Heart of Alberta - Stettler

Road Conditions

Search

Login

Welcome Guest.

Lost Password?

No account yet? Register

Recent in Forum

Heart of Alberta Content : Zionism is the probl... (0) by hermetic - March 19, 2009, 12:31:05 PM
General Discussion : Somebody Better Tell... (2) by Uncle Raoul - March 18, 2009, 04:40:07 PM
General Discussion : Hanging Judge Goes E... (0) by Karl Stettler - March 18, 2009, 02:52:23 PM
General Discussion : Nothings Worrying Me... (1) by Admin - March 17, 2009, 10:49:14 AM
Heart of Alberta Content : Bill 19 (1) by HoA News - March 16, 2009, 04:10:49 PM
General Discussion : Harper's 'War on Dru... (2) by Uncle Raoul - March 16, 2009, 12:28:02 PM
General Discussion : merry xmas (0) by snouto - December 20, 2008, 02:40:46 PM

Who's Online

Welcome!

Welcome to the Heart of Alberta Website. The Heart of Alberta website hopes to be the web destination of choice for local residents looking to interact with their communities as well as visitors looking to learn more about the region. Read more in our About Us section: Welcome to Heart of Alberta.com.

Tacoy Ryde - She's Got (1987)

Ad: Come in from the cold

IE fix

You are here: Home

Coward

Thursday, 04 December 2008

by Garth Turner

There will be a federal election on Monday, March 9th. The campaign for that election will be the longest in Canadian history, since it started a few hours ago, in the first week of December.

There will be essentially no spending limits for this election, since the bulk of it will take place before the writ is dropped in the final few days of January, after the Harper government is defeated on its budget. This, of course, is of immense benefit to the Conservatives, who are sitting on a pile of cash, while the election-weary Coalition forces are bereft of money.

Furthermore, a ton of money to be spent on this campaign will be coming from you, the taxpayers. That’s because the Conservatives are still government until defeated on January 29th or 30th, and will be using ministerial budgets, free MP travel, householders, ten percenters and every other resource to wage war on the Coalition. These things, as you might imagine, are a huge advantage to the governing party.

Hypocrisy update: Deal with the Devil

Wednesday, 03 December 2008
Bloc part of secret coalition plot in 2000 with Canadian Alliance A document obtained by The Globe and Mail shows that the scheme would have propelled then Alliance leader Stockwell Day to power in the coalition. A lawyer who was described then as being close to Day, says he didn't discuss the matter with the MPs DANIEL LEBLANC OTTAWA — The separatist Bloc Québécois was part of secret plotting in 2000 to join a formal coalition with the two parties that now make up Stephen Harper's government, according to documents obtained by The Globe and Mail. The scheme, designed to propel current Conservative minister Stockwell Day to power, undermines the Harper government's line this week that it would never sign a deal like the current one between the Liberal Party, the NDP and the Bloc.
Read more...

A trip down minority government memory lane

Sunday, 30 November 2008
"The opposition has every right to defeat the government but Stéphane Dion does not have the right to take power without an election." - Prime Minister Stephen Harper gives the nation a lesson in parliamentary democracy from the foyer of the House of Commons (November 28, 2008) "As leaders of the opposition parties, we are well aware that, given the Liberal minority government, you could be asked by the Prime Minister to dissolve the 38th Parliament at any time should the House of Commons fail to support some part of the government’s program. We respectfully point out that the opposition parties, who together constitute a majority in the House, have been in close consultation. We believe that, should a request for dissolution arise this should give you cause, as constitutional practice has determined, to consult the opposition leaders and consider all of your options before exercising your constitutional authority. Your attention to this matter is appreciated." - From a letter to then-Governor General Adrienne Clarkson signed by all three opposition leaders: Gilles Duceppe, Jack Layton and Stephen Harper (September 9, 2004) Robert McLelland dredges up this absolutely fascinating CBC interview with Stephen Harper from the same time period, in which he goes on at (what is, in hindsight, I’m sure deeply regretted) length on the need for minority governments to cooperate with the opposition, and repeatedly states that he and his party are ready to provide an alternative government, should it be necessary. Harper: We’ll support the government on issues if it’s essential to the country but our primary responsibility is not to prop up the government, our responsibility is to provide an opposition and an alternative government for Parliament and for Canadians. What the government has to do, if it wants to govern for any length of time, is it must appeal primarily to the third parties in the House of Commons to get them to support it.
Read more...

Bailout GM, But Here's What to Demand

Tuesday, 25 November 2008
David Blume November 23, 2008 \| 03:14 PM (EST) As CEO of General ChrysFordCo, President-Elect Obama Can Use the Bailout to Spearhead Renewable Energy and Rebuild America. It's all but a foregone conclusion that a government bailout of the auto industry will happen, to save the millions of direct and indirect jobs generated by the Big Three. But unlike his predecessor who bailed out the banks, the new President ought to make sure that those receiving tax dollars use them in an accountable way to power a viable industry. Buried in this debacle are possibly the seeds of a powerful wave that can regenerate not just the auto industry but the entire nation, from cities to farms. We can learn from, and follow, the example of how another major country saved its economy by transforming its automobile industry. In the early 1980s, Brazil, like all other developing countries of the day, was having its economy destroyed by skyrocketing oil prices. Most countries chose to borrow money to buy the oil they needed, but Brazil took a different tack. Its government mandated that General Motors and other companies making cars in Brazil produce vehicles that were to be powered by alcohol-fuel engines. The government's thinking was that alcohol fuel can be produced domestically and inexpensively, avoiding the crushing payments for foreign oil.
Read more...