Canada Risks Being Absorbed

I agree 150%.Cancel NAFTA.Lets get to work for a better Canada!

I totally agree with Mr. Orchard. The question is "how do we overcome the virtually complete control of our governments and our media at all levels by business and monied interests (possibly some of them under foreign influence)who are resolved to continue and deepen our integration with the United States." There is no doubt at all that we could do it relatively easily if once we could gather the collective political will. Therein lies the challange.

It's a very difficult struggle, and it is little wonder that people become discouraged and frustrated. I feel that way almost every day when I see the painful lack of progress we are making, and see the greed gang forge ahead with their agenda as if no one else existed.

But the country as we know and love it is at stake, and we absolutely must soldier on. Like so many others, I have done all the usual things without any noticable results, and I am looking for fresh ideas. We need to somehow form a confederation of the disparate groups and parties who view themselves as progressive on this particular issue; we have to become much better funded and organized, and above all it is ESSENTIAL to somehow break the total monopoly big greed has on the mainstream media. We can never hope to accomplish our objective if we cannot get our message heard loudly and forcefully every day by most of the people in the country. Somehow, a passionate and continuing national debate on these issues must be initiated.

I would be proud to do what little I can if only we could find some strategies that work. As always I pray, and live in hope.

I told you, country wide general strike!

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Dave Ruston

"We need to somehow form a confederation of the disparate groups and parties who view themselves as progressive on this particular issue; we have to become much better funded and organized, and above all it is ESSENTIAL to somehow break the total monopoly big greed has on the mainstream media."

This is where you don't get it. When you talk about "progressive on this particular issue", what you're doing is linking the desire for a sovereign Canada with left-wing politics. People who are concerned about Canada being absorbed into the US have to also swallow the collectivist, big government line in order to be welcomed in the nationalist playpen.

And don't talk to me about Orchard being a "conservative". He may be in the most limited Red Tory sense. There are people out there who would be willing to join your movement if it also embraced those who believe in self-reliance, the work ethic, competitive private enterprise and enlightened individualism.

It seems that in order to be properly "Canadian", one must want the state and intellectual/cultural elites to run our lives. The United States does not have a monopoly on free enterprise or inidividual initiative. But left-wingers posing as "nationalists" always want to frame the debate as between those who want a "caring, sharing, compassionate" (read socialist) Canada versus those who want us to become "greedy, selfish" (read capitalist) Americans.

Some of us love Canada and being Canadian without buying into the milquetoast utopia that the 60s/70s generation of political leaders crafted for us. We shouldn't have to choose between Trudeau and Bush. There should be other alternative models of being Canadian that embrace both our independence as a nation and the personal autonomy of Canada's citizens.

Orchard isn't left-wing. He believes in private enterprise, but with full-emplyment and living wages, as well as job security. He believes in crown corporations because they work--therefore he believes in a mixed economy.

How does Orchard not appeal to those who want to be self-reliant? He's a farmer. How can you be more self-reliant than that?

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The midget, Bush, and that Rumsfield deserve only to be beaten with shoes by freedom loving people everywhere.

- Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, The Iraqi Informat

I noted that you omitted "competitive" from "private enterprise". It's true that Red Tories have traditionally either created a state entity to run an industry or to give a private company an exclusive concession in that industry, provided that it submits to heavy government regulation.

In both cases, the result is a monopoly, which becomes complacent, arrogant, bloated, inefficient and oblivous to the needs of those it serves. Competition fosters excellence, innovation, efficiency and responsiveness.

As for Orchard being a farmer, and therefore supposedly self-reliant, he is the kind of farmer who loves statist institutions like the CWB.

The CWB helped a lot of people in its day, did it not?

What I am wondering is how come people like Orchard, Hurtig, Hellier are not all banding together, as one common voice. Let's show some unity on this one. If people see such influential people working together to bring these issues to the forefront then maybe people will wake up to just how quickly we are being absorbed.

" Competition fosters excellence, innovation, efficiency and responsiveness. "
Can you support this assertion with any data?
Or are they just once-trendy buzzwords that always meant nothing ?
Why is it that any one not fanatically pro-Republican is instantly a socialist
big government liberal and all kinda stuff like that there?
Try to admit the existence of moderates.

PS Orchard would have beaten Martin in a walk.
Enjoy your stay.

As long as you guys are under the capitalist system expect money to rule your country. Sorry but you guys chose capitalism and now you get to see its political consequences.

Jet engines,aircraft,space craft&exploration,computers,internet,radar,automotive crash testing and standards,railways,along with nuclear power and a host of other things have been financed and created by governments.

YAHOO!NATION WIDE GENERAL STRIKE!!!AWESOME IDEA!LETS DO IT!!!

You don`t know how hard I`m trying to increase the momentum for this!

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Dave Ruston

Dave, I'm sooo with you on this and I'm helping you push the car uphill. This would be the only proof we need to KNOW the REAL power we ordinary people have OVER the corporate/government powersucking, slavemaking, whogivesashitabouttheworkingpeople people. (Shit, someone stop me when I start namecalling like that, I sound too much like Margaret Wente, even though we use different namecalling names).

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"Yeah, well, [Mr. President] we used all five fingers because that's the way our mittens are made." Antonia Zerbisias