I Love Canada

[farmers_son]

According to Klein’s biography, Ralph enlisted in the Canadian Air Forces while still in High School. Upon leaving the service, Mr. Klein completed his high school education, eventually becoming principal of the Calgary Business College.

From 1963 to 1969 Mr. Klein pursued a public relations career with the Alberta Division of the Red Cross and the United Way of Calgary and District. For the next 11 years, he was the Senior Civic Affairs reporter with CFCN Television and Radio.

The rest is history.

[farmers_son]

He received a degree from Athabasca University not too long ago, my understanding was it was his first degree.

[farmers_son]

I would suspect that Peter MacKay could argue that he does have some business experience in the agricultural industry since he grew up on his fathers farm in NS. After all, we did see him on national TV with his shovel on his way out to dig potatoes !!!!!

[silverback]

Martin's screaming of his love for Canada sure looked a lot like Howard Dean of the Democrats. It would sure be nice to see the same fate befall him.

I would guess that most people would say they judge others by the company they keep, the friends they keep close, and the way they operate their business. If you apply those judgements to Paul Martin, the answer is pretty clear. I'll put more trust in Harper.

I don't know if you noticed f_s, but the conservative party actually wants input from it's members and MPs on issues and votes. If you are happy in the way that the Liberals believe in one man holding all the power, just say so.

[cowman]

I don't know what credentials Ralph has but he sure could be teaching politics in any school in the world!
In a nut shell "Them that can, do....them that can't, teach!"
Somehow I have a problem with Peter MacKay. I suspect he is a very "RED Tory" and he obviously has no problem with not keeping his word? Look how he screwed David Orchard?
I find it interesting that he is snuggling up to the bosses at Power Corp.? I imagine him and Chretien have a real good time at the family gatherings?
Paul Martin is a weasel! He goes along with all the crooked deals that Chretien cooked up and then tries to pretend he was lily white? Come on, are we that naive?
He gets right out there ,with Chretien, and supports the idea of scrapping the GST...and then goes on TV and with this mournful look says "Sorry, we made a mistake...but thanks for your vote anyway!" At least old Sheila had the guts to resign!
Today he is talking $30 billion tax cuts...just like the $100 billion he says he's made so far? He is a snake oil salesman, pure and simple.

[FarmRanger]

F_S we’ve had non businessman PMs before, so where’s the problem? Is this a new prerequisite for a good PM? Will it be the next time we have a lawyer leading the Liberals?

The whole “I love Canada” stunt looked like it was orchestrated not to shed any light on Harpers love for Canada. It looked very much like a stupid question designed to catch Harper off guard for the Liberals to exploit. Or are we supposed to believe that anyone who isn’t Liberal, doesn’t love Canada?! To point out this hypocrisy was the reason for my post in the first place. I'm not surprised at the avoidance of the issues and running a smear campaign. Is there anyone who can’t guess what they are trying to imply by using the term “Neo Con” to describe the conservatives? Kudos to the NDP for not using the “scary hidden agenda” smear campaign this time around though.

I’m a lot more impressed with Harper so far in this campaign though; he sure seems to be trying to stick to the issues.....except for some reporter asking him the gay marriage question. He didn’t bring it up, but what’s Harper supposed to do with the gay marriage question, yet again? If he doesn’t answer, then it’s the “hidden agenda” smear campaign all over again. So he says he’ll put it to a free vote IF it comes up (according to Conservative policy). Gee, what a radical concept, a free vote in a democracy. The main stream media says that Harper brought up Gay Marriage, the Liberals claim he’s going to reverse the charter, and all he’s done is given a reasonable answer to some reporter’s stupid question. Is this fair?

It seems to me that reducing the GST was a pretty smart move on Harper’s part. The Liberals previously campaigned and won on the later broken promise of scrapping the GST because it was such a bad tax. Now they’re arguing that it’s a good tax? This is hilarious! Harper sure has them scrambling on this one. The main stream media is beating the bushes looking for expert economists to say what a good tax it is, after vilifying it and the Progressive Conservatives when it was created. The hypocrisy is priceless.

[cowman]

Also Farm Ranger, Harper also said he will have personal tax cuts. Haven't heard any numbers on that?
The Liberals say $30 billion in tax cuts, but that was promised in the days when they were struggling to survive so who knows if that is really on? They have a proven track record of not keeping their promises!
Martin takes great pride in bringing in balanced budgets and actual surplusses. Now how did he achieve that? Did he cut the federal government waste and spending? Well we know he downloaded the costs onto the provinces without a doubt, but did he really cut down on anything? I don't know. I do know his government blew massive amounts of money on a totally useless gun registry and spent huge amounts of money on their buddies in Quebec! Those are the ones we know about!
This is a good businessman?

[silverback]

Good points.

Just thinking about the CBC's favorite PM, Trudeau.

Was he a business man??

[farmers_son]

Farmranger: Obviously having a business background is not a prerequisite. Diefenbaker was a lawyer, so was Trudeau, Turner and Chretian. Joe Clark’s background is academic. Stanfield had a business background and I think would have made a good Prime Minister. MacKenzie King had many degrees and did work for the Rockerfellers when he was not in political office but I see no indication of a business background.

It is my preference that a leader has a business background. Others might look for someone who is a good dresser but I think a business background indicates a proven ability while it is hard to evaluate someone who is an academic or lawyer. It is my impression that the gun registry was in place before Martin was Prime Minister.

Even Belinda Stronach has a pretty remarkable business resume. Too bad Harper could not keep her in his party. I personally like to see strong business experience in our federal politicians but of course the lawyers and academics will always be there. It is the peoples choice if they prefer to have the country run by academics.

Without checking into the facts, I bet a President of the U.S. would have to have business experience. Bush does.

[FarmRanger]

Yes, it probably is good business to register your ships with flags of convenience to avoid Canadian taxes and labor laws. I don’t think it gives Martin the right to say he loves Canada any more than anyone else. If the main stream media was unbiased, someone among them might have pointed this out?