Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2005 10:56 pm Post subject: Canada's Contribution
What do you think about the Martin goverments handling of the tsunami catastrophe in the Indian Ocean? Is the amount of funding provided enough? Did they react fast enough?
Personally I think that the situation was handled fairly. I can't say it was perfect, but nothing is in hind-sight. People critized the government for not promising enough money up front, but without assessing the situation the proper amount and the way this is distributed must be assessed.
Then when the amount of funding reached in the hundreds of millions, people were saying that this is too much. This was the feeling of a number of listeners to Q104 here in Halifax. I think that these people are not informed well enough to the magnitude of the situation and the fact that there is a huge surplus that can be spent of this effort. The people there will feel the effect of this event for years to come, and remember it could just as easily happen closer to home.
Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2005 7:16 pm Post subject: Bad, bad, gov't.
Of course they didn't know how bad the damages were, the Prime Minister refused to return from his vacation. The Minister responsible for this went on vacation two days after it hit.
When she was asked how much money was being given, she was consistently off by a considerable amount.
AND, a good chunk of that money actually went to putting funds back into our disaster relief team, bringing them back up to snuff as they've been cut so drastically the last decade... so it didn't really go to the countries that needed it.
In my opinion, a very poor job by the federal gov't.
Then when the amount of funding reached in the hundreds of millions, people were saying that this is too much. This was the feeling of a number of listeners to Q104 here in Halifax. I think that these people are not informed well enough to the magnitude of the situation and the fact that there is a huge surplus that can be spent of this effort.
HickoryStick wrote:
Of course they didn't know how bad the damages were, the Prime Minister refused to return from his vacation. The Minister responsible for this went on vacation two days after it hit.
Does anyone here really realize how bad the damages were? I think it's brinking on surreal, so I don't think we really understand. I don't think serious people should really care about those vacations - how is anyone really supposed to have an accurate estimate of how much is actually needed over there? Personally, I think it speaks a lot about who we are as people, and if we have to be that influenced by "the leaders", we're pretty lame.
Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2005 8:02 pm Post subject: Huh?
I'm not certain what your point is there, but I'll try to respond.
Our government 'leaders' are the ones who make decisions on how to help.
Of course, Canadians can give out of their own pocket, but I do believe this discussion is based on what our government has done.
Our minister responsible for foreign aide went on vacation as other government ministers were returning from their vacations to deal with the crisis. She had to be ordered back by the Prime Minister, though he himself was on vacation as well and didn't return until later.
Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2005 8:07 pm Post subject: Re: Huh?
HickoryStick wrote:
I'm not certain what your point is there, but I'll try to respond.
Our government 'leaders' are the ones who make decisions on how to help.
Of course, Canadians can give out of their own pocket, but I do believe this discussion is based on what our government has done.
Our minister responsible for foreign aide went on vacation as other government ministers were returning from their vacations to deal with the crisis. She had to be ordered back by the Prime Minister, though he himself was on vacation as well and didn't return until later.
What you have said is true but what does that have to do with a guy from Halifax feeling that the government is first giving too little and then too much.
Sorry, I didn't think I had to explain it in such great detail for you to be able to see the links.
Our government 'leader' responsible for foreign aide is incompetant. She had no idea what was going on, while many of her colleagues did.
Then, when it came out that she didn't know what the hell was going on, the feds up the amount drastically.
Do you see the link now, or do you need further clarification?
But like jryan said, how does this affect the general publics information on the disaster. There are numerous other sources of information other than that of the "leaders", and any knowledgeable person would understand that any amount of money that could be contributed to the effort should be.
I started this topic to find out what people thought about the contribution that Canada has made, not how it came around. The fact that the Liberal governement royally f***** up this at the start shouldn't tarnsh the fact that they did make it right in the end.
I feel that the general public does not realize the extent of the damage that the wave created. It is one of the worst catastrophe in the history of the world. The locals saying that we shouldn't contribute this money and put it towards our own projects should realize that without the world support the situation around the Indian Ocean would worsen dramatically, more than the 170000 people would be dead. This topic is about the money that was promised, not how the situation was handled. If you want to discuss that part of this subject further start a new topic.
I love it. We helpe because it is the "Canadian way"...when in reality, Mr. Martin helps to get a photo-opt and hopes from some positive press for once.
I wonder which poll told him to help?
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"The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries."
Winston Churchill
Posted: Thu Jan 27, 2005 2:56 am Post subject: A note of caution
I've had lengthy email group discussions on politics in the past, and form this, I caution Hickorystick and Eastern capitalist. If you begin at the outset with your decision that whatever the liberals do is bad, and whatever the conservatives is good, it makes for abolsutely awful debate. The likes of which you'd see in our parliament, no doubt.
Posted: Thu Jan 27, 2005 8:34 am Post subject: Re: A note of caution
Moishey wrote:
I've had lengthy email group discussions on politics in the past, and form this, I caution Hickorystick and Eastern capitalist. If you begin at the outset with your decision that whatever the liberals do is bad, and whatever the conservatives is good, it makes for abolsutely awful debate. The likes of which you'd see in our parliament, no doubt.
Well said, this is one of the reasons why I posted the purpose of this site in the house keeping section. It is fine to support a party but always remember to keep your mind open, to the possibility that someone else may be right
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