The Black Rod

A thinking mans blog with content- food for thought reading. particularly interested in the comments and insights on the water park whitewash Q-J
The Black Rod: "First Casualty of the Election
The election hasn't been called yet, already it's claimed the first casualty."

Osprey Media Group Inc. - Brantford ExpositorSmoke shop owners vow to prevent raids

Osprey Media Group Inc. - Brantford Expositor: "What would happen in Brantford if the police were called for help and they said no?� asked one man. "

News | canada.com network What a way to run a country - chaos continues -who is running the show?

News | canada.com network: "'I understand the criticism, and not everybody's going to like what we're doing; that's life, that's why we have a democracy,' he said.
'I couldn't sleep at night if I knew that I had the chance to help some people get off the street and I didn't take it because I wanted the political advantage.' "

Winnipeg Sun: NEWS - Police violated laws, privacy ruling shows

Winnipeg Sun: NEWS - Police violated laws, privacy ruling shows

News | canada.com network It is time to let the citizens decide

News | canada.com network: "It is the most disgraceful thing I've seen in all my years on Parliament Hill,' Harper fumed.
'I will be asking our caucus to put this government out of its misery at the earliest possible opportunity.' "

National Post Martin's sellout Desperation to buy a 10 month election campaign

Liberals sell out their financial principles -what next? PR
National Post

Sympatico / MSN : News : CTV.ca Are there double standards ? Is no one accountable to the public?

Sympatico / MSN : News : CTV.ca: "Gagliano says he's victim of PM double standard
CTV.ca News Staff
Alfonso Gagliano says he's been unfairly singled out for blame in the sponsorship program, and believes the prime minister is a hypocrite for judging him so swiftly."

CANOE -- CNEWS - Law: Samson Cree lawsuit costs more than $45 million so far

Another example of public waste

CANOE -- CNEWS - Law: Samson Cree lawsuit costs more than $45 million so far: "OTTAWA (CP) - The federal government has spent more than $45 million on a mammoth legal fight against two Alberta native bands that could drag on for another decade. "

Winnipeg Sun: NEWS - Taxes lost in space

Six million a year of taxpayers money for an empty building? These people are hypocrites and mismanagers of our public trust money . They have got to go. PR
Winnipeg Sun: NEWS - Taxes lost in space: "A Conservative MP is demanding answers on why taxpayers picked up a $500,000-a-month tab for a federal building that sat empty for almost a year. Nepean-Carleton MP Pierre Poilievre is holding a news conference today to press the Liberal government to provide a detailed financial accounting for rent payments on the vacant building owned by the company of Liberal Senator Paul Massicotte. "

National Post Private Healtncare business booming

National Post: "Patients fed up with long waiting lists in Canada are fuelling a fast-growing demand for brokerages that arrange speedy service in the United States as well as in Quebec's burgeoning for-profit medical industry."

World's Worst Pick-up Lines - FLOWGO.com

World's Worst Pick-up Lines - FLOWGO.com

Sympatico/MSN News - CBC.ca Why does gov't administration cost 97% of budget?

More pork barrel - PR
Sympatico/MSN News - CBC.ca: "Jim Prentice, an Alberta Conservative MP, says he asked the government for details and what he found out was 'staggering.'
'Ninety-seven per cent of the money is making its way through, to the process. And only three per cent of the money is making its way through to the victims. And that's completely unacceptable.' "

Winnipeg Sun Editorial: 'Only when I say so'

Winnipeg Sun Editorial: 'Only when I say so': "Let's hope, then, that Conservative Leader Stephen Harper keeps hammering on the point he made last night in his rebuttal: How can Canadians believe that Martin, who was the finance minister and No. 2 man in Jean Chretien's government when the sponsorship scandal was happening, didn't know any of this was going on? And how can Canadians possibly trust him to clean up the criminal corruption in the Liberal party when he's spent his entire life engaged in Liberal politics"

You can have an election when I say so

A liberal not national crisis -How can Canadians believe that Martin, who was the finance minister and No. 2 man in Jean Chretien's government when the sponsorship scandal was happening, didn't know any of this was going on? And how can Canadians possibly trust him to clean up the criminal corruption in the Liberal party when he's spent his entire life engaged in Liberal politics

HamiltonSmoking ban will close farms: farmers

Where are the priorities? Do we not have other issues that could use our attention- a health care system that is falling apart, a justice system with over 2 years waiting time, a government with a 9 billion dollar deficit to name a few. Why hit depressed farmers and further encourage foreign tobacco products? Where is the logic in this?

Hamilton: "There's never been before a more pressing or health-related need ...for government to actually help farmers protect the Canadian marketplace from foreign threat,' said Luc Martial, a consultant with the Tobacco Farmers In Crisis, a non-profit organization which represents Canadian tobacco farmers. "

Pope Benedict's Vexed Inheritance

Pope Benedict's Vexed Inheritance: "Still, Benedict XVI could surprise the many skeptics. Now that he has finally become Pope at age 78, he could use his authority to push for solutions to some of the Church's most pressing issues. 'If he tackled them, he could do so with great credibility because he has such conservative credentials,' argues Groome. He draws an analogy to cold war hardliner Richard Nixon being able to open the door to China as President, precisely because no one could accuse him of being soft on communism. "

2002 Report of the Auditor General of Canada - April - Chapter 2 - Canada Customs and Revenue Agency - Tax Administration: Write-Offs and Forgiveness

2002 Report of the Auditor General of Canada - April - Chapter 2 - Canada Customs and Revenue Agency - Tax Administration: Write-Offs and Forgiveness: ".9 Under legislation, the CCRA does not start a legal action to collect income taxes owed until 90 days after it dates and sends a notice of assessment or reassessment. It will also hold off action to collect taxes that the taxpayer is contesting through the Agency's internal appeal process or through the Tax Court of Canada (except for large corporations, which are required in the interim to pay 50 percent of the tax amount in dispute). These restrictions on the Agency's ability to start collection proceedings do not apply to amounts that the taxpayer is considered to be holding in trust, such as employee deductions and GST collected. "

Sympatico/MSN News - CBC.ca This is not the way democracy works

Not allowing our elected public representatives to speak - indicates that the fall of the Liberal empire is imminent, -more chaos ,more public bribes , more roman circuses, all symptons of a group of people who are out of touch with public reality. We need an election now to clear the air. PR -if we are still a real democracy in the old fashioned sense that is.
Sympatico/MSN News - CBC.ca: "Opposition Day is when opposition parties can introduce any motion they want, including a vote of non-confidence that might topple the government. "

2002 Report of the Auditor General of Canada - April - Chapter 2 - Case Study - Two cases of inconsistent treatment of taxpayers

CRA rules and procedures -There are accountability rules in place for Revenue Canada -why are they not being followed by those that are bound by their organization to do so. In reference to Adam the developer - rather then getting the 90 days to follow the required appeal procedure at Revenue Canada - he was given 11 days to respond .The notice of reassessment was dated December 7,2000 and criminal charges were laid Decemeber 18,2000. Once criminally charged all regular procedures and remediation options were closed to him. This does not seem fair and is a potential abuse of the governments own process- PR
2002 Report of the Auditor General of Canada - April - Chapter 2 - Case Study - Two cases of inconsistent treatment of taxpayers: "Two cases of inconsistent treatment of taxpayers
Case 1. A large service provider with locations across the country changed its payroll provider. The payroll provider set the frequency of payroll deduction remittances incorrectly, which delayed remittances to the Agency in many locations.
Requests to cancel the penalty for late remittances were sent to various tax services offices across Canada. Four requests were approved; two others have not yet been reviewed; and one was denied twice although it was known that four requests had been approved.
Case 2. A tax services office (TSO) approved the cancellation of penalties for late filing by a number of taxpayers because of their financial hardship. When the TSO sent the decisions to a taxation centre for processing, the centre disagreed with the decisions. It said the taxpayers could have avoided the penalties had they filed their returns on time without payment. The centre also noted that other TSOs were denying similar requests. "

2.9 Under legislation, the CCRA does not start a legal action to collect income taxes owed until 90 days after it dates and sends a notice of assessment or reassessment. It will also hold off action to collect taxes that the taxpayer is contesting through the Agency's internal appeal process or through the Tax Court of Canada (except for large corporations, which are required in the interim to pay 50 percent of the tax amount in dispute). These restrictions on the Agency's ability to start collection proceedings do not apply to amounts that the taxpayer is considered to be holding in trust, such as employee deductions and GST collected.

Winnipeg Sun Editorial: A pope for our times

Would it not be great -if we had a Canadian leader who could rule our country with the same conviction . The gomery inquest shows that we need one. PR
Winnipeg Sun Editorial: A pope for our times: "The message is simple: The Gospels contain 'absolutes' of moral conduct that are non-negotiable. Mere mortals cannot live up to those standards, but their Christian duty is to make the effort and to recognize when they fail. The concepts of sin, repentance and divine forgiveness are the very essence of the Christian faith.
As a German who lived through the Nazi and Communist eras, Cardinal Ratzinger saw the bitter fruits of systems that denied those absolutes in favour of 'sinless' ideals of humanity -- and undoubtedly that experience helped shape his commitment to hard-line doctrine.
He is tough. As the Vatican's doctrinal watchdog since 1981, he cracked down on the Marxist-influenced 'liberation theology' popular in Latin America, issued a strong denunciation of homosexuality and gay marriage, and rejected attempts by theologians to embrace eastern religions as part of God's plan for humanity. Last year, he denounced 'radical feminism' as an ideology that was anti-family, blurring the natural differences between the sexes. "

Sympatico / MSN : News : CTV.ca new conservative pope

Sympatico / MSN : News : CTV.ca: "Germany's Cardinal Ratzinger elected new pope
CTV.ca News Staff
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany is the new leader of the Roman Catholic Church -- elected after just four ballots. He will be known as Pope Benedict XVI."

Winnipeg Sun Editorial: The wrong thing to do

The election promises are starting -who will be bribed next -chuckle. PR
Winnipeg Sun Editorial: The wrong thing to do: "What do the Liberals plan to do about the 36,000 failed refugee claimants, some of them criminals and terrorists, that immigration officials ordered deported and then lost track of, as noted by Fraser in 2003? (One failed claimant, al-Qaida trained operative Ahmed Ressam, was caught trying to smuggle explosives from Canada into the U.S. in 1999 by a U.S. border guard.)
Finally, what do the Liberals plan to do about the fact that failed refugee claimants now have up to 20 avenues of appeal to delay or avoid deportation? If the Liberals don't want to talk about AdScam, let's talk about all that. "

Winnipeg Sun: NEWS - Defence spending slammed

No mission statement - is a poor excuse for waste of limited resources. PR
Winnipeg Sun: NEWS - Defence spending slammed

Matter to be finally decided in the Court of Appeals

Winnipeg Sun: NEWS - Hide-the-cigs law won't get the job done

We should first stamp out the "GM" epidemic which is truly dangerous to our collective health. GM is the intrusive "Government Meddling "disease that seems to be everywhere in epidemic proportions and very expensive but not impossible to contain. Just say no and tell them to mind there own business . As the adscam virus shows - bad government can be very dangerous to your health. PR.

Winnipeg Sun: NEWS - Hide-the-cigs law won't get the job done: "Hide-the-cigs law won't get the job done



By LAURIE MUSTARD"

Winnipeg Sun Editorial: Can we learn a lot from the "whore survey-"

More fun and games with our money . Maybe they are trying to learn something from the "pros" about product delivery and being discrete about it. Chuckle. PR

Winnipeg Sun Editorial: Ignore flawed survey: "And another thing ...
Maybe we can call it junketus interruptus. A Commons committee, mercifully, has come to its senses and given a red light to a proposed $200,000 tour of European and American brothels.
We're still perplexed as to what the group of five MPs hoped to learn on their jaunt through Sweden, the Netherlands, the U.K. and Nevada, and even more puzzled by the $43,500 they had set aside in their budget for miscellaneous items ... including 'fees.' "

Ethic Commissioner admits doing a poor job

So if you admit doing a poor job,can't do the job -why do you think you have the right to be there - protecting the publics' interest! In the normal working world -you would be fired for not doing your job! Oh sorry we forgot you "work for us" in the "government"-and have special rights of incompetence protection. PR
National Post: "Democracy Watch co-ordinator Duff Conacher has been critical of Mr. Shapiro for being a toothless watchdog who is soft on actively upholding the new ethics code for MPs. Mr. Conacher has repeatedly said he sees little difference between his conciliatory approach and that of his predecessor Howard Wilson, who was often called Jean Chretien's ethics lapdog by opposition MPs."

Osprey Media Group Inc. - Brantford Expositor Susan Gamble deserves the honour

An enlightened searcher of truth -open minded , fair ,conscientious , professional, Susan Gamble deserves our support. Her stories make a difference and are always credible . PR If you have a tip, real issue or concern contact her Osprey Media Group Inc. - Brantford Expositor: "Elder abuse story garners national nomination for Gamble "

Osprey Media Group Inc. - Brantford Expositor and it starts

Osprey Media Group Inc. - Brantford Expositor: "Federal riding associations gearing up for possible vote
Expositor Staff

By Michael-Allan Marion
Local News - Thursday, April 14, 2005 @ 01:00 "

What are they saying contest

Hamilton Oh good another broken promise by the Quinty man-just more of the same!

Hamilton: "Last fall, the province signed deals with producers of renewable energy, such as wind power, to generate nearly 400 megawatts of clean power by 2007.
Signing deals with private operators only means Ontarians will be paying at least 20 per cent more for electricity, said New Democrat Leader Howard Hampton.
Rates have gone up as much as 34 per cent since the Liberals came to office in 2003, Hampton claimed.
'How much more, premier, will hydro ratepayers in the province have to pay in order that the new private generating companies that you're so fond of will have money to be made in Ontario?'' Hampton asked in the legislature.
The Liberals pledged during the 2003 election to keep new generation in public, not private, hands, he argued. "

What you can do about Canadian Justice-standup and be counted

Going through the justice sound barrier
- Gomery, Milliken , Truscott have things in common

Speak up and be counted to recapture a system of justice that should be there by natural right. It is frightening to walk in to a Court of Justice in Canada today. By the luck of the draw -you might get a sympathetic judge -who wants to hear the facts, be fair and will listen despite the myriad of rules and the convoluted and rigid procedure that your opposition thrives on and that you are not conversant with. Have faith-These strong and exemplary people are the "Natural or common law judges” who are still interested in the truth, honour and the integrity of the justice system. They are willing to pierce the shield of "system rules, legal jargon, maneuvering and procedures" to make a just ruling. They are rare but fortunately still there for you-as Justice Gomery of ”adscam fame” attests.

Courts can be intimidating. Many people have faced the challenge of injustice, ineptitude and being wronged. Very few citizens have the courage to speak in the current court or blood sport arena of today, or have the will to be pillared or ridiculed for their truly felt beliefs. Those that speak without a lawyer as an intermediary or interpreter have to be truly confident in themselves, their facts and have the fortitude of their convictions.

Good people have lead the way.Many people have been jailed - rightly according to the prevailing law- wrongly according to natural or fundamental law. The late Pope Paul was jailed by a now defunct and morally bankrupt regime in Poland. He handled the challenge and encouraged everyone with the words “Have no fear". By implication he meant speak up and challenge obvious wrongs. Gandhi and Mandela were also criminals according to the prevailing authorities of the time. They ended up “rehabilitating " their nations based on their true convictions and changing the law of the land to be more reflective of the concept of natural justice, or normal human decency or behavior for that matter.

Don't be afraid - is easy to say but hard to do when faced with the overwhelming odds. Have courage against the odds.The odds include the whole system of prevailing highly paid ,mostly low delivery, often marginally talented government whores feeding in the public trough –“a adscam type trough that you built for them “ - by not standing up to them in the first place. Our court system is often overpopulated by arrogant malfeasance, frivolous inadvertence with a who cares "non- officially induced error" attitude as the common thread, plus the dubious advantage and ability to escape scrutiny, be immune from or above reality by not being held accountable for their actions or misadventures. Unfortunately, that is the reality or appears to be the rule or chaos prevalent in our courts of today.

Don't be afraid, but fight and stand the line of your principles, stare down those paid favorite chosen few and get a true and full accounting -make them at least work for their marginal and sand bagged victory(s). Remember intelligence, true facts and the courage of your convictions can still carry the day against any bully-either big or small.- if natural justice or rights are permitted. Anyone has the right to break the justice sound barrier if they have the courage and will to do it. S. H

More free public money given- Gomery inquery

Sympatico/MSN News - CBC.ca

The media elite’s grip on the news is almost over

This is a provocative view of a pending consumer utopia of choice. Imagine -You the individual have the choice, have the power to be heard, have the power to speak. The democratization of thought - by breaking the push media monopoly to a pull market where you control what information or product/service you want . The blog pull niche versus the conventional push media mass marketers is very appealing and liberating to " do your own thing in your own space". Obviously this is a frightening not liberating prospect for the existing entrenched thought gatekeepers who will lose control , resist but die if they can not compete for your attention or deliver your interest.

Individual empowerment is nere- great. Bloggers -Give the old gatekeepers’ with their stifling agendas to thought, innovation and creativity a competitive run for their money. Chuckle –PR Making a proactive difference


Aims Article a must read:
The media elite’s grip on the news is almost over.

And A few decades ago it was media elites and others on the left who hounded presidents out of office. They set the agenda for news coverage and stories. Today it is media bloggers on the populist right who hound the Dan Rathers of this world into retirement – not just because they disagree with him, but because the old media elites are now themselves held accountable.

In a column in the Chronicle-Herald and the Times-Transcript, AIMS president Brian Lee Crowley suggests the old media elite grip on the news is almost over. Read about how technology and consumer power are changing the media world forever, and how far Canadian public policy has to go to catch up.

Local News Source: GetLocalNews.com Home Page

Local News Source: GetLocalNews.com Home Page: "GetLocalNews.com
AFreePress.com
The power of the press in your hands
AFreePress.com and GetLocalNews.com make publishing a two-way street, bringing you a network of over 43,000 city and topical news web sites where you read what others write, add your comments, publish your own words and photos, or become publisher of your own online community. Now you can even get paid for every article you write. "

You kill my kid it is totally fine

Sympatico / MSN : News : CTV.ca: "'Dancing mom' gets 3 years for daughter's death
CTV.ca News Staff
A Toronto father pronounced himself 'sick' after the salsa-dancing mother of his toddler daughter was given a three-year sentence in connection with the child's death by abandonment.
'I'm sick to my stomach,' Mark Yetman told reporters outside a Toronto courthouse on Monday. 'You go out and beat up a guy on the street corner, you get five or 10 years. You kill my kid, it's totally fine.'"

Sympatico / MSN : News : CTV.ca The reckoning is coming

Sympatico / MSN : News : CTV.ca: "Liberal popular support at 16-year low: poll
CTV.ca News Staff
The Liberal Party has plunged to the lowest level of support from Canadians in the past 16 years, a new poll has found, putting Prime Minister Paul Martin's minority government in serious jeopardy."

Winnipeg Sun: NEWS - The stench of scandal

Winnipeg Sun: NEWS - The stench of scandal: "The stench of scandal

Damage feared to democracy by members from all parties

By CP"

Always assesing the issues -how can you lose 80 toxic cows/?

News | canada.com network: "In the 1980s, Canada imported 191 cows from the United Kingdom. In 1993, one was found to have mad cow disease. Despite a federal monitoring program, the government lost track of 80 of the animals, which entered the food chain.
'It is in all likelihood, if not a certainty, the source of the contamination of the Alberta cow,' said Gareau.
A spokeswoman for Agriculture Minister Andy Mitchell said the government was not yet able to comment on the suits.
'We're not in a position to speculate until there has been an opportunity to review the full statement and assess the issues,' Elizabeth Whiting said from Ottawa. "

News | canada.com network

News | canada.com network: "Ad firms 'profiteers' in war on separatism
Brison: Intent was honourable despite poor execution, works minister says

Eric Beauchesne"

News | canada.com network Does Matin have the moral authrity to govern?

News | canada.com network

Sympatico / MSN : News : CTV.ca Canadians wake up - the adscam news !

Sympatico / MSN : News : CTV.ca: "Polls point to drop
An EKOS poll published today in the Toronto Star suggests that if an election were held today, only 25 per cent of respondents nationwide would vote for the Liberals. That is compared to 36.2 per cent for the Conservatives.
The poll also suggests that Liberal support has dropped in its stronghold province of Ontario, where the Conservatives now lead with 40 per cent. The Liberals have 33 per cent support"

Sympatico / MSN More citizen eyes makes for more accountabliity

Sympatico / MSN

Unreliable information from government agency

News | canada.com network: "Docs reveal trade figures unreliable

Dean Beeby
Canadian Press"

Winnipeg Sun: Editorial/Letters A turkey is a cooked turkey

Winnipeg Sun: Editorial/Letters

Winnipeg Sun Editorial: Martin no Mr. Clean

Winnipeg Sun Editorial: Martin no Mr. Clean: "Let's just savour this statement for a moment. It comes to us courtesy of Scott Reid, a senior communications official in the office of the prime minister of Canada a day after the most shocking allegations yet at an inquiry into the sponsorship scandal known simply as AdScam.
'Paul Martin is the wire brush that will scrub clean this stain on Canadian politics,' Reid said yesterday, apparently with a straight face. "

Winnipeg Sun: NEWS - Usual suspects have all the excuses

Cant get a job eh-interesting when lots of resources are available. PR
Winnipeg Sun: NEWS - Usual suspects have all the excuses: "Usual suspects have all the excuses



By TOM BRODBECK"

Macleans.ca | Top Stories | Politics | Liberals dejected as opponents anoint 'Adscam' worst Canadian scandal ever

Canada's watergate is truly disgusting and disappointing . It is time for the people to speak and throw the rascals out or in jail as is warrented , along with their overstaffed,over paid and "padded" not so civil public service. All our natural resounces , our collective intelligence is being abused and frittered away by these people who make the Mafia look like efficient and effective choir boys. This is no way to run a country . We are a country not a badly mismanaged soap opera or banana repulic for the chosen few. No more talk or excuses, enough is enough -lets just do it and get our country and integrity as a nation , back . PR
Macleans.ca | Top Stories | Politics | Liberals dejected as opponents anoint 'Adscam' worst Canadian scandal ever: "The stench and the rot of corruption is starting to leak out,' Conservative deputy leader Peter MacKay told Parliament.
'The Liberal government is involved in a criminal conspiracy of the like never seen in this country before.' "

Around The World In 80 Days: Corruption In The Great White North

Interesting site for those that wish to know how their money has been spent -the good , the bad and the ugly -follow the links in this voyage of discovery -PR

Around The World In 80 Days: Corruption In The Great White North: "Corruption In The Great White North
Update: Item 5 is the most recent post of evidence from Captain's Quarters. Item 6 is commentary and explanation as to why Captain Ed chose not to observe the publication ban. Item 7 is a translation into French of two pieces of testimony."

Winnipeg Sun Editorial: We've heard it before

A good summary of our low service anticipation for our government folk-PR
Winnipeg Sun Editorial: We've heard it before: "So when she now tells us that airport screeners are letting fake bombs and guns get through security and the Public Safety Department still doesn't know who would be in charge in a disaster, we nod and say: it figures. "

Hamilton The free services just keep getting better

Hamilton: "Hospitals to begin specializing"

Winnipeg Sun: NEWS - Seniors slam butt-ban plan

Insanity seems to run rampant in the civil service with their special agendas. whatever happened to individual rights . Why not draft a proposal which would permit the firing of any " civil " service intruder who comes up with these intrusive , time waisting and ill conceived "health " inniatitives. PR
Winnipeg Sun: NEWS - Seniors slam butt-ban plan: "Seniors slam butt-ban plan

Would forbid smoking in homes

By FRANK LANDRY, LEGISLATURE REPORTER"

Winnipeg Sun Editorial: Buck stops at Broadway

malfesance everywhere -when and where will it end -federally, provincially -groan . PR
Winnipeg Sun Editorial: Buck stops at Broadway: "Complaints and allegations have been swirling around this fund for at least a year. And as recently as December, board members were still allegedly violating their own rules and procedures for determining share price.
A responsible government would have, through its board representative, investigated the source of the complaints and ensured rules and procedures were being followed.
Instead, the Doer government did nothing, putting thousands of investors at risk of losing their retirement savings.
It's further proof that when it comes to finances, you can't trust an NDP government with your money.
It also raises alarm bells with us that many of the members on this board are some of the most powerful union bosses in the province who are inextricably linked to the NDP government.
They help elect the NDP and have significant influence on government policy. It makes us very nervous that these people are helping run the province."

National Post What a way to run a country -

Are we sure that nobody is above the Law? We will see PR
National Post: "In response, Mr. Martin repeated his claim that the Liberals are victims in the sponsorship scandal and accused the opposition parties of tarnishing the reputation of all party members. 'If there is an isolated group who did wrong, it will be punished,' he told the Commons. 'No one in this country is above the law.'"

Tax Attitude - Sympatico / MSN Finance Bad Tax attitude -says who?

Tax Attitude - Sympatico / MSN Finance

It’s pretty hard not to feel a twinge of sympathy for the folks at Canada Customs and Revenue. Doomed to spend their lives hounding friends, families and neighbors to pony up about half their annual earnings for the public purse, they're hardly the ones you'd seek out for light chat at a cocktail party or wedding.

And it's not just social avoidance that characterizes their lives: Given how much effort goes into avoiding their grasp (some people are even falsely claiming to be residents of Alberta to soften the bite), they continuously have to beef up their ranks (there are now about 7,000 tax auditors across Canada) to enforce the rules.

Competition Bureau says there's no collusion behind high gasoline prices

High taxes are acceptable?
News | canada.com network: "Thursday's report also found that before taxes, Canada's retail gasoline prices were lower than most industrialized countries in 2004, including the United States. "

Winnipeg Sun: NEWS - Harper blasts feds over Kazemi cover-up

It is about accountability - Canadians should not be abused without consequences PRWinnipeg Sun: NEWS - Harper blasts feds over Kazemi cover-up: "Harper blasts feds over Kazemi cover-up



By KATHLEEN HARRIS, Ottawa Bureau"

The dragon Slayer