Yes sir, The Cheque is in the Mail

Today our 2005 Alberta Resource Rebate arrived in the mail. It's available to all Albertans, young and old, who resided in the Province of Alberta during 2005. However if you're an adult and you did not file taxes for 2005 you're not elegible until you do. Also, if you have no decernable address the Government of Alberta is unable to mail you a rebate.
Enclosed with the cheque is a letter from Premier Ralph Klein. It says, and I qoute
"Dear Albertan: Enclosed is your Alberta 2005 Resource Rebate. This $400.00 per-person rebate is being provided by the Government of Alberta as a non-taxable, one-time bonus to all Albertans in recognition of their role in building this province. Funds for this rebate are from part of this year's provincial surplus, the rest of which will be saved or invested to build Alberta's future. For more information on the rebate, please visit www.gov.ab.ca.

Congratulations, and thank you for helping build this province.
From,
Premier Ralph Klein"

It's a great day to be Albertan.

Canada's Choice: Change

Yesterday, after 13 years of Liberal rule in Canada. Canadians have made a choice for change, albeit a cautious change. On January 23rd, 2006 The federal Conservative Party won a minority government by being elected in 124 ridings. The official oposition switches to the Liberal Party, who were elected in 103 ridings. The separatist Bloc Quebecois were elected in 51 ridings; the New Democrat Party have 29 seats and there's 1 independent.
I had previously predicted a Conservative minority government. I thought the NDP would garner more seats. Not that they didn't improve from the 19 seats last election. I figured the left leaning Canadians would support the NDP aside from the scandal clad Liberal group. But I guess the NDP extreme socialist views are too extreme for most left leaning Canadians.
With the Liberal loss, our ex-Prime Minister, Paul Martin has decided not to lead the Liberal Party anymore. Allowing the Liberal Party to move beyond the scandals and other shit which happened during there rule.
Canada's new Prime minister is Stephen Harper. He's the second youngest Prime Minister in Canadian history at the age of 46. He was born and raised in Toronto, but now lives in Calgary with his wife and two kids.
Now with this minority government. The onus is on the Conservatives to make this parliament work and not lean too far right. Which I think they will do. It would be political suicide if the Conservatives start up with an extreme right wing agenda. Plus, they now have to fulfill their campaign promises. Otherwise they'll be lumped in with the Liberal Party and all their broken campaign promises. It's a double standard for the Conservative Party, what works for the Liberals won't work for the Conservatives. The Liberals can break promises and still be re-elected. Where as if the Conservatives follow suit. They're done like dinner.
Harper is also the first Prime Minister outside of Quebec in 27 years and the second Prime Minister from western Canada. The last Prime minister from western Canada was John Dieffenbaker.
Voter turnout increased to 63% from a record-low of 60.9% during the 2004 election.

Goofball Of The Month: Buzz Hargrove

Yesterday, the self-aggrandizing labour leader switched from weeks of making NDP Leader Jack Layton's life miserable by urging people to vote Liberal, to making Martin's life miserable by urging Quebecers to vote for the Bloc Quebecois.
Yep, you read that right. Hargrove said Conservative Leader Stephen Harper has a "separatist view" of Canada, basically because he's an Albertan, and suggested he's such a threat to national unity that Quebecers should vote for ... er ... the separatists, in order to help keep Canada united.
No opponent of Martin could possibly have done as much damage to the Liberal campaign as he did with his "support."
First, just days before Monday's vote, Hargrove has so revved up the Conservative ground forces by suggesting Harper is a separatist, they'll want to defeat the Liberals even more. Until yesterday, I didn't think that was possible.
Second, Hargrove undermined Martin's remaining credibility in Quebec by urging federalist voters there to vote for the Bloc, in order to stop Harper. In case Hargrove's forgotten, or doesn't care, Martin wants them to vote for the Liberals.
Finally, Hargrove gratuitously insulted Albertans, remarks he didn't retract even though he later issued a clarification that he still considers Harper to be a federalist, just not a good one.
As for poor Paul Martin, in trying to distance himself from Hargrove's stink bomb, he had no choice but to praise Harper's patriotism, declaring: "I have large differences with Stephen Harper, but I have never doubted his patriotism."
Only problem is, Martin has questioned Harper's patriotism throughout this campaign by constantly suggesting his "values" are not Canadian ones and by approving those over-the-top attack ads portraying Harper as a George Bush stooge.
Come to think of it, maybe this was all part of Hargrove's diabolical but brilliant plan. Maybe he's been working as a secret agent for Jack Layton and the NDP all along! Maybe the idea from the start was to have Hargrove work his way into the Martin camp, win his trust and then, at the right moment, undermine the Liberals from within.
Nah, couldn't be. Martin has done way too good a job of that on his own.

Congratulations Buzz take a bow. You've just become the Goofball of the month for January 2006.

Canadian Election -- The platforms

Here are some of the promises made to date by the main parties during the course of the campaign for the January 23rd federal election compiled by The Canadian Press:
Taxes
Liberals

• No corporate tax cuts.
• $17.5 billion in tax cuts for lower-income Canadians, small-and medium sized businesses.

Conservatives

• Cut GST to 5%.
• Double non-taxable pension income.
• $250 million in credits for new day-care centres.
• Scrap capital gains tax on fishing assets.
• Raise small-business tax threshold to $400,000.
• $1,200 annual child care allowance.
• Up to $500 tax break for child's sports fees.

New Democrats

• $20.1 billion over five years on tax breaks for low-income earners.
• $1,000 increase in child tax credit over four years.
• Raise gas transfer tax to cities to five cents a litre.
• $16 billion over four years for child care and child tax benefits.

Green Party

• Cut income taxes.
• raise lifetime capital gains tax exemption to $750,000.

Social

Liberals

• $11 billion to provinces over ll years for daycare.
• Ban handguns.
• $325 million for RCMP anti-gang squad, community safety.
• Eliminate $975 immigrant landing fee.
• Two months of EI benefits for unpaid caregivers who leave work to care for a sick relative.
• Lower interest costs on reverse mortgages.
• Eliminate power to override Charter of Rights.

Conservatives

• Free Commons vote on same-sex marriage.
• Independent prosecutor for federal crimes.
• National seniors council.
• Halve $975 immigrant landing fee, further reduce it to $100 within mandate.
• Shut down federal gun registry.
• Raise the age of sexual consent to 16.
• Allow 14 year olds to be tried in adult court for serious crime or repeat offenders.

New Democrats

• Federal appointments on merit.
• $1 billion home-care plan.
• 40,000 long-term care spaces over four years.
• $1.8 billion for day care in first year.
• Worker charter of rights.
• Push settlement aboriginal land claims, residential schools abuse.
• Try youths as young as 16 charged with firearms offences as adults.

Green Party

• Let corporations pool pension funds.

Environment

Liberals

• $1 billion over 10 years to clean up the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River.
• Weather study centre for Newfoundland and Labrador.

Conservatives

• Bring in clean air act.
• Require average 5% renewable fuel content by 2010.

New Democrats

• $11.2 billion on environment over five years.
• Cut greenhouse gases 25% by 2050.
• Bring in clean air act.

Green Party

• End federal seal hunt support.
• Halt oil, gas subsidies.
• Add environmental rights to Charter of Rights.
• Ban the use of cosmetic pesticides.

Health

Liberals

• Wait-times guarantee.
• Hire 1,000 more family doctors.
• Mobility fund to transport patients on long wait lists for treatment elsewhere in Canada.
• National cancer strategy.
• New mental-health commission.

Conservatives

• Wait-times guarantee.
• No private, parallel system.
• National cancer strategy.
• Speed up accreditation of foreign doctors.

New Democrats

• No public money for private care.
• Billion-dollar-a-year prescription drug plan.

Green Party

• End private health care.
• Press for a national cancer strategy.

Education

Liberals

• Pay half of first and last year's tuition for college and university students to a maximum of $3,000 each year.

Conservatives

• up to $500 tax deduction for trades tools.
• $1,000 trades apprenticeship incentive grant.
• Apprenticeship job creation tax credit.
• Up to $500 tax deduction for text books.
• Tax exemption on first $10,000 scholarship, bursary income.

New Democrats

• $4 billion for post-secondary education.

Green Party -- none.

Economy

Liberals

• Overhaul farm support system.

Conservatives

• $2 billion in new funding for municipalities.
• Voluntary farmer participation in Canadian Wheat Board.
• New farm income stabilization program.
• Add $500 million a year in farm support.

New Democrats

• $1 billion extra this year on farm-income stabilization.
• Aid auto industry.
• $250 million to fix border crossings.
• $600 million over four years on arts.

Green Party -- none.

Defence

Liberals -- none.

Conservatives

• $1.8 billion more for defence by 2010.
• New 650-member airborne battalion.
• Double the size of the DART.
• Buy at least three heavy-lift planes.
• Three new armed naval heavy icebreakers.
• Deep-water port neat Iqaluit.
• Arctic national sensor system to monitor subs, ships.
• Recruit 500 more Canadian Rangers.
• New Arctic army training centre near Cambridge Bay.
• Set up new separate foreign spy agency.

New Democrats -- none.

Green Party -- none.

There's still ten days left before the election. I'm sure there are still more promises going to be made before such time. Don't forget to vote. It's nice to have that right. There are many countries in the world with no elections at all. Make up your own decsion who to vote for. Good luck.

CANADA WINS GOLD

Canada successfully defended its world junior gold medal, capping a stunning run at the 2006 tournament last night with a 5-0 win over Russia before a packed GM Place.
"We came out and played our game," goaltender Justin Pogge told TSN.
"We're in Canada, the gold stays here in Canada."
Pogge, a Toronto Maple Leafs prospect who plays for the Calgary Hitmen, was brilliant in stopping 35 shots -- his busiest night of the championship -- and set a tournament record with his third shutout.
This Canadian team was supposed to be up against a big challenge to win gold for the second year in a row but instead will join past Canadian clubs in a group that dominated like few others.
With 12 players eligible to return for the 2007 tournament in Sweden, Canada was seen by many as being a tad young to earn gold. Yet it did just that, allowing only six goals to set a record for fewest against in the tournament.
Canada, which posted a 6-0 record, has won back-to-back gold medals for the first time since winning five in a row from 1993-97.
But teens such as Pogge, who made nearly all of his stops look easy, Marc Staal and Ryan Parent, the defence pair who relished every assignment of shutting down the top opposition forwards, and forwards Downie and Dustin Boyd, who checked and scored when it was needed, are Canada's new hockey heroes.
With Steve Downie scoring the first goal. Blake Comeau got his own rebound, after a nice feed from defenceman Cam Barker, to make it 2-0 at the end of the first. Then some shenanigans happened in the second period. On what looked like a save from Justin Pogge, further review showed the Russians did sneak one past Pogge. But, unfortunately for the Rusians, play continued and because of the IIHF (International Ice Hockey Federation) rules the goal did not count. Which will give the Russians something to complain about. Even if that goal did count I don't think it would of changed Team Canada's game plan. Instead we'd all be celebrating a glorious 5-1 Canada win.
Russian forward, Evgeni Malkin, who inexplicably was voted tournament MVP by the media, was a shadow last night. Staal, Parent, Downie and Boyd had their way with him, rendering him fairly useless. Pogge made a nice glove save on Malkin early on and after that the talented Russian did not get a sniff.
Malkin had said if Russia played to its ability, it would "easily" beat Canada. But the Russians never got the chance.
Head coach Brent Sutter, who could get an NHL coaching job if he wanted it, said he is not looking ahead to next season yet. But Hockey Canada president Bob Nicholson reiterated after the game Sutter will be offered the job of coaching Canada's juniors for an unprecedented third consecutive season.
Sutter, 12-0, is the only coach to win consecutive gold medals.
Canada worked harder and was more willing to pay the physical price around the Russian net than the Russians were in defending it, and Pogge was better than Russian goalie Anton Khudobin, who showed poor technique on Canada's first two goals.
It was the first time since 1995 in Red Deer that Canada won gold on home soil after losing one-goal heartbreakers to Russia in the finals in Winnipeg in 1999 and Halifax in 2003.
When the players stood on the blue-line with their arms around each other to sing the national anthem, they had more than 18,000 people in GM Place to sing it with them. Then the celebration began.
Attendance at games in Vancouver, Kelowna and Kamloops, B.C., shattered the previous record of 242,173 in Halifax in 2003. Actual attendance was listed at 325,138 although total ticket sales were said to be over 400,000.
Spectators at both Pacific Coliseum and GM Place in Vancouver were loud as expected throughout the tournament.
In addition to cheering for Canada, they adopted whichever country played the United States, particularly when they cheered for Russia in the semifinal between the two countries.
But the chanting of a few spectators became boorish with "U.S. sucks" in the semifinal and "over-rated" chants in the bronze-medal game.
The 2007 tournament will be held in Leksand and Mora, Sweden.
The good news for the Canadian team will be that there are 12 players eligible to return. The bad news is that some of them will be playing in the NHL and unavailable to represent their country again at the international under-20 level.