Boudrias

Arty Silovs could win a game on his own. He has dominated in high pressure games before. All of Latvia and BC is cheering for him. Oh ya, and my grand daughter from Calgary.

Do you think the Israelis took him out?

Boeser will be missed just as Demko is. That said the Canucks have enough players capable of stepping up and contributing. Canucks have enough players who can actually dominate a game. It is like Tocchet has repeatedly said it is all about wanting it enough to make a difference. Go Canucks!

I have no conviction that the Russian nuke threat is real. It has been their fallback position for decades. Would they risk nuclear war over Ukraine? Easy to speculate. What we know on the ground is that the Russian ground forces do not perform well against a well armed AFU. That said it has to be expected that they will improve their army. If Ukraine can be rearmed well enough to recapture Crimea where does that leave Russia strategically? Would they accept Donetsk and Luhansk and write off Crimea? Would losing Crimea destabilize the Putin government? Would Ukraine accept losing those 2 provinces. IMHO Ukraine realizes any settlement without recovering their full territory will likely be temperary as Putin rebuilds to strike another day. Whatever the settlement would Ukraine gain entry to the EU and NATO. How could they settle for anything less? Ukraine survives this Russian aggression and what do all the other Russian territories think? We are already seeing unrest and even insurrection out towards Georgia and on. I think it comes down to the fighting effectiveness of the AFU once they are resupplied. Will they be able to conduct an successful offensive this summer? It appears likely that Trump will return as POTUS. What will his attitude be? He represents a sizable portion of the American public who think Europe should be funding the war much more than they do. That said America and Europe are spending more on their munitions production. Europe is already assuming more of the costs. Does a successful outcome by Ukraine mean a regime change in Moscow?

Oilers were coming through the neutral zone with speed for most of the game. Canucks win Game #7. Tocchet dialed back the TOI nicely.

Not surprised to hear that story. I will tell you another. I was chatting with my Regional District Director about 3 months after his election. I asked how his indoctrination went? New directors are put through a course on how the Regional District is set up and operates. He smiled and said that the bureaucrats threw so much at him that he could not comprehend the scope of the work involved. He said it was a clear attempt to make him defer to the admin on most decision making.

I am a fiscal conservative and I agree with most of what you noted. If fiscal responsibility ever gains government influence everything has to be put on the table. That means many of the situations you describe will have to be cancelled. The federal government budget is in excess of $450 billion. It is the biggest cash cow in the country. It does not make any difference which political party is in power. Professionals good and bad descend on Ottawa to get their piece of the pie. This is repeated in every provincial capital.

I think or hope capital is invested when a business idea matures to the point of asking for funding from investors. A clear business plan details a timeline for development, dollars to be invested, the product to be produced, how it will be marketed and the demand for that production. I think you have over simplified the process. For example the tech industry. Labor is not inexpensive, resources are often intellectual. The timeline can extend for decades on research and development and success is more an oddity than a foregone conclusion. I don't see many plunderers or colonialists.

Again if tax breaks or incentives are not working then they should be adjusted or eliminated. They were brought in for a purpose. Sure Lobbyists might influence decision making but ultimately it is the politicians responsibility to ensure the public interest is maintained. If they don't they should be held to task, exposed and voted out. Workers are citizens and integral parts of companies. 60 Minutes just ran a program on companies in the USA who issued equity shares in their companies. They are called ESOPs. Employee Stock Ownership Plans. I am a big fan. It merges employee and management goal setting. Far greater employee decision making. All employees were given financial advice on personal finance and involvement in company goal setting. I don't know how well this is done in Canada.

Sam I still stand by my suggestion that the west has to issue a 'cease and desist' notice to the Russians. Get out of Ukraine by June 1st or NATO starts moving assets towards Ukraine. No Russian evacuation by June 15th then NATO starts moving assets inside Ukraine. No action by June 30th and NATO assets start engaging the Russians. Lots of open dialogue with the Russians as this timeline is implemented. The fact that this has not happened to date must make the Ukrainians question the motives of their allies.

My question would be why do the 'tax loopholes' exist in the first place? Usually tax breaks are used to encourage private investment. If they are not doing that job well enough then remove them from the tax code. I don't think citizens can condemn people or corporations for utilizing tax incentives. I would certainly agree with a better explanation by government on why they exist and a accurate measurement of the effectiveness. Perhaps another question to address is why capital is leaving Canada to the tune of + $100 billion a year? Been happening for decades. If it is to invest in American operations I would question the effectiveness of NAFTA. IMHO Canada has to have an industrial strategy that both the Liberals and CPC agree to pursue over multiple administrations. The Americans are far more consistent in their priorities than we are. On what basis do you determine gouging? Levi has jeans made in 3rd world countries and sell them for $100's in Canada. Is that gouging? People love to say the grocery stores are gouging us. There is no doubt that their pricing has gone up. What is the fair return for this industry? All are public companies and their profits are available to view. I won't buy their stock as their growth is poor and their ROI is poor, their dividends are not particularly good. Maybe the telcos are. They charge a lot. I was surprised that the Rogers purchase of Shaw was allowed. Bottom line was that Shaw was in financial trouble. Just reading the other day that Telus is investing $100's of billions into their infrastructure across the country. I think Corporations are gouging us requires more detail.

Come election time the politicians want grassroots to do signage and door to door. Our CPC candidate in the '90's used to do town halls and visited high schools and met groups for coffee. There was no way that he did not know what people were thinking. A key aspect was at nomination meetings. Early on we had a active riding association looking for a candidate. We had many opportunist who came forward. Good talkers but poor substance. The guy who had been active in the riding association for 2 1/2 years prior to the nomination shone through and won. I don't want the Party telling a riding association who the candidate should be. But this happens regularly with all parties now.

I have always said that the Canadian economy is a price taker unlike the Americans. Being a price taker can seriously hurt the standard of living. You suggested that government will continue to print money in an attempt to maintain the status quo. Printing money will lower the value of the Canadian $ and make imports more expensive. Since we import so much of our consumption it will hurt the consumer. It will, however, help exports which earn foreign dollars. If the CPC forms government they will have to cut spending. Look at the budget and make your choices. It appears that all parties are promising the electorate unreasonable cures for their struggles. The lack of financial education continues unabated with no/little attempt to change that. While I expect the Liberals/NDP to continue their unfinanced spending I expected more from the CPC. They have had 9 years explain the financial reality faced by Canadians. Frankly, they have done a poor job. Maybe we will see something different when they release their election platform.

I won't argue your numbers but my concern would be the impact on campaigning when parties fund media campaigns to influence voters. Grassroots are not important anymore. I was involved with the CPC up until the Harper 2nd term. At that point the messaging became top down and the constituency was not strong enough to fight it. Harper used his residual goodwill to narrowing the messaging to the PMO and cabinet. Media was using any outburst by a CPC member to hurt the party. It was incumbent of the CPC to develop an effective communication with members but they never did. To my knowledge the Liberals and NDP have done the same. Top down with limited grassroots input. I guess the surveys and polls are what pass as grassroots input. I don't like it no matter what party does it.

Even prior to the new American aid package the AFU have been attacking Crimea on a constant basis. Now with the aid in place they seem to be adding to it. It makes me wonder if the next offensive comes from the south, Kherson? If Ukraine could retake Crimea it would change the strategic positioning of Russia.

World economies have been fighting the deflationary trend resulting for demographics for some time. Few politicians ever attempt to warn people. To a degree perhaps confirming the reality that much of their spending and forecasts are based on an ever increasing GDP to pay for their spending. Reality is GDP is flatlining and inflation is likely 3.5% or higher. How will Canada deal with a massive debt problem at all levels of government and with consumers. It does not take a genius to understand there is a problem when I drive down my mainstreet on the Friday of a long weekend and it is largely empty. I get written off on these pages for my concern over debt but it is real and is increasing. When will people realize that inflation is a indirect tax on their standard of living? FOrgot to add that AI is seen as a possible counter to lost productivity. It might help Canada.

Canucks in the Final Four playing Dallas. Let's hope so. Watching the Stars last night I started to wonder if the old dogs on that team were running out of gas? Their young players are scary good.

I like Gadzic. He has been on Kipper & Borne quite a bit and is even handed. Jen toes the SN line pretty hard. Has been a Oiler fan from the get go. Freidman is such a BS'er that I have trouble listening to him. Never played the game and has a insider shtick that sells. KB3 couldn't stand the guy when he started but has got the word to ease up. Bieksa revs up the panel as a more nuanced version of Don Cherry. Quite frankly I PVR the games and often fast forward between periods. They lost me when MacLean used his seat to try an kill Burrows career and then throw Cherry under the bus. Can you imagine Cherry and Bieksa chewing the game over. It would be classic stuff. Nothing classy or classic for what we get now. Seriously Eliot Freidman and Jen Botterill? Even the TSN and ESPN panels have better.

One of the Preds games was a very solid Canuck effort. Can't remember which one. That said the Thursday game was a standout at both ends of the ice. Every Canuck was committed and showed it on the ice. I am still somewhat shocked at the Oiler lineup that did not make much of an effort to establish a physical game. Critical Game 5 and their effort was questionable. First goal is more important to the Oilers than the Canucks. If they put Skinner back in and the Canucks score early it will be a tough sled for the Oilers. My son is an Oilers fan back to Gretzky and he is beside himself. Says he will cheer for the Nucks if they win. It was that or no X-Mass dinner for him. Canuck fans have long memories.

Cole was gassed on one of the Oiler goals. If they sit him out for Game #6 Juulsen can come in. I like Cole's experience. Both of them will play in the 3rd Round and giving Juulsen some TOI will pay off over the long run. What amazes me is how few hits the Oilers completed last night. Yes, sometimes the puck doesn't go in and the Oilers have experienced that. If the offense isn't producing a team has to play the physical game. They knew how important that game was and did not step up. It strikes me that there are divisions in that roster that the public doesn't know about. When you compare the Canuck bottom 6 against the Oiler bottom 6 there is a serious gap in quality and effort. I think the Oilers are being out coached even tho I like their new coach over the one they fired. The Bouchard bungle and PDG resulting goal was a back breaker. Soucy's wrister off the point might have been screened but there were 2 Oiler d-men standing in front of the net. Miller's goal was classic Canuck's. Lindstrom off the half wall, Petey deflecting and Miller putting it in. Oilers might question some of these goals but that ignores all the serious good looks the Canucks didn't score on. If the Canucks score first on Saturday it could be a Canuck blowout in the making. IMHO Tocchet goes with the same lineup other than Juulsen coming in for Cole.

Not that I disagree with you, it is a lost decade IMHO. My disappointment with the CPC is not making hard numbers on the nations economic performance more of a measure that people could see. It might require some education but repeated use would refine the process. If the CPC is to be the party of fiscal responsibility then they should be fleshing this out.

My son planted trees during university. Incredibly hard work but he was good at it and made good money.

Full credit to the players but Tocchet has been equally good. Shuffles the lineup and it pays off. Look at the TOI spread. Another shocker is to see how little physical play came from the Oiler roster. Canucks out muscled them plain and simple. Two ways to win a game, muscle and finesse, Canucks did both. Cap off to the fans. The Petey chant was classy and the JT Miller chant a salute to the leader of this playoff. No disrespect to Huggy.

JT Miller is leading this team to the 3rd round. One huge game after another.

I didn't know that Lui was in the arena last night?