Canada’s federal travel mandates are so oppressive, even apolitical international agencies have stepped up to condemn them. The International Air Transport Association has added its voice to the Official Opposition, citizens, airline staff fired for their vaccination...
Transportation
Via Rail, a Business That Would Not Be Created Today
A question investment managers and individual investors often (or should) ask themselves: “If I didn’t already own this stock, would I buy it today?” By any criteria, Via Rail, a Crown corporation owned by the federal government, is not a good investment - even under...
Is Space the Final Frontier – Imagine?
Other than Covid 19, inflation, the collapse of Hong Kong as a free society, and a continuing bull stock market, the last two years has also been a time of space “development. We have also seen two companies offer space tourism, the development of the largest rocket...
International Traffic Congestion Extinguished by Pandemic and Remote Work
The 2020 TomTom Traffic Index reflects a huge drop in worldwide urban traffic congestion levels. Congestion levels (rated by the percentage of additional time required for auto travel during “rush hour”) dropped in 387 urban areas while increasing in only 13. Overall,...
Featured News
There’s Nothing Fair About Canadian Health Care
For the past 14 years, Vancouver surgeon Dr. Brian Day has led the charge for health-care reform, pushing for the right of patients to pay for private care if their health and well-being are threatened as a result of waiting in a stagnant and overburdened public...
Transformers: More than Meets the Eye
The path to net zero, based on the much disputed belief that carbon dioxide is a pollution, is more steep and impractical than most people realize. Replacing fossil fuels with clean electricity will require much more power generation and a greatly upgraded grid to...
Airplane Safety and Alcohol
Ever since Wilbur and Orville Wright proved that heavier than air machines could indeed fly, safety has been the first priority when it comes to air travel. Engines and chassis are inspected and re-inspected. It only makes sense that if some gizmo in your car engine...
Drive Slowly On Subsidies For Rural Bus Service
Greyhound Canada stunned many in Western Canada with a surprise, summer announcement that it’s pulling its buses out of all four Western provinces. The July 9 statement blames an aging population, urban migration and competition from ultra low-cost airlines like Swoop...
High-Speed Rail Cost Blowout in England?
The Sunday Times (London) reports that it has obtained a secret Cabinet report indicating that “The HS2 high-speed rail project is “highly likely” to go as much as 60% over budget and cost “more than £80 billion.” HS2 refers to the high speed rail project intended to...
Government Should Stay off the Bus
Western Canadian bus riders got an early Halloween scare. As from October 31, 2018, Greyhound passengers won’t travel west of Ontario. For the company, it means 415 fewer employees and two million fewer passenger rides each year. For bus riders in remote areas, a...
Damage from rail car accidents far exceed pipeline leaks, as tanker trains are routed through cities and towns, exposing millions of Canadians to safety hazards. Worst of all was the 2013 derailment that killed 47 people in Lac-Megantic Quebec.
Unethical Electric Cars
Anyone who says electric cars will save the world is dreaming. The adoption of electric cars over the next 20 years will barely shave a single percent from the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. Meanwhile, the batteries that power these cars rely on a nightmarish swath...
Vancouver-Portland High-Speed Train Would Be a Costly Extravagance
The preliminary report forecasts that it will take $30 billion to $55 billion to complete. Experience suggests costs would likely be much higher. There are two principal problems. The first is that high-speed rail routinely costs much more than planned. The second is...
Wendell Cox joins Global News to discuss the advantages, or disadvantages to implementing a High Speed Train from Vancouver to Portland. (~10 minutes)
No Pig Deal
Taxpayer handouts to private corporations are always thorny. They inevitably mean that another business' tax dollars go straight to the pockets of their competition. This distortion also means that dollars better spent elsewhere by taxpayers, or even by governments,...