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Urgent Request for “Lemon Law” to Protect Consumers and Regulate the Manufacturers

‘The lemon law is a big stick. … And no one wants to get whacked by this big stick.’
—Phil Edmonston

According to Phil Edmonston, author of Lemon-Aids car guide, “the more high-tech cars become, the more lemons you see because there’s so much more to go wrong.” Electronics are especially sensitive to vibrations, extreme temperature fluctuations and moisture which are “what causes [a vehicle’s] lights to fail often or causes a vehicle to stall out.”

There are many cases of the sudden stalling of vehicles just after purchase. Not only is it dangerous, it causes mental stress for the consumers as well. Just a few months after purchase, my new Mini Cooper’s radio signal disappeared. It took the dealer two days just to find out the cause of the break down by running the computerized program. If it were a simpler car, I would have expected to get my car back within a lunch break.

The funny thing is that, when we buy any other electronics, there are manufacture warranties. If anything goes wrong, we can return it within the warranty period. Cars, which are considered much larger expenses, if deemed to be junks, the consumers have to shoulder all the costs? It is such an obvious loophole for our politicians to ponder. After all, it should be the big auto industries’ responsibility to produce safe, working cars for its consumers.

Canada, it is time to learn from our neighbour down south “to protect those who buy new cars that end up being defective” with the “lemon law.” What are we waiting for?

 

Full article- http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2012/10/04/f-lemon-cars-marketplace-law.html

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Obama vs. Romney: The Second Debate

On October 17th, 2012, President Barack Obama fought back Republican challenger Mitt Romney regarding economy and other domestic issues after the fumbled performance during the first debate. The strongest argument from Mitt Romney was: “if you elect President Obama, you know what you’re going to get — you’re going to get a repeat of the last four years.”

Obama defended his policies and forcefully pointed out his Republican rival’s five point plan “is to make sure that folks at the top play by a different set of rules.” The presidential debate was on fire; both parties gave their best shots to try to win over the tiny number of undecided voters. However, even though Obama seemed to have an edge over Romney, the most recent poll (shown in video of attached link) showed he had lost to Romney in “who is better to handle the economy, taxes, deficit and health care.”

The voters should take this moment to seriously ponder how satisfied their lives have been for the past four years under Obama’s reign. Did he put all his promises in action or just in his speech?

It wouldn’t be that bad of an idea to just give Romney a chance this time because how can he drag the US economy down even further? However, voters still have to listen to how they handle the foreign policy and national security to make a final decision.

 

Link to full article and video: http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/16/politics/debate-mainbar/index.html?iref=allsearch

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Decriminalizing Marijuana: What Do You Say, Trudeau?

Justin Trudeau, the son of former prime minister Pierre Trudeau, announced last week his desire to become the next leader of the federal Liberal party. After a federal Liberal convention back in January, Trudeau indicated in an interview his opposition towards marijuana legalization, a party policy the Liberals had just adopted. However, Marc Emery claims to have “smoked cannabis with him on more than one occasion,” and for that, Emery “slammed [him] as a ‘fuckin’ hypocrite’.” The reason Trudeau’s viewpoint is of great conflict is because marijuana is commonly used amongst Canadians, (66% of adult Canadians would like marijuana to be legalized), that “if the Liberal party wants to appeal to the majority of Canadians, taking that stand would be a wise thing to do.”  

The issue of the legalization of marijuana has been discussed for too long. Perhaps the best is to stop fighting against it, and adopt ways to use the advantages of cannabis. For example, as local government politicians in BC suggested, Ottawa should study the benefits of taxing and regulating pot.

The New Democrat Party is also struggling to adopt a policy to support decriminalizing cannabis. Trudeau will find himself “out of step” with the Liberals and the Canadians with his stand on marijuana.

Here is an Interview with Justin Trudeau at the 2012 Liberal Convention where he discusses marijuana prohibition.

Full article: http://www.straight.com/article-800421/vancouver/justin-trudeau-doesnt-thrill-bcs-pot-activists

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Where’s the Funding?

As the British Columbia provincial elections are nearing in May 2013, the topic of post secondary education have been on the buzz. BC, a province which used to be the best in accessible PSE systems, is currently competing for the worst. With tuition doubling, cuts in funding, and sky rocketing interest rates on student loans, students find themselves struggling to pay off debt.

For this reason, it is of crucial importance that the political parties are stating their plans for PSE for this upcoming election. The NDP have noted this issue and promises to bring back $100 million for needs-based grants, whereas the BC Liberals emphasizes on capital projects at institutions, higher student loan interest, and ridding grants programs. The Conservatives and the Green parties have been quiet about this issue.

The key points to equality for every student to receive post secondary education are needs-based grants, student loan interest rates, and “core funding”. Many students are actively engaged in this issue (shown through Where’s The Funding? campaign) and strongly opinionated when it comes to lowering their financial stress. Thus, PSE needs to be at the top of each party’s priorities “if they are serious about economic growth and job creation.”

 

For full article visit http://www.straight.com/article-802656/vancouver/lucia-orser-postsecondary-education-will-be-key-bc-election-issue-2013

 

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Enbridge Northern Gateway: The Future of Nexen Inc.

According to an article published on Huffington Post, Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline representatives have been pressed by lawyers from environmental groups regarding the possibility of Chinese interests buying control of the project. Enbridge predicts that reaching markets in Asia through the Northern Gateway would increase Canada’s GDP by $312 billion over twenty five years.

“Enbridge’s (TSX:ENB) line would ship Alberta’s crude to the B.C. coast where it could be loaded onto tankers.”

A proposal was made by China’s state run NOOC (Northern Offshore Oil Corporation) for a deal of $15.1 billion to buy Calgary-based oil and gas producer Nexen Inc. This proposal, if approved, would mean control of Canada’s supply and market in this industry by China. If China’s state run NOOC becomes a shareholder of Nexen Inc., not only would it interfere with the current healthy Canadian free market, it would also impose its administration habits and command economy to Canada’s third largest oil company. The impact could be as significant as to cause unnecessary conflicts between the two nations. Not to mention, the Chinese environmental and manufacture safety and emergency awareness is not up to par with Canada’s strict standards.

If this deal falls through, would NOOC agree to run the company fully following Canada’s policies and management regulations?

For full article visit http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/09/08/enbridge-northern-gateway-pipeline-chinese-interest_n_1867701.html

For more information about the Northern Gateway pipeline project, visit http://www.northerngateway.ca/
http://ogpn.baumpub.com/news/445/enbridge-files-regulatory-application-for-northern-gateway-pipeline-project

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