At the Liberal convention a couple of weeks ago, the delegates were all a'tither over news that PM Paul Martin had finally recieved the coveted "invitation to the ranch" denied his predecessor - a rebuke to those who had accused Martin of damaging Canada's standing with the Bush administration by his duplicitous dithering on missile defense.
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Bob MacDonald clarifies;
Finally, Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin will be one up on former Grit PM Jean Chretien: He gets to visit U.S President George W. Bush's Texas ranch next week. But the President has invited him only for lunch -- along with Mexican President Vicente Fox. And the latter already has been a house guest at the ranch outside Crawford. |
I'm sure if he asked nice, they'll let him bunk in the RV out back.
RV?.....I'd bunk him in the outhouse, you don't know which end the craps going to come out of. His bowels probably don't know which way to go either.
Wait- our Canadian politicians and MSM openly reject Bush and America, look the other way or even cheer when juveniles like Parrish publicly stomp on a doll of the American President and then, go all giggly when/if Martin is invited to The Ranch?
Maybe the lunch for Martin ought to be a drive though Big Mac. Does he deserve more?
Personally, I wouldn't let the clown in the country!
At lunch, Martin will be eating crow.
Ha... i just heard on global what this lunch is about, Joe's gonna be pissed!!
It's discussions about forming a common block, much like the europeans, and it would through CDN, USA, and mexico under a common security umbrella for not only immigration but NORAD. It would also eliminate tarrifs between the 3 countries, and eliminate border guards to a minimal immigration office.
Hey Joe....screaming at your screen yet!!....hehehe
Bush to Martin: "Now, squeal like a pig..."
Were does Fox fit into that picture.....wait....don't answer that...I'm still having trouble with the Bush Martin thing, or maybe Bush is bringing Fox a present, so actually Fox Martin...
I'm so confused....
I can see Mexico saying yes but I can't see Canada going through with the idea - I think Canada would want exceptions to this, this, this, this . . .
Before you know it the agreement would be the size of the EU constitution.
If it could be done by province I could see it happening tho.
Jay,
Send up your battle group then we can do it by republic or state and eliminate the word Canada, that would solve everything. A one page document.... ;-)
Alberta will even help tear down all canadian icons.
One thing our army would probably like would be not having to clean their weapons (except for dust and stuff). I'd even say they could leave them at home but that would look pretty silly.
Alberta being a state? Yeah, that'd be good for the US and better than Alberta's current situation. But to be honest, I think Alberta would be best off by being a seperate country (with good US relations of course).
Yea... your right but I'm not so sure to many people care anymore, they just want out...you could definitely count on better relations.
If they would have just decentralized power, much the same as you have it, so that there was basically an equal voice by prov. we probably wouldn't be in this situation.
We tried for an elected senate by electing 3 officials for those positions in the last election, but that was flat out refused by the PM who opted for patronage appointments.
it would have been a start, and I think the degradation of power scared them.
It's to bad it's all about power, and that the people with the power don't understand, or even care, about what is being affected.
One of the things that our tax dollars have done in Canada has made our cities much better than American ones.
Vancouver, for example, is the third best place in the world to live. Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto are all better cities in which to live than ANY AMERICAN CITY, without exception.
Even Calgary tied with the BEST AMERICAN CITIES but is at the bottom of the barrel as far as Canada was concerned.
I think what hurt Calgary was its very large "neocon" population and it slipped in rank one position from last year.
Its part of the "dumbing down" that the "neocons" are chasing so hotly in Calgary in their pursuit of "Freedumb".
You have seen me here often criticize the Oil Barons of Houston, and not surprisingly their city cames in last.
And before you send me any more hate mail, check it out for yourself.
http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2005/03/13/livable-cities030513.html
Joe,
Now I understand were your getting your twisted imagination, you watch to much CBC. You've been corrupted........seek help.
People always complain about the blogosphere as an "echo chamber"... and then trot off to get their information from the CBC.
Kate, I take it you believe the CBC is biased when it is reporting that Canadian cities scored among the highest in the world as the best places to live on the planet. Vancouver the CBC reported was the third best place on earth, following two cities in Switzerland.
Are you and the "neocons" disputing that? Are you and the other right wing bloggers claiming that the CBC is wrong, and that Vancouver, Zurich and Geneva are not the best cities on earth, but that the crime ridden oily streets of Houston with its guns and crooks (Ken Lay etc, etc) are safer and better because of the NRA and the unlimited access to guns, pistols and assault rifles?
Or are you saying that Calgary scored too high as tying with a couple of US cities that were at the top of their class, leaving Houston behind in the dust.
Cowboys stick together you know. Just look at Bush, Cheney and Klein. All cowboys that fell off their horses during the Stampede.
So make my day Kate, tell us the CBC is wrong and biased and tell us it ain't so.
Or would you rather kiss my Royal American and tell me you are sorry?
:-)
tell us the CBC is wrong and biased
She doesn't have to, your a shining example of a twisted CBC mind..
Why all the fuss about whether PMPM stays at the Ranch or not? Surely Canada and America can have a 'grown-up' relationship that is not dependent on sleep-overs! Who cares if Martin and Bush get along? What is important is that Martin represent Canadian INTERESTS, a job that I think he has done poorly so far, but one that is wholly independent of whether GWB gives him a nickname. If he can move the issues that Canadians care about (eg. softwood, beef, protectionism in general) he will have done his job. If he wastes time and effort trying to be LIKED by W but does nothing about trade irritants he will have blown a chance to do the one thing that Canadian politicians should do--improve the lot of Canada and Canadians.
It's political body language - just as Chretien found that the Bush visit to Canada was cancelled because of a conflict - only to watch the cameras roll as Australia's John Howard was hosted in Crawford.
And Joe - yes I saw the "best cities report". And if I had never been to Vancouver, I might even be impressed.
Kate wrote:
"And Joe - yes I saw the "best cities report". And if I had never been to Vancouver, I might even be impressed."
Come on Kate, you can clinch your teeth and turn blue, but at some point you should admit the obvious, that Vancouver is a pretty nice Canadian city. What is so hard for a "neocon" like you to do that? I guess you have been around Grant Devine too long. Hell, compared to some American cities, even Moose Jaw is a contender.
:-)
Poor Kate! Her propaganda has left her naked as the Emperor and his new clothes.
Leave it to a Canadian to assume that comparing American cities to Moose Jaw is an insult.
Moose Jaw has developed and restored their historic downtown around their colourful history and built a strong tourist economy around it. (See: The Tunnels of Moose Jaw).
You see, unlike you, apparently, I've been there. I've also travelled extensively across the US. Perhaps the prettiest small town I've ever been to is Bella Fonte, Pennsylvania.
Drive through unassuming Jamestown, ND sometime, and you'll discover that unlike struggling cities on the Canadian prairies, their downtown isn't comprised of empty commercial buildings. They have an economy.
But it was cities we were discussion - a short list of the major cities I've been to in the last 10 years - Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg, Calgary, Vancouver, Baltimore, Washington DC, LA, Denver, Atlanta, Philadelphia, New York City (Manhattan), Minneapolis, Chicago, Rio De Janeiro, Sydney..
And, uncounted smaller centers in between. Apart from Montreal and the final two, I drove to them all, and in them all - I show dogs. Most, I've been to multiple times. Lost track of how many times I've been in Philly.
I know many of them well enough to navigate their freeway systems without a map.
I didn't like any of them particularly, but I truly place Vancouver pretty low on that list. Miserable, wet, grey place - fog, mold, slime - with horrible traffic issues.
No place that requires one spend a large percentage of one's life waiting in line has quality of life.
Vancouver? Blah. If I had to live in an Canadian earthquake zone, I'd make it Victoria.
Kate wrote:
"And, uncounted smaller centers in between. Apart from Montreal and the final two, I drove to them all, and in them all - I show dogs."
I sort of figured that out, about the dogs I mean.
Devine
Mulroney
Lougheed
Bernstein
Frum
Day
And of course our favorite miniature poodle, Ezra Lavant.
Do you think you will ever succeed in housebreaking them Kate?
You know, Joe - you're getting pretty tiresome. If you're going to comment this frequently, and without relevant content, I'm going to move you to the category of spammer. Consider yourself warned.
"Vancouver, for example, is the third best place in the world to live. Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto are all better cities in which to live than ANY AMERICAN CITY, without exception."
I think Joe has a point. This would go a long way to explain the massive levels of immigration to Toronto and Ottawa from places like Honolulu or San Diego. People in those cities can tell when they're getting a raw deal.
Oh, wait a minute. That Mercer study is meant to help business and expats assess cities for international assignments, not comment on overall quality of life for permanent residents. I suppose that explains why ease of currency exchange is a factor in the rankings but employment rates are not. Good thing I didn't just rely on the CBC coverage for the details.
http://www.mercerhr.com/pressrelease/details.jhtml/dynamic/idContent/1173105;jsessionid=WHLURZ0OD1XGECTGOUGCHPQKMZ0QYI2C