I was very active at a high level in the Kery campaign. When I travel, I am especially embarrassed that GWB is our President. He does not have a mandate as he was only elected by 31% of the voting population. Once we survive the next 4 years, good times are ahead of us.I suggest to all of the depressed that you consider moving from a blue state to a red state such as here in Miami.Leaving is not the answer. Lets just refocus and win again like the good old days when Clinton was President.

"Corrupt" may have not been the right term. The Labor party came within a whisker of losing the last election because of troubles within the party leadership. Had the conservative government not been seen with equal suspcion, the Labor party could have fallen. Instead, they are placed in a coalition government that appears quite unstable.

As for the economy, yes the economy has improved against the US$, but that's more because of a weak US$. Canadian unemployment rates are high and the country continues to experience a "brain drain" with many of its best and brightest moving to the U.S. because of a lack of jobs and opportunity in Canada.

Mike T you're definately out of touch exemplified by your mention of the 'Labour' party. No such animal here I'm afraid - try England.

The fact is that in Canada we count unemployed different than in the US so that our 7% unemployment rate would be the equivilant of slightly below 5% in the US.

We are the only major industrial country to post 7 consecutive budget surpluses and while this definately has been on the backs of the sick and our military I believe that's about to change now if only because we have a minority government that has to be much more responsive to the public's demands.

And I wish my fellow Canadians would stop gloating about the revitalized Canadian dollar. It's the one thing that could make our roaring economy stumble And just as it's a bad thing for us it's a good thing for the US though the fact that the US is not so dependant on foreign trade as we are means that we're going to suffer more from a high dollar than they will benefit from a low one.

I meant the Liberal party. My mistake. Labor/Liberal. My point remains that as wonderful a place Canada is, I believe American liberals idealize life in Canada that doesn't reflect the reality of Canadian life. It is not some sort of nirvana, but instead a country highly dependent on the U.S. in many ways and with a social democracy that is quite progressive, but also problem-plagued. While it is true there is universal healthcare, as a middle-class person living in Canada, I would say my healthcare was "better" in the U.S. when compared to Canada, althuogh as a system Canadian healthcare is much more expansive.

On the day to day level, however, the healthcare provided by my U.S. job and insurer was of a higher quality then that I received from Health Canada.

This is so interesting, thanks for your input MikeT. I think that as someone who has been lucky enough to live in both countries, your opinion should be valued. I honestly never would have thought that I would hear an American say they got better health care in the US. I think the misconceptions of both countries run deep.

Well, MikeT may have received better health care in the US (that's assuming he received some in Canada and has a personal basis for comparison)... but EVERY SINGLE PERSON in Canada receives health care. We don't get bankrupted if we happen to commit the sin of getting sick without insurance that'll pay for care. Can't say that for the States.

It puzzles me to see Americans complaining about paying slightly higher taxes for more social services on this board.... it strikes me as mean-spirited for people who obviously have money for travel, not to mention computers, begrudging paying a bit more into the kitty to help their disadvantaged citizens... I'm not advocating communism, but come on. You could all afford to be a bit more generous.
I'll agree wholeheartedly that we have some problems, but they are mostly problems associated with our desire to be fair and generous. I'll take that any day over the nightmare that you've got cooking down south.
I'll also agree that we are too dependent on the US - more's the pity. Hopefully we'll wake up and work to rectify that.

In the US you need a job to receive healthcare. Loose your job and poof - no health care unless you can afford to pay COBRA payments.

The problem with this model is that
a) the cost to companies for health services is a factor in driving jobs outside of the US. GM spends more on health benefits than steel. Wonder why Ontario has 9 auto assembly plants?

b) it is totally inefficient. Each HMO has a fancy office with corporate jets and highly paid executives and collects premiums but over and over again you hear of cases where they refuse to pay when you need the service or cuts you off.

Canadians living the US is nothing new. There are over a million of us living California, Arizona and Florida.
As long as you can land a job in the US, get them to write a NAFTA TN-1 letter, you can work in the US.

In Toronto, I can walk at around any street at night and have an infinite places to see, cuisines to experience and people to meet.

I worked in the US in such places as Miami, Columbus, Austin, Northern and western Chicago suburbs, Detroit, Philadelphia, Manhatten, Boston and Hartford.

Not one of these places holds a candle to Toronto. No Stella Artois beer in Austin or San Diego - I was getting the shakes. Luckily, I was staying in Windsor when working in Detroit.

I completely agree that the Canadian health system is a better overall policy for the populace and society. What I said that in terms of the quality of care I got (as a middle-class American who had health insurance while in the U.S.) was that my health insurance in the U.S. provided me, personally higher quality service then I got from Health Canada.

I also have no problem paying more taxes. But for Americans moving to Canada, they should be prepared for the huge bite those taxes take out of one's income. For that, I got few public services although it clearly provided an education and social safety net that one wouldn't get in the U.S.

HogtownJim : Taxes need to increase? NO. If you truly believe in your own statement, I am willing to view your proof that you have volunteered and paid extra taxes. Otherwise...Save your baloney.

A simple redirection of funds within the USA would do far more, and maintain the level of disposable income among citizens. If the gov't cannot fix problems with the current amount of taxes, do you believe that more taxes would solve anything?

The U.S. can decrease spending on bombs to kill other cultures and spend, instead, on healthcare and education of our own people.
Yes, I oversimplified this for a travel board, but you all know this is important.

Citiboy, can you explain your statement:

"he was only elected by 31% of the voting population..."

I think I know what you mean but I'm curious. TX!

I logged on to get info on MOntreal because we are thinking of going there this summer, and I just love this post. It's very therapeutic.

I, too, am very depressed about Bush winning the election. What is wrong with so many people in this country? I am just amazed at the loyal support he has.

I am a liberal democrat from Massachusetts, and proud of it. I am also Catholic but I don't believe that I have the right to force my religious beliefs on other people. What happened to the separation of church and state? I am pro choice; I don't think I could have had an abortion but I don't have the right to tell other women that they can't.
And who are gays hurting by getting married? No one!!! I have heard people say that gays are making a mockery out of marriage. Well, I know plenty of heterosexuals who have made a mockery of marriage by divorcing & marrying 4 times, cheating on their spouses, beating their spouses. I have a friend whose husband left her and their SIX CHILDREN to run off with another woman!! Is that honorable?

I ate phony religiosity, too, as someone on this board mentioned. Going to church every Sunday doesn't mean that person is a moral person. I remember the barber in my town, who went to church every Sunday, was convicted of child molestation.

I assume the people on this board have heard of the Republican senator-elect in Oklahoma. I heard this morning on NPR he advocates the death penalty for abortionists, and someone else told me he is against gays and single mothers teaching. What is happening to this country? How could they vote for someone like that? I feel like we are going backwards not forwards.

I agree with wliwl. I, too, am very worried about the draft. People say it won't happen, but I am concerned about where we are going to get more troops, if not from the draft?

I also think it is despicable the way Bush tried to smear Kerry's & McCain's war record.

Thanks for letting me vent! I feel better! Good therapy!
Jette, I love your comment about the "shrub".

Jette: As I mentioned on an earlier post only 60% of the US population voted and slightly over 30% voted for George Bush.That is what I believe Citiboy is referring to.

Goldwynn,
Thanks for clarifying. I was curious about that, too.

Promises, promises. All we ever get is promises.

I'll believe it when I see posts from those who have put their moving vans where their mouths are. Until then the rest of us will just have to tolerate these verbal storms, which just like the real thing, will dissipate after a while into just a memory.

To kwoo:

Thank you for posting something that somehow articulates everything I fear about the re-election of George W. Bush in my country.
No one can convince me that among the 100,000 Iraqis that have been killed in this so-called "War to Spread Democratic Values" (ha!), that there were not innocent Iraqi women and children killed.
And no one can convince me that this fact will not come back to haunt and hurt the American people.

100,000 Iraqi civilians killed is decidedly not a "fact" but rather the result of some very dubious statistical analysis. See the following article from Slate to put this in perspective: http://slate.msn.com/id/2108887/

laverendrye: I don't see how that article in any way puts GWB in a better light. (if that is what you are saying)

We all know the number is NOT 8000, that is ridiculous, it is much, much higher. The number of Iraqis killed whether it be 18 or 18,000 is the result of a PRE-EMPTIVE strike, that is the point.

It was not my intention to comment at all on GWB or to put him in a better or worse light. Neither do I think that was the intent of the article in Slate.

Rather, my point, and that of the article, is that a figure of 100,000 dead is being widely adopted as accurate and "fact", when the study in question stated that the margin of error was a range of 8,000 to 194,000. It also pointed to a much more rigorous study which estimated civilian deaths at about 15,000, which the author, and I as well, characterize as no less shocking.

I just read a response on another thread where the person mentioned being embarrassed about Clinton - yet theye are not embarrassed about a man whose actions caused the deaths of 100's if not 1000's. Whose actions were based on lies

I had promised myself - no mor epolitical posts but then I heard excerpts from a show where the last letters from soldiers who died were read by their families - heartbreaking, and I was upset all over again.

Kwoo you describe it so eloquently - religion means more than just going to the church or temple or mosque.

The fundamental tenets of compassion, charity all seem lost on a lot of people.