tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7645037.comments2023-03-28T00:39:55.427-07:00Pharos Reviewigmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11376800741776945590noreply@blogger.comBlogger139125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7645037.post-67788869628264373652012-05-20T21:46:09.828-07:002012-05-20T21:46:09.828-07:00The NDP didn't win many seats out West but the...The NDP didn't win many seats out West but they made significant vote-share gains, mostly at the expense of the Liberals. Another six percent overall gain in vote share means a possible seat in Fleetwood, PittMeadows, Nanaimo, and Vancouver Island North. They are close to a breakthrough in BC.<br /><br />Check out the BC results here: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canadavotes2011/#/295<br /><br />Evaporating those gains may be the price of consolidating Quebec support for Mulcair. Those 103 seats in hand are worth quite a few seats in the Western bush.igmhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11376800741776945590noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7645037.post-12202765244154327252012-05-18T13:38:35.170-07:002012-05-18T13:38:35.170-07:00@Loraine Lamontagne
I dunno, I can't imagine ...@Loraine Lamontagne<br /><br />I dunno, I can't imagine there are many seats for the NDP to lose or gain in Alb. or Sask. <br /><br />So then the question is... will this cost them in B.C. (where they do have something to lose) and is that more then offset in the industrial/manufactoring centers in the East?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7645037.post-81218487865903281242012-05-18T12:00:34.518-07:002012-05-18T12:00:34.518-07:00And with the seat redistribution, the West will ha...And with the seat redistribution, the West will have even greater clout--and rightly so.igmhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11376800741776945590noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7645037.post-88373493906823560422012-05-18T07:13:14.953-07:002012-05-18T07:13:14.953-07:00Mulcair is just following in Harper's footstep...Mulcair is just following in Harper's footsteps - remember the culture of entitlement of the Maritimers? However, there are a lot of more votes, and possibly NDP votes in the West. Mulcair's comments carry heavier political weight - and not in his favour I believe.Loraine Lamontagnehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12512459284158685617noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7645037.post-64506285767316217442012-03-06T04:50:14.442-08:002012-03-06T04:50:14.442-08:00Colbert is awesome! I love his dry wit and the qu...Colbert is awesome! I love his dry wit and the questions are put in such a way that, even though they are questions that are probably REALLY asked by some sleaze dog - they sound like REAL legitimate questions with the obvious undertone of rich sarcasm!! Keep exposing those buggers!!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7645037.post-57121481183928023142012-02-03T06:15:11.378-08:002012-02-03T06:15:11.378-08:00Anonymous said...
"A family of four pays $13...Anonymous said...<br /><br />"A family of four pays $130/yr for one lousy channel in a 500 channel universe."<br /><br />Indeed. In this, the age of New Media, and the multi-channel universe, it's very hard to justify expenditure on a public broadcaster, but lets be realistic about who is paying.<br /><br />Roughly half of our population actually pays taxes - that is doesn't get a nice refund once a year. Folks like babies and children in school, post-secondary students and people, like seniors, on fixed or very low incomes, normally don't pay taxes to the Feds. So the per capita amount that goes towards the CBC is much higher than an across the board amount per person in Canada. <br /><br />The people who actually do pay taxes (roughly half the population) are paying for all the above named classes of people who don't pay. To express CBC funding as a per capita without taking into account the 50% of the population that doesn't pay is misleading and disingenuous.Louisehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02047342179137111486noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7645037.post-12510905344049679792011-12-19T12:05:36.479-08:002011-12-19T12:05:36.479-08:00Thanks for recognizing that, Fred. Although that ...Thanks for recognizing that, Fred. Although that might not have come across in this post, you've doubtless seen previous posts in which I denounce Hamas for its "characteristic bloodthirsty rhetoric, defiance, and reckless endangerment of the citizens it is charged to protect." <br /><br />The way forward in the region is an acknowledgment of the need for a Jewish national home and that Israel has the right to exist. Multilateral or a series of bilateral agreements with regional partners can help Israel secure that peace as with Egypt--a fragile peace I concede.<br /><br />I am not convinced that Israel is a good faith negotiating partner on Palestinian independence. I'm not going out on a limb here.<br /><br />I am also not convinced that on the Palestinian side there are good faith negotiating partners. And civilians in Israel and the Occupied Territories are at the mercy of leadership with unrealistic aspirations on both sides of this continuing conflict.<br /><br />The dream, from my perspective, is the political, geographic, social and economic integration that a One State Solution could confer.<br /><br />After speaking with Zack I've revisited my classification of his recommendation on the IRGC as 'Ugly.' I thought they were exclusively a domestic paramilitary organization but I now understand they have been active beyond their borders in acts of aggression reasonably categorized as terror.igmhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11376800741776945590noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7645037.post-73821830057746717692011-12-19T11:31:29.034-08:002011-12-19T11:31:29.034-08:00Nice to know at least one Liberal has a favourable...Nice to know at least one Liberal has a favourable view of Israel and its need to protect its people.frednoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7645037.post-29262739006011913802011-09-27T13:18:55.226-07:002011-09-27T13:18:55.226-07:00Ah yes, the adscam bogeyman gets trotted out. How...Ah yes, the adscam bogeyman gets trotted out. How predictable. So easy to remember <b>that</b> transgression and yet completely ignore the transgressions of a sitting Minister, Tony Clement and his $50 m slush fund.<br /><br />The family of four gets Radio One, Radio Two, CBC Television, CBC Newsworld, Radio3, all the video content on demand online, live from any time zone in Canada, as podcasts from the iTunes store for free, as Kady O'Malley's stream-of-consciousness twitter feed, and on and on. The radio is commercial free and coast-to-coast. That's a good deal for $11 a month.<br /><br />What do you want to know about CBC's books that you are prevented from finding out?igmhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11376800741776945590noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7645037.post-17555922548034451872011-09-27T09:03:59.163-07:002011-09-27T09:03:59.163-07:00The United States is now starting to move away fro...The United States is now starting to move away from the mandatory-minimums ideology that the Conservatives are now embracing. That is one reason their penal system costs them so much. We are just simply ten-to-fifteen years behind them.<br /><br />As regards the CBC and public broadcasting in general, small-C conservatives on both sides of the border take aim at it precisely because they disagree with the concept of paying for something they don't like, agree with, or want. They must be able to constantly control their message for the people to continue to support them, and that is a message best left to the private sector.<br /><br />They are playing the intelligentsia off against the "normal people", hoping that votes are a sufficient substitute for informed and reasoned thought. As I read in an article recently, arguing against them with facts actually plays into their hands and reinforces their support. In the battle of ideology v. Fact, ideology must always triumph. That seems to be their philosophy (cf. The long-form census decision). Facts just get in the way of advancement of ideology.<br /><br />We need a well-funded public broadcaster to stand as a bulwark against the plethora of private broadcasters, both foreign and domestic, and ensure Canadian content is produced. "Market forces," convinced the private sector to spend in excess of $600-million on foreign -- mostly American -- programming this year. When confronted by the CRTC over this in 2010, their response was "no one will watch Canadian shows." That no one will watch them is a self-perpetuating argument when the private broadcasters won't produce them, preferring instead to import programming. This, folks, is called circular logic. "We won't make any because no one will watch them" is followed, inevitably, by "no one watches them because there are none to watch." And the capital outflow to foreign markets continues.<br /><br />Finally, as to the government? Well, it is true that the people get the government they deserve. Nothing more, nothing less.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7645037.post-12025964211597617502011-09-27T07:08:45.890-07:002011-09-27T07:08:45.890-07:00A family of four pays $130/yr for one lousy channe...A family of four pays $130/yr for one lousy channel in a 500 channel universe. It is a waste.<br /><br /> The mililtary endured more than a decade of deep cuts annually before the gov't realized it was inadequate. <br /><br /> The CBC like every other branch of the gov't should be open to scrutiny. They don't have to reveal much of their spending.This kind of mentality led to adscam.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7645037.post-1263211238957076612011-09-01T19:22:33.169-07:002011-09-01T19:22:33.169-07:00Hello the comment in this commentary is valid as I...Hello the comment in this commentary is valid as I made it.Mrs Clark is certainly not boring. After reading many comments, I will state the follow. Mrs Clark can not call an election. She can ask the man at Govt House to call an election or he can ask Mr Dix to form a Goverment. In my opinion the option should be for Mr. Dix and his team to do just that. Mrs. Clark could then support Mr.Dix or force an election.She will look stupid either way. As a citizen of British Columbia. I will ask the power to be to follow that course. In addition, as an citizen, I will suggest the vote on the baby HST has determined as change in leadership required. He has the power to order an election. He must answer my request with a Yes or NO. Regards, hitory has been made by BC voters. We are on a roll thus lets make more histroy.Ken in Victoriahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13629652826082135743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7645037.post-922007140776191192011-08-31T23:37:28.463-07:002011-08-31T23:37:28.463-07:00The article certainly suggests Ms. Clark is a flip...The article certainly suggests Ms. Clark is a flipflop er. How can she look in the mirror. Unelected and unelectable. The ship of fools is lead by a clown.Ken in Victoriahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13629652826082135743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7645037.post-2640629965027578412011-07-11T14:19:01.295-07:002011-07-11T14:19:01.295-07:00I think what Harper wants is to have his cake and ...I think what Harper wants is to have his cake and eat it too: to <i>appear</i> to be staunchly defending Israel while still agreeing to the principles Obama outlined in May. He conceded to Milewski that he is not deviating from Canada's policy of a two-state solution and of using the 1967 borders as a starting point.igmhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11376800741776945590noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7645037.post-15866604990172984042011-07-11T10:14:07.183-07:002011-07-11T10:14:07.183-07:00Whoops, I left the though uncompleted.
Harper obj...Whoops, I left the though uncompleted.<br /><br />Harper objects to language in the final communique mentioning the 1967 borders because that would give to much prominence to the issue thereby giving Palestinians the false hope that they might win the 1967 borders back through negotiation. If they began to hope this that would make what is already a long-shot utterly impossible to achieve.Jules Aiméhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08262535377454858987noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7645037.post-73034715947649845772011-07-11T10:04:41.131-07:002011-07-11T10:04:41.131-07:00I think you need a little added nuance. It's i...I think you need a little added nuance. It's important to note that supporting the borders as the starting point for negotiations is different from saying you want the end result to include a return to the 1967 borders.<br /><br /><br />And that is precisely why so many people got so touchy about language referring to the 1967 borders. They are a reference point for starting negotiation but it is impossible that any negotiated solution that includes those borders.Jules Aiméhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08262535377454858987noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7645037.post-61284104542009807252011-06-14T12:16:43.146-07:002011-06-14T12:16:43.146-07:00Wishful thinking buddy...
The LPC raised more fun...Wishful thinking buddy...<br /><br />The LPC raised more funds during this election than the past 2 years combined - not something that happened in the past several years. Fundraising is beginning to work for the party.<br /><br />The party is embarking on a true rebuilding - not a debate about "re-uniting" with another party - because we were NEVER part of another party (unlike the PCs - whose membership mostly rode over to Reform-land).<br /><br />The LPC has a LOT of resources the Conservatives could never have dreamed of in 1993-1995 - including the most impactful tool - something which has had us being the most engaged online party of all - social media. When Kim Campbell, and later Joe Clark had to phone ($$$s), send "snail-mail", or actually travel to engage members, the LPC is already having a very detailed discussion online in several fora. Our membership is online. We don't even have to go to someone's house and sign them up... we do it online. We have VOIP telephones, so we won't ring up a $10 phone bill calling ONE rural member. <br /><br />We are at a huge advantage over the party of the right from the early 90s. Oh yeah... that's the other thing - Being the ONLY party of the center, we are uniquely blessed with the ability to draw support from EITHER party to the left or right of us. While there have been voter aberrations over time, most tend to stick to their ideological vote core. <br /><br />While you may wish something else, it ain't happening. At it's worst the LPC may end up resembling the UK Liberals for some time, but we will be here - since Canada is a moderate nation. We are not a nation of "wing-nuts".WesternGrithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06658358114507615351noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7645037.post-32572880082545860112011-06-14T12:08:01.286-07:002011-06-14T12:08:01.286-07:00Rumours of the death of the Liberal Party are grea...Rumours of the death of the Liberal Party are greatly exaggerated. Finished the election in surplus, raising more money than for the 2006 and 2008 elections combined.<br /><br />The Conservative Party has benefited more than any other party in the last ten years from public funding for political parties.igmhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11376800741776945590noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7645037.post-68377581349917354482011-06-14T12:00:06.115-07:002011-06-14T12:00:06.115-07:00WG; If it isn't a rump then what is it? I susp...WG; If it isn't a rump then what is it? I suspect Ignatieff would disagree with your assessment.<br /><br /> In the after -Mulroney election the PC's got about 16%. That is within Three points of what the Libs got this time around. Needless to say,the PC's never survived.<br /><br /><br /> The Libs have debt problems (including failed leadership candidates)that I suspect the old PC party didn't have. It will take more than a few Laurier dinners with Chretien throwing around a few one liners about Da good ol' days to pay it off.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7645037.post-40434695165242765752011-06-14T11:39:15.264-07:002011-06-14T11:39:15.264-07:0034 seats is not a "rump" "rump-face...34 seats is not a "rump" "rump-face". A "rump" is the 3 seat Conservative Party after Mulroney.WesternGrithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06658358114507615351noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7645037.post-52088508434073177172011-06-14T10:23:46.057-07:002011-06-14T10:23:46.057-07:00The alternative was Ignatieff's proposal that ...The alternative was Ignatieff's proposal that Canada would only send in the military when the UN sanctioned it.<br /><br /> We could not allow China and Russia to dictate our foreign policy. Canada should remain a sovereign nation. The Libs seemingly disagreed.This is only one of the reasons why the party was reduced to a rump.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7645037.post-27870377820346102472011-06-09T12:03:19.560-07:002011-06-09T12:03:19.560-07:00The troop total should be determined by our missio...The troop total should be determined by our mission requirements, fiscal limits, and diplomatic commitments, not our level of embarrassment.<br /><br />You are correct, however, that the number of regulars per 1,000 citizens was quite low compared to other nations when we had 20,000, putting us at a ratio of about 0.6. At 70,000 regulars, we're up to a ratio of 2.1. That places us ahead of countries like China and Brazil, but still leaves behind every other nation in the G8 except for Japan.<br /><br />But I guess this goes to the heart of the question of how we see our role in the world, and how we should achieve it. Canadian foreign policy has historically been linked to notions of peacekeeping, diplomacy, multilateralism, and development. Now we're delivering democracy to Libya from the payload of a bomber. That strikes me as a brutal strategy that hardens and militarizes our target, rather than moderating and civilizing it.igmhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11376800741776945590noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7645037.post-23743549372643908342011-06-09T02:20:22.305-07:002011-06-09T02:20:22.305-07:00Do you really think having 20,000 regulars ( of wh...Do you really think having 20,000 regulars ( of which 13,000 may actually be the sharp end of the stick) is reasonable for a country as wealthy as Canada?<br /><br />It is embarrassing that a country with 30+ million people cannot field any more than 2000 soldiers at a time.<br /><br />It is a realty check that Canada needs to double its forces and then some.KURSKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00286593811913745188noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7645037.post-35071376837818411982011-06-03T17:53:38.408-07:002011-06-03T17:53:38.408-07:00SH is branching out from his war on Canada.SH is branching out from his war on Canada.sassyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10423260743909863283noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7645037.post-50393869974374632972011-06-02T19:24:46.935-07:002011-06-02T19:24:46.935-07:00Well, Canadians got rid of one, and the Liberals a...Well, Canadians got rid of one, and the Liberals are stuck with the other.Rotterdamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06014089653357959792noreply@blogger.com