Russia PM Calls For Closer Commercial Ties With Canada

I agree! Two great northern countries in friendship. I`ve always valued our hockey rivalry, and I`ve always had a thing for Russian culture. Closer ties are long overdue.

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Dave Ruston

<p>Der Spiegel has a very good, very detailed and long article about Russian democracy and it's various problems...which are universal it would seem. <p><h4>Portrait of a Reluctant Democracy</h4> <blockquote><p>"...All obstacles to success for the powers that be on Dec. 2 have been removed -- except the will of Russian voters. For the first time, the vote will be based purely on proportional representation, while direct mandates for independent candidates have been eliminated. Under new election rules, political parties must capture at least seven percent of the vote and have at least 50,000 members to qualify for seats in the Duma. <p>The preferred option for voters opposed to all parties in Russia -- placing an x in a box marked "opposed to all" -- has been eliminated. So has a law stipulating a minimum election turnout. <p>(snip) <p>"...Ivanovo, 300 kilometers (186 miles) northeast of Moscow, the former center of the state-operated textile industry, used to be called the "Soviet Manchester." But those days are long gone. Nemzov speaks to the local press in a grim, depressing third-floor room in a brick building. The questions he faces aren't exactly encouraging. Could he envision cooperating with United Russia? a reporter asks. <p>"If you mix a kilo of cranberries with a kilo of shit," Nemzov replies, "you get two kilos of shit." <p>His down-to-earth words may sound tailor-made for factory workers and farm hands, but there's a disconnect between what Nemzov says and the fashionable, wine-colored sweater and sports jacket he wears on this campaign tour through the countryside. <p>United Russia's chances of winning the vote in Ivanovo are boosted by the fact that the opposition is simply incapable of selling its platform -- touting the benefits of the market economy, freedom of opinion and pluralism -- in a convincing way as a promise of better things to come. For voters in Ivanovo, the concept of democracy remains linked to Russia's economic woes of the 1990s. <p>Few voters in this textile-producing city are impressed by Nemzov's warnings about a return to the one-party state and a cult of the leader, or by his references to his own glorious political past. Three quarters of the seats in Ivanovo's regional parliament are already in United Russia's hands, and millions of ordinary Russians still lay the blame for their descent into poverty at the feet of the SPS. Most of the blame is put on the party's co-founder, former Finance Minister Anatoly Chubais (more...), whose strategy of deregulating prices after the fall of the Soviet Union in an attempt to stimulate a market economy failed miserably. <p>But Nemzov says, to an audience at Ivonovo's "Silver City" shopping center: "Do you want me to tell you what the cleanest spot in the country is? The ass of the president! That's because someone is kissing it from morning to night." <p>Three female students giggle. A furious-looking soldier turns red in the face. Putin is his idol. An agitated pensioner calls out: "You stole our pensions in the '90s, you thieves!" <p>Nemzov is prepared for these accusations. He pats the angry pensioner on the back and responds to the attack with numbers: "When I was the energy minister, the price of oil was only $17. Nevertheless, Boris Yeltsin spent 7.5 percent of the national budget on pensions. The Putin administration spends only 4.2 percent on pensions." <p><a href="http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,520255,00.html">Der Speigel</a></ul></blockquote> <p>...their politicians have crummy talking points for angry voters as well