Equalization payments

[ivbinconned]

Less federal intrusion in provincial business would be a welcome change in my opinion. Ed Stelmach made some very honest and appropriate statements regarding Alberta being owed money from the feds., the next day the Premier is disputing Stelmach.....

[cakadu]

It is the back room deals that bother me emrald - what aren't they telling us? Sure the Bloc and Conservatives have not made any statements publicly, but could there be a reason for it?

It would behoove us all to get out and vote and once and for all get the broom out and do some serious housekeeping. I don't want to be back here again in a year's time with yet another minority government and paying the kids to throw sand at each other for another year. I don't think there is anyone out there who can say we have gotten value for our taxpayer dollars certainly over the past year and maybe for a few years prior to that.

There is a duty owed by an MP to the people who elect that MP. Breaking away from the party that you a member of when you got elected - unless it is mandated by the people you represent - is in my opinion a slap in the face to the people who elected you. We have seen far too much of that in recent years and the Reform party has been the most guilty of that. How would Harper feel if that was done to him? Wouldn't you think that a person who would do that is continually on the lookout for that to happen to him/her? After all, if they'll do it with ya, they'll do it to ya. The infighting that has gone on amongst the Reform/Alliance/Conservatives is likely what has done them the most harm - that and not walking the talk on certain issues.

Even if I thought that Harper could do the job, I would be hard pressed to cast a vote for the MP that I have now.

There are things brewing in the background of the Conservatives that could also throw them off balance too - one of them being Belinda. Is there any party that has some semblance of stability that goes along with it?

[cakadu]

Linda, Belinda has as much chance of ever becoming the leader of the Conservatives as she does becoming the Queen !!!

At the March Conservative Convention she swept through the delegates with more of an entourage in tow than Michael Jackson !!!

I doubt that she will go anywhere even with Daddy's money. With regard to your local MP....did anyone run against him and if so did people who don't like the guy get out and vote ? I am surprised that he is running again, would have thought that he would have decided to go out to pasture by now.

Regardless of the Bloc, I am sure that there will be less damage to Canada and particularly the west with the conservatives than there is now with the Liberals.
Social programs will be number one for the NDP and I for one am tired of paying more and more taxes for the social programs that are in place now and are either being abused or the aid is not getting to those who really need it.
Regardless of who wins if there is an election our country is in a royal mess, and its doubtful if things will improve unless there is a huge majority for one party or the other and I can't see that happening.
My gut feeling is that if the Liberals are defeated Martin will step down.

Interesting that one of the candidates ( unsucccessful ) for the Westlock Conservative nomination had run as a Liberal last year......and is quoted as saying that the individual who was chosen isn't the right person for the party !!!!! Makes sense doesn't it, if you want a real conservative choose a liberal !!! LORD GIVE ME STRENGTH !!!

[ivbinconned]

cakado, everything you say about "reform, alliance and conservatives" we KNOW...CAN BE SAID about the NDP and liberals???

The liberals are guilty, and the NDP are inbed with them!

The reformers, alliance and the present conservative coalition, with a western leader, never have been!!

So why do you paint with such a wide brush...seems a little unfair to me...surly they are innocent until proven guilty

[ivbinconned]

I really do think that it is time we had a western Prime Minister. I am concerned with the possibility that the east and Ont. may decide to support the NDP vs the Conservatives. I don't think we can survive with an NDP government....there would be no incentive for corporations and they are the ones that employ Canadians.

Heck, Martin may survive the vote of non confidence on the 19th, who knows.

[cakadu]

If I have my history correct, wasn't Diefenbaker the last Western PM? If so, then what did he have that all that have tried since then don't? What was the reason that he swept into power with a majority that has never been equalled?

Emrald, I wouldn't want to see Belinda get in there at all either because like you, I am no fan of hers. I do wonder about her ambition and daddy's money and influence though.

[cakadu]

Linda, Dief was a rabble rouser and a leader.....Joe Clark and Kim Campbell were not.
Joe was a nice guy but that didn't get him anywhere in the East. Kim was hopeless. I really don't think Belinda really wanted to be involved in politics, she was recuited by the eastern tories because they didn't want Harper.

[cowman]

There was nothing wrong with the original Reform message, in my opinion, but it got watered down when they morphed to the Alliance, and further when they turned into the Conservative party. Along the way they lost some of their better ideas?
Linda I can assure you, your MP will win in a big big way. Probably one of the highest counts in any riding in Canada. The Liberal and NDP might get 20 % of the vote? The point here isn't necessarily what he has done or not done, but that he represents a party that has the support of most voters in this riding?
I view this whole thing with a lot of enthusiasm! For the first time I see the possibility of the beginning of a "New Canada"? Now don't get me wrong...I have not suddenly become a federalist! My hope would be that the west can become an independent country, that could still function as part of a loose union similar to the EU?
The west needs to make decisions for the west instead of having them mandated to us by the eastern power block if we ever hope to become a real prosperous nation. Canada just doesn't work for the west.
I find it amusing that Klein is trying his best to keep his mouth shut and not stir the pot! Stelmach comes out and says Alberta wants a deal like Ontario got and Klein immediately says we don't? I wonder what he will say the day after the election?

[cowman]

cowman, the feds have given AB over 450 million in fuel rebates and the Provincial government is singing their praises.

Stelmach is a front runner for the leadership of the PC's in AB., he has my support if he keeps flogging at the feds to get a fair shake for our province, and I don't care who is in power federally.

[cakadu]

Cowman, I have no doubt that our MP will win in a big way, but my vote won't be counted in that victory. Never has and never will.

Shouldn't we be looking at who will do the best job for the country as a whole and NOT for individual areas, provinces or culture? Would it be right to tip the balance of power in favor of the West?

The exploitation of our natural resources is a double edged sword isn't it? If we didn't go bringing it out of the ground at the rate that we do, we wouldn't be paying so much in royalties and transfer payments to the feds would we? I'm sure that Sask, as an example, does not send anywhere near the money that we do.

In Alberta, we should start taking a really hard look at what we are doing. We have spent a great deal of time, money and resources on bringing down the debt and for what purpose? We are sacrificing our so-called Alberta advantage and pristine areas all in the name of bringing up non-renewable energy. We have witnessed services being cut i.e. the deplorable state that our seniors find themselves in - (yet in honor or our 100th birthday anyone over 100 gets a medal) - departments such as fish and game have seen their resources dwindled to the point that they cannot adequately do their jobs and the list goes on.

But it's all okay because we are debt-free, right?

[ivbinconned]

Right!

And oh, by the way, saskatchewan doesn't send money out of the province (with the exception of debt service)...we send our kids!

[ivbinconned]

cakado, I have posted in a new thread an artical by Mark Steyn just for you...be sure to read it.

[ivbinconned]

ivbinconned, I know of a few Alberta folks that have sold their property here and moved to Sask., so it isn't all a one way exodus.

[cowman]

Linda: I'm not really into biting the hand that feeds me and I will admit oil and gas have been very good to me....and I might add to everybody who lives in Alberta? I don't believe our provincial government has handled the whole thing very well and have squandered the money shamelessly! You should remember that before we started our "Tory dynasty" we were debt free? And the government before that was truly "conservative" instead of a bunch of liberals wrapped in blue!
The present Klein government has become a very spendthrift bunch...no doubt about it! And yea they have pretty well abdicated all responsibility as far as policing a lot of areas.
As far as an MP doing what is right for the whole country: I want my MP to represent my interests. Not the interests of Quebec or Ontario or the country as a whole! And right now I see the Conservatives as about the only party that represents any part of my interests? Hopefully smaller government, free and fair enterprize, a more fair and better deal for the west? I don't want Kyoto, I don't want more rules and regulations, I don't want more tax and spend policies, I don't want to alienate the USA any further!
I personally couldn't care if gays want to get married to the government or not, but I don't think the government should spit on the people who have strong religious beliefs about that?
Obviously I am a western seperatist, but that doesn't mean I am anti-Canadian! I believe the best thing that could happen, for all Canadians, is the break up of this country! Then we can maybe have a relationship based on us acting toward each other as equals?

[cowman]

Emerald: The feds send us a fuel rebate of $450 million. Very nice but how much did we send them in the first place? I believe a couple of years ago it was $700 million a year? So what happened to the other $250 million?...well at least they sent us something, right?
If government(both federally and provincially) would spend the road tax on the darned roads, we might not have all these crumbling infrastructure problems?
In my opinion(and I realize I am definitely not in tune with the majority of Canadians)governments first priority should be to keep up the infrastructure to insure commerce can prosper! Without commerce a country has nothing!
Let people take care of their own health, education, social safety net! The government should not be involved in these things.
Instead, today, we have a government who spends the biggest part of the money on things that do nothing to promote commerce? Instead of roads we get endless drivel about gay marriage and legalizing dope? Why you would think that those subjects are about the most important things in the world!
We live in the "nanny state" where we need the government to tell us everything. How to act, what to believe in, how to tie our shoes! Is this healthy? What ever happened to the concept that we are free individuals who can decide for ourselves how we should live and accept the consequences of our decisions?