Perhaps the idea of all-out succession from Canada is an impossible dream given many Albertan's irrational devotion to this country. Maybe what is needed is to give more power, a lot more power, to the provinces. By allowing each province greater authority to govern themselves within the unique contexts of each province, this country would be a greater success. I would argue though what would then really be the point of still being a country?
I propose that the federal government's jusrisdiction be limited to the following items and all other matters be left up to the individual provinces:
-Postal service
-Military & national defence
-Census and statistics
-Navigtation & shipping
-Currency
-Banking
-Weights & measures
-Patents and copyrights
-Criminal law with the sentences left up to the provinces. I would like to see the death penalty returned for certain crimes. If the rest of Canada doesn't support the death penalty but Alberta does why should we not be able to deal with the crimes that are committed in our province the way we see fit? If Ontario wants to use their tax payer money to keep a serial murderer in prison for life then so be it. I would rather hang the SOB and use the saved money to deal with the homeless problem for example.
-Taxation as it relates to generating monies for the admistration of the above items
This list is just off the top of my head and may not encompass all matters, but it is the idea that I am getting at. A much more streamlined and efficient federal government whose sole purpose is to deal with things that impact the country as a whole. All other items should be left to the provinces so they my be dealt with according to the individual differences of the provinces instead of lumping us all under one roof.
Perhaps each province could send delegates to this federal government and eliminate the need for federal elections and political parties at the federal level. The federal government would almost become a committee of sorts whereby the provinces deal with the matters of the whole and all other matters would be dealt with provincially. Perhaps a Candian Union as it were. Yes, a Canadian Union is a much, much better solution - at least to the current one. Canada as it sits now is failing in my opinion.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Quebec Whines and Wins Again
Article in question
Unreal. When is Quebec going to realize that the British won. We have the Queen of England on our money. The French lost - deal with it already. I suppose they are never going to accept the fact that Canada is a member of the British Commonwealth. I don't remember Canada being part of the "French Commonwealth". Why Britain didn't kick France out of North America after they won is beyond me. Now look at what we have to deal with.
Beyond the history of this English country, once again, Quebec whines and cries about its rights and its special status and prevents the re-enactment of a very important part of Canadian history because it is "offensive" to Quebecers. One province out of ten and three territories and they get their way yet again. Is it ever going to be enough for these people? We already allow a Quebec sovereigntist party as a member of the federal government - Her Majesty's government, I might add. Most of our Prime Ministers and/or Leaders of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition in recent history were French. Seriously, if you people don't like Canada - LEAVE. Please. I could use some of the millions Alberta will save in transfer payments to your sorry province.
Stop trying to change Canada for your benefit - this is not a French country. Just leave Confederation and see how well you do on your own. And, you can forget this idea of a "Sovereignty Association" or whatever fancy semantics you want to throw at us to try and extort a living off of the rest of the country. Not that anything would be any different that it is now and I can imagine you would still be whining about something.
Unreal. When is Quebec going to realize that the British won. We have the Queen of England on our money. The French lost - deal with it already. I suppose they are never going to accept the fact that Canada is a member of the British Commonwealth. I don't remember Canada being part of the "French Commonwealth". Why Britain didn't kick France out of North America after they won is beyond me. Now look at what we have to deal with.
Beyond the history of this English country, once again, Quebec whines and cries about its rights and its special status and prevents the re-enactment of a very important part of Canadian history because it is "offensive" to Quebecers. One province out of ten and three territories and they get their way yet again. Is it ever going to be enough for these people? We already allow a Quebec sovereigntist party as a member of the federal government - Her Majesty's government, I might add. Most of our Prime Ministers and/or Leaders of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition in recent history were French. Seriously, if you people don't like Canada - LEAVE. Please. I could use some of the millions Alberta will save in transfer payments to your sorry province.
Stop trying to change Canada for your benefit - this is not a French country. Just leave Confederation and see how well you do on your own. And, you can forget this idea of a "Sovereignty Association" or whatever fancy semantics you want to throw at us to try and extort a living off of the rest of the country. Not that anything would be any different that it is now and I can imagine you would still be whining about something.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
The Status Quo
I talk to many Albertans about my frustration of being part of Canadian Federation and more often than not the reply I receive is "that's just the way it is". Huh? "That's just the way it is?" I am appalled buy the apathy many Albertans have towards the way we are treated by the federal government.
People think there is nothing we can do about it and for those that do believe there is a way, spout the usual drivel about having a say on election day. Please. We already know the outcome of an election even before votes are tallied from Alberta - we literally have no say. The current Prime Minister is not French for a nice change - even from Calgary - and has anything changed for us? Nope. Nada. Mr. Harper is too busy pandering to the East to ensure his cushy job.
Canadians need to face the facts. And the facts are this: there are too many diverse people, languages, economies, and cultures in this country to be ruled fairly and efficiently under one entity. There is no benefit for Alberta to be part of this country. We give far more to the country than we receive. People ask 'why separate?'and I pose the much harder-to-answer question of 'why stay?'. I have not ever received a convincing reason from anyone as to why Alberta benefits from being part of Canada. I'll throw out some reasons why Alberta should leave Canada and the provinces that leech off us:
-From 1961 to 2002, the federal government has stolen $243 billion from our province. This works out to $105,405 from each and every Albertan for the privilege of being Canadian and with nothing received in return. That money was simply removed from Alberta to spread to the other provinces to create 'equality'.*
-Since 1999, Alberta is the only province with no net debt. We have no power to alter spending policies by the federal government which are responsible for the massive Canadian debt. Albertans have none.*
-Canada has the fifth highest personal taxes in the OECD.*
-Alberta has the lowest corporate and personal taxes in Canada.*
-Alberta is the only province with flat personal taxes.*
-Alberta is the only province with no general retail sales tax.*
-Since 1968, only the 2005 federal election was swayed due to Alberta votes. We have barely made a difference in the outcome of the federal government in the past 38 years. We simply do not have the population and representation for politicians to bother concerning themselves with the Alberta electorate.*
-Properly dealing the recent gun violence in Alberta is completely out of our hands as the laws to deal with the crimes come from the federal government. It is great to see the $1,000,000,000 (yes, nine zeros!) Firearms Registry is working so well to prevent these crimes.
I could go on listing reasons we should leave Canada - there are many. Can some one please give me a viable reason, just one, that trumps all that I have listed as a compelling reason to be part of this country? And, no, I won't take some patriotic, rhetorical drivel as a valid and sane reason for allowing Ottawa to run roughshod over our province.
*Resource
People think there is nothing we can do about it and for those that do believe there is a way, spout the usual drivel about having a say on election day. Please. We already know the outcome of an election even before votes are tallied from Alberta - we literally have no say. The current Prime Minister is not French for a nice change - even from Calgary - and has anything changed for us? Nope. Nada. Mr. Harper is too busy pandering to the East to ensure his cushy job.
Canadians need to face the facts. And the facts are this: there are too many diverse people, languages, economies, and cultures in this country to be ruled fairly and efficiently under one entity. There is no benefit for Alberta to be part of this country. We give far more to the country than we receive. People ask 'why separate?'and I pose the much harder-to-answer question of 'why stay?'. I have not ever received a convincing reason from anyone as to why Alberta benefits from being part of Canada. I'll throw out some reasons why Alberta should leave Canada and the provinces that leech off us:
-From 1961 to 2002, the federal government has stolen $243 billion from our province. This works out to $105,405 from each and every Albertan for the privilege of being Canadian and with nothing received in return. That money was simply removed from Alberta to spread to the other provinces to create 'equality'.*
-Since 1999, Alberta is the only province with no net debt. We have no power to alter spending policies by the federal government which are responsible for the massive Canadian debt. Albertans have none.*
-Canada has the fifth highest personal taxes in the OECD.*
-Alberta has the lowest corporate and personal taxes in Canada.*
-Alberta is the only province with flat personal taxes.*
-Alberta is the only province with no general retail sales tax.*
-Since 1968, only the 2005 federal election was swayed due to Alberta votes. We have barely made a difference in the outcome of the federal government in the past 38 years. We simply do not have the population and representation for politicians to bother concerning themselves with the Alberta electorate.*
-Properly dealing the recent gun violence in Alberta is completely out of our hands as the laws to deal with the crimes come from the federal government. It is great to see the $1,000,000,000 (yes, nine zeros!) Firearms Registry is working so well to prevent these crimes.
I could go on listing reasons we should leave Canada - there are many. Can some one please give me a viable reason, just one, that trumps all that I have listed as a compelling reason to be part of this country? And, no, I won't take some patriotic, rhetorical drivel as a valid and sane reason for allowing Ottawa to run roughshod over our province.
*Resource
Senator urges 'Canadians First' policy
Article in Question
I love this. So I can't find a Canadian to work for me, I hire a foreign worker and I have to pay $500 towards a fund to train a Canadian to do the job in the future and that Canadian may well be on the other side of the country and end up working for some one else! Is this guy serious? Once again, the businesses get slapped. I really wish these politicians would understand that businesses aren't big, evil institutions out to screw the world and everyone in it for a profit. Many of us have mortgaged or houses, racked up credit cards and lines of credits or borrowed from family or banks to get our businesses going. In case this genius hasn't noticed a huge portion of the poulation earn their living working for one of these businesses.
How does this senator (click that link for a some enlightening reading on these guys) think I can afford to pay an additional $500 per foreign employee? Why is it my responsibility? I already have to pay for my employees' retirement benefits and employment insurance. Again, why are those things my responsibility? Somewhere along the line business have been branded as greedy, evil machines that have cash oozing out of them. So of course they can pay for all sorts of things instead of leaving the individual person responsible for their own welfare - it has be come the burden of the business. I don't remember any of my employees offering me a helping hand to get things going or to keep the doors open. They simply stand their with their hands out as though I somehow owe them a living and it is my responsibility to look after them. I suppose this is indicative of our society. No one has any responsibility for anything - some one else will look after me and take the fall for my actions seems to be the prevailing mentality.
This is yet another good reason I am a member of the CFIB. Literally an organization whose sole purpose is to prevent the government from wiping out small business in this country. By the way, according to Statistics Canada's Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours data, on average in 2007, just over 5.1 million employees on payroll, or 48 percent of the total private sector labour force worked for small enterprises source. By making small business operations more difficult by introducing harebrained schemes like this, the Canadian government will continue to be responsible for playing a role in business going under and lives being shattered through bankruptcy and loss of jobs.
I love this. So I can't find a Canadian to work for me, I hire a foreign worker and I have to pay $500 towards a fund to train a Canadian to do the job in the future and that Canadian may well be on the other side of the country and end up working for some one else! Is this guy serious? Once again, the businesses get slapped. I really wish these politicians would understand that businesses aren't big, evil institutions out to screw the world and everyone in it for a profit. Many of us have mortgaged or houses, racked up credit cards and lines of credits or borrowed from family or banks to get our businesses going. In case this genius hasn't noticed a huge portion of the poulation earn their living working for one of these businesses.
How does this senator (click that link for a some enlightening reading on these guys) think I can afford to pay an additional $500 per foreign employee? Why is it my responsibility? I already have to pay for my employees' retirement benefits and employment insurance. Again, why are those things my responsibility? Somewhere along the line business have been branded as greedy, evil machines that have cash oozing out of them. So of course they can pay for all sorts of things instead of leaving the individual person responsible for their own welfare - it has be come the burden of the business. I don't remember any of my employees offering me a helping hand to get things going or to keep the doors open. They simply stand their with their hands out as though I somehow owe them a living and it is my responsibility to look after them. I suppose this is indicative of our society. No one has any responsibility for anything - some one else will look after me and take the fall for my actions seems to be the prevailing mentality.
This is yet another good reason I am a member of the CFIB. Literally an organization whose sole purpose is to prevent the government from wiping out small business in this country. By the way, according to Statistics Canada's Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours data, on average in 2007, just over 5.1 million employees on payroll, or 48 percent of the total private sector labour force worked for small enterprises source. By making small business operations more difficult by introducing harebrained schemes like this, the Canadian government will continue to be responsible for playing a role in business going under and lives being shattered through bankruptcy and loss of jobs.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Furthering the Cause
I am a very frustrated small business owner in southern Alberta. I am struggling to make a go of things in the face of the current economy. I am sick to death of hearing things like the CRA having paid millions to people that don't even work for the government whilst I struggle to make my source deduction payments. I cringe when I hear day after day how the federal government plans to bail out Ontario and her economic woes while not a thing is mentioned about Alberta. After all, we are the "have province" in this country, we should be able to look after ourselves, right? I am sorry, but the price for the privilege of being Canadian is just too high. Change is possible. THIS IS NOT HOW IT HAS TO BE!
This blog will attempt to bring some focus to the events going on in this country and provide a reality check to regular working Albertans from a regular, working Albertan's perspective. I will also attempt to open eyes to the fact that Canada is simply too large and diverse to be fairly and effectively governed by one entity. I don't claim to be a political expert (that's a funny term), I am just giving an opinion as regular citizen - the very type of person our government was supposed to be of and for.
This blog will attempt to bring some focus to the events going on in this country and provide a reality check to regular working Albertans from a regular, working Albertan's perspective. I will also attempt to open eyes to the fact that Canada is simply too large and diverse to be fairly and effectively governed by one entity. I don't claim to be a political expert (that's a funny term), I am just giving an opinion as regular citizen - the very type of person our government was supposed to be of and for.
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