[Fuzzy]

Bloody hell, the Globe edited their original article. Anyway, no, the single block is the restricted block for new entrants and regional carriers. The 75% is the one that everyone can bid on.

Missed that regional carriers weren't locked out of the 25%. Yeah, Sasktel and MTS will gobble those up.

[Zzoram]

Missed that regional carriers weren't locked out of the 25%. Yeah, Sasktel and MTS will gobble those up.

Then WIND can become a regional carrier in BC and Ontario until they become more established and have the funds to move into other provinces.

[SRG01]

Then WIND can become a regional carrier in BC and Ontario until they become more established and have the funds to move into other provinces.

Rumor is that their next expansion in Winnipeg. At any rate, they'll bid in that part of the spectrum no matter what because they're under 10%. They don't have enough money to bid in the other blocks.

[gabbo]

Which is why I think this:

"Harper Government Takes Action to Support Canadian Families

Today's announcement will provide Canadian families with more choices at low prices for wireless services"

Is verbal diarrhea trying to win a few cheap points with people who don't follow up.

[Onion_Relish]

[/B] fuck rogers, bell and telus. Fuck them. Canadian public needs to wake up.

I work for bell, come at me bro.

[maharg]

They don't have enough money to bid in the other blocks.

Well, they might now that the foreign ownership requirements have been relaxed. Probably the best thing that could have happened to Wind.

[Cheerilee]

Because Saskatchewan and Manitoba have huge regional carriers, and 700 spectrum is too valuable to pass up. As for Quebec, Videotron will be Videotron and just buy it all up out of principle. I don't understand this attitude at all. That's like saying: "Foul peasants! You should be happy with your scraps!"

A full nationwide net of 700MHz being reserved for the little guys, who fully expected to get nothing, is scraps?

Yeah, it's not five nets, but it's progress.

[crazy monkey]

I work for bell, come at me bro.

Um Nothing Against you. I hate the company. I changed to Italkbb for home phone. I get North america for free, caller Id plus countless features for 7$ / month. There is just too much price and service difference.

[krae_man]

So long as they don't gain the market share through a merger, the new ownership rules still apply and they'd be fine. Lest Bell/Rogers try to buy one of the new companies out, that won't be a problem for a long time.

That wouldn't be a problem anyway, if Robelus buys them out they become Canadian owned.

Well, they might now that the foreign ownership requirements have been relaxed. Probably the best thing that could have happened to Wind.

Would converting some of their debt to equity help them at all? Is such a thing even possible?

[SRG01]

A full nationwide net of 700MHz being reserved for the little guys, who fully expected to get nothing, is scraps? Yeah, it's not five nets, but it's progress.

You don't understand, do you? It's a single block of 10 MHz that all new entrants have to bid on. There will be two outcomes:

1) One player gets all of these blocks (unlikely)
2) The entire market is fragmented for the new entrants (very likely).

http://mhgoldberg.com/blog/?p=5471

That wouldn't be a problem anyway, if Robelus buys them out they become Canadian owned.

Judging by how WIND/Mobi has massive foreign debt, I don't think it'll actually go through. We've already seen the foreign debt lever (as BS as it is) be an issue in various courts.

[Zzoram]

I just checked and WIND expanded their Ontario coverage zones again since the last time I checked late last year.

I'm 100% definitely switching to WIND once my Rogers contract is up. Their $40 plan is better than $70 worth of stuff with Rogers. If they still don't have the iPhone by Fall 2013 (they will if T-Mobile gets the iPhone), I'll just get the latest Nexus flagship Android phone.

[Zombie James]

Was there an election called last week that no one knows about? Because the Conservatives are going to start running campaign attack ads against Bob Rae tomorrow.

[Guesong]

Was there an election called last week that no one knows about? Because the Conservatives are going to start running campaign attack ads against Bob Rae tomorrow.

Pre-emptive slander worked wonder for them so far with Dion and Ignatieff. Why stop now?

[Zombie James]

Pre-emptive slander worked wonder for them so far with Dion and Ignatieff. Why stop now?

It's one thing to do it when you have a minority and can be kicked out at any time, this is different. Still pathetic, though.

[Fuzzy]

It's one thing to do it when you have a minority and can be kicked out at any time, this is different. Still pathetic, though.

Plus, Rae is only the interim leader and won't be allowed to run for the leadership whenever they get around to it in 2013.

[gabbo]

Plus, Rae is only the interim leader and won't be allowed to run for the leadership whenever they get around to it in 2013.

Not necessarily. Also, this may have something to do with the by-election in Jack Layton's riding, where Rae has a support base from his early days in politics.

[Kifimbo]

Plus, Rae is only the interim leader and won't be allowed to run for the leadership whenever they get around to it in 2013.

If that was true, Rae would have come out today and he would have said 'I'm not gonna be a candidate for the Liberal leadership' and the Conservatives would have look like fools with that ad.

[Fuzzy]

Not necessarily. Also, this may have something to do with the by-election in Jack Layton's riding, where Rae has a support base from his early days in politics.

If the Liberal Party didn't make sure what Rae put in writing before naming him interim leader was legally binding then they're morons.

[Cheerilee]

If the Liberal Party didn't make sure what Rae put in writing before naming him interim leader was legally binding then they're morons.

IIRC, the Liberals said that they wanted to regroup and rethink and reorganize and take their time deciding on their new principles and leader, but they can't do that properly if they guy in charge of this effort wants to be the new leader.

So they changed the party rules saying that the Interim Leader can't be the Real Leader. And Bob Rae took the job.

But people have been asking what Rae will do if the party simply changes the rules back again, allowing him to become the Real Leader, and he says he won't engage in speculation about hypothetical scenarios. So all he needs to do is become popular enough so that the Liberals feel they need him, and he's in.

[BladeWorker]

Was there an election called last week that no one knows about? Because the Conservatives are going to start running campaign attack ads against Bob Rae tomorrow.

It's not enough to decimate your enemy, you then must draw and quarter them to make sure they're dead.

That aside, the Conservative position on anyone but them can be summed up as follows:

Economy tanks while an NDP premier in power? = Foul economic management.
Economy tanks while a CPC PM in power? = Sound economic management.

[gabbo]

It's not enough to decimate your enemy, you then must draw and quarter them to make sure they're dead. That aside, the Conservative position on anyone but them can be summed up as follows: Economy tanks while an NDP premier in power? = Foul economic management. Economy tanks while a CPC PM in power? = Sound economic management.

They're trying to get robocalls off the front page and take some aim off themselves.
I don't think this, like anything else will work to do that. It's as hollow as it is shallow

[BladeWorker]

They're trying to get robocalls off the front page and take some aim off themselves. I don't think this, like anything else will work to do that. It's as hollow as it is shallow

Negative advertising works. That's why people use it.

To the Conservatives, people being afraid of voting Liberal is just as good as getting more people to vote CPC.

And, with a former Dipper at the helm of the LPC, they probably figure they can kill two parties with one series of ads.

[DreamMachine]

NDP's Craig Scott wins Layton’s old seat in a landslide.


http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle2374513/

[gabbo]

Negative advertising works. That's why people use it. To the Conservatives, people being afraid of voting Liberal is just as good as getting more people to vote CPC. And, with a former Dipper at the helm of the LPC, they probably figure they can kill two parties with one series of ads.

It's not like the CPC doesn't have its own debt/deficit/unemployment and job to be used against it, should the other two decide to go negative. I hope they don't, this shit is not good for political debate in this country

[Guesong]

Any Quebec-GAF roaming? I'd make a new thread for it, but that'd be a couple of people at best...

Just wanted to know what do you guys think of the Student Strike going on in QC at the moment. It's supposed to be my last semester of university, but at the rate things are going, who knows...

And the provincial budget is neck-wringing.

[DreamMachine]

I dont follow quebec politics that much but do you have some links about the student strike and.... The budeget?

[Cereal KiIIer]

Any Quebec-GAF roaming? I'd make a new thread for it, but that'd be a couple of people at best... Just wanted to know what do you guys think of the Student Strike going on in QC at the moment. It's supposed to be my last semester of university, but at the rate things are going, who knows... And the provincial budget is neck-wringing.

[Guesong]

I dont follow quebec politics that much but do you have some links about the student strike and.... The budeget?

Some briefs articles about it :

From March 7 in the Toronto Sun

10 Questions and Answers about the Student Strike, from the Gazette


Cereal ^^ : Where you got that image? I swear, for those for the strike, that stuff would be 100x more effective than blocking crucial bridges to Montreal like they did this morning...not the way to earn the population's support, guys. An article about that, for those interested.


I haven't had the occasion yet to read the budget myself, but from what I've seen at an eyeglance, the monster continues to grow, some higher taxes demanded from people earning 75 000 $ or more, and more financing for entreprises...again. In a time where we'd greatly benefit to cut the useless fat, the government apparantly cannot say no to anyone with a remote inch of power.

That's something we could relate Canada-wise, or North-American politics wise. Those lobbies and unions...too much leverage. Someone has to have the balls to do what's right and slap them around a bit.

[BladeWorker]

It's not like the CPC doesn't have its own debt/deficit/unemployment and job to be used against it, should the other two decide to go negative. I hope they don't, this shit is not good for political debate in this country

The Liberals and NDP have tried unsuccessfully - twice, I might add - to pin debts, deficits, and unemployment to the Conservatives. More times, if you count all the references to the state Mulroney left the country in, and/or Harris left Ontario in.

It didn't work then, and it won't work now - Canadians by and large aren't paying a whit's attention to this or anything else inside the bubble, and they think that as long as they have a job, then the Conservatives are sound and competent financial managers.

It's unlikely to start to stick until the rest of the world is undeniably doing better than we are, while our unemployment stagnates, inflation skyrockets, interest rates go through some sort of ceiling, yadda yadda yadda.

As we noted with In and Out, even criminal liability rolls off these guys like water off a duck.

So while I agree that this level of debate (it's an insult to the word to even call it that) isn't doing any good for the national dialogue, it's sure benefiting the Conservatives, in the same way it benefited the Liberals in the mid-90s. Negativity is here, and it's here to stay.

[Razorskin]

Any Quebec-GAF roaming? I'd make a new thread for it, but that'd be a couple of people at best... Just wanted to know what do you guys think of the Student Strike going on in QC at the moment. It's supposed to be my last semester of university, but at the rate things are going, who knows... And the provincial budget is neck-wringing.

As a newly hired teacher at a cegep, I'm not in favour of the tuition hikes.

But I'm not in favour of the long term strikes.

The school I work at had a vote by the students for a 1 day strike , but the majority voted no.

[Guesong]

As a newly hired teacher at a cegep, I'm not in favour of the tuition hikes. But I'm not in favour of the long term strikes. The school I work at had a vote by the students for a 1 day strike , but the majority voted no.

If you go by what the strike leaders says though, a strike is a guaranteed success! (Though in your case, I can understand voting no...at this point a 1 day strike is meaningless, not like the grand manifestation planned for Thursday is gonna magically change stuff)

"Everytime we went on a strike, the government backed down!"
"The government or the universities cannot cancel the semester ; it'd be an economic disaster for all semesters to come!"

Meh.

The same government held out for 2 years against general, mass pressure about a public investigation on the construction cartel...it will easily hold 2-3 months against tuition hikes, especially when there are morons who block bridges and give them ammo.

Then when the 2-3 months dwindles, the average student who was for a strike will start to freak out and then opt to end the strike. The die-hards may still be for it, but what allows each student association to go on a strike is the support of those average students that will NOT follow into oblivion, if they see oblivion coming.

I'm not for a strike, I'm not for tuition hike either (hell, who would want to pay more anywhere anyways)...but I believe it's the wrong way to go about it. This government is not the same as the past ones who backed down ; thinking it will back down, while it may end up to be true, is logical fallacy.

[Razorskin]

If you go by what the strike leaders says though, a strike is a guaranteed success! (Though in your case, I can understand voting no...at this point a 1 day strike is meaningless, not like the grand manifestation planned for Thursday is gonna magically change stuff) "Everytime we went on a strike, the government backed down!" "The government or the universities cannot cancel the semester ; it'd be an economic disaster for all semesters to come!" Meh. The same government held out for 2 years against general, mass pressure about a public investigation on the construction cartel...it will easily hold 2-3 months against tuition hikes, especially when there are morons who block bridges and give them ammo. Then when the 2-3 months dwindles, the average student who was for a strike will start to freak out and then opt to end the strike. The die-hards may still be for it, but what allows each student association to go on a strike is the support of those average students that will NOT follow into oblivion, if they see oblivion coming. I'm not for a strike, I'm not for tuition hike either (hell, who would want to pay more anywhere anyways)...but I believe it's the wrong way to go about it. This government is not the same as the past ones who backed down ; thinking it will back down, while it may end up to be true, is logical fallacy.

Yeah, I was just surprised the cegep students voted against the strike when they will be the one's most affected by it down the line compared to those nearing the end of their university studies.

Yeah, the government probably won't cave easily and will just allow it to happen. The movement will probably slow down as you except it to.

[maharg]

The Liberals and NDP have tried unsuccessfully - twice, I might add - to pin debts, deficits, and unemployment to the Conservatives. More times, if you count all the references to the state Mulroney left the country in, and/or Harris left Ontario in. It didn't work then, and it won't work now - Canadians by and large aren't paying a whit's attention to this or anything else inside the bubble, and they think that as long as they have a job, then the Conservatives are sound and competent financial managers. It's unlikely to start to stick until the rest of the world is undeniably doing better than we are, while our unemployment stagnates, inflation skyrockets, interest rates go through some sort of ceiling, yadda yadda yadda. As we noted with In and Out, even criminal liability rolls off these guys like water off a duck. So while I agree that this level of debate (it's an insult to the word to even call it that) isn't doing any good for the national dialogue, it's sure benefiting the Conservatives, in the same way it benefited the Liberals in the mid-90s. Negativity is here, and it's here to stay.

It rolled off the backs of the liberals like water off a duck too. Until it didn't.

Honestly, the CPC knows better than this nonsense that they're untouchable (they react strongly and swiftly to these things for a reason), I'm not sure why you think differently.

[BladeWorker]

It rolled off the backs of the liberals like water off a duck too. Until it didn't. Honestly, the CPC knows better than this nonsense that they're untouchable (they react strongly and swiftly to these things for a reason), I'm not sure why you think differently.

What? I don't think differently.

[Kifimbo]

Any Quebec-GAF roaming? I'd make a new thread for it, but that'd be a couple of people at best... Just wanted to know what do you guys think of the Student Strike going on in QC at the moment. It's supposed to be my last semester of university, but at the rate things are going, who knows... And the provincial budget is neck-wringing.

I think students don't pay enough for their education. However, we have the highest taxes in Canada (and probably NA), and it was supposed to give us "free" services, or at least cheaper services than elsewhere. Now it's pay more taxes, and let's raise the prices of services you use.

[Ether_Snake]

Any Quebec-GAF roaming? I'd make a new thread for it, but that'd be a couple of people at best... Just wanted to know what do you guys think of the Student Strike going on in QC at the moment. It's supposed to be my last semester of university, but at the rate things are going, who knows... And the provincial budget is neck-wringing.

I'll post what someone else wrote on FB:

"While a mining company is having a road built for itself for 300 million dollars using tax-payer money, the Liberals claim they have to raise tuition fees? Bitch please! The money is there, it's just not being distributed in the interest of the population."

[maharg]

What? I don't think differently.

Well, usually when I say that stuff "rolls off their back like water off a duck" I mean that they're untouchable.

[BladeWorker]

Well, usually when I say that stuff "rolls off their back like water off a duck" I mean that they're untouchable.

Okay, I read your post again.

Yes, I was saying that they're untouchable, and I stand by that. I take it now (after re-reading your post a couple times) that you're saying that "they know better than to think they're untouchable".

But they are untouchable, at least for the time being. They're not running attack ads because they think the Liberals, or the NDP, can touch them. They're running the ads to kill their opposition...sorry, define their opposition...before the opposition defines themselves.

As for the Liberals' experience, it didn't hit them like a brick until Sheila Fraser, whose reputation is basically gold, came out with an incredibly damning report. And a weaker leader in Martin (cp Chretien) responded by trying the crisis management tactic of "Owning" - taking a problem to heart in an effort to communicate that you're dealing with it.

That tactic failed in the face of strong evidence that they weren't, they hadn't, and they wouldn't. So Martin tried again with the Inquiry, which bought him some time, but ultimately, also failed to secure the public trust that Martin needed to counteract the growing anger.

The Conservatives' bluster and obfuscate approach to crisis management is at the opposite end of the spectrum as "Own" and works as long as their message resonates more than the message of those trying to rip them. And, in an environment where nobody's paying attention, it's working just fine for now.

I despise that it's working, but it's working.

There may well be an expiry date on how long the tactic works, but it's not yet obvious that such a date is coming in the imminent future. Until then, they won't (and, if you're advising them, shouldn't) change tactic.

As for what will eventually undermine their current approach, I think it will be economic conditions (as I outlined). I don't think enough people buy in to the idea that Canada's Ruling Party is as criminal and corrupt as is being purported in some circles to make Robocon stick.

[maharg]

People who are genuinely untouchable don't need bluster to stay that way. The conservatives stay endlessly on the attack because if they stop, they will probably be torn to shreds. Of course there's an expiration on how long you can keep that up, just like there has on every single government in history. You seem to think that the Harper government is a unique phenomenon, but it's not.

[gabbo]

I don't think they're untouchable. This is just the latest tactic to get peoples minds off of robocalls, which was reflecting negatively on them, as well as the upcoming cuts to social services, which people will notice.

They can sling mud at Rae all they want (and the winner of Saturday's race), but people will notice when services no longer exist or they have to start paying for previously free ones and not care what Bob Rae did 20 years ago.

I don't like that people are being misdirected by this Rae nonsense (fiscally conservative eh?) and their general use of smoke and mirrors, which at least we agree on Blade.

[Zzoram]

Conservatives run a good campaign, it's dirty, but it works. They are the only ones with any money nowadays anyways. They eliminated the taxpayer subsidy for political parties that was based on the number of votes they received. That means campaign financing is 100% private now, and the Conservatives have the biggest corporate and personal donors. That move probably locked them into holding government for another decade because they have the money to campaign continuously while the other parties do not.

[BigJonsson]

A lot can happen in 3-4 years.........

[maharg]

Seriously, so much fatalism.

[DreamMachine]

People who are genuinely untouchable don't need bluster to stay that way. The conservatives stay endlessly on the attack because if they stop, they will probably be torn to shreds. Of course there's an expiration on how long you can keep that up, just like there has on every single government in history. You seem to think that the Harper government is a unique phenomenon, but it's not.

I have to chime in here, I think they are a unique phenomenon, I don't recollect the liberal party ever being in contempt of parliament and with holding bills we don't even know the cost to (crime bill) I don't think the liberals if they had done those things wouldn't be given the sway that the conservatives have been given. Dirty tricks after dirty tricks and yet they're support stays the same. What do you think would have to happen for the conservatives to all of a sudden loose public support?

[maharg]

One thing that BladeWorker is right about is that most of those things are very much 'in the bubble' problems. They don't speak so much to corruption as to plain combativeness. A populace that doesn't believe Parliament is worth anything more than a rubber stamp to the currently dominant party's government (largely failing to bother to grasp both minority governments and coalitions) just doesn't give a shit if the opposition didn't get access to information from said Government. They don't see them as deserving of being in the loop, largely even if they voted for them.

Likewise, a complete lack of understanding of the non-partisan nature of the position of Speaker, the trust our system places in that position, and the respect with which it was treated by Peter Milliken (and imo, so far by Andrew Scheer) has led to people finding it entirely easy to believe that it was a partisan ruling.

Most of the things people bring up in conversations like this are largely similar. They all sound like politics, not corruption. That's why the robocall thing has any hope where they didn't to change things. If the Conservatives are linked to preventing people from voting you can expect a huge backlash, imo.

However, the Canadian public has proven extremely fickle in electoral politics. Unending dynasties do fall. Twice in the last 2 decades, in fact. Once because the party did something deeply and extraordinarily unpopular on a razor thin mandate, and the other because of proof emerging of real corruption (though the full fall was much more delayed in that case).

At some point, people seem to decide en masse that the ruling party (or cabal of people in control of the party) have gotten too comfortable and they tend to vote them out at that point. I don't really think the Liberals in the 90s (who relied on a far far more fragile coalition to hold their majority and still managed to do it for a ridiculously long time) were any different. You might not see it that way if you largely agree with their policies, but I don't think the average lib/ndp voter right now feels much different about Harper than the average PC/Reform voter did about Chretien in the 90s.

[BigJonsson]

NDP ties CPC in popular support

CPC has dropped to 30
NDP stays at 30
But the BQ has surged to 30 in QC =/


http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle2377342/

[BladeWorker]

NDP ties CPC in popular support CPC has dropped to 30 NDP stays at 30 But the BQ has surged to 30 in QC =/ http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle2377342/

Two weeks in field for a horse race poll? Who the eff DOES that anymore?

[Vamphuntr]

NDP ties CPC in popular support CPC has dropped to 30 NDP stays at 30 But the BQ has surged to 30 in QC =/ http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle2377342/

It's not surprising the BQ is rising here in QC. If you read many political analysts all seem to agree that the identity problem is slowly crawling back to the front here. There was an article in La Presse about this today too! Trust in Jean-Charest is at an all time low because of his poor handling of many cases (Plan Nord, Constructions Scandals, Judges Nominations, lost of many many jobs (we lost 4 big pharmaceutical companies, many paper factories are closing, Aveos is leaving), student strikes, health taxes) and the PQ (the provincial BQ) is soaring to the top rapidly because of this. Media are also giving lot of coverage to the linguistic questions these days too with examples showing how people aren't respecting our language. All these things help the PQ and in turn the BQ. The economy isn't doing so well in the province right now with all those layoff so racism/identity crisis is on the rise.

Moreover, many people here don't agree with how Harper is ruling the country either (firearms registry destruction is unpopular because of previous tragedies that happened in the province, obsession with the Queen and Royalty isn't well seen here either, and most people don't agree with the young offenders law project, etc). Many were also disappointed by the NDP as many of the MP elected can't speak french properly in their riding which are 100% francophone or are like ghosts and do not even live in their riding.

[gabbo]

It's not surprising the BQ is rising here in QC. If you read many political analysts all seem to agree that the identity problem is slowly crawling back to the front here. There was an article in La Presse about this today too! Trust in Jean-Charest is at an all time low because of his poor handling of many cases (Plan Nord, Constructions Scandals, Judges Nominations, lost of many many jobs (we lost 4 big pharmaceutical companies, many paper factories are closing, Aveos is leaving), student strikes, health taxes) and the PQ (the provincial BQ) is soaring to the top rapidly because of this. Media are also giving lot of coverage to the linguistic questions these days too with examples showing how people aren't respecting our language. All these things help the PQ and in turn the BQ. The economy isn't doing so well in the province right now with all those layoff so racism/identity crisis is on the rise. Moreover, many people here don't agree with how Harper is ruling the country either (firearms registry destruction is unpopular because of previous tragedies that happened in the province, obsession with the Queen and Royalty isn't well seen here either, and most people don't agree with the young offenders law project, etc). Many were also disappointed by the NDP as many of the MP elected can't speak french properly in their riding which are 100% francophone or are like ghosts and do not even live in their riding.

Will that PQ/BQ strength last for the next three or so years?

[BigJonsson]

It's not surprising the BQ is rising here in QC. If you read many political analysts all seem to agree that the identity problem is slowly crawling back to the front here. There was an article in La Presse about this today too! Trust in Jean-Charest is at an all time low because of his poor handling of many cases (Plan Nord, Constructions Scandals, Judges Nominations, lost of many many jobs (we lost 4 big pharmaceutical companies, many paper factories are closing, Aveos is leaving), student strikes, health taxes) and the PQ (the provincial BQ) is soaring to the top rapidly because of this. Media are also giving lot of coverage to the linguistic questions these days too with examples showing how people aren't respecting our language. All these things help the PQ and in turn the BQ. The economy isn't doing so well in the province right now with all those layoff so racism/identity crisis is on the rise. Moreover, many people here don't agree with how Harper is ruling the country either (firearms registry destruction is unpopular because of previous tragedies that happened in the province, obsession with the Queen and Royalty isn't well seen here either, and most people don't agree with the young offenders law project, etc). Many were also disappointed by the NDP as many of the MP elected can't speak french properly in their riding which are 100% francophone or are like ghosts and do not even live in their riding.

Ya, that makes sense

They should come back to the Liberal party and not the BQ, we were good to them ;)