Tracker

10 Reasons to Vote for Anyone but Harper 1. Bill C51. In my mind this is the biggest reason to not vote for Harper, or anyone who supports this bill. Experts representing indigenous people, human rights and civil liberties groups, Muslim Canadians, environmental organizations, the legal community, the country's privacy watchdog, immigrants and refugees, the labour movement, former judges and politicians and others have spoken out against C51. There have been country-wide protests, petitions and pending lawsuits. This bill stands to strip our rights and freedoms away while blindly handing control over to our government and other sectors who are not required to report to ANYONE! In fact under certain parts of this bill I could be legally detained just for writing this article. 2. The economy and job growth. If you watched the Maclean's debate you would have heard Harper say he has the best economic and job growth record of any other country, ignoring the fact we are the only G7 country in a recession and that he actually has the worst economic record of any prime minister since the Second World War and has the worst job creation record of any prime minister since then. 3. Veteran affairs. Harper claims that his government is spending an additional $5 billion on veteran's since taking office. When the fact is he has closed numerous Veteran Affairs' offices, cut staff positions for veteran affairs and spent $700,000 fighting AGAINST veterans in court. 4. Income splitting and Universal Child Care Benefit. Now this has been used quite regularly by Harper when he wants to use an example of good things he has done for Canadian families. The truth is income splitting only benefits 15 per cent of already well off Canadians and does nothing for average and low income families who really need to help. Also cutting the child tax CREDIT and replacing it with a lower TAXABLE Child care benefit will cost families more money in the long run. Most people feel the lump sum cheque was nothing more then an attempt to buy votes and I tend to agree. 5. Seven consecutive deficits. Before Harper took leadership there were nine consecutive years of budgetary surpluses. During that time Ottawa was able to accumulate a surplus of over $79 billion. In contrast Harper's first eight years as prime minister produced seven consecutive deficits that have added up to $127 billion. 6. Muzzling of government scientists. Harper's control issues rear their ugly head when it comes to our scientists. Even after making important discoveries they must endure a painfully long process to just be able to talk about their discoveries and more often than not they are held up by red tape. Meanwhile some of them choose to travel to other countries to share findings and are met with applause and media attention. This is both a dangerous and completely unnecessary game that Harper continues to play. 7. Charity attacks. Harper's government spent a whopping $13.4 million fighting charities through the CRA. Just a few weeks ago Canadian charities received support from the U.N.. "These audits have resulted in mounting fear of losing charitable status, and therefore necessary funding sources, across the entire charitable sector. Human rights in Canada are under assault, and the U.N. Human Rights Committee noted that today," said Canada Without Poverty president Harriett MacLachlan. 8. First Nations. Harper shows little regard for issues facing our First Nations. "It isn't really high on our radar, to be honest," is what he said when asked about the possibility of a public inquiry into missing aboriginal women. Harper and his aboriginal affairs minister both declined the invitation to speak at the summer gathering of the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) last month. Not surprising considering his track record of overall avoiding any kind of conversation surrounding first nation concerns. 9. Stripping of federal protection of our lakes and rivers. Thanks to Harper's new Navigation Protection Act, 99 per cent of our lakes and rivers now have no federal protection according to Council of Canadians chairperson Maude Barlow. Documents reveal that the Canadian Energy Pipeline Association were the ones who initially pushed for these changes and Harper, of course, obliged. 10. Above the law. Harper saw no problem destroying long gun registry records -- in the middle of an active access request -- then amended the law that would have made those actions illegal. His attack ads against the Liberals featuring ISIS appear to break the laws he set with Bill C51. He has so far ignored laws that require his government to come up with a plan for threatened or endangered species. He breaks protocol by showing soldiers faces in promotional videos for himself. And I have personally lost count of how many of Harper's allies and officials have landed themselves in court (Mike Duffy for example). This is a rather short list of the shortfalls of Harper and the disgrace he brings to our country and I urge everyone to fully research candidates and get out and VOTE. I think the newest campaign launched by our veterans says it best when they say ABC: Anyone but Conservative.

Too many people confuse being smart with money vs cheap. If you assume that your income is going to continue uninterrupted and even increase, then you have a justification to live beyond your means (AKA credit) and you have---Alberta with the highest personal debts and personal bankruptcy in the country. The advantage of not having a boom-and-bust economy is that it makes economic and civic planning a lot easier and the residents (us) tend to be a lot more careful about casual debt. We don't have the giddiness of what seems to be a limitless future but we have a government which is probably going to be there for us in times of crisis, as compared to the folks of High River and Canmore Alberta many of whom were hung out to dry after the flood.

I remember when I thought the whole "backup QB being the most popular guy in town" was some uniquely Winnipeg thing. Turns out it isn't, unless you're dealing with a guaranteed hall of famer, every football team in every city is just a quarterback change away from a dynasty! Just like the whole Winnipeg is the only "cheap" city in the world stigma. I fancy myself to be very smart with my money. I'm in the minority on that because I see waaay too many people spending beyond their means that are now tied down to an incredible amount of debt. Only in Winnipeg do people want bargain prices on merchandise.. I wonder how many people will get trampled on Black Friday this year? Statistically, in the US of A, on Black Friday, there are numerous fistfights, a firearm incident or two and a couple of deaths every year.

Garrett was great to end 2011 as well. 576 yards in 6 games for a 6.3 yard avg with 4 TD. Not to mention the 190+ yard performance in the East Final. Both Garrett and Simpson were great for one small segment of time and then completely dropped off. It takes a pretty well glued together small running back to survive the pounding if he is giving it his flat-out best every down. Charlie Roberts was the exception but it seems to be the 210 lb George Reed type who lasts long enough to be remembered.

Realistically, if the Bombers get a split with the Riders, it will mean the Blue are pretty much the same as last year, but losing both will mean there has been regression. If we cannot beat the Riders, we don't deserve to be in the playoffs- simple as that. We can be philosophical if Calgary beats us, but losing to the hapless Riders would be nothing less than a disaster and a probable end to O'Shea's era.

Apparently the BC fires and resulting smoke is causing all kinds of problems for residents in the interior of the province, and in Kelowna in particular. KBF- how are you faring?

I am dreading the upcoming games with the Riders. It is probably going to come down to who can coach up their rookie QBs the best, and the consolation prize to the loser is likely to be a pink slip or a certainty of one.

Why not briong a six-pack of RB's or one for each remaining game? That otta do it.

Even so, the Rider confidence must be near bottom and if Ottawa gets an early lead, then holds off Rider desperate stabs at rallying, it should be easy for Ottawa.

Meh, who cares about apathy?

No surprise here. Ottawa's kicker was way below average last game and they were losing 10-15 yards every exchange of possession even when the yardage they were each gaining was equal. I still think we should have signed him and then hid him.

Willie sounds like he ought to be a threat in the CFL- big, fast, and a devastating downfield blocker. The Chargers and Ravens seem to have thought highly of him.

Seems better suited to tackle rather than guard.

As much as I wish you were wrong, I'm afraid you are correct. Taman may be safe for the moment but Chamblin's situation is far more precarious. Two back to back losses to the Bombers and he shouldn't bother going back to his office.

But how can you assess talent properly if the coaching is sub-par? I'm not saying that as a blanket indictment of the whole current regime, but its got to be difficult to figure out where one leaves off and the other begins.

Don't forget all the surprises you get in southern Alberta when you go for a walk after a snowfall and find hidden patches of glare ice where you can wipe out. Three years later and my knee still ihurts some days after such a fall. And it can make driving exciting, too.

Brohm may be a bigger issue than he appears to be. What kind of message does it send to a team that the former #2 quarterback is totally inept but the team cannot find anyone better to replace him? As far as using Simmons to replace Hurl for the next game, if Simmons can step in and instantly be better than Hurl, it would mean two things: that Hurl is horrible and Simmons is superhuman.

Pall's career is dead. Let it lie.

Winning a home Grey Cup buys you a lot of leeway. That's why I wouldn't be surprised if Taman is back next year. That's what I think will happen, but Chamblin's future is far less secure.

Time count violations, poor in-game decisions, not preparing the team properly, not making proper adjustments, not being creative, not properly addressing problem areas, playing guys that should sit, sitting guys that should play, sticking with poor personnel as coaches and players because they are your pals and/or you're too stubborn, etc, is going to cost you wins whether you have a group of talented players or not. A good coach can produce wins for a team by out-coaching the other team and preparing his team properly which includes things like discipline and focus. Then there are the intangibles like imparting heart, a never-say-die attitude and a strong will to win. I'm not seeing any of this from Mike O'Shea and his coaching staff. I do see it in varying degrees from other coaches in the league however. Well, I for one could not understand O'Shea's love affair with the MLB from Toronto who, though he hit hard, was slow, out of position on a lot of plays, and tried to make up for all that by hitting late. I remember that one game he had not one, not two, but THREE unnecessary roughing penalties. All were legit too, not one of those calls were borderline. And MOS still kept playing him and defended it after the game. Kuale was a joke but all coaches have those players. I guess the problem I have with people wanting O'Shea gone is that you may get the next Tim Burke or Jeff Reindolt in his place. O'Shea isn't perfect but he's learning and I'm sure he'll get better. Like it or not, we get a coach that's too good, then like the players, they won't be around long anyway. See Mike Riley and Mark Trestman. Dave Dickenson would be the only guy I'd consider but he's not leaving Calgary. He's going to be the next HC in Calgary. I would like to see evidence of O'Shea's learning, particularly with special teams and putting the best, not his most favourite players on the field. Like it or not, O'Shea's choice of assistant coaches has to be part of his evaluation for fitness as head coach, and the struggles of special teams, O-line and offence as a whole lays largely on his shoulders.

I'm betting (figuratively speaking) on a 4 and 14 season for the Riders.

As a counterpoint, there have been times when Willy still hangs onto the ball too long, but I would bet for every time that happens there are several times when the opposing defence pours in on top of him because the blockers have picked the wrong block or just flat-out whiffed. For those of us who have no coaching expereince, its darned hard to pick out if this is because of poor O-line communication, crappy technique, lack of talent or what. But something has to change and soon or we will be playing rotating QBs all season.

Popp and Wettenhall must be living in a fantasy world to blame Higgins for not having Calvillo leading the team on the field. Higgins is not superhuman and has made a few mistakes, but if Popp thinks this is going to salvage the season and go 12 and 6 or such, he's off his meds. 6 and 12 is far more likely, considering the lack of talent and/or experience behind center.

Good to hear that O'Shea is taking a personal interest in special teams. Patience is fine but sooner or later, you gotta get it done.

Haven't hear too many calls for O'Shea and Co. to be sacked mid-season but I hold to my view that he has to do a lot better than his record to date to keep his job. Its not just his record but the lack of progress in critical areas which have gone too long unaddressed.