APC

Why, just look at Italy, for example!

So we in Atlantic Canada should just be satisfied with no voice in our own political affairs at the Federal level because of that?

Comparing your party to the Bloc and being proud to be the same is a sure-fire way to lose.  So your party wants to go to Ottawa to whine and snivel about how Canada screws the Atlantic Provinces, while collecting a fat paycheck sitting on your asses.  Screw the rest of the country...  you don't care.

GIVE US MORE....  GIVE US MORE....

Haven't been on here for a while, but just wanted to clarify a few things. First of all, I love this country. I served 6 years in the Canadian Forces as an infantry soldier. I was deployed to Afghanistan in 2007 as a member of 2nd Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment. Of the 40 guys in my company, only 35 came back. So I think I've earned my patriotic credentials. And as Thomas Paine once said, "A patriot is one who protects his country from his government."

We must never confuse dissent with disloyalty, and we are dissenting with our what we feel our place is within the current political system. And we are exercising our constitutional right to address the grievances we have.

And before you criticize, do some research. A quick look at the policies on our website (www.atlanticparty.ca) will show you that we don't believe anythign of the sort that you're insinuating.

In fact, we believe Equalization (the "fat paycheck" you're reffering too) to be a drug that Atlantic Canada is addicted too (among others) and due to it's economic disincentives is largely responsible for keeping Atlantic Canada in (relative) poverty in prepetuity. Our position regarding Equalization is that the entire system needs to be overhauled, and that is the policy yhat we would pursue at the Federal level.

For an update, we have been on Global News, CBC News (Atlantic region) and numerous radio talk shows in the past month or so. Due to that exposure, we are roughly 75% of the needed membership to officially register the Party. Like it or not, this is going to happen, and based on the feedback I'm getting from Atlantic Canadians (who are really all that matter with regards to this issue) the response is overwhelmingly positive.

So basically the party you are fantasizing about is really no different than any other party other than being a party with the interests of the Atlantic provinces rather than Canada....Bloc Atlantique....

At least you have repudiated all the previous nonsense you have been spouting....that the party whip system is undemocratic etc etc...

No, the system is undemocrative when partic discipline is enforced on MP's FROM Atlantic Canada by parties whose interests are OPPOSED to Atlantic Canada's. When the party is devoted solely to furthering AC interests, then the MP's who vote will do so with the best interests of their constituents in mind.....i.e. democraticly.

As my previous post, there are no issues at the Federal level that are bad for one Atlantic province and good for another.

With regards to the Bloc comparison, I would say it is apt. After all, the Bloc is merely doing what every government SHOULD do for it's constituents...that is, try to get the best deal they can for their citizens. It is not the Bloc's job to look out for any intersts other then Quebec's, nor do we consider it our job to look out for any other areas interests but ours...that is how democracy works. We elect people to represent us, and you do the same, and let the chips fall where they may.

if you want to blame someone for Quebec's outsized influence in Ottawa, blame the weak politicians that give in to their demands, and not the Bloc for making them.

The US has been deliberately encouraging its dollar to fall in order to help its exports and protect its home market from imports. It has fallen something like 50% in value against other major currencies over the past 10 years. The Chinese do the same.

How did Canada survive? I imagine that was so long ago that there were differen world circumstances. It was before the Chinese and other third world manufacturers were priced so much lower than us, and I suppose most of our exports were raw materials - where again we had less competition from abroad than we do now.

Very painfully

The fact is, business will always find a way to survive.....but that is a far from thrive. Doesn't matter the exchange rate, there will always be somebody somewhere doing something....however, that doesn't mean that everything is hunky dory.

higher dollar is bad for exporters. This is fact. There be someexceptions, but they are just that. That doesn't mean manufacturers are wiped out, just they will be suffereing.

By this reasoning, I can see poor little PEI complaining about how the APC caters to those vote-rich Provinces like Nova Scotia nad New Brunswick.    

A fair point, however PEI would still be in a much better position then it is now, and more importantly, most issues at the Federal level deal with the Atlantic region as a whole, and not individual provinces.

I can't think of too many initiatives (on the Federal level) that are bad for PEI but good for, say, NB or NS.