to our advantage.
I know the world will get upset, too bad, there are others out there that will trade with us
and there are different sources for required food supplies. We can also produce much more
if we ensured Canadian farmers the edge in our own country. For example, no fresh fruit
or vegetables can come into Canada until the supply is done in this country. yes food prices
would rise and they should we have had a cheap food policy for too many years, as opposed
to Europe and the heavily subsidized countries like the United States, Australia, and NZ.
don't think Americans subsidize the fruit industry? the tab is 10 billion a year for tree fruits alone.
In total, the Americans subsidize their farmers by 200 million a year.
the new left must start to address the problems facing those who live here, and use to our
advantage the things that people need. All this good neighbour stuff is just a way to give the
large companies that own everything to do what they please at the expense of the average
Canadian.
There that should get the discussion going.

 

[taxslave]

Crooks! well Harper does not care about the rule of law and Harper does not care about parliament.

It’s his way or the highway.

Can’t debate the budget because of closure.

Crooks have to answer for their misdeeds but when basic citizens rights are being taken away from Canadians by a government who says they have the right to do it because of the voters giving them the majority that is just not right.

I never would have thought that I would ever see the day that a Conservative party would ever act irresponsibly as they are now.

Even the Republican Party in America gives more latitude to it’s citizens than the Conservative party does in Canada.

Because of the mishandling of the Attawapiskat crises the government is triggering a civil disobedience from the aboriginals and if the Conservatives continue to use their iron fist approach to solve problems and not let debate happen between people then civil disobedience will be the norm until the next election.

So far I haven't lost any rights. In fact I will soon regain the right to hold private property without government interference once the LGR is repealed.
OK after that I don't much care if Harper survives or not.

 

[The Old Medic]

I was watching CBC the other night showing how part of the reason for the Conservative win was its winning over much of the 'ethnic' vote along with an increase in working-class votes (two groups especially the NDp claims to stand for).

Clearly someone in the NDP or Liberal Party dropped the ball.

It would seem to me that if the NDP and Liberals want to win these groups back, they're going to have to articulate not only their policies better (which they have done a decent job of already, though they could still do better), but also how these policies will benefit the poor and minorities (which is where I think they really dropped the ball).

After all, if you're a worker in a company that exports goods, will you be so fond of a party that wants to bring back protectionism? If you're looking for work, will you be so fond of the government raising the minimum wage? And how do you see taxpayer funding of political parties helping you get job training if your unemployed?

I'm not saying the right is perfect either of course, but I think if the left wants to win these votes back, it will have to better articulate what concrete benefits these kinds of policies present to the most vulnerable.

Now if the left managed to do these things well, then the ball would be on the right's side to defend the cost of being members of the G8 and G20, NATO, NORAD, etc.

Of course the left has to also defend how funding for the CBC benefits everyday people on the ground. Though granted some of the CBC's local educational radio programming in the North providing practical information might be useful, but most of the rest of it is already being offered by the private sector anyway.

Many people voted against the Liberals and the NDP because they simply do not want the kind of country that those parties want to have.

The Liberals sold themselves out with the "back room deals" with the Bloc, etc. They proved that in reality, the ONLY thing that they stood for was power.

The NDP does NOT appeal to anyone that even hopes to bring themselves into the upper middle class, much less anyone that hopes to become rich someday. Their policies would impoverish the country, as protectionism has repeatedly been show to harm the countries that attempt to enforce it. it may take a whie, but even Japan, Inc. finally fell, at least in part because of its protectionist policies.