Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[aquapaloosa]

Bill Good:
http://flickmail.ca/dave/audio/20120516-cknw-vivian.mp3

Letter to the Editor: Globe and Mail
Senator Nicole C. Eaton, May 16, 2012
Re: “Tory rhetoric creates chilly climate for free speech” (May 15, 2012) and “Wildly uncharitable allegations” (May 7, 2012)
For the second time in a week, your newspaper has misrepresented the intent of my Senate Inquiry into the interference of foreign foundations in Canada’s domestic affairs and their abuse of Canada’s existing Revenue Canada charitable status.
http://nicoleeaton.sencanada.ca/en/p102961/

Senator Duffy: are well-meaning Canadians serving American interests?
City Caucus, Mike Klassen May 15, 2012
Senate inquiry hears "why are US billionaires so keen to 'save' Canada?"
It's an idea that wouldn't be out of place in a university textbook on international relations, or better yet, a spy novel. Are environmentalists who love Canada and who love the green Earth unwitting agents in service of American national interests?
http://citycaucus.com/2012/05/senator-duffy-are-well-meaning-canadians-serving-american-interests/

[Sandy]

whatever the view, for or agin, only a fool would see those views from pro industry and media as cut and dried.

 It cannot be defined by a pen stroke or national boundary. Yes perhaps there is some foreign intrests working within the advocacy groups, but I feel that they are more than outweighed by those of the pro industry side. Where do you decide what is what, who polices it and above all who will pay for the policing?
 If big corp is pushing Harper Inc. to ban foreign donations to pro- environment then perhaps we should be able to review what is spent by industry on their self interest campaigns after all they claim it as an business expence and right it off as a tax credit. ( Tax accountants feel free to correct me, or explain the process) In short they give to their campaigns instead of paying their taxes. Transparency is a two way street or should be!

[chris gadsden]

 Yes Sandy. Of course things like this upset the general public and sends governments down to defeat at the polls, past history shows that in Canada.

The next example of this will be the BC Liberals for their lack of transparency and for many other reasons we all know about.

[aquapaloosa]

whatever the view, for or agin, only a fool would see those views from pro industry and media as cut and dried.

It's obviously a complex issue.  The funds that industry spends on PR may be significant but it is important to realize that it is often spent to defend themselves against massive campaigns whose intentions are questionable.  It doesn't matter what you do or who you are, if someone attacks your bakery or corn farm, for example, you defend yourself.  Don't you?
I do not think there would ever be an out right ban on foreign funding as such but, I do think that some groups risk loosing there status as charitable and have to pay tax on "donations".  This probably will never happen but if it serves as food for thought for "charities" so be it.  Its just like insurance.  A small group of individuals ruins it for everybody else.
It just doesn't seem right for a Canadian "charity" to receive funds titled "de-marketing BC salmon farms".

[troutbreath]

"The funds that industry spends on PR may be significant but it is important to realize that it is often spent to defend themselves against massive campaigns whose intentions are questionable. "


Of course assuming there is nothing harmfull about farming salmon.

[chris gadsden]

I was not making any reference to FF above as out of that debate. Always other issues to debate, is it not nearly flossing time?

[Sandy]

Yes Sandy. Of course things like this upset the general public and sends governments down to defeat at the polls, past history shows that in Canada.

The next example of this will be the BC Liberals for their lack of transparency and for many other reasons we all know about.

I doubt very much that we have ever had such a bombastic governments in Canadian history. Nothing good comes from this style maggie-bush wannabees

[alwaysfishn]

I doubt very much that we have ever had such a bombastic governments in Canadian history. Nothing good comes from this style maggie-bush wannabees

Interesting to note, that in spite of the "bombastic governments" Canada apparently has, our economy is rated in the top 5 economies in the world, our dollar is strong and our markets are attracting foreign investment.

Hard to believe that is pure coincidence.....

[absolon]

Rated, no doubt, by the same agencies that provide the philosophical underpinnings of the economic fallacy that is hobbling consumer demand by decreasing wages and transferring of tax burden from the corporate sector to consumers, transferring ownership of public assets to the corporate private sector as well as gutting social policies that brought some equality of opportunity to society and that took decades to put in place. These would be the same people that suggest that you build an economy by increasing supply rather than building demand, that the financial sector doesn't need regulation even if JP Morgan is repeating exactly the same actions that caused the recent financial meltdown, that when the corporate sector loses on enormously foolish and shortsighted gambles, the losses should be socialized even if the gains they might make when they win must remain private. These are the people that are attempting to grant moral license to greed and their rating of our economy needs to be seen in that light. It is a reflection of how close we are coming to their specific ideals.

The dollar is strong only because the US dollar has dropped so dramatically as a consequence of their crisis of economics and leadership and the net effect is to reverse our positive balance of trade in goods, make Canadian products more expensive to the world and therefore less exportable and consequently Canadian production less viable. All this leads to our increasing dependence on primary resource extraction and more export of those products in a less processed condition leaving us as a second tier nation of hewers of wood and drawers of water with no fallback strategy when those resources run out.

That increasing investment is going to the resource extraction sector so not only are we stuck on that second tier, the financial benefits from that extraction are being sent out of the country to the foreign investors. Nobody is investing in technological development or any other sector that would allow us to move into secondary and tertiary processing or intellectual endeavours or any other area that would break our dependence on the requirement to sell our birthright as fast as we possibly can in order that we can keep up our bloated, greed based and wasteful lifestyles.

[Sandy]

alwaysfishn,
        I would reply only to say that absalons post more than covers what I would or could have written. I'd hope folks read and reread his post as it cuts to the quick in that we are going to end being tenants in our own country, relying on scraps thrown out to keep us happier if we do not take ownership again. We are allowing infrastructure to be dismantled and shipped offshore. It seems that there is no thought into that we will continue to use products made from much of those raw goods and are then re-buy our own raw products from offshore reincarnated as user goods, when much of the goods/products can be made here. ? makes no sense. Yes environmental conditions and hopefully constraints affects industries pocket book, but perhaps it might force industry to better invest in the sciences, innovation and training of our future industrialists. We can make it work......safely!

back to charities, Industry wants an open world economy without constraint , yet It bitches and whines about an open world enviro/advocacy movement??

[Bassonator]

alwaysfishn,
        I would reply only to say that absalons post more than covers what I would or could have written. I'd hope folks read and reread his post as it cuts to the quick in that we are going to end being tenants in our own country, relying on scraps thrown out to keep us happier if we do not take ownership again. We are allowing infrastructure to be dismantled and shipped offshore. It seems that there is no thought into that we will continue to use products made from much of those raw goods and are then re-buy our own raw products from offshore reincarnated as user goods, when much of the goods/products can be made here. ? makes no sense. Yes environmental conditions and hopefully constraints affects industries pocket book, but perhaps it might force industry to better invest in the sciences, innovation and training of our future industrialists. We can make it work......safely!

back to charities, Industry wants an open world economy without constraint , yet It bitches and whines about an open world enviro/advocacy movement??

X2

[Novabonker]

alwaysfishn,
        I would reply only to say that absalons post more than covers what I would or could have written. I'd hope folks read and reread his post as it cuts to the quick in that we are going to end being tenants in our own country, relying on scraps thrown out to keep us happier if we do not take ownership again. We are allowing infrastructure to be dismantled and shipped offshore. It seems that there is no thought into that we will continue to use products made from much of those raw goods and are then re-buy our own raw products from offshore reincarnated as user goods, when much of the goods/products can be made here. ? makes no sense. Yes environmental conditions and hopefully constraints affects industries pocket book, but perhaps it might force industry to better invest in the sciences, innovation and training of our future industrialists. We can make it work......safely!

back to charities, Industry wants an open world economy without constraint , yet It bitches and whines about an open world enviro/advocacy movement??

X3

[Riverman]

X4

[Novabonker]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8E_zMLCRNg

[gilbey]

Absolon well said,,, X5