Today the CRTC announced a new exercise in participatory democracy, directly consulting the public on the future of the television system in Canada. http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2013/2013-563.htm Although this is meant to be in keeping with the government’s...
Year: 2013
Oil is Good, and Pipelines are Even Better
Opponents of oil pipelines, such as the Keystone XL pipeline from Alberta to the U.S. Gulf Coast, have arguably caused unnecessary harm to the environment, reduced public safety, and slowed the Canadian economy. They have done this by causing oil to be shipped through...
Where have all the public thinkers gone? Away from universities
Omer Aziz, Globe and Mail, October 21, 2013 The publication of Michael Ignatieff’s memoir has ignited a debate about the political careers of the intellectual-turned-politician. It is not the fact that Mr. Ignatieff was an outsider that makes his loss so...
Florida Sheds Its ‘Smart Growth’ Dunce Hat
Wendell Cox, Wall Street Journal, October 18, 2013 From the mid-20th century on, sunny, prosperous Florida epitomized the growing American state. Its decline and fall in 2007 and its current resurgence owe a lot to how the state embraced, and later broke up with,...
Featured News
Time to Stop Lockdowns, Vaccine Mandates and Crushing Our Charter of Rights
If one was to discuss the state of the world’s democracies in September of 2019, it would look entirely different than it does today in 2022. Three years ago, Canadians generally thought that: our democracy was relatively strong and citizens would defend their...
Propaganda Rules the World
One of the greatest books that explain how the world works is Propaganda by Edward Bernays. The man dubbed “the father of public relations” applied the psychological ideas of his uncle Sigmund Freud upon the masses, triggering their basic motivations to the benefit of...
Fracking Brings Employment and Economic Revival: But anti-energy activists promote falsehoods about this vital, safe job-creating technology. They inhabit a callous parallel universe and wage war on cheap energy, jobs and the poor.
Signs of pride and prosperity were evident all over Williamsport and the gorgeous northern Pennsylvania countryside around it. Friendly, happy people greeted us. New cars, trucks, hotels and restaurants sparkled in a clean, bustling downtown. New roofs topped barns and houses, while late model tractors worked the fields. Formerly dirt roads are now paved.
Costs and Benefits
The Province's majority NDP government has released another media release praising its plans and actions "to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and become better able to withstand climate change". Publius wonders if the Province's taxpayers, ratepayers and...
A View On A Room: The rooming house debate pits socialist golf-shirters against free-market hippies
Part of the problem with rooming houses in Regina comes from the way they’re defined. According to the city’s manager of neighbourhood planning, Yves Richard, the definition isn’t broad enough.
Job Training is Best Left to the Provinces
The federal government has decided to withdraw funding for provincial job programs. While downloading funding responsibility to the provinces makes sense, since they are better able to administer such local initiatives, the federal government needs to free up tax revenue for the provinces to fund these programs.
Trip-Sharing is Giving Cabs a Rough Ride
Canada’s taxi industry enriches a tiny minority, exploits drivers and provides expensive and spotty services for many people highly dependent on cabs, such as women and the poor. It increases the rate of car ownership, as people who might otherwise rely on cabs find poor availability and high fares work against them. Finally, it prevents us getting full value from the millions of privately owned cars on the road. Fortunately, help is on the way.
Natural Gas Versus Hydro
The energy debate in Manitoba is slowly getting around to looking at a proposition I advanced when I was with the Manitoba Sustainable Energy Association that involves deploying scalable natural gas systems as an alternative to large, long lead time hydro dams.
In my opinion, there is a need to move towards a more distributed model of producing energy in this province. As I described in 2009, it is possible that moving towards a combination of a distributed energy generation and smart grids could…
- improve the security of supply of energy across Manitoba;
- distribute benefits associated with electrical energy production more equitably throughout Manitoba;
- encourage the adoption of combined heat-and-power energy systems in agricultural, commercial, industrial and institutional settings;
- reduce greenhouse gas emissions and negative environmental impacts associated with energy mega-project development;
- create a platform to implement demand-side energy management systems and time-of-use rates;
- more fully utilize existing electrical transmission and distribution assets throughout Manitoba.
What Lessons Will We Learn From the Lac Mégantic Tragedy?
The explosion, shocking loss of life and the incineration of idyllic downtown Lac Mégantic, Québec, is a catastrophe for the ages. The tragedy, however, allows us to learn new lessons. The Transportation Safety Board will investigate the causes of the accident, and wider policy questions are being asked about the security of towns built along rail lines and the safety of transporting oil by rail.
If!
With the release of a predictable report by the Clean Environment Commission, one that criticizes elements of Manitoba Hydro's Bipole III plans and actions while setting out 'reachable' conditions for Hydro moving ahead on the $4 or $5 or ? billion project, the 'green...
David Suzuki and the rise of New Xenophobia
David Suzuki made a statement that Canada’s immigration policy is disgusting and that the country is already full. He implies that the environment will be harmed by more people in Canada and that immigration inevitably translates into an irreplaceable loss of skill to the countries of origin. People reject newcomers for a variety of reasons, but Suzuki’s fears are not the old-fashioned xenophobia with which we are all familiar.