Canadian Election

[Elesirdur]

I wonder if this "transformation" will lead the bloc to either an alliance/merger with the NDP or Libs, or if they may start a new national party outright with the momentum they have already in Quebec..

I find that highly unlikely since I'm guessing their supporters, while maybe not so zealous about separatism anymore, still vote Bloc because they represent Quebec and only the interests of Quebec. Merging the Bloc with another federal party would dilute that voter base and could even cause a more extremist pro-Quebec pro-sovereignty party to fill the gap.

The Bloc have shown in the past that they are capable of working with any party in the House so long as Quebec will benefit. Even though "Liberal" may be just as dirty a word in Quebec as it is in Alberta, both legacies of Trudeau-era policies, the Bloc seems more apt to work with the federal Liberals than with the conservatives, especially since urban Anglos in Quebec seem to vote Liberal not NDP or Conservative.

[Skjie]

Government: Economy isn't doing well, we need to cut something somewhere
Opposition: Waah waah waah. Look how evil they are, they are stealing your money.
At this point, the only thing they can do is go back, or do another election.

Except in this case it's more like,

Government: After cutting taxes to the point we're about to go into deficit and a recession looming, we need to do something to get money, let's cut programs!
Opposition: You mean the programs that most average Canadian's feel is important?

Harper made some really bad decisions on cutting taxes (GST, I'm looking at you) and when the economy world-wide went sour, it bit him on the ass.

[Mytiwar]

Except in this case it's more like,

Government: After cutting taxes to the point we're about to go into deficit and a recession looming, we need to do something to get money, let's cut programs!
Opposition: You mean the programs that most average Canadian's feel is important?

Harper made some really bad decisions on cutting taxes (GST, I'm looking at you) and when the economy world-wide went sour, it bit him on the ass.

If we put some more kids in prison for life though it will all balance out.

[Charla]

Hey, it worked for us! ohwait...

[Wizerd]

Except in this case it's more like,

Government: After cutting taxes to the point we're about to go into deficit and a recession looming, we need to do something to get money, let's cut programs!
Opposition: You mean the programs that most average Canadian's feel is important?

Harper made some really bad decisions on cutting taxes (GST, I'm looking at you) and when the economy world-wide went sour, it bit him on the ass.

With BC's current economy I think the GST cut was awesome.

Shit's not a problem over here. Only thing I've heard bad things about is expensive markets such as housing, which isn't of huge concern to me. As long as the lowest offered wage in Victoria is $10-$11 that people will actually work for and businesses aren't closing down, I'm happy.

Speaking of which, BC needs to raise the minimum wage to $10 already, it's long overdue.

[Skjie]

If we put some more kids in prison for life though it will all balance out.

Woah buddy, you ever seen a Canadian prision? How are you planning on paying for more jail cells? Remember, Ottawa is against home arrest!

[Skjie]

With BC's current economy I think the GST cut was awesome.

Shit's not a problem over here. Only thing I've heard bad things about is expensive markets such as housing, which isn't of huge concern to me. As long as the lowest offered wage in Victoria is $10-$11 that people will actually work for and businesses aren't closing down, I'm happy.

Speaking of which, BC needs to raise the minimum wage to $10 already, it's long overdue.

Who makes minimum wage anymore? My cousin at her first job in a KFC is making $11. Also, GST cut is still terrible, major banks are already predicting that fiscal 2009 is the year we hit deficit again, and Joe average saved almost nothing on his daily purchases, unless he was buying a house or a car.

[Kaylia]

If we put some more kids in prison for life though it will all balance out.

Poor kids who brutally murder people...life must be rough for them.

I'm not sure why people are making such a big deal with this. He was talking about very specific cases that happen once every year or so. Everytime someone hear such story on the news, they probably wish for something like this to happen...but when Harper say it, people get scared.

At 14 years old, if you go out of your way to kill someone, you don't deserve to get a freebie.

Government: After cutting taxes to the point we're about to go into deficit and a recession looming, we need to do something to get money, let's cut programs!

Yay, more money for the artist! Everyone love the garbage filled TV and movie no one is ever going to watch.

I know he cut more than this, but generally, I consider most programs to be a huge waste of money.

[Wizerd]

Who makes minimum wage anymore? My cousin at her first job in a KFC is making $11. Also, GST cut is still terrible, major banks are already predicting that fiscal 2009 is the year we hit deficit again, and Joe average saved almost nothing on his daily purchases, unless he was buying a house or a car.

Not a lot of people make minimum wage anymore, because in BC you can't hold an employee for anything less than $10/hr. There are just too many jobs to go around. That said, there are some fools who do still fall for those high turnover jobs that pay less than $10, not realizing how easy it is to get a job that DOES pay $10. While I agree those fools need to wake up and smell the coffee, I feel helping them out a little by hiking the minimum wage to $10 would be a good move.

2 years ago there was speculation that doing this would cut jobs because a lot of small businesses wouldn't be able to afford employees. News flash, you can't hold them for $8 anyway (granted it's been 2 years since that point).

Also, I'm not economist or anything but if you raise minimum wage, doesn't that create some kind of chain effect that raises wages just above it, as well? What I mean is if a company has 4 wages they're running, for example, at $8, $9, $9.50, and $10 (for whatever roles, it doesn't matter), and you increase minimum wage to $10, the people doing the job that previously paid $10/hr aren't going to stick around for $10 anymore. So in essence, hiking minimum wage would hike other wages near minimum wage, even if by a lower proportion.

Whether that logic is completely flawed or not, I don't know. Like I said, not an economist.

As for GST, I added up my approximate purchases that are affected by GST over the last year or so to result in a savings of around $100+, just from 1% of GST. $100+ in a year may not seem like a lot purchase-by-purchase, but it's nothing to scoff at when added up.

As for the deficit, I always assumed going in and out of deficit and surplus was a normal thing. It's like your bank account; you can try to stay above $0 as much as you want, but there's a reason you have that $2000 line of credit. Shit happens, and when it does it gives you breathing room to deal with it. I have no idea how our government plans to "deal with it" though, I admit. I voted Liberal anyway, so I can't be blamed if Harper fucks up.

[Ragns]

Kaylia you can't be from Montréal.

[Ratatapa]

Stop about MTL north incidents ...

[Kaylia]

Kaylia you can't be from Montréal.

Nah, Trois-Rivières ;x Almost the same!

[Hyriu]

Nah, Trois-Rivières ;x Almost the same!

I know so many people from Trois-Rivières on FF <.< I live there too D:

[Kaylia]

I know so many people from Trois-Rivières on FF <.< I live there too D:

Really? I figured there wasnt many players left considering how slow expansion pack were selling

[Mytiwar]

Poor kids who brutally murder people...life must be rough for them.

I'm not sure why people are making such a big deal with this. He was talking about very specific cases that happen once every year or so. Everytime someone hear such story on the news, they probably wish for something like this to happen...but when Harper say it, people get scared.

At 14 years old, if you go out of your way to kill someone, you don't deserve to get a freebie.

Sigh, once again, everyone is entitled to their opinions.

[Ragns]

Sigh, once again, everyone is entitled to their opinions.

Just wondering, how would you fix the problem of young criminals? Maybe some rehabilitation procedure that involves watching movies with the 9th symphony as soundtrack?
http://ragnskitty.com/random/clockworkorange.jpg

[Mytiwar]

lol, rehabilitation procedures yes.

Basically yeah, some people deserve to be put in jail for life, no comment there. But when you're that young there is always place to change. Putting him in jail is just ensuring he's gonna become an hard on criminal.
I'm not saying you don't need to look out after him... to change a kid like that, you need to have the right amount of surveillance and rehabilitation procedures put in place. We're not Texas.

But like I said, everyone is entitled to their own opinions and I ain't gonna blame you for it.

[Kaylia]

lol, rehabilitation procedures yes.

Basically yeah, some people deserve to be put in jail for life, no comment there. But when you're that young there is always place to change. Putting him in jail is just ensuring he's gonna become an hard on criminal.
I'm not saying you don't need to look out after him... to change a kid like that, you need to have the right amount of surveillance and rehabilitation procedures put in place. We're not Texas.

But like I said, everyone is entitled to their own opinions and I ain't gonna blame you for it.

If jail make people hard on criminal, then might as well abolish it and send everyone to rehab.

Anyway, answer this question...when you hear about a 16 years old kid who beat up a 70 years old woman and kill her..do you seriously wish to see him be rehabilited?