A rare spectacle. . . . . . .

[Snowtractor]

Originally posted by Geoff Winnington-Ball
This latest bit is appalling.

Terribly depressing, all this.

I agree with both of those statements. Though Alberta is going on to set up its 2 tier health system and has given the logging right for almost 50% of the Province to a Japanese company and has the fastest crime rate growth this past year, with Hell's angels moving in force etc etc.
I think it is the problem with cental governments and democratic systems (not that I know of a better system). It forces the government , in order to stay in power, to appease special interest groups. There was a report released sometime back that said one hundred thousand people was all it took to force the government to change legislation. So a tightly knit group can steer the government. This tightly knit group stuff tends to run more in immigrants, for a couple of generations, as longer term Canadians tend to be more independent in thought and actions.
I also think the longer in power the more complacent you become and the more you try to stay in power instead of doing the 'work'. The old adage "absolute power corrupts absolutely' and variations on that theme. We should limit all elected officials to a maximum time in any office ,total, so that new ideas and fresh blood are introduced without being pressured by carreer politicians who have heald once office or another for 40 years and have brought their cronies along for the ride. Maybe a total of 15 years including all elected time, like city alderman provincial and federal time combined.
My two cents on my soapbox by Sean