In a not surprising move, the federal government announced late Friday that it was approving the CNOOC and Petronas take overs.
Year: 2012
Ontario Politicians Finally Having a Mature Discussion About Alcohol
Ontario has long had a puritanical streak that vexes observers. This is most evident in the way that the provincial government treats alcohol. The province still has a government run liquor monopoly — the Liquor Control Board of Ontario — which was set up to transition the province out of prohibition, and grants the Molson-Labatt owned Beer Store a virtual monopoly over beer. The drinking age remains 19, high by international standards, and the 2am last call remains in place (believe it or not, it was 1am until Mike Harris’ government). While the latter may seem normal by North Ameican standards, it seems odd that a major world city such as Toronto has to tell it’s adult residents and tourists to kindly go to bed at 2am. If the above hasn’t convinced you that Ontario politicians have a puritanical attitude towards liquor, consider this: happy hour is illegal in Ontario.
The Case Against Nova Brunsward
Using the combined purchasing power of the three Maritime governments would indeed be a good idea, because it would save taxpayers money. But it would do nothing to solve the problem of the three provinces being “terribly over-governed,” which has been used as an argument to advance the union by Senator Mike Duffy and the National Post editorial board.
Christiana’s Nightmare – For the Rest of Us: UNFCCC boss Christiana Figueres’ dreams spell a nightmarish future for Earth’s citizens
Talk about alignment of the stars! Barack Obama based his 2008 presidential campaign on the principle of “sharing the wealth.” He won, got reelected and now has, at least in his own mind, a flat-out mandate to extend his vision for wealth redistribution (and wealth destruction) planet-wide.
Featured News
Canadians on the Move, to Smaller Communities
The Canadian Dream is increasingly being realized in smaller areas For decades, Canadians moved to the larger cities (census metropolitan areas, or CMAs) with their economic opportunities. The latest estimates indicate that CMAs have 72 per cent of the nation’s...
Leadership Needed in Canadian Healthcare; Apply Within
When the Premiers were first called to a sit-down lunch to talk about healthcare with Prime Minister Trudeau, there was plenty of talk about the potential for systemic change, innovation and accountability. It seemed that Canadians and their leaders were finally on...
Media Release – Empower Local Voters to Increase Government Accountability and Efficiency: Strengthening Fiscal Responsibility Through Decentralization
This study proses a way to develop greater spending transparency by way of enhancing fiscal autonomy for the provinces and municipalities
Strengthening Fiscal Responsibility Through Decentralization: Empower local voters to increase government accountability and efficiency
The constitution allocates responsibility over most policy areas exclusively to the provinces or the federal government. But the federal government routinely oversteps its bounds. To create more accountable, more efficient government, the federal government should step back and allow the provinces and municipalities to fund and deliver the services that they are responsible for.
Mistakes galore in first 1/2 hour of Gore’s climate change marathon
The first segment of former Vice-President Al Gore’s “24 Hours of Reality: The Dirty Weather Report” has just completed. Gore and his guests connected Hurricane Sandy and other tropical cyclones with global warming caused by human-induced greenhouse gas emissions (“carbon pollution”, they wrongly called carbon dioxide). Besides the fact that such a connection is impossible since there has been no overall global warming in 16 years, the concept is also wrong in principle.
Corruption costs
Gilles Vaillancourt, the mayor of Laval, Quebec, is the latest casualty of the Charbonneau inquiry into corruption in Quebec's construction industry, as he has announced he will be stepping down. Besides the obvious moral dimensions of corruption, kickbacks and...
Mr. Gore: Vested interests permeate the climate debate, on both sides
Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore tells us that “misinformation” about climate change (in other words, science that counters what he says) is fueled by those with vested interests. While there are obviously many people and companies who would benefit from an end to the climate scare, here is a list of some of the influential parties who have strong vested interests in maintaining the global warming alarm.
Google Fibre Begins Service in Kansas City
Google's fibre network in Kansas City will turn on its first customers today. http://www.fiercecable.com/story/google-fiber-schedules-first-1-gbps-installations-kansas-city/2012-11-13?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal Meanwhile the cable industry has been working...
Real Spending Cuts May Be Needed To Balance The Federal Budget
The problem with this approach is that it is inadequate to meet the serious fiscal challenges we face as a country and, as this week’s new economic forecast illustrates may result in economically damaging increases to the deficit if revenue growth turns out to be slower than expected.
New Zealand Out Of Kyoto II
I'm currently in New Zealand for a few weeks and while nothing much seems to have changed while I've been away, one interesting announcement has been made this week which hasn't got as much attention as I would have expected. New Zealand have announced they won't be...
Denmark Scraps Much-Maligned ‘Fat Tax’ After a Year
Danish lawmakers have killed a controversial “fat tax” one year after its implementation, after finding its negative effect on the economy and the strain it has put on small businesses far outweigh the health benefits.