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How is locking a thread always some peoples' default position? Sometimes it's best not to block opinions and just let people learn from each other. I am a pretty big fan of how civil the discussion has been on the 3 or 4 political topics so far. I think it is important to be able to have a debate about controversial topics because if everyone is afraid of differing opinions you'll never be exposed to new ideas.

You know what,I'll take a stand and say residential schools were a not terrible idea that was just handled really poorly. Should a just assimilated everyone from the start then there'd be a lot less problems with reserves Clearly, you're not too familiar with the stated aim of the Residential Schools either. Their primary purpose was to eradicate First Nations culture, to get rid of "indians" once and for all. Explain to me how that can ever be "not a terrible idea"?Because assimilation is not a bad thing. Could have had just a whole bunch of Canadians rather than the government protected racism that currently exists. Signing treaties hundreds of years ago was an easy solution at the time but they have long lasting negative effects that manifest themselves in this day and age Seems to me the best thing would be for people to stop being pieces of **** and treating people differently based on cultural background. Assimilation is just the people at the top saying "you should all be like me". It's like Nazi-ism lite. no assimilation isn't a one way street, it goes two ways. Stop separating people into different groups and we can just all be Canadian and treat everyone equally. Treaties however just make sure racism and different groups being treated differently continues to exist. You are trying to grossly oversimplify the situation. You can't say "just stop separating people into groups" when people naturally self-identify already. Furthermore, the treaties were a legal document. This wasn't a bill of sale for a used BBQ written on a napkin -- it was legal title to land we now live on, land that is now Canada. The government has a moral obligation as society built upon laws to uphold the treaties; or at least the spirit behind them. No I'm not over simplifying. This is how the problem gets solved. I know full well what the treaties that were signed were and what the intent was. The problem is that they are legal documents that are guaranteed by the constitution of this country, and that's a huge problem and the #1 reason why most of these problems exist. When they were signed it was seen as the easy solution, put the natives out of the way and throw them a few trinkets every now and then and let them live their traditional lifestyle. Problem is that in todays society it is a terrible solution and completely unworkable. The best solution IS to stop treating them differently and make them all Canadian and treat everyone equally. When you have such a skewed number of impoverished people on reserves it is safe to say that the system is broken, but where's the push to change a broken system? You even bring it up and you're labelled a racist. Too much blame gets thrown at the feet of the government of Canada and they're expected to fix it, but they can't fix it unilaterally, self determination and all that, so basically it's just "give us more money because residential schools! abuse! ugly history! white guilt!" It's those treaties that are holding things back. LOL Well that doesnt seem right. The natives are native to this land.... that about as Canadian as you can get. Do i have this right? The white man comes here and brings their traditions and pretty much just throws the natives and their traditions away and now you want to make them Canadian? Odd but alrighty then. You know that Canada embraces people from different cultural backgrounds right? And encourages them to maintain those traditions right? Every country everywhere has been conquered by someone. You can either sit around wishing it weren't so or just move on and live in the world as it exists today. There is room for everyone to be Canadian and still celebrate their history and traditions.

Shows just how watered down the Canadian OL talent pool is getting around the league. Well exactly.. If they couldn't stick here... The worst oline in almost the past decade.. It's sad to imagine they get looks (even tfc type ones) elsewhere.. Guess a body is a body for a Dlineman to tee off on.. When your problem was injury, not talent (like it is with both Swiston and Pencer) then you're going to get multiple looks at a high demand, low supply position. I think Swiston has a chance. Pencer is a write off as far as I'm concerned. I kind of got the impression that with Pencer it wasn't just the injuries, seems like he might have had a severe lack of give a damn as well. Swiston I'd agree that the injuries were the biggest culprit.

You know what,I'll take a stand and say residential schools were a not terrible idea that was just handled really poorly. Should a just assimilated everyone from the start then there'd be a lot less problems with reserves Clearly, you're not too familiar with the stated aim of the Residential Schools either. Their primary purpose was to eradicate First Nations culture, to get rid of "indians" once and for all. Explain to me how that can ever be "not a terrible idea"?Because assimilation is not a bad thing. Could have had just a whole bunch of Canadians rather than the government protected racism that currently exists. Signing treaties hundreds of years ago was an easy solution at the time but they have long lasting negative effects that manifest themselves in this day and age Seems to me the best thing would be for people to stop being pieces of **** and treating people differently based on cultural background. Assimilation is just the people at the top saying "you should all be like me". It's like Nazi-ism lite. no assimilation isn't a one way street, it goes two ways. Stop separating people into different groups and we can just all be Canadian and treat everyone equally. Treaties however just make sure racism and different groups being treated differently continues to exist. You are trying to grossly oversimplify the situation. You can't say "just stop separating people into groups" when people naturally self-identify already. Furthermore, the treaties were a legal document. This wasn't a bill of sale for a used BBQ written on a napkin -- it was legal title to land we now live on, land that is now Canada. The government has a moral obligation as society built upon laws to uphold the treaties; or at least the spirit behind them. No I'm not over simplifying. This is how the problem gets solved. I know full well what the treaties that were signed were and what the intent was. The problem is that they are legal documents that are guaranteed by the constitution of this country, and that's a huge problem and the #1 reason why most of these problems exist. When they were signed it was seen as the easy solution, put the natives out of the way and throw them a few trinkets every now and then and let them live their traditional lifestyle. Problem is that in todays society it is a terrible solution and completely unworkable. The best solution IS to stop treating them differently and make them all Canadian and treat everyone equally. When you have such a skewed number of impoverished people on reserves it is safe to say that the system is broken, but where's the push to change a broken system? You even bring it up and you're labelled a racist. Too much blame gets thrown at the feet of the government of Canada and they're expected to fix it, but they can't fix it unilaterally, self determination and all that, so basically it's just "give us more money because residential schools! abuse! ugly history! white guilt!" It's those treaties that are holding things back.

But this is how ER works. The most serious stuff gets looked at first and with a broken bone it's generally just a matter of dealing with the pain as opposed to anything being potentially life threatening. They will make people sit in pain if they're not likely to die on them while they prioritize people who might keel over if they have to wait.

This has me thinking... I'm curious to see whether the best OL get drafted first or if they're around later. If anyone is more bored than I am and could throw that information together it would be interesting to look at. I know there are some drafts where the best OL taken weren't the first guys taken. Would be neat to see just how accurate CFL teams are with their assessments.

You know what,I'll take a stand and say residential schools were a not terrible idea that was just handled really poorly. Should a just assimilated everyone from the start then there'd be a lot less problems with reserves Clearly, you're not too familiar with the stated aim of the Residential Schools either. Their primary purpose was to eradicate First Nations culture, to get rid of "indians" once and for all. Explain to me how that can ever be "not a terrible idea"?Because assimilation is not a bad thing. Could have had just a whole bunch of Canadians rather than the government protected racism that currently exists. Signing treaties hundreds of years ago was an easy solution at the time but they have long lasting negative effects that manifest themselves in this day and age Seems to me the best thing would be for people to stop being pieces of **** and treating people differently based on cultural background. Assimilation is just the people at the top saying "you should all be like me". It's like Nazi-ism lite. no assimilation isn't a one way street, it goes two ways. Stop separating people into different groups and we can just all be Canadian and treat everyone equally. Treaties however just make sure racism and different groups being treated differently continues to exist.

The thing that bothers me about carbon taxes is that they're paraded out as some type of pollution reducing save the planet plan when in reality they're just the government taking in more tax money. Taxing people for carbon doesn't help any of the pollution issues it's just a gimmick for the government to pretend to be doing something without actually addressing the issue.

You know what,I'll take a stand and say residential schools were a not terrible idea that was just handled really poorly. Should a just assimilated everyone from the start then there'd be a lot less problems with reserves Clearly, you're not too familiar with the stated aim of the Residential Schools either. Their primary purpose was to eradicate First Nations culture, to get rid of "indians" once and for all. Explain to me how that can ever be "not a terrible idea"?Because assimilation is not a bad thing. Could have had just a whole bunch of Canadians rather than the government protected racism that currently exists. Signing treaties hundreds of years ago was an easy solution at the time but they have long lasting negative effects that manifest themselves in this day and age Ah yes, assimilation. Not sure how you assimilate a people that were seen as inferior in virtually every way possible. Assimilation was never the goal, because no one of that day would have ever considered First Nations people as equals, no matter how much education they had. They would simply become "better behaved savages". That's not assimilation, it's something very different.But time washes away those attitudes. As it stands now racism is entrenched in the constitution rather than just being a social issue that could be fixed

You know what,I'll take a stand and say residential schools were a not terrible idea that was just handled really poorly. Should a just assimilated everyone from the start then there'd be a lot less problems with reserves Clearly, you're not too familiar with the stated aim of the Residential Schools either. Their primary purpose was to eradicate First Nations culture, to get rid of "indians" once and for all. Explain to me how that can ever be "not a terrible idea"?Because assimilation is not a bad thing. Could have had just a whole bunch of Canadians rather than the government protected racism that currently exists. Signing treaties hundreds of years ago was an easy solution at the time but they have long lasting negative effects that manifest themselves in this day and age

You know what,I'll take a stand and say residential schools were a not terrible idea that was just handled really poorly. Should a just assimilated everyone from the start then there'd be a lot less problems with reserves

I thought franchises had learnt by now that building rinks that size was stupid. That raised my eyebrows too. The 40,000 seat Stadium also raised my eyebrows. How much do the Stamps draw? I guess Calgary likely draws bigger events also. 40,000 permanent seats might make it expandable to 50,000+ for grey Cup which would be cool. Calgary is a big city though so maybe their market can support a 21,000 seat arena without suffering from too much supply versus demand. If you think about it, with 8000 people on the Jets wait list, assuming each person bought two tickets, we could have sold 29,000 season tickets (I realise some would be mini packs etc but some would also buy more than two). Calgary fans are pretty bandwagon. If the Flames are doing well they'll sell out, if they're not tickets will be easy to get. Lot of corporate ticket holders too. Calgary is a lot like Toronto in more respects than people care to admit. As for the Stamps I am really not sure what the deal there is. I think it's sort of a big league vs. minor league crappy attitude.

That's because Ontario and Quebec have kept the rest of the country under their heels for the entirety of our countries history and now that the tables are turning god damned rights it's payback time.

If the entire thing is privately funded (and no government has the stomach to spend on sports facilities in the current climate) then Calgary would be pretty stupid IMO to not give them the land. I am a big believer that top notch entertainment facilities are beneficial to a community. Whether they're money makers for the city or not I think it's a good thing for a city to have and well worth skipping the sale of some land.

You have to live here to understand why a PST just won't fly. Every other province has one but us. #redbadgeofcourage I love the Mercer clip for exactly this reason. It really captures the feelings of Alberta. I think everyone in the province knows that a provincial sales tax and a progressive tax rate rather than a flat tax would be good... but it's Alberta damn it! It's different out here, we don't need to tax people.

This city needs a new stadium more than they need a new arena but if they can roll them all together that might be the way to go. Not sure a stadium would get built otherwise.

LOL - I think you need to look in the mirror Mr. Dee. You seem to be a pretty big apologist for the NDP. That being said, I don't want to make any enemies with political talk here, as I did enough of that on OB, and it's easy to let your emotions get the best of you on this topic. I don't see how you can compare Alberta and Manitoba, extremely different situations and totally different economic factors governing each province. BC has some similarities to Manitoba in that we're stuck with an entrenched party that has won 4 elections and no matter how many dumb things they do, they keep winning too, because our NDP here is so weak and stupid that they couldn't win an election by acclamation. Normally I am ok with the NDP having no chance of winning as I think the NDP are awful and their ideologies are brain-dead, but in BC that has left us with an arrogant dictatorship. I don't know what you do with that, but it's not healthy for democracy. Just like in Alberta, I was hoping the Wild Rose would really shake up the Conservatives, and I think it did a bit, but not enough. Actually, I consider myself to be apolitical, and it's just that I have heard the same renderings over and over from different people about the same things. One party are the villains, while the other party knows what to do. Fill in the correct party into what I said as it suits your needs, or your personal opinion. The NDP, in Manitoba, are no worse or better than the Cons were in Mb, who were no better than the Liberals were in Federal politics who were no worse than the Cons. are now. It all boils down to timing, and what's going on around the Canadian economy at the time. Hey, if things are going well, the party in power is the way to go…until they're not. Next up, and the cycle repeats itself. You, yourself, have it in big time for the NDP, I don't. I don't have any political affiliation, it's just I don't like to hear the same old thing about the same old party, when really, when it comes right down to it….they're all the same…they're politicians. This I disagree with very much. No one is going to do anything too extreme, you won't get elected with extreme policies, but there are differences between the right and the left that should not be over looked. In particular when it comes to taxation which can impact economies.

LOL - I think you need to look in the mirror Mr. Dee. You seem to be a pretty big apologist for the NDP. That being said, I don't want to make any enemies with political talk here, as I did enough of that on OB, and it's easy to let your emotions get the best of you on this topic. I don't see how you can compare Alberta and Manitoba, extremely different situations and totally different economic factors governing each province. BC has some similarities to Manitoba in that we're stuck with an entrenched party that has won 4 elections and no matter how many dumb things they do, they keep winning too, because our NDP here is so weak and stupid that they couldn't win an election by acclamation. Normally I am ok with the NDP having no chance of winning as I think the NDP are awful and their ideologies are brain-dead, but in BC that has left us with an arrogant dictatorship. I don't know what you do with that, but it's not healthy for democracy. Just like in Alberta, I was hoping the Wild Rose would really shake up the Conservatives, and I think it did a bit, but not enough. The biggest shame is that there is no competition anymore. whether or not they won the Wildrose did put a bit of fear into the PCs. One party systems are not good for anyone and that is something MB and AB share. The opposition is just so inept there's no threat of not holding power. I think our system really needs 3 strong parties in order to function at it's best. With only 2 legitimate options there becomes very little to keep a party on it's toes.

Can you imagine the wailing that will come from Saskatchewan if he goes to Calgary and plays well? Oh that would be sweet music to the ears.

I spent a year in Estevan called July and August in 1990. That town makes Honey Boo-Boo look like Stephen Hawking. I got a buddy who just moved there... Tattoo artist, of all careers.. I have to assume hes pretty much braindead by this point.. Then he's probably joined a cowboy church and is ready to vote for Brad Wall. "cowboy church" ? do tell. Since many Albertans are Texas wannabees, they tend to follow US fads. The "Cowboy Church" started in Texas and church goers are expected to dress as cowpersons and speak in supposed cowperson idioms, and the sermons are delivered in the same vernacular. The church now has branches in Sask and Alberta. Cowboy Church services are EXTREMELY serious stuff....they're in MB, too. Has nothing to do with "Texas Wannabees", and everything to do with the Western way of life, which is very much alive, especially out here in the foothills. Likewise, Cowboy Poetry is a very big deal... I have a very difficult time seeing a church where people have to dress up in costumes and pretend to speak like they are living in 1870 Dodge City as "serious". I would have the same reaction if a church sprang up where everyone was required to dress as pirates with eyepatches and parrots and speak with phrases like "aye matey", "arr" and "shiver me timbers". Do you take any church service that seriously? What with all the traditions and the priests playing dress up with the robes and what not.

It just kills me that the kids today don't curl. Even people my age, a lot of them have never tried it. It's a great social game. But I guess with the intertubes and constantly being connected with the phones and what nots you don't need to go to the curling rink to be social with people.

well that would also correspond to the free guard zone coming in and some truly all time skips rising to prominence. Martin and Stoughton had been fixtures at the top for a long time, The Howards too I suppose you can add. Wayne Middaugh was good for a lot of those years too. So you get the game improving to the point where there's big shots and lots of rocks in play, TSN and their coverage you can see why it grew to that point. Now that there really has been a changing of the guard in terms of the teams I think it's natural to see a drop in interest. Especially when it seems there's less interest in participation in the game in general. I don't think it's entirely on the boomers, though it likely plays a role.

There is a fine line to balance between taxes and a social safety net. The bottom line is that I don't trust self serving politicians in this country enough to want them to take that much in taxes from me.

Wasn't that Kenton Thief? That's going back a little ways.

"plight" is the wrong word. They play their cards right this could be a real good thing for Alberta in the long run. Hasn't worked in the past. Albertans keep re-electing them, and the best way to ensure bad behaviour continues is to reward it. again you say bad behaviour, but is it really? Us Albertans have a real low tax rate. Why should "good" behaviour from a government include taxing it's population up the ass? I'll say it again, there is a lot of spending required because of the massive population boom, they've been spending that money on the backs of the resource boom rather than taxing the population as heavily. Now that the boom has died down they are looking at increasing the tax load on the population. That seems like a sensible thing. I think too many Manitobans have the Stockholm Syndrome having had so many tax tax tax NDP governments.