Paul Krugman is Back!!

I can see where Krugman is coming from when he talks about "social extremists" - where people put religious believes above law and order.

Do I agree with Krugman to condemn social extremists? Hell yes.

In Canada, this has been the spin deployed by Liberals on Conservatives for the past decade.

However, the "Conservatives are extremists" spin is losing potency as the Conservative Party is showing more "social tolerance" while rejecting ideas and policies from the religious right.

Stephen Harper showed his will to purge "extremists ideas" at his keynote speech at the Conservative convention held this month in Montreal by declaring his positions on controversial social policies before delegates have a chance to vote on those policies. Harper is determine to wash out the Liberal "extremist" spin.

Thumbs up for Harper and great news for all Conservatives in Canada!!

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March 29, 2005
OP-ED COLUMNIST

What's Going On?
By PAUL KRUGMAN

Democratic societies have a hard time dealing with extremists in their midst. The desire to show respect for other people's beliefs all too easily turns into denial: nobody wants to talk about the threat posed by those whose beliefs include contempt for democracy itself.

We can see this failing clearly in other countries. In the Netherlands, for example, a culture of tolerance led the nation to ignore the growing influence of Islamic extremists until they turned murderous.

But it's also true of the United States, where dangerous extremists belong to the majority religion and the majority ethnic group, and wield great political influence.

Before he saw the polls, Tom DeLay declared that "one thing that God has brought to us is Terri Schiavo, to help elevate the visibility of what is going on in America." Now he and his party, shocked by the public's negative reaction to their meddling, want to move on. But we shouldn't let them. The Schiavo case is, indeed, a chance to highlight what's going on in America.

One thing that's going on is a climate of fear for those who try to enforce laws that religious extremists oppose. Randall Terry, a spokesman for Terri Schiavo's parents, hasn't killed anyone, but one of his former close associates in the anti-abortion movement is serving time for murdering a doctor. George Greer, the judge in the Schiavo case, needs armed bodyguards.

Another thing that's going on is the rise of politicians willing to violate the spirit of the law, if not yet the letter, to cater to the religious right.

Everyone knows about the attempt to circumvent the courts through "Terri's law." But there has been little national exposure for a Miami Herald report that Jeb Bush sent state law enforcement agents to seize Terri Schiavo from the hospice - a plan called off when local police said they would enforce the judge's order that she remain there.

And the future seems all too likely to bring more intimidation in the name of God and more political intervention that undermines the rule of law.

The religious right is already having a big impact on education: 31 percent of teachers surveyed by the National Science Teachers Association feel pressured to present creationism-related material in the classroom.

But medical care is the cutting edge of extremism.

Yesterday The Washington Post reported on the growing number of pharmacists who, on religious grounds, refuse to fill prescriptions for birth control or morning-after pills. These pharmacists talk of personal belief; but the effect is to undermine laws that make these drugs available. And let me make a prediction: soon, wherever the religious right is strong, many pharmacists will be pressured into denying women legal drugs.

And it won't stop there. There is a nationwide trend toward "conscience" or "refusal" legislation. Laws in Illinois and Mississippi already allow doctors and other health providers to deny virtually any procedure to any patient. Again, think of how such laws expose doctors to pressure and intimidation.

But the big step by extremists will be an attempt to eliminate the filibuster, so that the courts can be packed with judges less committed to upholding the law than Mr. Greer.

We can't count on restraint from people like Mr. DeLay, who believes that he's on a mission to bring a "biblical worldview" to American politics, and that God brought him a brain-damaged patient to help him with that mission.

What we need - and we aren't seeing - is a firm stand by moderates against religious extremism. Some people ask, with justification, Where are the Democrats? But an even better question is, Where are the doctors fiercely defending their professional integrity? I think the American Medical Association disapproves of politicians who second-guess medical diagnoses based on video images - but the association's statement on the Schiavo case is so timid that it's hard to be sure.

The closest parallel I can think of to current American politics is Israel. There was a time, not that long ago, when moderate Israelis downplayed the rise of religious extremists. But no more: extremists have already killed one prime minister, and everyone realizes that Ariel Sharon is at risk.

America isn't yet a place where liberal politicians, and even conservatives who aren't sufficiently hard-line, fear assassination. But unless moderates take a stand against the growing power of domestic extremists, it can happen here.

E-mail: krugman@nytimes.com

Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company

More Demand for Fundamental Reform of the Health Care System

I have always been a proponent of a public-private partnership for the health care system. Not to mention that I believe people should allow to make choices - be it a two-tier system or have your treatment at the States or other countries, we need fundamental reform of the health care system.

Pouring more money into the "black hole" obviously is NOT a long term solution to the strained system. Health care needs more efficiency and resources. If the government cannot provide/afford those resources, the system will have to look from somewhere else. The logic is very simple.

However, most Canadians are contradicting themselves. They want changes. But the only viable alternatives to fundamentally reform the health care system is to either go for the "triple-p" and/or allow private medical care.

Most Canadians are still not up for either options yet.

----------------
Fundamental reforms wanted in health system, poll finds
Sunday, March 27, 2005
Updated at 5:33 PM EST

Canadian Press

Ottawa — The multibillion-dollar health accord signed last fall by the Prime Minister and premiers struck the right note with Canadians, but we're still a long way from being satisfied, suggests a public opinion poll conducted for the federal government.

The majority of the 1,811 people surveyed last fall by pollster Ipsos-Reid indicated they felt fairly upbeat about the economy and the general direction of the country.

They also seemed pleased with the massive $41-billion, 10-year health accord struck by first ministers last September.

But the Liberals can't afford to be complacent, warns the survey, obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act.

Polling between Sept. 30 and Oct. 12, 2004 — soon after the health accord was inked — suggested a 13-percentage-point increase over two years earlier in the number of people who said they were “strongly” or “somewhat” satisfied with medicare.

However, fully 89 per cent said health care must remain a high government priority, although there was less demand for new dollars and more for fundamental reform of the health system.

When probed more closely, about three-quarters said fundamental change to medicare should be a higher priority than new funds; only one-quarter said more money was the greatest need.

That's a significant change in direction from two years earlier, when 42 per cent said money was the biggest problem facing medicare.

Still, almost two-thirds said they felt that Canada is “generally headed in the right direction” with improvements seen in health, the environment overall and efforts to reduce child poverty.

Such findings must have been music to the ears of Prime Minister Paul Martin's beleaguered minority Liberal government.

Last week, opposition parties threatened to bring down the government over a Liberal budget implementation bill which includes environmental measures.

The Opposition Conservatives say it goes too far; the New Democrats and Bloc Québécois say it doesn't go far enough.

Since it's a confidence vote, a united opposition could defeat the bill and the minority Liberals, forcing an election.

Besides listing health care and the environment as top priorities, 84 per cent of people surveyed called for tighter government spending controls.

Similar numbers supported increased investment in education and training.

Tighter security against possible terror attacks was a lower priority, at 69 per cent.

Curiously, the erroneous perception that Ottawa is running a deficit continues to grow despite the fact last month's budget was the eighth consecutive balanced budget.

Pollsters found the number of people who think Ottawa is running in the red rose to 44 per cent last fall from 37 per cent in 2002.

© Copyright 2005 Bell Globemedia Publishing Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Me: "The Charmer" yesterday, and "The Ideal Lover" today!!

Got this from a friend's blog.

Did the "test" yesterday - I am "The Charmer".

Tried the "test" again today - I am "The Ideal Lover".

Tomorrow......

-----------------------

Your Seduction Style: The Charmer

You're a master at intimate conversation and verbal enticement. You seduce with words, by getting people to open up to you. By establishing this deep connection quickly, people feel under your power. And then you've got them exactly where you want them!

Your Seduction Style: Ideal Lover

You seduce people by tapping into their dreams and desires. And because of this sensitivity, you can be the ideal lover for anyone you seek. You are a shapeshifter - bringing romance, adventure, spirituality to relationships. It all depends on who your with, and what their vision of a perfect relationship is.

What Is Your Seduction Style?

Who Said That Money is Not Important??

Quoting from the article:

"When this process is finished if Belinda owes money to the party, she'll write a cheque the same day," said Entwistle.

Isn't it great to have lots of money and being a millionaire?? (....And even better if you are a "billionaire"!!)


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Stronach, party fighting
Her campaign owes $350,000, sources say
Conservatives challenging her expense report

March 23, 2005

TONDA MACCHARLES
OTTAWA BUREAU

OTTAWA—Belinda Stronach could be barred from any future Conservative leadership race if a dispute over outstanding fees from last year's race is not resolved, party officials are suggesting.

Although the Conservatives' brass want the party to appear united and yesterday dropped any public complaints about deputy leader Peter MacKay's outburst at the weekend convention, it is clear there are still internal tensions at senior levels.

A senior Conservative party source leaked to the Toronto Star information that Stronach's failed 2004 leadership campaign — which she lost to Stephen Harper — owes about $350,000 in levies to the party, an amount independently confirmed by other sources.

The party and Stronach's campaign are still in negotiations over exactly what amount is owed, Stronach's supporters say. They view the leak as evidence her political opponents fear she still commands a lot of support that could be mobilized if there is a leadership race after a next election.

All three leadership campaigns — Stronach, Harper and Tony Clement — reported to the party they ran the 2004 race within the $2.5-million spending limit set by a rules committee. All expenses are to be released publicly "very soon," said one insider.

The Stronach campaign says it spent about $5 million overall, but fell within the $2.5-million limit because half was "exempt" under the party's rules on spending — items like travel, legal and audit expenses, and some translation and child-care expenses.

In addition, all three candidates had to submit to the party a portion of individual donations to their campaigns. Those levies were set at 10 per cent of donations up to $25,000, and 20 per cent of donations over $25,000.

The Conservative party is challenging Stronach's report, suggesting some of her expenses fell outside those that were "exempt," and demanding she pay more than $350,000 in levies. That overall fee includes an undisclosed amount on her own personal contribution to her leadership campaign.

A spokesman for Stronach said she put in "around $1 million-something" of her own money to finance her bid, but said there is no attempt to hide that. The question is rather how much she should have to pay overall.

Her campaign manager John Laschinger is trying to negotiate just what the final bill for the millionaire former auto parts executive should be.

But a Conservative source suggested Stronach went over the spending limit. The source also said the rules committee can penalize her: either by levying a fine, or seizing the $50,000 compliance deposit required to enter the race.

"She's reported that she complied with the 2.5 (million-dollar limit), but there are outstanding questions whether it was accurate or not."

"Worst-case scenario, the party can declare someone ineligible to run for party leadership in the future."

However, another party source familiar with the rules said future ineligibility is not a penalty available to the party leadership under the rules for the last leadership selection process.

Stronach appeared taken aback by the suggestion, and said "there's some negotiating taking place there as to what is fair.

"I just ask for fairness, that's it," she said.

Stronach adviser Mark Entwistle said Laschinger is negotiating for Stronach "to be treated fairly," meaning all three leadership candidates should be required "to pay the same levy on their own personal contributions to their own campaigns."

He said the Harper and Clement campaigns also held "discussions on their reports" to the party, and whether certain levies and claims for exemption were appropriate.

"The big difference is — and no one is hiding this — Belinda put in a very significant amount of her own money." The party may choose to consider the other candidates did not have the same means as she did, and may levy different taxes on the candidates as a result, he said.

"When this process is finished if Belinda owes money to the party, she'll write a cheque the same day," said Entwistle.

© Toronto Star 2005

Crazy Budget by the Saskatchewan NDP

This probably is the worst budget from any provincial governments that I can remember for the last little while.

Government revenue has skyrocketed (exceeding $400 million) due to increase in oil price. But what is the government doing with the extra $$$??

They decided to spend them all, with little infrastructure investments. This budget has:

- nothing for farmers and ranchers
- no tax relieve for taxpayers in any income brackets
- no sales tax relieve
- nothing more for government employees
- nothing for municipalities

In addition, the budget of the communications branch in the Premier's office is up 58% from $856,000 to $1.35 million - which means more PR and spinning for political purposes but anything.

Not to mention that the government has to dip into the "rainy-day fund", withdrawing $145 million from its Fiscal Stabilization Fund, to balance the books - which means the budget is not really balanced.

There is absolutely no vision for the future of Saskatchewan in this budget. All the payoffs from sacrifices made by Saskatchewanians during the Romanow years will soon be "wiped-off" by the Calvert government if they don't change their "spend-it-all like there is no tomorrow" mentality.


----------------
Health & Education: NDP government finds more money for health and education

James Wood
Saskatchewan News Network

Thursday, March 24, 2005

CREDIT: Bryan Schlosser, Leader-Post
Thanks to high resource revenue, Finance Minister Harry Van Mulligen found new money for health and education.

With coffers filled by resource revenues, the NDP government released a provincial budget Wednesday that will see spending increase by over $400 million from a year ago.

But even as expenditures reach over $7.1 billion, the government drew sharp criticism for where the money isn't going after a major financial turnaround over the last year.

"I think it's a very solid budget," said Premier Lorne Calvert in its defence.

"It's not a budget that someone will say has huge, huge tax cuts or huge, huge revenue expenditures, it's balanced in that regard. It keeps us living within our means, it puts some money aside, it brings down debt. It's that kind of solid balance we can build on," he told reporters.

In contrast to last year when the government called their budget one of the toughest in a decade, this year they touted a "centennial budget" that builds for the next 100 years.

The budget sees significant increases to health and post-secondary education, including money for a one-time tuition freeze at the province's two universities.

The government also provided a long-awaited boost to social assistance, raising the basic allowance by $10 a month.

But while there were no new tax increases and the government announced a review of business taxes, the NDP drew harsh criticism for not reversing last year's hike to the provincial sales tax or reducing other taxes.

And with the Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation announcing Wednesday that 93 per cent of its membership voted for a mandate that would allow job action, the government also came under attack for not backing off its mandate of zero, one and one per cent wage increases for public sector workers.

"Last year when revenues were down they took your money. This year when revenues are up they are not giving any back. Never before has a government done so little with so much. They should have given something back to the people of Saskatchewan who took it on the chin for the last year. They didn't and that's tragic," said Saskatchewan Party Finance critic Ken Cheveldayoff.

The failure to provide another increase in funding to municipalities after three years of $10 million hikes was met with acute disappointment by both urban and rural leaders.

Both Regina and Saskatoon city councils are currently looking at property tax increases and had pinned their hopes on avoiding a tax hike on new provincial money.

"It's going to make it very difficult for us without having to go back to the property taxpayer," said Regina Mayor Pat Fiacco.

"This provincial government just doesn't get it."

The budget does contain a previously announced $55 million in education property tax relief to finance an eight-per-cent cut to tax bills.

Neal Hardy, president of the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities, said his hopes for the budget had focused on three areas -- an increase to municipal funding, additional tax relief for agricultural land and by far most important, increased aid to farmers.

None were forthcoming.

"If he had targeted it all into agriculture, we probably would have said that's how it will be and we'd live with that. Because you know, you can only do so much. But they didn't do that, they targeted none of it. They just left rural Saskatchewan out," said Hardy.

"There are many farmers, many of them, that don't have any money to put the crop in ... they're really, really in trouble."

But Finance Minister Harry Van Mulligen said that while the province's financial picture has improved substantially from last year's budget, the revenue in this year's budget is actually 9.2 per cent less than what the province had at its disposal over the course of the last budget year.

In 2004-2005 the province saw a $1.15-billion influx coming mainly from higher-than-expected resource revenues and a large one-time equalization payment from the federal government.

"In terms of our financial position, I think too many people, too many groups are looking at mid-year last year and saying, well, you've got all kinds of money, you can spend it on anything," he said.

The government's revenue projections are based on oil being at US $41.50 a barrel for the rest of 2005 and US $36 for 2006.

But with oil currently over US $55 a barrel, Cheveldayoff said the government is low-balling expectations and will likely have much more revenue.

"Everybody's saying oil is going to stay above $50 a barrel. I haven't heard anyone peg it at $41.50 US like the government has ... I think the government is giving themselves some room," he said.

Under the budget, Saskatchewan Health receives a 7.1-per-cent, or $192-million, increase -- mostly from increased federal health funding -- to a record $2.9 billion while education spending was boosted 6.8 per cent to $1.2 billion.

The latter includes $6.7 million for a one-time Saskatchewan Centennial University Tuition Grant so the University of Saskatchewan and University of Regina will not raise tuition rates this year.

"This is a victory for us," said University of Saskatchewan Students Union president Gavin Gardiner.

"We were looking for a two-year freeze but the freeze was meant only as a stop-gap measure so that we can take a step back and evaluate post-secondary education in the province. If that can happen in a year, then we're happy."

While there was a focus on post-secondary education, foundation operating grants for school boards were frozen at last year's level of $527.9 million.

"That's going to put some pressure on boards of education. Just the fact that the increases such as transportation, energy, all the operating costs, none of those costs are recognized," said Lance Bean, president of the Saskatchewan School Boards Association.

Under pressure from both nominal allies in the anti-poverty movement and its opponents in the Saskatchewan Party, the NDP also raised the basic allowance for the first time in two decades for adults on social assistance.

Bob Pringle, executive director of the Saskatoon Food Bank, said the government has taken positive steps by its increases to housing support, training for low-income people and funding for child-care spaces but it did not go far enough by raising the basic allowance to $205 a month.

"Will it be another 15 years before we see another increase? Quite frankly I was thinking of $20 or $30 maybe two or three years in a row to be a little catch-up," said Pringle, a former NDP cabinet minister.

The government claims this as its 12th consecutive balanced general revenue fund budget but it had to use $145 million from its Fiscal Stabilization Fund to ensure it balances with a $69,000 surplus.

The government also announced it will spend $326.9 million on capital projects.

It enters the budget year with a debt of $11.7 billion, which will be its lowest level in 14 years. The debt is expected to grow again to $12.2 billion in 2008 but the ratio of debt to gross domestic product is expected to continue to decline.

In recent months the NDP has formed a united front with the provincial opposition parties and Saskatchewan's federal Conservative MPs to fight for a new deal on equalization similar to that won by Nova Scotia and Newfoundland which excludes resource revenues from the formula

Calvert said the increase in provincial spending will not hurt the province's argument on equalization.

"It is not a good reason that we shouldn't achieve an energy accord with Ottawa because we've done a good job," he said.

CanWest News Service

© The Leader-Post (Regina) 2005

Cute kids get more attention from parents: study

This is funny!!

I wonder if this is the reason why my parents have only called me less than a hand full number of times in the past 5 years.......

-----------------
Cute kids get more attention from parents: study

CTV.ca News Staff

Updated: Mon. Mar. 14 2005 11:29 PM ET

Not-so-cute children are more likely to be neglected by their parents -- at least that's what a researcher from the University of Alberta has found.

Andrew Herrell's original intention was to study safety in grocery stores, where children often suffer minor injuries. But the more he observed parents with youngsters in shopping carts, the more he noticed a pattern developing.

Herrell is the director of the population research lab in the university's sociology department. He and his study team found cute kids were more likely to be buckled into their grocery cart seat.

They also were kept closer to their parents and not allowed to wander more than three metres away.

Herrell and his team followed parents of children (between two and five years old) around 14 local supermarkets for 10 minutes each, and rated their looks on a scale of one to 10.

Herrell found that only 1.2 per cent of the least attractive kids were buckled into their cart seats, compared with 13.3 per cent of the most attractive kids.

Not-so-cute kids were also allowed to wander away more often than their cute cohorts.

"More attractive children were more likely hovered over and for the parent to keep some close contact with that attractive child," Herrell told CTV News. "What I think it means is in our society, attractiveness is an asset."

He says most parents would be stunned by his findings and would also heartily deny them. But he adds that after conducting 426 observations, he has noticed a pattern.

Herrell believes that parents are unwittingly acting out patterns of evolution seen throughout the animal world.

Humans have evolved to give the most attention to their children who are most likely to survive in our world and therefore to pass on genetic material.

Herrell says parents of ugly children are not any more likely to abuse their children; they are simply unaware that they are neglecting their children more than parents of other children do.

Aidan Kelly, a father of three in Edmonton, says he can't believe a child's looks could ever make a difference in how he or she is cared for.

"For someone to treat someone different because of their looks . . . I don't see how a parent could do that," he told CTV's Edmonton affiliate, CFRN News.

Harrell's findings didn't surprise Maryanne Fisher, a professor of psychology at Halifax's St. Mary's University, who says, "An unattractive person might not have the best genes, so you'd spend more time and effort to look after the people with good genes."

Great Grandfather Bill McConnell says there may be some truth to the controversial study's findings.

"We haven't had little kids for a long time," he said, "but I think if you visit families with kids, the cutest ones get all the attention.

With files from CFRN News' Sheldon Larmand and CTV's John Vennavally-Rao

© Copyright 2004 Bell Globemedia Inc.

Fortress North America

John Manley is a smart man!! (I feel dirty to say Manley is smart, but he definitely has a vision to see the future.)

In addition to "Fortress North America", we need a Western Hemisphere Free Trade Zone (a free trade zone for North and South America) to stay competitive with the European Union.

There is a good possibility that the world economy will consist of three major trade blocs within the next twenty years:

1. The European Union
2. The Asian Trade Bloc, including Australia and New Zealand (whatever they want to call themselves)
3. The North/South America Continental Free Trade Zone

The market force is pushing economies to become more productive, and establishing free trade zones is a way to increase efficiency among economies (especially among regional economies). Hence, countries will become more productive, and people's standard of living will improve with a higher "acceleration".


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Task force urges North American security barrier

CTV.ca News Staff

An independent task force is recommending that Canada, the United States and Mexico become a single trading zone, much the way the European Union is heading. The plan hinges on new security measures.

Former deputy prime minister John Manley is one member of the task force, which was sponsored by the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations, the Canadian Council of Chief Executives and the Mexican Council on Foreign Relations. These groups are involved in promoting free trade.

The recommendations -- expected to be on the table when Prime Minister Paul Martin meets with U.S. President George W. Bush and Mexican President Vicente Fox in Crawford, Texas next week -- are in a report released Monday in Washington, D.C.

While the plan aims to improve trade and reduce trade disputes, implementation would require "a strong outer security perimeter," the report says. It also calls for a shared strategy on the energy business.

"What we're asking the leaders of United States, Canada and Mexico to do is to be bold," said Manley during a press conference held by the task force Monday in Washington. "To adopt a vision of the future that is bigger than and beyond the immediate problems of the present."

He added that the security of U.S. citizens is indivisible from the security of their neighbours, and that the integration that exists between the countries' economies and societies "makes it impossible for the United States to be truly safe without the full, whole-hearted co-operation of its neighours."

Sovereignty concerns

Critics of the task force's recommendations, however, worry about Canada's sovereignty being sacrificed for the benefit of big business.

"We should not be relinquishing our rights to make these decisions because a wealthy businessman and a guy who wants to be prime minister tells us so," Maude Barlow, head of the citizens' interest group The Council of Canadians, told CTV News. "We should say no."

Manley's leadership aspirations are no secret, and he's pushing now for current leaders of the three countries to get beyond their trade disputes like softwood lumber and join forces in order to face new competition from China and India.

Barlow, however, worries about the closer collaboration between the three countries Manley's plan calls for -- which includes a common biometric border pass to speed travel; and identical tariffs on goods to ease costly regulations for companies.

"My worry is that because we said 'No' to Iraq and missile defence, the prime minister has to offer something by way of apology," Barlow told the Canadian Press.

She added that the proposed security measures "won't make us safer. In fact it aligns us closer with the prime target. This would be a George Bush North America, a kind of superpower against the rest of the world."

Former Massachusetts governor William Weld, who co-chairs the task force with Manley and Mexico's Pedro Aspe, criticized those with their "heads in the sand" who are resistant to bold, new ideas.

"People of goodwill can be persuaded. It took five years to fight (the Second World War). We can harmonize a few government policies in that time," he said.

While the EU trading zone has provided inspiration for the plan, the statement from the group says North American version would not have such a "huge bureaucracy."

Among the recommendations:

* Expand the North American Aerospace Defence Command (Norad) to include maritime security.
* Create a tri-national threat intelligence centre and jointly train officers from the three countries.
* Develop a strategy to protect North American energy supplies and common conservation measures.
* Establish a North American investment fund to help Mexico's economy.
* Expand scholarship and exchange programs and a network for North American studies.

With files from Canadian Press and CTV's Washington Bureau Chief, Tom Clark

Star Candidate for the BC Liberals!!

This is great to have another star candidate added to the BC Liberal Team!!

------------------------
Taylor drops CBC role to run for B.C. Liberals

Monday, March 14, 2005 Updated at 9:53 PM EST
Canadian Press

Vancouver — Former Vancouver city councillor Carole Taylor, who was chair of the CBC's board of directors, will seek the Liberal nomination in a Vancouver riding for the May 17 election in British Columbia.

Ms. Taylor said Monday she had resigned from the CBC board in order to seek the nomination in Vancouver-Langara.

“I have always believed in the importance of public life,” she said in a statement. “I would like to contribute to the momentum that is building here, not just for the good of the province but for the good of the country as well.”

Premier Gordon Campbell introduced Ms. Taylor at a news conference and described her as an impressive candidate for the party.

“I could not be happier,” he said in a news release. “I have always been impressed with Carole's leadership abilities, her integrity, her tenacity.”

Ms. Taylor, who lives in Vancouver, served on city council from 1986 to 1990 and is married to former Vancouver mayor Art Phillips.

She was a one-time host of CTV's Canada AM and W-FIVE programs before joining the CBC to host Pacific Report and Authors, as well as Scene from Here and Vancouver Life.

CBC President Robert Rabinovitch said he was sorry to see Ms. Taylor step down as chair of the public broadcaster's board of directors.

“Carole Taylor's deep belief in the role of public broadcasting and in CBC/Radio-Canada has guided our actions and our strategy,” he said in a news release. “We will miss her and we wish her all the best.”

Ms. Taylor is also a former chair of both the Vancouver Port Corp. and Canada Ports Corp. and a recipient of the Order of Canada.

Ms. Taylor is seeking to replace Val Anderson, who has represented the Vancouver-Langara riding for the Liberals for more than 13 years.

© Copyright 2005 Bell Globemedia Publishing Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Election to watch!!

As the writ period is getting closer, things are starting to get interesting.

Here is a pretty interesting web-site, administrated by Milton Chan, about this year's BC provincial election. I believe most political hacks are very familiar with this site.

http://www.electionprediction.org/2005_bc/index.html

Fresh thinking on the oldest profession

Very interesting editorial from today's National Post. (Actually, I got the article off from a listserve that I subscribed to.)

Personally, I don't have a problem with legalizing prostitution - for the sake of health and safety.

However, we need to make sure that we don't send the wrong message to the public (i.e. the government supports/encourages prostitution.) It is very difficult to draw the fine line, and it would be a very interesting public policy to implement.

---------------
Fresh thinking on the oldest profession

National Post

Tuesday, March 08, 2005

At their national convention in Ottawa this past weekend, the federal Liberals were mostly preoccupied with putting a good face forward. But amid the thunderstick thumping, the Grits actually took time to get the ball rolling on at least one important public policy front.

In calling for a review of Canada's prostitution policy, delegates backed away from an earlier resolution that advocated scrapping our solicitation laws entirely. This was an inevitable consequence of the Liberals' distaste for controversy. (One of the weekend's most talked-about resolutions, to legalize marijuana, was deep-sixed before it ever got to a final vote.) But in making clear that the governing party's membership believes it is time to revisit the way we deal with the world's oldest profession, it still represented a significant step forward.

As they currently stand, our archaic laws do little to curb prostitution -- as evidenced by its prevalence in every major city, and most smaller ones. What they do achieve, however, is to make the trade less safe for the young women who are dragged into it by drug addiction, abusive pasts or other desperate circumstances.

At present, it isn't illegal to pay or receive payment for sexual services; what is illegal is to communicate in a public place for purposes of arranging that service. As a result, prostitutes leave themselves open to violence by spending the minimum amount of time possible assessing the risks posed by those who approach them on foot or in cars.

And when crimes against them do occur, prostitutes often fail to report them for fear of attracting police attention. Because their trade is kept underground, moreover, there are no checks to prevent the spread of HIV and other communicable diseases.

For all these reasons, it is time for Ottawa to legalize the prostitution trade -- or at least give municipalities the option of doing so on a city-by-city basis.

Even before this weekend's resolution, a House of Commons committee had committed itself to reviewing our prostitution laws. Given the strong show of support from Liberal members, we hope it will embrace a bold reform agenda. The same goes for Irwin Cotler, the federal Justice Minister, who still appears hesitant to seriously consider doing away with the solicitation ban.

The Liberals have often pledged to protect society's most vulnerable members. Reforming our prostitution laws would be a good way to make good on the party's oft-repeated slogan: "promise made, promise kept."

© National Post 2005

Canada's standard of living slips

This is from today's Globe & Mail.

Although the measurement of standard of living does not measure other aspects of the economy other than productivity and consumption (i.e. life expectancy, education, level of provety, etc.), this should be a warning sign for the Martin government.

We need to be more productive in order to keep pace with our neighbour south of the border in terms of standard of living. Else, we'll be the true "Mexico of the North" in a decade or so!!

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Canada's standard of living slips

Falling even further behind the U.S.

By SIMON TUCK

Thursday, March 3, 2005 Updated at 6:39 AM EST

From Thursday's Globe and Mail
Ottawa — Canada's standard of living fell further behind the United States during the past two years and the gap is expected to grow over the next two, partly because Ottawa did not do enough in its recent budget to boost the economy, according to a leading economic forecaster.

In the first comprehensive economic forecast since last week's federal budget, Global Insight (Canada) Ltd. says Canada's standard of living had slipped to 84 per cent of that in the U.S. by the end of 2004 from 87 per cent two years earlier. That three-percentage-point increase in the gap reversed a 1999-2002 trend, when it narrowed to 13 percentage points from 17.

Dale Orr, chief economist with Global Insight (Canada), said he largely attributes the recent widening of the gap to the appreciation of the Canadian dollar, which has made Canadian exports about 30 per cent more expensive in the critical U.S. market.

The first year of the four-year period also saw the Canadian economy battered by one-time events such as the SARS outbreak, the discovery of a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in Alberta and the power blackout in Ontario, he added. "We have the potential to do a lot better."

But Mr. Orr and other economists don't expect that to happen, at least in relation to the U.S. standard of living, over the next couple of years. The U.S. economy is expected to outpace its Canadian counterpart this year and next, which Mr. Orr forecasts will expand the standard-of-living gap by another 1.6 percentage points.

That means the gap will have widened by 4.6 percentage points over the four-year period, or 35.4 per cent of the initial 2002 gap of 13 percentage points.

Economists say Canada can improve its economic growth and standard of living by boosting economic productivity through measures such as corporate and personal income tax cuts, more aggressive writeoff schedules for capital investments and smart investments in such areas as transportation and education.

Critics say last week's federal budget was short on measures to boost Canada's productivity and therefore its standard of living. They cited the document's tepid tax cuts, some of which don't kick in for three years, and big increases to social spending.

"We should be paying much more attention to economic growth," Mr. Orr said in an interview.

Canada had narrowed the standard-of-living gap, as measured by gross domestic product per capita, with the United States to about 13 percentage points about three years ago, after falling to as much as 18 percentage points in 1993.

An expected slump in Canadian economic growth is expected to raise another hurdle, at least in the short term. Global Insight's update forecasts growth for 2005 of 2.6 per cent, compared with the 2.9 per cent forecast in Finance Minister Ralph Goodale's budget.

Jack Mintz, president of the C.D. Howe Institute, an economic think tank, said the U.S. standard of living has also been improving strongly in recent years because the corporate sector made massive investments in new machinery in the late-1990s

Those investments have since led to improved productivity, and therefore a higher standard of living, Mr. Mintz said.

He said the federal budget, which featured dramatic spending increases and minimal tax cuts, was a step in the wrong direction because there were few measures to boost the economy. "I think our productivity has always been a problem."

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