Did I just read this right? The two Liberal leaders somehow think Commodity prices, and ‘self worth’ are the real issues in Canada? Oh my, what a collection of minds the Liberals have gathered to take their party forward.

Can send Matt Shaw a ‘Finance for Dummies’ book, and while you are at it send Tracy to a Tony Robbins seminar so she can tackle the ‘self-worth’ issues Canadians have? That would be great.

“But the single biggest barrier to our success in all areas is our fractured, “us vs. them” mentality that we have allowed to be imposed upon us by government, by industry, by interest groups and individuals. This ideological segregation is keeping us in isolated silos, preventing us from reaching our collective potential for growth. An inability to find consensus is a barrier to social, economic, environmental, and technological development of any kind.”

From what I read Tracy Calogheros believes the best way for our riding to have bargaining power is to have a single strong voice. If we allow the government to put one dish out and say to everyone help your self that’s all you get. It keeps everyone fighting for table scraps. While other areas enjoy a feast.

But in true Harper conservative fashion you attack the person instead of providing any detail.

PG101,

You also fail to mention that your Harper conservative candidate Todd, said nothing.

“We need stay the course in our plan that has created jobs and opportunities across Canada,”

What course and what plan, the Harper conservatives do this over and over just cut and paste talking points.

Harper has steered us off course for long enough, and now he says just a little longer and it will work.

Time for a change

To answer your question, PG101, you did not read the question right. The question did not ask what the questions were facing Canada. It said: “What do you feel are the major issues facing your riding?”

Jobs, jobs, jobs is what most answered. I am tired of reading about jobs. There are much more fundamental problems which exist in PG which are here no matter what the economy. Plus, some of those impact the local economy big time.

What do you feel are the major issues facing your riding?”

I know that I wished we had more people in the riding who could read and understand what they read.

Issues facing our riding?

The aftermath of the beetle devastated forests which will reduce the amount of timber we can harvest over the next 40 to 50 years (yes you read right, 40 to 50 years!!) by about 40%. Quesnel has already been hit very hard in that there is virtually nothing left to the west of Quesnel to cut.

We need to diversify our reliance on natural resources. Currently resource based commodity prices are down, which happens during times of recession. Mines shut down or operate at a loss. Oil shuts down as we use less and less energy, or even start to feel the effect of energy source diversion.

We ship more and more products in and out of the NorthEast and Central Interior. That is the region covered by the two ridings. It is not just PG, it is Fort Nelson down to just south of Williams Lake. That is a vast region which on its own has many different local community needs which are mentioned by very few candidates. In fact, two candidates are missing in action when it comes to this forum. Not a good sign at all. Who wants a stubborn MP who cannot even speak through the media?

Fed money here (often funneled through the Province and in partnership with all three levels of government) Airport, Yellowhead Highway (bridges, city bypass, Peden Hill), government offices such as immigration, veterans affairs, Canada Service Centre, Oxford building (dead street level windows not conducive to shopping street and against City guidelines for street level presence), participation in cultural and recreation facilities, general basic infrastructure upgrading, etc.

Tracy is the only candidate who even gets close to answering the question which should be posed by every single person in any of the communities from the Yukon border to south of Williams Lake during every single election we have had and will have. That is what riding representation is all about to bring the local interests to the national parliament in the most effective way.

What has Zimmerman done in the 4 years he has had? What has Harris done? How can they show us that they have done? Where is the $1billion over 10 years for softening the blow of the MPB effect?

We asked similar questions of accountability of IPG over many years and never got responses. There are no goals and there are no measures.

IPG has now been shut down so that the City can see if they will be able to do a better job.

We need to do the same with the Conservatives. They have had their chance. Time to see is someone else can do a better job. Any rational employer caring for the viability of his/her business would do the same if a senior manager right down to the lowest paid person would not work to the level they are expected to perform.

Zimmer declined the opportunity to respond. Your Highness, what are we, the people? Chopped liver? No, are we just the ordinary folks who are too lazy to really figure out who to send to Ottawa?

Over the past 5 years the Harper Government spent over $800 million promoting themselves, so when people ask were is the 1 Billion committed to help communities with the affects of the Pine Beetle epidemic there is your answer.

I don’t think any of them persoanlly have a clue… they are great a script reading however.

I think Sheldon gave a good answer. Todd was reading, I assume, from an officially approved Q/A sheet. Not a single personally arrived at thought particular to his riding. Safety First!

Stevie sure know how to pick them . His new brain Lynton Crosby has been outed by the guardian as the head of a Maltese tax haven ( Rutland LTD ) . Big red face for Cameron but Stevie ? We know he has no shame .

We get the usual bland statements from various political candidates ie; the economy, employment, diversification, etc; etc;. But no specific solutions or ideas.

Most people who suggest that we diversify (and there have been many over the years) have never come up with an idea that we could implement and that would create jobs. IPG did some studies on what we could produce in this area and export, however they never actually put this information out to the public with any recommendations on how it could be done. Basically said we could export live cattle, fish, cherries, etc;

There have been a number of mills that closed down because of the shortage of fibre, however there were a hell of a lot more shut down because the BC Liberals allowed timber to be milled away from where it was logged. So in that case we diversified by shutting down mills in outlaying areas and building high producing mills in other areas, with all the attendant job loss associated with those endeavours.

So the question is diversify to what??? Give us some examples that would actually create some jobs across the Country.

globalapolloprogram.org

Let me take a look at the issues Sheldon’s raises – major issue is flawed party system, the economy, seniors issues, veterans’ services, and student debt. These are national issues with local twists.

He does not tell us how he will change the party system. Running as an independent will not help much unless there is a minority government and his single vote is in a position to make change. I doubt he even knows how many independents are running and what their political ideology is.

Student debt – define the issues more precisely. How does he propose to solve them? Tuition, for instance, is a provincial, not federal issue. One of the issues, being able to attend a college closer to home, was improved in the 1970’s when community colleges were built throughout BC. Then UNBC was built 20 years later. Does he propose, for instance, that the federal government get involved, as they do in health care and require provinces to provide free tuition?

There is no meat on the stick most, if not all candidates present. We are left to our own imagination of how they would deal with the issues they raise. But they like it that way, just as much as Zimmer does not like to talk at all. All the same in the end.

globalapolloprogram.org. Publically funded research?? Wind?? Solar?? etc; etc;.

All the ideas also require fossil fuel to make the machinery that runs the ideas. As an example where are the wind machines made, what do they consist of, and what is their impact on the environment??

Every try to get an airplane off the ground using wind power and not fuel.?

60% of fuel consumption in the world is burned for recreational purposes. Do you plan on not driving anymore. What would be the impact on the environment if all the hundreds of millions of vehicles on earth were run on battery power.???. Perhaps we could run these vehicles on fairy dust.

Don’t forget that the fuel for a vehicle is just one component. We still need the plastic, steel, rubber, etc; to build a car. So, not as easy as it sounds, but heh, go for it.

So the question is diversify to what??? Give us some examples that would actually create some jobs across the Country.

They are numerous. In fact, most of the country depends on having a locl diversified economy. The more of a single industry town one lives in, the more there is no buffer then when that single industry is in a down cycle.

Look at the businesses and industries in large cities and one will find the diversification.

the traditional barriers of access to market have been dropping like flies in the last several decades. Transportation has been the industry growing by leaps and bounds. More and more cities are on man built transportation corridors and communication corridors.

Become involved with modern methods of doing business.

One small example to make a point.

PG used to have a small electronics company making electronic controllers for automobile lights. We do not manufacture cars here. There is a world market. All that was needed was the business know-how and proximity to an airport which tied in to the international network. The business location did not matter. There were advantages to having an educated workforce and having a low cost of living for that workforce.

The business moved to Kelowna which had some of the similar advantages, but was in a community with some better living amenities, including weather and driving distance to Vancouver.

So, the way I see it, it is weather and recreational living amenities which are the main hurdles. The interesting thing is that weather does not play much of a barrier in the rest of Canada. Think Edmonton, Regina, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Thunder Bay, London, Windsor, Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, Fredericton, Halifax, St. John. In other words, think Canada, not Lotusland.

So what it is are amenities which are available for the time outside of the 35 to 40 hour work week. Make the city livable and businesses as well as people will be more interested in moving here. Without a satisfied workforce, businesses have to spend too much money in recruitment, training, replacement.

Interestingly Palopu you left out the most important bit . The batteries . On purpose ? You betcha . And that apocalyptic mess in northern Alberta is quite okay for you right? Do you even know what the definition of diversification is . If you run your portfolio the same way you run your mouth , you must be bloody near bankrupt .

So, change the weather? Or are you saying close the city down and have us all move to the Okanogan? No wait, I got it now, build a pac

hey slinky, I have no doubts that the PAC is on the horizon, all they have to to is bring it up with council and IT HAPPENS… everything so far shows that.

park rename…
trailer park attack
skateboard park in the hart
bike lanes…
flag of the day in front of city hall
have I missed anything?

Palopu did you know that there are far more non fossil fuel producing countries than there are producing ones . That’s the rub . You see it doesn’t matter what Stevie and the Koch’s do . The rest of the world will just leave them/us behind in the mess we’ve made for ourselves . There are already millions of evs on the road today . They last longer because they only have 18 moving parts . There are lots of them in the north already . You just don’t notice them for obvious reasons . I can still hear the Kodak execs saying , that digital camera thingy is just a fad . It’s not worth investing in . Sure am glad I didn’t listen to those fossils.

*Oilsands facing severe water shortage.*

The bitumen energy sector is encountering another obstacle! Better get those alternate energy initiatives going! Putting all one’s eggs into the one Alberta basket and dissing all other technologies is a paleo approach!