Even most American scientists have already switched to the metric system. The old imperial system is a fossil and makes no sense to keep using.
I once read an interesting post on another forum written by an American high school science teacher.
On the first day of class, he gave his students the option to choose which system of measurement they would use for the semester. "Do you want to use the imperial system that's common in the United States, or the metric system that was invented by the French." I'm sure you can guess which one his students picked.
That night for homework, he gave them a weights and measures conversion assignment, with the problems using a combination of both systems (e.g. convert 56733 grams to kilograms, convert 93214 inches to miles). The next day, he asked his students if they wanted to continue using the imperial system or switch to the metric system. They voted unanimously to switch to the metric system.
Well, the NEP was supposed to share the wealth with the rest of the country, but what it ended up doing was just bringing the same miserable conditions that existed elsewhere, to Alberta (which was living the good life before that while the rest of the country was in turmoil due to outside pressures).
It's perfectly legitimate to blame Trudeau for implementing a program that failed to do what it was supposed to and ultimately screwed over a province, but if you were living anywhere else in the country at the time, you would have likely been behind the decision. People elsewhere were already losing their homes and their livelihoods and were looking for the government to do something to stop it.
I think thats a little simplistic. The NEP was to provide the liberal government with dollars to buy votes in Ontario since Alberta was and still is considered a political non entity in this country. There was nothing coming back to Alberta to equalize the loss, it was designed so that Alberta would literally be a liberal check book.
It was formulated by Marc Lalonde and Trudeau to punish Alberta for not playing along with the Liberals.
It was a nasty vindictive piece of revenge legislation and it created a massive era of mistrust in Alberta that will probably never be overcome.
In a way Dion promoted the same thing with his green shift where money would be shifted from Alberta to Ontario voters whereas a lot of the dirtier Ontario industries would have been declared as exempt.
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I think thats a little simplistic. The NEP was to provide the liberal government with dollars to buy votes in Ontario since Alberta was and still is considered a political non entity in this country. There was nothing coming back to Alberta to equalize the loss, it was designed so that Alberta would literally be a liberal check book.
It was formulated by Marc Lalonde and Trudeau to punish Alberta for not playing along with the Liberals.
It was a nasty vindictive piece of revenge legislation and it created a massive era of mistrust in Alberta that will probably never be overcome.
In a way Dion promoted the same thing with his green shift where money would be shifted from Alberta to Ontario voters whereas a lot of the dirtier Ontario industries would have been declared as exempt.
While I'm sure he wasn't too afraid of losing support in Alberta, I hardly think it was a vindictive revenge tactic to punish Alberta. That is conspiracy theorist territory.
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He was in favor of a more centralized, stronger federal government.
Even if I can forget the NEP(how any Albertan can is beyond me)....the fact that he was willing to screw over the rest of Canada to buy votes in the East makes him scum in my eyes.
While I'm sure he wasn't too afraid of losing support in Alberta, I hardly think it was a vindictive revenge tactic to punish Alberta. That is conspiracy theorist territory.
Kinda like the Liberals shutting down CFB Calgary to punish the voters, and amalgamating them in the Riding of an Edmonton Liberal MP.
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Kinda like the Liberals shutting down CFB Calgary to punish the voters, and amalgamating them in the Riding of an Edmonton Liberal MP.
Because the Liberals are the first people to ever do this. In the context of our democracy, the 'East' aka Ontario and Quebec will always be pandered too due to number of votes there. I don't see that ever changing.
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Canada was one of the last countries to go metric. My question for Trudeau would be: What were you waiting for?
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Because the Liberals are the first people to ever do this. In the context of our democracy, the 'East' aka Ontario and Quebec will always be pandered too due to number of votes there. I don't see that ever changing.
I thought his move to change from the imperial to the metric system was done far too prematurely. I don't think we should have done it any sooner than the US.
You're kidding, right?
__________________ “The fact is that censorship always defeats it's own purpose, for it creates, in the end, the kind of society that is incapable of exercising real discretion.”
I was just a young kid when he came up with the NEP program, but I do remember my uncle losing his job and eventually his house directly because of it as well as my neighbour having to sell the house they were building for $1.00 to the bank. Crazy times I am sure for the people of Alberta.
Okay fine, but everyone is so pissed about centralist pandering to Ontario and Quebec how is that any different from the Conservatives nowadays? To have a majority government you need them. So the Tories are allowed to start trying to be more centralist so obtain a majority and woo Ontario and it is allowed because 'they're our guys', where as we hate Trudeau and felt alienated by this? For what it is worth I neither love nor hate Trudeau, maybe it is because I wasn't born till 86, but I do know what the NEP did to my dad's job etc. But I mean when you look at Charter etc, it is not all bad.
But whatever, I'm done, please continue.
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Originally Posted by Locke
Thats why Flames fans make ideal Star Trek fans. We've really been taught to embrace the self-loathing and extreme criticism.
Another key difference is that the Fifth and Fourteenth US Amendments add the right to property, and the Canadian Bill adds the right to "enjoyment of property." The fact that section 7 excludes a right contained in its sister laws is taken as significant, and thus rights to property are not even read into the rights to liberty and security of the person.[13]
There have been calls for section 7 to protect property. In 1981 the Progressive Conservative Party suggested that section 7 be extended to protect the "enjoyment of property." Some provincial governments, including that of Prince Edward Island, as well as the New Democratic Party, opposed the change. The NDP thought that if property rights were enshrined in the Charter, other economic rights should be added. In September 1982, after the Charter had been enacted, the government of British Columbia approved of an unsuccessful amendment to section 7 that would protect property rights.[14] See Unsuccessful attempts to amend the Canadian Constitution for more information.
Property Rights Amendment, 1983 On April 18, 1983, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau expressed support for entrenching property rights in the Constitution, but only if debate were limited to a single day, and the debate became engulfed in partisan tactics. Eleven days later, the Progressive Conservative Opposition introduced a motion of non-confidence in the Canadian House of Commons that sought to entrench the right to the "enjoyment of property" in the Constitution of Canada. The Trudeau government was not prepared to support its own defeat by backing such a motion (in any case, its passing would dissolve the House and prevent the Senate from considering it), and on May 2, 1983, the motion was defeated, with 88 votes in favour and 126 opposed.[1]
Last edited by troutman; 08-10-2009 at 12:42 PM.
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While I'm sure he wasn't too afraid of losing support in Alberta, I hardly think it was a vindictive revenge tactic to punish Alberta. That is conspiracy theorist territory.
Bordering on it, yes, but Trudeau's hatred of Lougheed was legendary.
Trudeau was shallow and arrogant enough to do something like that as a means of revenge against his most bitter rival.
Okay fine, but everyone is so pissed about centralist pandering to Ontario and Quebec how is that any different from the Conservatives nowadays? To have a majority government you need them. So the Tories are allowed to start trying to be more centralist so obtain a majority and woo Ontario and it is allowed because 'they're our guys', where as we hate Trudeau and felt alienated by this? For what it is worth I neither love nor hate Trudeau, maybe it is because I wasn't born till 86, but I do know what the NEP did to my dad's job etc. But I mean when you look at Charter etc, it is not all bad.
But whatever, I'm done, please continue.
I don't see the part of the Conservative's plan to gain votes in the east which financially guts a province.
