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Canada's New World Rep?

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Darryl said:
Hey who needs to worry about the environment when you can spend billions on jet fighters that might not actually be built and super prisons. I have my fingers crossed a good leader will emerge from one of the other two major parties.

It is humourous that many reasons people wanted change from the Liberals was because the Conservatives were to be more fiscally responsible. Oddly enough, they're spending as much money (if not more) as the Liberals did. With the harsher setencing the costs of prisons will continue to escalate.

As a graduate of criminology program and having the pleasure to be a student to many police officers, correctional officers and boarder patrol officers...it is clear to me a system like the US (which we have shifted too) has been proven to be extremely costly while having minimal (if any) impact in reducing crime.

 
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2012/03/02/pol-weston-election-calls.html

CBC News has learned that more than a dozen Conservative MPs employed U.S.-based political telemarketing firms during the last federal election campaign, contrary to Stephen Harper?s statement in Parliament this week.

But documents show 14 Conservative campaigns enlisted the telephone services of an Ohio company called Front Porch Strategies.

During the election, the company made thousands of calls into each of those Canadian ridings from its headquarters in Columbus.

Del Mastro (parliamentary secretary and Conservative MP) was already left red-faced earlier this week after he accused the Liberals of using an American telemarketing firm which, in fact, is a Canadian company.


....all the calls from Ohio to Del Mastro?s riding during the election were programmed to show the telephone number of his local campaign headquarters, masking the fact the phoning was being done from Ohio.

Front Porch Strategies won all 14 of their races.?
If nothing else, the role of Front Porch in the last election offers a rare glimpse into the ties between the Harper Conservatives and right-wing Republican political operatives south of the border.

Front Porch doesn?t hide its allegiance to all things conservative.

?Our passion is helping Republican candidates, elected officials, and conservative causes win by personally connecting them with voters and constituents,? the company says on its website.

Front Porch Strategies won all 14 of their races
 
TheMightyOdin said:
Whatever happened to acid rain?

http://www.greenerideal.com/lifestyle/health/6953-whatever-happened-to-acid-rain/

http://blog.epa.gov/blog/2010/04/08/whatever-happened-to-acid-rain/
 
Oh Canada!...

http://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/best-place-business-canada-154502953.html

While the United States and swaths of Europe are near bankruptcy, our books, in comparison, look in enviable order. Steady debt reduction, reforms to the tax and pension systems and rigorous financial regulation over the past 15 years enabled Canada to weather the crushing downturn of 2008 better than most of the world.

...have put Canada and our cities at or near the top of places to get an education, establish a business, raise a family and live a long, healthy life.

...Canada is the nation with the top global brand right now. Authorities ranging from Forbes magazine to Justin Bieber have called us the best country on the planet (based on admittedly different criteria). Our pop stars and actors dominate charts and movie marquees. Crime has been dropping for 20 years. Even the quality of our air is exceptional, the World Health Organization reports.

It's not just power brokers who are revising their views of Canada. The long-bemoaned outflow of our talent to better opportunities abroad?especially south of the border?appears to be reversing.

...nine out of 10 Canadians think this is the best country in the world, and 42% believe our best days lie ahead...

...our middle class has been steadily gaining on the Americans, and today it is significantly richer...

For New Yorker Hunter Tura, Canada's biggest draw was simply our superior quality of life...I could live anywhere in the world and do what I do. But I choose to live here," he says, pointing to everything from good schools to safe neighbourhoods to best-in-class airports... puts Toronto and Vancouver among what he calls 21st-century cities. "When I'm in Doha or Beijing or Riyadh, these places have intensity and a future-oriented worldview. When I'm in New York or Chicago, I don't feel the same optimism."

...we're a prosperous society luring talent from around the globe and sitting on an unparalleled diversity of natural resources.

Canada, currently the sixth-largest oil producer on the planet, is thus likely to see its ranking rise...Another vast storehouse lies in the Arctic.

Aside from being a safe economic harbour, Canada has another, lesser-known asset to offer global businesses: a low-tax environment...

....threats to Canada's manifest destiny, starting with stratospheric household debt?already the second-highest among the G7 and rising. Our environmental reputation has also taken a pounding from the oilsands' dirty image and the withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol...

Our cities regularly top lists of the best places to live and, according to Richard Florida, an influential American academic (who himself moved to Toronto...)...they're set to become leading centres of growth due to their cultural tolerance and creativity.

Unlike the nationalism of more culturally monolithic nations that tends to exclude foreign-born citizens, in Canada it's immigrants....people who live here by choice, not happenstance?who tend to be the biggest patriots. They have a context for comparison, and an appreciation of our potential.

Canada consistently rose above its northern peers in everything from economic growth to aboriginal rights...based on quality of life and future prospects, "it's a great time to be a Canadian."
 
"End of civilization"?

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/canada-politics/nasa-scientist-james-hanson-says-civilization-risk-canada-172311637.html
 
...and we were once considered exemplary...

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/mobileweb/2013/02/24/canada-freedom-of-information_n_2755036.html
 
Canada's vital role in the sprouting and inspiration for the ideas of "glasnost" and "perestroika" by Gorbachev & Yakovlev, thanks to the Trudeau federal Liberal government at the time.

A grest read, even for those who wish to refresh their sense of history...

http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/03/17/the-walk-that-changed-the-world/
 
Bring out the tissues and the tears.."emotional" PM Harper revisits Toronto hometown of Leaside...

My father, my grandparents who would visit, aunts and uncles, family friends, our older neighbours. As the song says, I loved them all," an emotional Harper said. "But all that love, and so much love, that I still carry with me.

"People ask him from all over the country where exactly he comes from, he said.

"And I say to them, I grew up in a small town in Toronto."


http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/04/27/stephen-harper-toronto-leaside-hometown_n_3171687.html?icid=hp_canada_art_nxt
 
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/commentary/government-cuts-soon-all-canadians-will-know-how-it-feels-to-be-an-indian/article12445744/#dashboard/follows/
 
Canadian military going back to origins...British designations for rankings...

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/dailybrew/canadian-forces-ditch-maple-leaf-designator-favour-british-210906460.html...

 
Though it doesn't truly affect much at all, I'm not a fan of this move. I do respect honoring tradition and history, but I believe a unique Canadian identity is more important. I kind of agree with the Liberal defense critic, it seems like another move by the Conservatives to eliminate Liberal history. I'd agree more with having a distinct identity for the various branches of the armed services.
 
Bullfrog said:
Though it doesn't truly affect much at all, I'm not a fan of this move. I do respect honoring tradition and history, but I believe a unique Canadian identity is more important. I kind of agree with the Liberal defense critic, it seems like another move by the Conservatives to eliminate Liberal history. I'd agree more with having a distinct identity for the various branches of the armed services.

I agree as well.
 
How great is Canada?

1.  Excellent reputation (public safety, politics, efficacy of government, etc.) -- Canada edged out Sweden for top spot (out of 50 countries).

2.  Life satisfaction (happy nation) -- Canada was second after Sweden.  USA fourth.  (Out of 36 countries)

3.  Crime (general safety) -- Canada ranked first in lowest assaults category, lower than Japan and USA.  However, the murder rate per 100,000 -- Canada is much lower than the US but higher than Greece or Slovak Republic.  Highest is Brazil.

4.  Life expectancy -- Canada's is slightly higher than the US, and just behind Japan, Italy, France, Germany & the UK.
Canada's health-care system ranked 10th, while the US' ranked last.  Our primary downfall with our health-care system is longer wait times as well as inefficiency.

5.  Educational attainment -- PISA rankings (Programme for International Student Assessment) -- assessing skills in science, reading,& math, Canada's high school students ranked third out of 44 nations. 
The US & Canada tied with same percentage of those with high school or equivalent educational completion.

6.  Air quality -- Canada outdoes out the US when it comes to cleaner air quality.  Toronto, for example, has less polluted air  than a typical US city.

7.  Voting (ugh!) -- Canada's  voter turnout amongst one of the worst, at 61%, significantly lower than even Australia, France, and the US.  Perhaps we're not that bad, other countries fare terribly, but we could use an improvement.

8.  Hockey -- we're #1 -- and it's what we do best.  Our Men & Women's team have won more Olympic Golds than Russia, the US, Great Britain, Sweden & Czech Republic. 
We're simply a-w-e-s-o-m-e!!

For more details on all of the above, go to:
http://www.vox.com/2014/7/1/5843316/the-case-for-canada?ref=yfp
 
When I first started working at C.F.B. Trenton, I was shocked by the impact the funding had on the military.  There were building from WWII era that hadn't seen any upgrades or repairs.  You would expect things like heat and air-conditioning in buildings.  Many building were torn down because of the asbestos.  They literately moved one of the planes from the runway to the museum, and there were allot of planes already there that were newer.  Now they've spent millions, but much of it is playing catch up for work that should of been done years ago.  They should be proud they were able to remain operational.
 
The 2015 Pan Am Parapan Am Games have finally begun.  With
a stunningly beautiful official opening ceremonies at a sold out Rogers Centre, produced by Cirque du Soleil, and the lighting of the cauldron, to the brilliant fireworks emanating from the CN Tower, the city of Toronto, the province of Ontario, along with the municipalities as well as the federal government, welcomed 7,000+ athletes from over 41 nations, not to mention scores of others ranging from team staffs, families, delegates and officials from the Americas. 

There is also representation by the International Olympic Committee that will oversee  how Toronto fares as the host city.  If the next 16 days prove themselves a success as one of the largest Pan Am Games ever held and the largest single biggest and most spectacular event Toronto & the province have ever staged, it could shine a light, so to speak, for Toronto's future Summer Olympics bid.

In the meantime, let's wow 'em T.O., and hopefully, all who have come here as visitors & tourists, will have great memories in one of the world's most multiultural & ethnically diverse city.

?Hola!  Benvenidos!

But wait...are we really interested?

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/07/10/world/americas/in-an-apathetic-toronto-the-pan-am-games-land-with-a-thud.html?referrer=&_r=0
 
If a successful Pan Am games is a precursor to an Olympic bid then they'll have managed to make my attitude towards the Pan Am games go from complete indifference to outright hostility.
 

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