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[Canada] Politics of the Democratic Friedmanite Republic of the Government of Harper
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Well, visiting that particular site in Greece was probably a suggestion by Dimitri Soudas. Harper needed someplace to do a photo op, and that was probably as good a spot as any.
On Israel, it's fairly simple: Harper believes unflinching support of Israel will attract more voters than it will repel. And at the moment he's probably right. In the event that the government of Israel does something particularly odious, that could change, but as it is, the damage to Canada's international reputation on that particular front isn't sufficient for the average person to care.
Guild Wars 2: Entriech.3507 | Scythe Gearsnap, Phlork, Irenic
I might accept that if the Tories hadn't sent out all those flyers saying people should vote for them because Ignatieff criticized Israel about something. Which is not to say that Harper is not a staunch supporter of Israel. I just think he's turned it up to 11 because it'll get him votes somewhere down the line.
I mean, really people, it's not like Harper and his government have been known for their lack of contempt for non-white non-christian people (among many other things).
ummm last time I checked Israel is mostly composed of followers of the Jewish faith.
gamertag: Canadianllama
Jews > Muslims
I mean, really people, since when has "Conservatives support Israel" been surprising?
Now you might ask "How is Harper mandating elected Senators without going through Constitutional reform?" and the answer is very simple - they aren't real elections. They're more like a pseudo-election, where the provinces get to vote on the empty senate seats they wish to fill. The results of the vote are forwarded to the PMO, and Harper super duper promises to respect those votes when he appoints the Senators.
The PMO has also said they can change the rules of the Senate like this without constitutional reform because they totally can yessir indeed.
But yeah, there's nothing wrong with a province voting for their own Senators and sending that recommendation to the PMO. There's also nothing good about it - the election and recommendation means jack shit, legally speaking. The PM can pick whoever he wants as Senator, including the person recommended (or more likely a party loyalist that will blindly rubber-stamp everything he wants and veto everything the opposition wants, the way he's been appointing them for the past five years).
The real trick will be getting them to relinquish power after 10 or 12 years. Legally they have the job for life. He could make them sign a contract, but it would be meaningless because it would violate the Constitution. So basically we'd have to take them at their word that they'll willingly resign after their term is up... even if Harper and the CRAP are out of power by then and they'll be replaced by actual competent people.
I'm actually surprised that he hasn't mandated the provinces to pay for the F35 fighter jets.
Again, Alberta has been having senate elections for a while. PMs have just been ignoring them.
Richy, Harper appointed Alberta's senators in his first term. Ever since that first term I have no idea if Alberta has even elected any senators. Before that happened, I didn't even know Alberta elected senators. Supposedly it's on the ballot for federal elections, but I didn't see it in the election I voted in prior to that happening.
Government is not a hockey game. It is a forum for consensus, debate, and discussion.
I left after Christine Elliott used "tax and spend" for the 3rd time and quoted Dr. Phil.
At least, I don't quote Dr. Phil. In parliament.
*shudders*
The regularly scheduled pre-election implosion of the Ontario Conservative Party seems right on track, as per usual
Here's hoping they support "religious schools" again.
I really don't see what's wrong with people wanting to send their kids to a religious school. It also clears the way for parent's like myself make have school that don't teach any religion.
gamertag: Canadianllama
Catholic schools: GSAs or public funding. Take your pick.
ololol small government trading power to the provinces.
Absolutely nothing, until the government is paying for it. I'm even OK with a generalized "religious studies" course or set of courses. It's a problem when the government is funding schools that specifically endorse one particular religion. Funding different schools that endorse different religions is not a solution because then we just get more segregation of people which leads to more bigotry and ignorance.
My understanding is that they're also some of the best schools in Ontario, so I'd be opposed to abolishing their funding. It would be doing a disservice to Ontario's youth. And don't say "we could balance it out by making the secular schools better". No. Start by making the secular schools better, then cut funding to the Catholic schools when there is an alternative of equal or better quality to send kids to.
Very well put dude!
gamertag: Canadianllama
Or make it one school board so students don't have to choose between going to a decent school and Don't Ask Don't Tell discrimination.
Sorry, but discrimination is illegal under the Charter. It's not about religion. It's about equal rights.
ololol provincial rights et al. aside, I really don't have much beef here. Newfoundland entered the covenant with the company under good faith under the terms of NAFTA. Newfoundland knew, under this agreement, that the NAFTA framework would govern any future disputes instead of Newfoundland's courts and laws.
Now that speaks either to Newfoundland's foolishness or the badness of NAFTA, but it's not really a mark against Harper. Unless you think he deliberately scuttled the case in order to fuck over Newfoundland for not electing a Conservative MP. That's entirely possible, but unlikely. Old Danny boy was a lot of things, and overly prideful was definitely one.
Ok is this your new drum your beating this week? Catholic's discriminating against gays?
Just want to know so I can avoid this thread until your done.
gamertag: Canadianllama
Now there is some rumblings within the media asking if Canada should also persue the thrill of radioactive paranoia.
Please let the CPC not fuck this up for us like Carter fucked the US on nuclear power.
It does have one
I read about Germany this morning.
I just shook my head through the entire article.
It helps that I am gay and saw open students being discriminated against by TEACHERS when the students left the room.
St. Patrick High School. Same school that was involved in the pro-choice suspensions awhile back.
http://www.tbnewswatch.com/news/136109/Students-sent-home
You're right! Awesome.
Ah hell, I hope they don't get stupid about nuclear now.
They've been fucking it up for a little more than two years now. Ever since Harper said he was going to privatize parts of AECL in May of 2009, the nuclear industry in Canada has been a little messed up. If he had actually managed to sell off the chunks he intended to sell, that would be one thing, but they haven't been able to find a buyer, so things are all kind of up in the air. It's more of an incompetence thing than actually fighting against nuclear power, but the effect is similar.
Plus, the damn hippies are trying to get Quebec to shut down their only nuclear power plant. If they succeed, that'll leave just one power generating plant outside of Ontario.
This is excellent. This thread is like 10x better now.
Well, at least Ontario's energy policy doesn't seem to be screwed up:
found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ontario_electricity_policy
Not only nuclear power, but natural gas and oil exploration sites, too. We have customers who are so concerned about the public doing something stupid to their wellsites (there's photographic evidence of some wingnut attempting to light a surface casing vent on fire with a stick) that they're contracting guys from Alberta to fly down and secure the wells from the inside. They can't even rely on razorwire cages and heavy-duty chain and lock assemblies to keep the well safe.
That's the thing with some extreme oil&gas opponents. They're so opposed to stopping oil and gas exploration that they're willing to set bombs off or sabotage pipelines....which result in a worse release of hydrocarbons than any regular facility or site will ever have. It just doesn't make sense.
Also doesn't make sense, in a world where natural gas, oil, and gasoline are all set to skyrocket in the next 12 months, that the government puts a complete moritorium on self-produced product. Self-sufficiency, what? Local job growth, what?
Mmmmm....toasty.
What good will all those jobs be when Mother Earth is burned to a crisp? If they don't allow exploration, and people blow up the pipelines, then clearly everyone will immediately stop using fossil fuels and switch to solar. Clearly.
Moving away from fossil fuels is a noble goal, but it's a loooooooooooooong process. In the end, it will have taken more than ten years and an astonishing amount of political capital to shut down the coal plants in Ontario. And it'll take even more to close the natural gas plants or to improve the power infrastructure for an influx of electric cars.