gdp's Comments

Macleans.ca : Harper’s hard right turn

Mon, 22 Mar 2010 21:07:17 +0000

I suppose a logical corollary of this would be the criminalisation of alcohol consumption during pregnancy. Given that you view the foetus as a child and that alcohol consumption during pregnancy results in permanent and irreparable damage to the child, would you then support alcohol consumption during pregnancy being charged as aggravated assault causing bodily harm? What are your thoughts on the subject?

Macleans.ca : Harper’s hard right turn

Mon, 22 Mar 2010 21:01:54 +0000

Thank you, Craig. That's one of the more comprehensive and well written replies I've read on the subject.

Macleans.ca : Politician, explain thyself

Tue, 9 Feb 2010 22:02:37 +0000

Yeah, I'm pretty certain that the Taliban monitor the statements of Liberal candidates, looking for the nuance between "aided and abetted torture, if the Taliban prisoners are to be believed" and what Prout said. Good call on that one. Because the Taliban wouldn't've known anything about what happened in Afghan prisons, and are quite likely to stick entirely to the truth. You're right, this candidate is endangering Canadians. Because once the Taliban get their copy of the Caledon Enterprise in the mail, they'll actually want to kill Canadians. As opposed to before, when tribal and religious fervour could only muster a half-hearted IED or ambush here and there. Dear Toporious, sarcasm aside, please think before you post.

Macleans.ca : How Obama divided America

Sun, 27 Sep 2009 23:37:27 +0000

The story behind this article is less the divisiveness of Obama than the decoupling of right-wing rhetoric from reality. The fact that one in 10 Americans believe that their president was born in Kenya, and that a far higher proportion feel that he is a Marxist/Communist/Socialist indicates that the splintering and tribalisation of political discourse in the States is having very real and very negative policy implications. We can quibble over how Obama could have better handled both the stimulus package and healthcare debate, but the fact of the matter is that the Republican Party and many independent libertarian voters are simply angry with everything political in Washington without knowledge or understanding of the issues. Mass political illiteracy and FOX News have poisoned American politics, to the point where it's becoming one of the biggest obstacles to the country's progress and prosperity. But it certainly makes me feel better about Canada.

Macleans.ca : The man who brought down a tyrant

Thu, 23 Jul 2009 23:47:32 +0000

I can't say I've been particularly happy with Immigration Canada's recent decisions. As if the absolutely shameful treatment of Abousfian Abdelrazik wasn't enough, we appear ready to deport someone who risked his life to bring justice on a dictator. I understand that we generally don't want to have members of violent regimes immigrating to Canada, but this case is very clearly exceptional. And I'd add that we currently have many members of terrible regimes quietly living in Canada (take Désiré Munyaneza, a Rwandese génocidaire), but the difference is that these people lied about their pasts. Cindor Reeves trusted the fairness of the Canadian immigration system in coming to Canada and disclosing his past. I'd hate to see his faith disproved by him being deported and murdered on his return to Liberia. If Jason Kenney or anyone from Immigration Canada happens to read this, I'd appreciate a response.

Macleans.ca : The ghost of Tommy Douglas

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 19:35:05 +0000

I hate to say it, but neither Canada nor the States have the best healthcare systems in the world. American healthcare costs the highest % of GDP in the OECD, if I remember correctly, and healthcare is becoming a budgetary vacuum for Canadian provinces, where more and more money can be poured without significantly improving results. We both have a lot to learn from more innovative countries. Our laurels are hurting us.

Macleans.ca : Teaming up to beat the Tories

Thu, 9 Jul 2009 19:44:30 +0000

In trivial news, the spellcheck used by Maclean's does not recognize Canadian spelling. Fail.

Macleans.ca : Teaming up to beat the Tories

Thu, 9 Jul 2009 19:43:17 +0000

The Leg is full of liberals? You must use a very interesting definition of liberal. The PC Party has the interesting distinction of no longer being either progressive or fiscally conservative. And as for being liberal, I can tell you that a very large proportion of them are not liberal either by the American definition (left-wing), the Canadian definition (moderate taxation, significant spending on education and programs) or by the classical definition (which would equate to transparent government, perfectly equal rights for every citizen including gays, and importantly, neither deficits nor subsidies for favoured sectors. I'm not a great fan of the Alberta Liberals and I have some respect for Danielle Smith, but I can say without a doubt that we do not need more ideological conservatives.

Macleans.ca : Brad Trost and friends are going to be furious

Thu, 9 Jul 2009 01:16:19 +0000

Personally, I think that Monte Solberg wrote in his blog the appropriate Conservative response here. http://bit.ly/p78fU It's a personal choice about whether or not the government should be funding parade-type events, but there is no way that Ablonczy should be punished for it, lobby group outrage be damned.

Macleans.ca : Tax increase or spending cut?

Tue, 7 Jul 2009 00:18:43 +0000

Option 2 isn't realistic in a recession, and the deficits big enough to require huge growth to even reduce it. Option 3 is very short sighted given the economic times. Buy high, sell low may a popular government strategy but it's pretty poor economics. There's no point selling even AECL right now for the prices we'd get on it. Wait til assets are properly valued before selling them

Macleans.ca : Senators gone sort of wild

Fri, 3 Jul 2009 05:05:18 +0000

haha! Well, that blew up in my face. CBC.ca - 1 Aden - 0

Macleans.ca : Senators gone sort of wild

Thu, 2 Jul 2009 23:08:57 +0000

Thank you for the links. CBC doesn't seem to have this whole "interweb" thing yet.

Macleans.ca : The Iranian election by the numbers

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 23:46:09 +0000

I'm suspicious of the usefulness of the Terror Free Tomorrow poll. Unless I'm mistaken, was it not taken before the candidates were even confirmed, back when there might have been a chance the Khatami was running? Furthermore, was it not the unprecedented televised debates that changed the momentum of the election? I appreciate Maclean's analysis, and kudos for some nice links. But I'm going to take the earlier sources more seriously than the Washington Post's version. On an unrelated note, I'm curious to see what Mark Steyn thinks about this whole issue. Peaceful, liberal-leaning muslims peacefully protesting for democracy and better relations with the West? Steyn's poor head must be exploding from the apparent (to him) contradictions.

Macleans.ca : A short history of summer elections

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 06:29:22 +0000

For the love of god, why would you want another election now? I think one election without issues/ideas per 12 months is plenty.

Macleans.ca : Coyne v. Wells on Canada's nuclear sinkhole

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 04:26:08 +0000

Sorry, but nuclear power is not limitless, clean nor cheap. Taking into account the distorting subsidies it receives and the longer-term cost of dealing with nuclear waste, it is among the more expensive power-generating options, often more than renewables. Couple that with the environmental impact of mining, enriching, processing and disposing of uranium, and the nuclear power loses much of its environmental advantage. Nuclear fission isn't what it's cut out to be, and fails the basic test of economics. There's better ways to spend money for power-generation.

Macleans.ca : "We want freedom"

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 01:52:31 +0000

The fact that #CNNfail was a top trending topic on Twitter probably pushed them a bit.

Macleans.ca : Paikin v. Kenney

Tue, 9 Jun 2009 16:57:11 +0000

While that's likely the case for a lot of Conservatives, for the younger and more moderate sections of the party, I think a lot of them identify more with conservative values than cultural identity politics. The advantage of values politics is that anyone can embrace it, from a farmer by Lac St. Jean, to a recent immigrant, regardless of ethnicity or religion. While I don't think this change will be seamless within the old Reform part of the party, it stands to make Canadian politics considerably more interesting. And if you think unintegrated, economically excluded ethnic enclaves are good, visit a french banlieue. That's immigration and multiculturalism done very badly. As a bonus, I'd also remind you the old Irish, Italian and Jewish enclaves of the early 20th century weren't without strife.

Macleans.ca : "Just Visiting"? Not on CBC's watch

Fri, 5 Jun 2009 07:25:40 +0000

Is it e) All of the above?

Macleans.ca : "Just Visiting"? Not on CBC's watch

Fri, 5 Jun 2009 05:56:42 +0000

I totally agree. And make sure that criticism applies itself to past Liberal and NDP ads. In my dreamland, the parties would actually present, i dunno, policy ideas during elections. And while I'm dreaming...

Macleans.ca : Canada's smartest cities

Fri, 5 Jun 2009 05:43:49 +0000

I like this index as a measurement of national success. GDP, the dominant indicator of national health, can often be very limited, so this helps make a better picture of how the country is actually doing. For an interesting additional perspective on this, combine this with Richard Florida's Creative Class theory, where vibrant, cultural cities attract the mobile, educated and dynamic professionals and stimulate economic growth around it. If that holds, Calgary could be building itself a good base for a new diversified economy. Interesting.