Executive Summary The various federal political parties are all promoting the policy agendas they believe will foster a sustainably high quality of life for all Canadians. It remains to be seen whether they will attain the success that they aim to achieve. In some...
Ian Madsen
Climate Absolutism Works Against LNG, East Coast Pipeline Debate
The recent visit of the Chancellor of Germany, Olaf Scholz, to Atlantic Canada was an opportunity for a serious long term strategy to address several different aims: European Union (EU) energy security, East Coast economic development, Canadian energy industry growth...
Environmental Fakery Makes the ‘E’ in ESG Standards Total Nonsense
The adoption of Environmental, Social and Governance, ‘ESG’, standards by institutional investors is meant to cajole, if not compel, investible companies to adhere to rigid rules and criteria established by investors or outside entities, such as consultants to satisfy...
Lessening Saskatchewan’s Reliance on Commodity Bonanzas
Saskatchewan is the beneficiary of elevated pricing and improved long term prospects for nearly all of the many commodities it produces: grain, oilseeds, oil, gas, potash, uranium, and even gold, copper and forestry products. While this very good news for both its...
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Timeless Wisdom – The Politics of Successful Structural Reform
It’s a well-known pattern in public policy – profligate politicians damaging their economies with out-of-control spending, massive borrowing and higher taxes – inevitably leading to fiscal crisis, sharp declines in growth and ultimately rapidly falling currency value...
Canada’s National Hysteria in the 21st Century
Mass hysteria is the spontaneous manifestation of a particular behaviour by many people. There are numerous historical examples: Middle Age nuns at a convent in France spontaneously began to meow like cats; at another convent, nuns began biting one another. In...
Bluesky Opportunity for the Bluenose Province : A Valuation and Strategic Appraisal of Halifax Robert L. Stanfield International Airport (YHZ)
Taxpayers Will Benefit If YHZ Is Privatized - Selling off all, or part of, Halifax’s International Airport YHZ is the airport serving the metropolitan Halifax-Dartmouth, Nova Scotia that is ultimately managed and owned by the federal government. The airport has...
Opportunity Takes Flight on the Prairies: A Valuation & Strategic Appraisal of Winnipeg J.A.Richardson International Airport
YWG is the airport serving the metropolitan Winnipeg area that is ultimately managed and owned by the federal government. The airport has positive operating cash flow and positive returns on assets, equity, and capital employed. But as it stands, the airport’s debt...
CBC Subsidies Would have paid for Pandemic Supplies many Times Over
Two of the major issues surrounding the current medical emergency and lockdown are how much it would cost to prepare for a similar such emergency, and how would Canadians pay for it – as well as pay for the one we are enduring right now. Potential answers are already...
COVID-19 Overshadows 75th Anniversary of Victory in Europe and the Lessons Learned
Seventy-five years ago Western Allied forces formally accepted the surrender of Nazi High Command leaders in Germany, ending World War II in Europe. The Wehrmacht fought the Soviet Red Army another day, surrendering on the 9th of May. Victory in Europe (VE) Day is...
Congestion and User Fees, Someone will Ultimately Pay
Recently, the US state of Oregon has become the latest devotee of a variation of congestion charging; a sort of tax on road use, that is more commonly directed at motorists and commercial vehicle drivers who access the central area of a city, presumably adding to...
Dependence on any one Foreign Nation is Unhealthy; in the case of China, all too Literally So
Of late, it has been remarked that most of the active ingredients for key pharmaceuticals in North America come from abroad - usually from China; in the case of generics, often from India. In turn, India often imports its key ingredients from China. So, diverting...
A Proposed Framework for Confronting Future Pandemics, or National Emergencies
As most of the nations of the developed world, including Canada, failed to prepare adequately for the current deadly COVID-19 pandemic, questions remain about what steps should be taken to forestall, or substantially mitigate the next microbial conflagration. While...
Rising Unemployment Poses a Threat to CMHC, Mortgage Insurer to High-Risk Home Buyers
The shutdowns ordered by governments in Canada to slow the spread of the Covid-19 novel coronavirus have caused unemployment to leap. Most of the millions of workers laid off thus far have been low- and lower-middle-income wage earners, just the sort of people who may...
Challenge To Create a Truly Credible Global Warming Mitigation and Adaptation Plan
In the past few months, we have been treated to the dire and angry imprecations and accusations of the new climate absolutists, who demand total obeisance to their escalating demands and putative authority. Any critics or doubters of catastrophic anthropogenic global...