I haven’t heard any discussion in this election campaign about two major problems we in Canada (as well as all of the other so-called advanced economies of the world) have, which I heard described nicely by a financial analyst on a money show on a Vancouver, B.C. radio station back in December, 2010:

“Way more money has been borrowed than will ever get repaid”

“Way more promises have been made by governments and so on than will ever be kept”

Interesting economic/financial system we have developed for ourselves in Canada in that it seems we have to constantly grow the debt in the economy significantly faster than the economy itself grows.

Our annual gross domestic product is $1.98 trillion. At the end of June, 2015 the total household, government (all levels) and business debt in Canada (total debt outstanding) was $6.02 trillion, and the total debt outstanding in Canada excluding domestic financial institutions was $5.04 trillion. The total debt outstanding is 3.04 times greater than our annual gdp, and the total debt outstanding excluding domestic financial institutions is 2.54 times greater than our annual gdp.

At the end of June, 2014 the total debt outstanding in Canada was $5.59 trillion. From the end of June, 2014 to the end of June, 2015 the total debt outstanding increased by $433 billion. This is an increase of 7.7%. At the end of June, 2007 the total debt outstanding was $3.74 trillion. In the last 8 years it increased by $2.28 trillion. This is an increase of 60.9%.

At the end of June, 2014 the total debt outstanding in Canada excluding domestic financial institutions was $4.66 trillion. From the end of June, 2014 to the end of June, 2015 the total debt outstanding excluding domestic financial institutions increased by $379 billion. This is an increase of 8.1%. At the end of June, 2007 the total debt outstanding excluding domestic financial institutions was $3.01 trillion. In the last 8 years it increased by $2.03 trillion. This is an increase of 67.5%.

(The start date of the Statistics Canada data table can be changed by clicking on the “add/remove data” tab at the top of the page.)

This link has information on the growth rate of Canada’s annual gdp in recent years.

So it turns out Harper’s election wizard from Australia wasn’t so loyal for Harper. He cut and run from the Harper campaign and started a hashtag #notincanada to distance himself from any association with Harper.

Having Rob Ford stump for Harper calling down Justin Trudeau for smoking a joint was just a bridge too far even for Lynton Crosby.

Crosby and Co are now looking for brand protection, because it turns out you can’t have neo-cons in other countries thinking racism and dog whistle calls won’t win them elections.

Just a heads up for anyone with comments to contribute on the mining tailings review by the Provincial government. Today is the last day written submissions can be contributed.

Written comments can be emailed to CodeReview@gov.bc.ca

A good relevant read on the subject can be found at the following web site concerning the concerns in Alaska over the new mines up highway 37.

New B.C. $5.4 Billion Gold and Copper Mine Will Improve Water Quality in River, Says Company
http ://www .desmog.ca/2015/10/09/new-b-c-5-4-billion-gold-and-copper-mine-will-improve-water-quality-river-says-company

Harper says that pot is more dangerous than tobacco, but turns up with a crack smoker like he is going to save this election. He is clearly not tough on drugs, he is just tough on a drug that may help people to get off of prescription medication.

For those thinking of voting for conservatives remember Harper’s Omnibus budget Bill C-38:

– Cuts to Food and Safety Inspections
– Special funding for the CRA to attack charities (at the same time as he was lobbying for KPMG to retain tax loop holes for rich off shore tax havens)
– Ditching Canada’s environmental assessment act
– Cutting water efficiency programs
– Pipelines made exempt from Navigable Waters Act
– Plant breeder and seed rights taken from farmers, and of course given to corporations
– Gutting the fisheries act
– Canadian coastline opened to oil and gas drilling
– Eliminating employment equity laws for government contractors
– FBI and US cops allowed to cross the border and arrest Canadians in Canada
– National Round Table on the Economy and Environment eliminated
– Unconstitutional failure to consider native treaty rights
– and the repeal and amendment of 70 other laws

All of this done in one Bill C-38 that was tied to the budget and was not up for debate in the Parliament through an abuse of the Parliamentary privilege of government when forming a ‘budget’. A totalitarian act of vindictive hatred for the democratic process.

Harper may tell us the election is about a hypothetical naqab scenario, but any thinking Canadian with a memory of his past abuse of power should know its about due process. The TPP deal is only his latest abuse of the democratic process.

This is only one Bill and hardly rounds out the list of what Harper has ‘accomplished’ with the past trust put in him by conservative voters.

Think twice before putting any trust and power into the hand of a disingenuous party like the conservatives under Steven Harper.

I read this week that the Americans resupplied ‘rebels’ fighting Assad near Alepo with a 50-ton air drop of munitions (the the Russians claim this was picked up by isis terrorists) that have been since been used to take out Russian and Syrian armored units.

A proxy war like that is getting awfully dangerous to spiraling out of control into a ww3 scenario.

Furthermore politicians like Hillary Clinton are calling for a no-fly zone over Syria, which would bring American into direct conflict with Russia (which is there legally as invited by the sovereign UN recognized nation).

Then we get Harpers buddies from the coup in Kiev (the security minister) going the extra mile and publishing in their media reports of the Russian pilots personal information, including the addresses of their families, in Ukrainian, Russian as well as Arabic and making the call for isis to attack their families. Some kind of Harper ally these Ukrainian guys are for Canada… and Harper claims he is tough on terror?

It would be nice if Canadians could get some direction as to how the parties stand on the Syria issue as it evolves considering an election is only days away.

“It would be nice if Canadians could get some direction as to how the parties stand on the Syria issue”

I really do not see where that matters. We elect these people and expect them to take charge on issues as they arise and have a method in place of how they make decisions which include the citizens of the country in that decision making on the fly.

Whatever anyone will tell me now, I would not put any money on it. It will change tomorrow as they see a different picture when they get more information.

The Conservatives have proven to be less trustworthy than others have been, less transparent, and have certainly done little to help this little corner of the world. Not respecting a promise they made to provide $100 million per year for 10 years to help us overcome the MPB issue says it all in a nutshell.

I am left with going with the party most likely to improve the situation country wide rather than making it worse.

I wonder whether next week’s FFfA will be a bunch of whiners from the losing side telling us how the country is going to be going to the dumps … and the others telling them they are sore losers …. :-)

I think that come Tuesday both “sides” will be whining while those in the middle will have the satisfied grin ;)

Looking more and more like the liberals will form a minority government. The campaign plans of the ndp and conservatives were almost completely negative attack ads, ndp aimed at Harper and the pcs aimed at Trudeau. The liberal plan to run a positive campaign was a brilliant but risky move given the success of negative campaigns in past elections. Refreshing to say the least as I was wearing out the mute button with all the attack ads.

As for the economy I hope that as the when it once again running on all cylinders that Trudeau will take a page from Paul Martin’s book and use excess funds to pay down debt. If the ndp had two extra nickels to rub together the first thought is to add bureaucrats and programs and the pcs at tax cuts. Paying off debt lowers debt servicing costs, money that is available through good times and bad.

There will be a mad dash next week for all party leaders to the LCBO to get moving boxes with the exception of Lizzy May who will still be the bag lady residing in the bus shelter near the foot of Parliament Hill perfectly happy as long as no one messes with the brown bag of “cold medicine” made from Okanagan’s finest grapes.

Well folks if Trudeau and Liberals win on Monday night, be ready for a lot of disappointments and hang on to your wallets/purses. Corruption is beginning to settle in the Liberal camp with the resignation of Trudeau’s campaign co-chair. Trudeau’s latest TV add that shows Trudeau in dramatic setting (good drama teacher) preaching to an enthusiastic crowd, ends his commercial by saying the economy does not rest on leadership but rather on the people. So by doing so Trudeau abrogated his responsibility to lead our economy. Hang on folks cause if Trudeau wins as the polls suggest we are in for a bumpy four years.

So the latest polls show the west coast will be won by the NDP. Mulclair isn’t going to win and will most likely be relegated to third place. So us British Columbians will be shut out again. Happy NDP land.

So Ontario is so happy with Wynn leading their province to oblivion, that they want to inflict Liberal pain to the rest of Canada. Will we see the rise of the Reform movement again in the west? Maybe.

Cheetos

Given the lack of love between the parties, I think we will be back to the polls within a year given the odds of a minority government. At that point you will see a new leader of the Conservative Party. Peter McKay in all likelihood.

You are correct about the taxes as well, given that Trudeau doesn’t know who the middle class are!

Wouldn’t it be nice for a election to have each party say what they are going to do and how they are going to pay for it without lying?

Love that one quote..” If I lie to the government it’s a felony, if they lie to me it’s a election”

Well, its pretty close to an year since Lyn Hall has been mayor. I think he is quietly doing a great job. Any comments on this. I did not vote for him. Way to go Lyn

I would love to know why 250news, or any local media outlet, is refusing to report on this

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/radon-gas-suspected-in-prince-george-bc-family-tragedy-1.3266622

Who is telling the local news not to report about a local person who died?

sparrow:-“As for the economy I hope that as the when it once again running on all cylinders that Trudeau will take a page from Paul Martin’s book and use excess funds to pay down debt. If the ndp had two extra nickels to rub together the first thought is to add bureaucrats and programs and the pcs at tax cuts. Paying off debt lowers debt servicing costs, money that is available through good times and bad.”
========================================================================

If the Liberals are elected government and they do that we will indeed be in for hard times. The Liberal Party is the party of debt dealers ~ those who control the ‘monopoly of credit’. And like any other ‘monopoly’ they increase the price for their ‘product’ by keeping it scarce in the hands of the public. Realise this, NO modern government of ANY industrialised country can currently “pay down debt” in the same manner that you, or I, or private businesses can do. There is a BIG difference.

To do this, we would have to have a large excess of exports over imports, and be receiving some other countries’ ‘money’ for the difference. That ‘money’ would be used to provide an excuse to have the Bank of Canada transform it into Canadian ‘money’, which would then be used to “keep the economy going”. For there is no other way currently to “pay down debt” and also do that. Not without there being a shortage of money in the hands of the Canadian economy’s domestic consumers ~ us. And the businesses that supply us, to the extent they’re still located in Canada.

To “pay down debt” by the Federal government is essentially sending that amount of Canadian ‘money’ into extinction. When this happens, two other things will also happen. Our dollar will rise in value making our exports more expensive, and as we price ourselves out of the markets abroad we’re exporting to, we’ll lose those markets. This will increase unemployment in Canada, and put pressure on businesses to try to further reduce costs. Either by automation, reducing employment still further, or by demanding lower wages from their workforces.

Couple that with the inflation Trudeau’s deficit spending will cause, and the increased taxes ON US ALL to try to keep that in check, and you’ll wish Harper was back as PM.

It really to bad that we have so many people, who know so little, about so much.

Paul Martin both as Prime Minister and as Finance Minister was a complete disaster, however here we are 10 years later with people still living with the myth.,

Between 1999 and 2002 Martin underestimated the accumulated surpluses by over $36 Billion.(and spent it on debt) This was one and a half times the size of his 1995-1997 cuts.

The surplus’s were so enomous that , by 2000, Martin could no longer simply hide the. So he cut taxes by $100 Billion over five years. (77 per cent of the personal benefits going to the wealthiest eight per cent of the population) Billions also went to Canada’s largest Corporations.

Martin took $54 Billion out of the EI fund and transferred it into general revenue. In addition he reduced EI payments, and reduced transfer payments by billions to the Provinces for health care.

He had the highest unemployment rate during his years in office, and workers received the least in wage increases,.

So that’s just a few points about the Liberals. Theres more.

So we now have a picture of Trudeau with Paul Martin on one shoulder and Jean Chretien on the other. Martin who almost bankrupted the country with his corporate financial shenanigans, and Chretien who’s Government was plagued with scandal. Remember the Gomery Commission?? Remember Abscam??

So now we have Trudeau, Martin, Chretien. Remember the Liberals **Red Book** The purpose of the Red Book was twofold; it provided a genuine vision of the country and it put in writing what the government was going to do. Within two years virtually every promise was broken.

Here is what Martin had to say about the Red Book to Liberal bureaucrats who thought that the Red Book was still Liberal policy.

**Screw the Red Book”, “Don’t tell me what’s in the Red Book. I wrote the goddamned thing, And I know that it’s full of crap”

So now we want to run out and vote for Trudeau, and his buddies Chretien and Martin, and pretend that we have a new Government.

Wake up boys.

The Conservatives got the **West in** and now the Liberals and the Eastern Establishment want them **out** and they will go to any length to do it.

You are being duped and used.

Why was pg101’s post deleted? He asked why you are not covering the local death of a lady from radon. Why are you not covering this story, and why are you deleting any mention of it? Why is the media not allowed to report this? C’mon Elaine, what’s the real story here and who are you protecting?

——————-
editor’s note
Before jumping down my throat, take another look….. PG101’s post WAS NOT deleted. I have also added a post on WHY we didn’t have that particular angle on the story.
Elaine Macdonald-Meisner

A change in this election is coming for Canada and I believe our riding as well.

So it means Trent and the NDP or Tracy Calogheros.

My problem with Trent is he has ran for Mayor was not even close in that election. And he just ran for city council and finished around 14th even lower than Cameron stoltz. Now with a bunch of orange money and a cult like following he may be elected to represent all of us.

Trent and Todd would be more of Dick. A MP that is ineffective wanders around shaking hands and gets nothing done. We don’t need MPs that takes credit for all the hard work of their staff in the constituency office.

For the last 20 odd years none of the parties have paid any attention to us. Harper and the Cons took us for granted and the others thought we were unwinnable.

We need a MP that can get us noticed. One that will stand up for our riding. If we send Tracy Calogheros as our MP into a Liberal government we will be noticed. Let’s get our share of government attention.

Time for change vote for Tracy Calogheros.

So we now have a picture of Harper with Rob Ford on one shoulder and Doug Ford on the other. The true test of a man is what he does when things are tough. Harper is so desperate for votes that he will embrace wife beaters,crack-heads and drug dealers all the while trying to convince the gullible that Trudeau will peddle marijuana to their children.

Anyone still voting Conservative after this dreadful spectacle really has no self respect or morals left. If you can not vote for parties like the Liberals or NDP that have a positive agenda, then do your family, neighbours, and the rest of us a favour and vote for the Christian Heritage Party or the Green Party, where your vote will at least do no harm.

KEEP in mind the POLLS close in BC at 7pm…….

Thank you Eagleone for that Harper synopsis… it true is a Canada I won’t recognize!

The mud slinging has been kicked up a few notches.. Stupid

Attack adds should be illegal.. It slander, bullying etc.. We don’t allow it in the rest of society so why do the politicians get away with it? Lowest form of campaigning there is.

Herbster:Harper is so desperate for votes that he will embrace wife beaters, crack-heads and drug dealers all the while trying to convince the gullible that Trudeau will peddle marijuana to their children.`

There is an old saying: Birds of the same feather flock together!

A radio commentator said yesterday that Harper was warned by advisers that publicly rubbing shoulders with the Fords could be damaging to his campaign, but because Harper is a One Man Band, he – of course – ignored all that!

The ideal path for the country’s economy is to have the gdp on going from lower left to upper right. The job of government is to smooth out the peaks and valleys. Cooling the economy during boom times and injecting cash when times get bad.

There is nothing wrong with Harper running a deficit for a few years after 08 crash, what I have a problem with is that when he got a nostril not even his whole nose above water he started talking about things like income spitting and increasing the tfsa contribution limit while totally ignoring the billions added to the overall deficit.

While socredible seems to think that debt is a good thing to have on the books I think of it as a millstone around the neck of the government and as it grows it will leave them helpless to even deal with a hiccup in the world markets never mind a full blown crisis….Greece springs to mind as one whose millstone was about to drag them under till the EU threw them a life ring.

Canada has a resourced based economy when it is firing on all cylinders the government coffers are full to overflowing as tax dollars flow in from businesses expanding and buying new equipment, people buying big ticket items like cars, houses,boats etc. That is when the government should be restocking the shelves(retiring debt) so they are prepared when the inevitable lean time come again.

Even though I lean right I think the time has come for Harper to go, even people like Pat Carney are saying the same thing(only a few days before the election). A move slightly closer to center with a new red tory leader might be the ticket to breathe new life into the party.

Tuesday morning the sun will still come up and we will in all likelyhood have a new prime minister with a miniority government. As none of the parties will want to go through an election right away Trudeau will have at least 2 years to prove his mettle.

That being said I will still be putting my x beside Todd, mainly to keep it as far from the dippers as possible! That they openly admitted to pushing other candidates aside so they could a FN candidate in certain ridings leaves a very bad taste in my mouth. But then again this is the same party that puts people in positions for what is(or is not)just below their belt buckle and not what is between their ears.

Socredible:`

*To “pay down debt” by the Federal government is essentially sending that amount of Canadian ‘money’ into extinction. When this happens, two other things will also happen. Our dollar will rise in value making our exports more expensive, and as we price ourselves out of the markets abroad we’re exporting to, we’ll lose those markets. This will increase unemployment in Canada, and put pressure on businesses to try to further reduce costs…

Couple that with the inflation Trudeau’s deficit spending will cause, and the increased taxes ON US ALL to try to keep that in check, and you’ll wish Harper was back as PM.*

————–

So you are saying that the 150 billion dollars added to our national debt by Harper are just fine and nothing to worry about, but that ANY much smaller debt added by a new government will cause inflation and increased taxes, that being a disaster while the other one was not.

You are contradicting yourself and I wonder why.

Yet you report other stories that are reported to the CBC? You report the BlueJays win, as if it is local news, and aren’t bringing up a local death by Radon? A story like this should be something you look into, not a Blue Jays victory.
————————
Editor’s note:
You are not clear on how “news” works.
Sometimes all news outlets get the same basic information and we develop our own angles on stories. Sometimes information is presented to one media outlet only, making it ‘their’ story.
In this case, 250News has been given NO information on this tragic loss of life, the family did NOT reach out to us, nor did we receive any medical records. Having recently suffered the loss of a loved one, I personally know how difficult and upsetting it can be when contacted by members of the media to provide details on the death of a loved one. Unless the family reaches out to us requesting coverage, 250News will not be chasing them down.

Elaine Macdonald-Meisner

Sparrow:

*…while totally ignoring the billions added to the overall deficit.

While socredible seems to think that debt is a good thing to have on the books I think of it as a millstone around the neck of the government and as it grows it will leave them helpless to even deal with a hiccup in the world markets never mind a full blown crisis….

Canada has a resourced based economy when it is firing on all cylinders the government coffers are full to overflowing as tax dollars flow in from businesses expanding and buying new equipment, people buying big ticket items like cars, houses, boats etc. That is when the government should be restocking the shelves (retiring debt) so they are prepared when the inevitable lean time come again.*

I could not agree more! Socredible leaves out the specter of an increase in interest rates! If and when interest rates go up (there is no guarantee they will stay as low as now forever) the thing will hit the fan big time! Ten percent annual interest on a 600 billion dollar national debt would destroy all our finances.

Normally, I would vote for the party that best deserves to lead the country. Seeing as it will most likely be a minority govt (along with the fact that I dont like ANY of the major party leaders), I will instead vote for the individual candidate who best deserves to represent the riding (regardless of party).
The Conservative supporters who are yelling that “the sky is falling” need to remember this: Harper made this campaign about HIM, and he has fallen flat on his face. The good that he has done has not outweighed the bad. Now he will likely lose. Change is change and I hope for the best. I am not Con, Lib or NDP. Truthfully, I am scared about any of these 3 clowns being leader. These are the best leaders that the big 3 could put forth?
We will be back to the polls in no time, minority govt wont get far. Hopefully next go-round will see some more competant people. I anticipate that the Cons will only be out for one term, but at least Harper will be gone. No room in a democracy for a dictator.
At least we live in a country where we get to pick which poison to choke on. My vote will certainly go to a candidate that lives in the riding and has the interest to show up and speak their mind. SORRY ZIMMER, no hope for you.

I’m not 100% certain who to vote for yet but, after reading the ramblings of the Mulcair, May and Trudeau supporters on this and many other sites I’m leaning toward voting Conservative.

And although I believe there is no candidate dimmer then Zimmer, he’ll probably get my vote.

Herbster. A bit of an exaggeration on your part. Martin and Chretien are pictured physically with their arms around Trudeau. I seriously doubt that you have a picture of the Ford brothers with their arms around Harper.

Trudeau will be nothing more than an extension of the Martin, Chretien Government. We have already seen the beginning with the lobbying controversy.

We should keep in mind that the first two terms of the Harper Conservative Government were minority Governments, and therefore it is hard to judge their performance, considering that it was influenced by the opposition parties.

The last four years have been a Conservative Majority Government, and contrary to what the opposition, the Eastern establishment, and others would have you believe, they have done a pretty good job. Good enough to earn them another 4 years in Government.

To bring back another minority Government, especially one with Trudeau, or Mulcair at the helm is just plain stupid.

We need a solid, right minded Conservative Government majority to run this Country for another four years.

Stability and continuity is the watchword.

“Stability and continuity is the watchword”

That is two words, one word would be Stabuity or conility:P

Palopu, perhaps you are right! Perhaps the Conservatives have done a good enough job in the last 4 years to warrant another term.
However Stephen Harper has done such a good job of alienating anyone who doesn’t share his extreme right wing, and polarizing views that he has lost a lot of US that have always been more centrist in our views and beliefs.
His dictatorial style, his concentration of power in the PMO, his meanness of spirit, and his race bating are all reasons why I will not vote for a party led by Stephen Harper ever again!
The conservatives with someone other than that REFORMER in disguise as a leader could win a majority, but with him at the helm they are going to taste bitter defeat!

How paranoid have we become.. Today in Fredricton a person called to say the saw a person carrying a gun near a school.. The school was locked down and the kids scared to death.. Was a man carrying an umbrella..

Prince George:-“So you are saying that the 150 billion dollars added to our national debt by Harper are just fine and nothing to worry about, but that ANY much smaller debt added by a new government will cause inflation and increased taxes, that being a disaster while the other one was not.

You are contradicting yourself and I wonder why.”
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Prince George, IF our economy resumes normal growth rates as exports to our trading partners affected negatively by the global recession and financial crisis that came on in 2008 begin to increase again, the amount that Harper added to the National Debt in that period will shrink. Not necessarily in a ‘dollar amount’, but as a percentage of overall economic activity. It’s manageable, in other words. IF Trudeau does as he’s promising to do, and continue to purposefully run deficits to finance infrastructure in a period of recovery, we will get inflation. Interest rates will rise, to try to contain it, and taxation will also increase. I’m as much for infrastructure renewals as any one. But how many times over do we want to pay for them? Isn’t once enough?

Sounds like there may be an election coming up.

Prince George, you need look no further than what happened here in BC when another “Liberal”, Gordon Campbell, (and make no mistake, he is no Conservative or Social Creditor operating under a more marketable label of convenience ~ his philosophy and allegiance to the debt dealers that control the whole financial services industry at its uppermost echelons is in perfect sync with that of the Liberal Party), undertook to hold the 2010 Winter Olympics to try to revive a supposedly moribund economy that was already recovering. We got INFLATION. It always comes first under the guise of renewed prosperity. But it’s really anything but. The bills come due too quickly, the rise in wages never quite catches the rise in prices, and even when the former begin to fall overall (directly, or through shrinking employment), the latter never come down correspondingly.

“The conservatives with someone other than that REFORMER in disguise as a leader could win a majority, but with him at the helm they are going to taste bitter defeat!”

=============================

That’s my take from the other side of the country and with talking with many folks out here, including long time Progressive Conservative supporters.

There are many people in the middle range of the political spectrum who could be swayed to vote Liberal or Conservative, pending the circumstances, but once you go all in with that Reformer mentality and move the party in that direction, you alienate a whole pile of people that may no longer be comfortable supporting your agenda.

NyteHawwk. Had it not been for Harper and his hard work over the years, we wouldn’t have a Conservative Government to vote for.

We got rid of the Liberals for a lot of good reasons, and they should spend a little more time on vacation.

Harper rebuilt the Conservative party, and actually formed a majority Government without Quebec. (That’s never been done before)

Lets not kid ourselves. This guy can get the job done, and he’s proven it.

To trash the Government because you don’t like the leader might not be a good idea. Whether he’s a good leader or not will at some point be decided by the Conservative party, and if necessary they will replace him.

Voting in a puppet Liberal leader, or and NDP leader who was a liberal in Quebec for 13 years is probably not a solution.

Quote, by Winston Churchill.

**You will never reach your destination if you stop to throw stones at every dog that barks**

Palopu, I get it! You are really not a conservative after all, at least not the type of conservative that I remember as part of the old Progressive Conservative party that was hijacked by the Reformers!
You are actually a REFORMER, or as we in the PC party used to call them the Right Wingnuts that couldn’t find a way into power on their own!
So the Right Wingnuts hijacked the PCs and set about taking Canada on its 9 year hard shift to the right.
Funny thing is that most Canadians are a lot more balanced in their views and treat extreme right wing policies with the same disdain and distrust as they treat the policies and views of the extreme left.
Until the REFORMERS get the message and get rid of the DICTATOR I don’t foresee another conservative government.

@socredible

Well it only stands to reason that overall debt is a lower percentage of the gdp during good time but it is still the 800 gorilla in the room that has to be fed, when times turn bad it still has to be fed even if your pockets are empty. The loan shark on the corner ups the vig because you still have not paid the last loan.

Before the EU stepped in the Greeks tried to issue some government paper to raise enough capital to prevent them from going into default, the risk was so high they had to offer something like 30 or 40 % to even get people to nibble,I forget exactly because it was way beyond my risk tolerance. Made Wall Street junk bonds seem like a safe secure investment by comparison.

Government debt for infrastructure is fine but any money borrowed to prop up the economy during bad times should be repaid during the good.

BTW – A certain amount if inflation is much preferable to stagnation or deflation.

Only reason Harper got in was because oil rich Alberta was behind him.. Now that the well has gone dry, that left Harper high and dry and resorting to the Ford brothers for more support.. My opinion

I just wanted to address the aggressive desire a member posted for 250 journalists to act as ambulance chasers in the radon death. Elaine was very graceful and accurate in her articulation of how reporting works. I think this was a kindness on her part – as much as I love the schadenfreude in reading the comments section of this news site; we must remember that reading doesn’t make you a writer, and interest doesn’t make you a journalist. In an age where real journalism is dying in favour of gossip and flash, I’m so pleased that this site remains true to standards in the field and real reporting. We’re lucky, here in Prince George, that we have access to timely, well-written journalism. We’re lucky we still have a local newspaper, we’re lucky we still have a local CBC shop, and we sure are lucky to have an online news source with integrity. Other cities our size – even larger -have lost out on local content. Sometimes unpleasant phone calls are made, families are disturbed and reporters do agitate to access news. In other cases a classier route will ultimatly lead to the better, bigger-picture story. This is a small town, I’d rather wait for the story – the bigger one – that’s going to come out of the City and Nothern Health’s efforts at highlighting this issue.

Socredible, I am about to give up trying to get you to explain why Harper’s adding 150 billion to the national debt is according to you fine and the Liberal idea to invigorate a stagnant Canadian economy with three very small deficits (adding a modest amount to the debt) will have, according to you, very dire consequences. Are you ignoring this on purpose or are you convinced that Canada’s economy is growing at a high rate which it is not, that there is no need for investment in the infrastructure deficit? Would it have been alright if it had been Stephen’s idea?

So Canada are we about to have a GW Bush moment?

This is that.

Harpers pals lost 3 BILLION of our tax dollars no one is being held responsible and people are still going to vote for these turds?

Today’s Vancouver Province “Editorial” on Page 27 says it all:

“Harper still best choice for PM”!

NytteHawk. How would it be possible for Right Wing nuts to take over a party from Conservatives like you??? How is that possible. Do you not know how to handle nuts??

Guess the New Winery staff aren’t required to have Food Safe.. What the hell… if anything falls in the bath, it’ll get drunk and die.. Just looking at the picture in the paper where the lady not wearing hair net or gloves

Hey DODO, come out on the hwy tonight with your high beams a blazin and lets play.

How in the world are we taxpayers gonna pay for the billions in campaign promises made by these guys who want our vote. Better the devil you know than the hell you’re gonna pay for.

Pslopu, I know exactly what I would do with a nut that is so far up Harper’s A$$ that you can’t tell where one ends and the other begins!

Thanks Elaine. You show a lot of class.
Have a happy and safe weekend everyone and remember to vote come Monday.

I still remember Trudeaumania I when Trudeau the elder said during an election campaign ” I am promising you nothing” and that is what we got! I also remember his parting salute to BC in Salmon Arm when, after being questioned on some phony expenses, clearly told BC we were number 1 in his books.

I am not sure that Trudeaumania II is going to be any better. He keeps talking about the middle class; how the heck would he know anything about the middle class? BTW, I have heard nothing about any real work experience? Did he ever work at a real job?

Our Canadian/French alternative is not much better. Look into his ‘experience’ as a member of government in Quebec. It looks like the Orange Crush is turning into the Orange Crash!

For those who are trying to push the fantasy that we should vote for the candidate and not the party, they have forgotten to do their homework. The party system in Canada has the major parties requiring their MP’s to vote the party line on all the important issues.

If you put your head in the sand, your butt is in the air and both the Liberals and NDP will kick you so far into the economic doghouse, you will need to have daylight pumped in.

Food for thought

A while ago someone posed a question on this site why so many big rigs were involved in serious accidents. Here could be some of the answer.

When you have someone who earns their living driving an 18 wheeler, could not be called a professional by any stretch of the imagination, have revenge and payback as part of their mindset when dealing with other motorists on the road it is no wonder bad things happen. Might be part of the reason the same individual has been involved in incidents of road rage, two of which he detailed on this site. Any other ones happen? Guess what the common denominator is in these incedents?

Not a good combination when you put someone with a small mind in a big truck.

Must not drive chip truck for Lomak as their safety overview clearly states:

“Lomak employs only people interested in working as a team to provide a sound future for all. We provide a safe working environment at all times and expect all of our employees, particularly our drivers, to be courteous, respectful, and tolerant towards the mistakes of others.

Our drivers are required to start their shift well rested, leave personal problems outside of the cab and adopt a cheerful attitude when dealing with traffic conditions, customers, the public, etc.”

Better check the blue guys:P

Hart Guy – the Province is a tabloid. The only thing good about it is the crossword. Backing Harper could be his death knell.

I have noticed a vast improvement in the driving habits of Lomak drivers over the last few years, and am grateful for the consideration they give to us lowly motorists. There are still a few other truckers out there that put speed over safety however, reminding us all to “drive defensively.”

NyteHawwk. You did not answer the question. How was it possible for a bunch of right wing Reformers take control of the Conservative party.

If one follows your line of reasoning ie; reformers are stupid, then how did these so called stupid people take over your party???? Hmmmmm.

Palopu, clearly you have difficulty reading, as the word stupid was never used or implied. As for your rather simplistic question you know very well how the Progressive Conservative Party was hijacked by you reformers. So far all I can see from your responses is that you have gone to the Harper school of deflection. Always trying to obfuscate with total BS and zero substance.

Excellent posts Eagleone !

I agree with you that ” any thinking Canadian with a memory of his past abuse of power ” would not vote for Harper. I believe that his muzzling of federal scientists and his stripping federal protection from our rivers and lakes should be enough to cause any thinking person to vote for anyone but Harper.

Posted on Friday, October 16, 2015 @ 6:32 PM by lbear with a score of 0
I have noticed a vast improvement in the driving habits of Lomak drivers over the last few years, and am grateful for the consideration they give to us lowly motorists. There are still a few other truckers out there that put speed over safety however, reminding us all to “drive defensively.”
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Indeed, but lets not forget all the dangerous lowly motorists out there that far out number any dangerous trucks on the road that put themselves and many others at risk every day due to their dangerous driving habits.

Just drove through the bypass at around 5:30. Between 5th ave and Hwy 16 intersection I saw 3 Lomak trucks all in the left lane heading south…… Where are they turning???

The Cons were down to a couple seats after Mulroney. The legal rights to the Conservative name might have cost a couple hundred bucks. It just sounded more historical than “The Harper Party “.

Always loved the Air Farce “REFOOOOOOORM PARTY “.

Winston Churchill Quote.

**When the Eagles are silent, the parrots begin to jabber**

Have a nice day.

“When you come across a pile of doo….walk around it”…..Socrates

Sparrow:-“Government debt for infrastructure is fine but any money borrowed to prop up the economy during bad times should be repaid during the good.

BTW – A certain amount if inflation is much preferable to stagnation or deflation.”
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Who is ever really advantaged by ‘rising prices’, Sparrow? Businesses get a temporary advantage in that it seems they can more fully recover their costs in prices, and maintain their credit with their bankers. Their rate of profit, from which their bank loans are amortised, (and new ones made available), looks like it’s not falling in its ‘dollar amount’ reported. But it quite likely will be falling as a percentage of their overall sales. The big get bigger, to try to get the sales figures up, and keep the ‘dollar amount’ reported as profit up, but it’s really a losing game. For with those higher prices comes a demand for higher wages to try to meet them. Which only results in higher costs, and a further rise in prices, and then a demand for still more wages. If we’re depending on exports to close the gap between costs and incomes domestically, we price ourselves out of the markets we’re trying so hard to capture. Deflation is only bad in the fact that it is ruinous to producers with the financial system as it’s presently constituted. If it were not so, if we implemented a method of ‘compensating’ producers by introducing needed new credit into the economy in a way which was not inflationary, but rather deflationary and resulted in lower prices for consumers, we could well afford to pay for needed new infrastructure ONCE. Rather than several times over, as we’ll end up doing if Trudeau manages to sneak into office as PM.

ibear, you lefties love the HuffPost! If you want to talk about tabloids, that would be at the top of any intelligent person’s list of tabloids!

Just read this and shared it on another post. Thought I’d share it here as well for those that might have missed it!

Well, here’s some very interesting news! Apparently, “today, Justin and Tommy Boy were invited by Prime Minister Harper to go over the details of the Trans Pacific Partnership.

But guess what….they refused!

Yup, after all the bitching and moaning and crying and complaining and whining and badmouthing how ‘secret’ this agreement is, the two biggest hypocrites in Canada have refused to look at it.”

Go figure!

Sparrow, and Prince George, when a sovereign government moves to “pay down debt”, and actually tries to do that, (instead of just downloading it on some lower level of government, as the Chretien/Martin Liberals did when they were in office), it is sending an equivalent amount of our money to extinction as purchasing power. If there is already a shortage of purchasing power in the country relative to the total price values of goods and services for sale as expressed in ‘money’, and there is, and it’s growing, these goods and services can then only be sold, and the costs of making them financially liquidated, if someone else goes into debt. Because virtually ALL our money, at present, comes into existence as a ‘debt’. It is lent, (or spent by a bank), into existence, never created ‘debt free’. In any modern industrial economy, such as Canada’s, this creates a great problem ~ probably the greatest problem ~ with which we have to deal today.

Hart Guy… not really that interesting.. as the complete document wont be released for 10 years the best it could get would be a summary from the cons point of view…. wonder why we gave the republican party 8 million yet cant afford to care about veterans.. is the 8 million really a good thing…unless there is a underlying motive…what you think Hart Guy? Harper is already promised over 5 billion to cover the damage to Canada the TPP will do right away…wonder what surprises harper has signed us up for that will show up in 9.5 years… pretty sure we all don’t want to know but will find out due to a sell out.

Prince George:- “Socredible, I am about to give up trying to get you to explain why Harper’s adding 150 billion to the national debt is according to you fine and the Liberal idea to invigorate a stagnant Canadian economy with three very small deficits (adding a modest amount to the debt) will have, according to you, very dire consequences. Are you ignoring this on purpose or are you convinced that Canada’s economy is growing at a high rate which it is not, that there is no need for investment in the infrastructure deficit? Would it have been alright if it had been Stephen’s idea?”

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Prince George, when we have a global recession, as we had beginning in 2008, the rate of defaults on business loans begins to rise. Business loans are repaid from business profits. They’re not a business ‘cost’, like the interest paid on them is, but are rather a division of the profit earned between borrower (business) and lender (bank, whose creation of credit made the business activity financially possible). When loan defaults rise, the banks move to protect themselves by contracting the flow of available credit. Even if they have collateralised security on all the business’s assets, those assets are only worth something if they are able to continue to make a profit. Without that ability, they’re worth what they’ll fetch as scrap, or less. When the banks contract the flow of available credit, this prevents other businesses from being able to repay their loans, and the economy begins to spiral downward as businesses close and lay-off’s increase. Sovereign governments have a power individuals do not have. Even if they have assigned this power to their central bank, the Bank of Canada in our case, they are still ‘self-financing’. They can actually create money. They do this as a ‘debt’, supposedly to be repaid from taxation, at some future date. By doing this in times of recession, the otherwise unrepayable ‘floating debts’ of the private sector are transmuted into the (almost permanently) unrepayable ‘fixed debts’ of the public sector. The banks can continue to lend, (and every government of every Party active today, kowtows to whatever works best for the banks, or at least what the banks believe works best for them). But as Sparrow has pointed out, there are dangers to doing this in excess, or for a longer period than is necessary. These dangers could be mitigated if we had proper governmental accounting, set up along the lines of double entry accrual business accounting. But we do NOT. Doing what young Trudeau is proposing is going to result in inflation, which he will raise taxes to try to counter. Otherwise he wouldn’t be telling us he’s going to raise taxes on anyone. If you think it’ll just be the wealthy that will pay them, you’re dreaming in technicolour.

Socredible wrote: “I’m as much for infrastructure renewals as any one. But how many times over do we want to pay for them? Isn’t once enough?”

You’re just pulling our legs, aren’t you socredible?

Hart Guy, the offer by the Privy Council to view the TPP agreement was to view a summery and not the complete agreement. Furthermore it was required that they sign a non-disclosure agreement in order to view it meaning they would be bared by law from talking about anything they see in the summery. In effect it was an invitation for a gag on their campaigns against the agreement as a last ditch desperation attempt by Harper 3-days before the election.

If Harper was genuinely concerned about the input of the other two main political parties he would have had consultations with them throughout the negotiating process and most especially during the caretaker period once the writ was drop for the election to start, rather than going rouge and negotiating in secret his own agenda when his mandate for governing had expired.

Pval, we might have to wait 10-years for the full complete transcript of the deal, but as it is constituted now the global corporations that were privy to the negotiations already have the complete deal and could exercise their ‘rights’ under the deal in investor state resolution process at any time. The Canadian government doesn’t even have to be informed that they are subject to a lawsuit at the City of London tribunals as they are held in secrecy and the moment we find out about the provisions would be when a settlement is announced that subjects Canada to a penalty for breach of the treaty.

This is very onerous for our democracy, because how could our parliamentarians even know they are breaching the TPP agreement when passing laws or regulations… until they get blind sided with a settlement claim that has no appeal process. The whole idea is to put a chill on even the concept of passing rules or regulations that govern how industry operates in this country.

Consumer safety, environmental protection, tax laws… all will carry great risk because of the secrecy surrounding the TPP deal and most importantly the idiocy of the investor state resolution clause that undermines our national sovereignty.

No, gopg2015, I’m not. I would be all for what Trudeau is proposing in infrastructure renewals if he were also proposing a proper set of government accounts, along the lines of every other business’s accounts, that showed the true value of our ‘Assets’. To which the value of the infrastructure proposed would be an addition when it’s built. But he won’t do that. So instead all we’ll see is the ‘Liability’ ~ the increase in the National Debt, that will be incurred. And on which we’ll pay in additional interest tribute to the government’s bankers for ever and a day. Governments are not supposed to be profit taking enterprises. We have them provide us with goods and services that are deemed best provided that way, by government, supposedly ‘at cost’. Yet even though they don’t finalise their profits like other private businesses do, as an increase in Assets over Liabilities, there is still a ‘profit’, in a sense, through having renewed infrastructure. It enables greater efficiency ~ we can do things better and faster, hopefully anyways, through having it. Now if we’re going to be debited fully for its costs through taxation, should we not also be credited fully for its advantages? But this latter NEVER happens. So we will end up paying for it more than once. Through taxation, and inflation, and though we may get value from it, it’ll never be the full value to which we should rightfully be entitled.

And therein lies the reason why Harper used the omnibus budget bill to gut all the environmental protections… knowing full well if he got TPP signed before the election it would have such a chill that reconstituting any protections in the future would carry massive financial risk under the TPP investor state clause.

Socred, so if real-estate and stocks appreciate in value, then does this not constitute a creation of capital outside of the debt linked creation of capital? If one was to implement a process that slows transaction roll overs, while simultaneously maintaining equity values or increasing those equity values… would that not have the same effect as exporting more for outside currency?

I see your point of view, but isn’t the whole process more complex than just the debt created capital? And isn’t it possible to have good debt if it is for infrastructure that enables further capital creation in terms of real world values?

I read recently that isis now has $3.6 billion a day in revenue; mostly from oil export sales. Now they have issues a gold back dinar for currency.

Are you telling us that they have it right and we have it all wrong? What a shame that would be that a bunch of backwards hedonists from the stone age have their currency figured out better than we do….

Just a thought exercise more than anything.

Socred I see your point with a balance sheet for government… but isn’t the problem not that government lacks a proper form of asset valuations and depreciation accounting; but rather that government shouldn’t be paying interest in the first place for national infrastructure.

Canada use to print money and just add to the monetary float for the cost of infrastructure and war and what not. Taxes were only intended for services prior to the late 60’s when the Bank of Canada was privatized to for profit taking international banksters.

There use to be a day when Canada could stimulate the economy through monetary social credit building out things like the St Lawrence Seaway or fighting WW2. We all paid for it equally through the economy through the devaluation of the currency, if and only if the expenditure didn’t return more than it created in terms of future values… but otherwise I think it worked to avoid the problems you seem to claim is the ponzi that will bring the whole sytem down.

Is this the reason why you hate Trudeau so much. I could understand that point of view.