The Town Hall Archives

smurfs · Guest

to Extraneous Interference: Can you put what ever u said into smaller words the only thing I could catch was the flag thing and I would rather wear an AMERICAN FLAG!!!! Very Happy

than eney other flag thank you , and you know what I dont care about what the people from Europe would do to me, as long as I have the nation I love not Canda but AMERICA!!!!!!!!!!
P.S. and I did catch what you wear saying about Canadians being peace lovers which is ture but you were making it sound as if we were, as Hussain discribed us as one big GANG. Im very mad at Canda and all of the rest of the nations that chickend out !!! if they helped us out, we my have gotten Hussain by now. And why do you have the Queen of England on your coins? I LOVE THE U.K., POLAND, AUSTRALIA, AND SPAIN Very Happy

Some of my friends are going to start to boycotting canadain goods now.Well lots of people in my school dont like canadians now, and for me I still dont know, probably I would still like them is because were there pay checks and im a little bit canadian like 1 % and you shouldent come to America and bragg that your a canadian or somthing very bad could happen to you, as a matter of fact you shouldent come here at all because some one may start to get the immpertin that your a canadian and who knows what could happen from there. Me and my family were considering going to canda but we were affraid that something bad would happen to us for example get batten-up. ( which I think it is very likally to happen)

extraneous interference · Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2003 9:30 pm Post subject: Re:

Gandolf:
I'm glad you have been doing some research on Canada and the Commonwealth, not too many americans take the time to learn about their northern neighbour (but I understand why that is...)

About Canadian socialism and health care, you are right. Canadian health care is pathetic and slow. But the government has been successful in making Canadians believe that we have free health care... a little short sighted eh? Taxes are quite a bit higher in Canada due to social programs like universal health care.

About the Commonwealth: I believe the commonwealth is a completely defunctional organization, as is obvious now with this war. Canada has been completely cut from Britain and the other Commonwealth nations. In regards to the Queen, it would spark a constitutional crisis in Canada if the Queen exercised any of her formal powers. The Monarch has had these powers since Confederation, but has never used them. Her representative in Canada, the Governor-General has used his power a couple of times, but not since the beginning of the last century. Today, the governor-general, by convention, follows the direction of the prime minister, no questions asked. The queen is our head of state and is on the back of our toonies and loonies, but she plays absolutely no role in Canadian politics and never could.

What Canada needs to change for the better is changes in our electoral system, perhaps incorporating a type of proportional representation for the House of Commons, or the Senate. It isn't good for a nation when one party is allowed to rule for decades at a time with unquestioned power. Loosening party discipline in the House of Commons would also be a step in the right direction.

Ferder- · Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2003 10:30 pm Post subject:

Hey Extraneous,
how did you find The Town Hall if you aren't into Odyssey
oh, and could you also chose a different avater. I've had this one since the board re-opened so it's kinda...uh...mine Smile

thanks

extraneous interference · Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2003 11:06 pm Post subject: re:

Ferder:

well, I stumbled upon the town hall while I was perusing the website of an old acquaintance and I was quite intrigued when I read some of the political discussions that had already taken place in the forum. while i'm getting the idea that I am in the vast minority of members here because of my lack of knowledge of anything to do with AIO, I would like to at least stick around while some political discussion exists.

and about your avatar, seniority rules. you can have it back. anybody not satisfied with my current avatar? otherwise I'll just go without...

Coralfish · Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2003 11:10 pm Post subject:

As long as Jared is around, I believe that it is safe to say that there will always be some political discussion. Wink

-Mellow boy · Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2003 11:18 pm Post subject:

Hi! I'm Mellow! (but I guess you already read my name at the top of the message Wink

). BTW I think your avater is a photo of Nathan Hoobler (one of the writers for AIO). He doesn't post here that often, so unless he minds you can probably keep it.
Some time you should listen to a few eps of Odyssey. You should listen to more then one though 'cause every once in a while a not-so-great episode is made. The thing about Odyssey is you really notice when they play a "bad" one becuase it happens so infrequently. If you know absulutly nothing about the show here are a few links to get you started. The guy I mentioned, Nathan Hoobler, has a sight at www.aiohq.com
a few people here have a site to.
at www.odysseyscoop.com there are a bunch of links

Gandalf · Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2003 8:50 am Post subject:

extraneous interference, just for future reference, my name is Gandalf, not Gandolf. Kind of looks like Adolf so I don't care for that spelling. Smile

Would it really spark a huge crisis if the Queen did excersise some of her power? That's a little sad, like I said ealier, she seems to be pretty stable and moral person and she certainly couldn't hurt Canadian politics any. Personally, I think the form of government under Queen Elizabeth I was probably realy close to as good as it's gonna get here on earth. Possibly she should have had a little more acountability to Parlament but it just seemed to work.

Just a side note, if you know, Did King Edward have any real power or was Queen Victoria the last monarch to actually be able to do anything?

extraneous interference · Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2003 9:16 am Post subject: re:

sorry about my spelling Gandalf...

I believe that Queen Victoria was the last monarch to use any power.

Yes, it would spark a huge crisis in canada if the Queen, or her representative, were to exercise any power. The last time the governor-general exercised power was before World War II and is remembered today as the King-Byng Thing. (Mackenzie King was PM and Lord Byng was our governor-general. for any hockey fans, his wife started the tradition of awarding the most gentleman-like player with a trophy, now known as the Lady Byng trophy.) It is a complex story so i won't explain it, but it still sparks debate today on whether or not Lord Byng had any right to deny the request of Mackenzie King.

extraneous interference · Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2003 9:25 am Post subject: an attempt at sovereignty

Earlier I said that perhaps Canada's refusal to join the war is to show the world that we are a sovereign nation and that our foreign policy will not be decided for us in Washington. Looks like my insight was not unfounded...

Quote -- "Of course [U.S. ambassador Paul Cellucci] is disappointed. We're all disappointed somewhat that we could not agree," Chretien said. "But being an independent and sovereign nation, sometimes we disagree and remain good friends." (hamilton spectator, March 26)

Jared · Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2003 9:47 am Post subject:

Well, if that's the reason, it's a dumb reason to not oppose a dictator.

I think he was more saying that they were excersizing their sovereignty by refusing to go to war, not refusing to go to war because they wanted to excersize their sovereignty.

Still, the fact that he even had to say it is interesting.

And speaking of the U.S. ambassador, Cellucci had some strong words the other day, didn't he? I read them yesterday and when you mentioned him, I looked up the article I read again...

"There is no security threat to Canada that the United States would not be ready, willing and able to help with. There would be no debate. There would be no hesitation. We would be there for Canada, part of our family. And that is why so many in the United States are disappointed and upset that Canada is not fully supporting us now."

And while this part was paraphrased, not quoted, the article said that Cellucci talked about "a growing perception among Americans that Canada, like France, is a source of knee-jerk objection to U.S. foreign policy."

Hmm... interesting...

(I like an ambassador willing to say the truth instead of always looking to be so wonderfully diplomatic!)