During the whole of recorded history, the empire has been the most constant and common form of political organization. A basic, self-evident feature of all empire-building has been the successful occupation of the lands of the local, Indigenous inhabitants by outside...
Results for "Residential"
Elite influence is No Myth
Do you believe “Big events (wars, recessions, elections) are controlled by small groups secretly working against rest of us”? Abacus surveyed 1500 Canadians on that question, and 44 percent agreed. However, the pollster characterized those who “believe dangerous...
Happy Canada Day!
Canada Day is recognized in our calendars, but some organizers have been spooked by last summer’s hysteria about 215 Indigenous children murdered and secretly buried at Kamloops. Following that news, churches were set on fire, statues were toppled, and a panicked...
One Year Later Still no Evidence of Unmarked Graves
Brian Giesbrecht is a retired judge of the Provincial Court of Manitoba, Nina Green is an independent researcher, and Tom Flanagan is professor emeritus of political science at the University of Calgary. May 27, 2022 marked the one year anniversary of a...
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Copper is Signaling Expansion and Rising Inflation; Gold and Silver are Confirming Those Trends
The price of copper has long been a bellwether for economic conditions. The price is strongly correlated to economic activity, industrial production and economic growth in general. It is also highly correlated with the Canadian dollar and economy. The red metal’s...
Climate Pandering is Self-Defeating for Canadian Banks
Canada’s national policy to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 necessitates divesting from fossil fuels. There is just one problem: massive outstanding loans from banks to the oil and gas industries. The oil and gas sector makes up more than 10 per cent of the...
Smart Grids – Adam Smith or Orwell?
A quick scan of blogs and media coverage of Smart Grids for electricity quickly reveals a fear of a system that could have been envisaged by Orwell. Fears of big brother type of systems are given voice by many, including Lawrence Solomon at the National Post.
Under the so-called “smart grid” that the UK is developing, the government-regulated utility will be able to decide when and where power should be delivered, to ensure that it meets the highest social purpose. Governments may, for example, decide that the needs of key industries take precedence over others, or that the needs of industry trump that of residential consumers. Governments would also be able to price power prohibitively if it is used for non-essential purposes.
Leveling the playing field when developing off-reserve band lands
One of the most crucial elements is the signing of a municipal services agreement which includes tax loss compensation. This is to offset the tax exempt status of the reserves commercial and real estate holdings.
A “Peak” at an Example of a Smart Grid System
Smart Grids for electrical utilities offer the potential to transform how electricity is produced, transmitted and consumed. In some respects, it represents a comparable type of change to what the Internet introduced into traditional switched circuit voice networks and point-to-point host-terminal computing systems. By linking users, producers and transmission operators into a dynamic and interactive network, Smart Grids offer the potential to increase the utilization of generating assets and create a platform that can introduce real-time competition into all parts of the energy markets.
The Globe and Mail has published an article that provides one illustrative example of how a Smart Grid application can and does work to improve the operations of power networks.
Manitoba Hydro: Reforming the Jurassic Crown (Part 7 of 8)
Manitoba Hydro needs a full mandate review and governance overhaul if it is to serve the people of Manitoba and become the engine of economic growth it ought to be.
Reaganomics: What We Learned: From December 1982 to June 1990, Reaganomics created over 21 million jobs. The right policies can do it again
For 16 years prior to Ronald Reagan’s presidency, the U.S. economy was in a tailspin—a result of bipartisan ignorance that resulted in tax increases, dollar devaluations, wage and price controls, minimum-wage hikes, misguided spending, pandering to unions, protectionist measures and other policy mistakes.
Foreign Investment is No Panacea
Terrence Corcoran take the government to task today in an article at the Financial Post. He asserts that the government has muddled their priorities when it comes to promoting competition before liberalizing rules governing foreign investment.
The future promises at least another decade of tangled policy, court battles and regulatory chaos — and delayed innovation. No other outcome is possible so long as the government intends to set the policy agenda exactly backward. The plan, as frequently outlined by Industry Minister Tony Clement, is to first get all the spectrum allocated and settle all the competition issues, including installing a range of competing companies. Only then will the government look at changing foreign-ownership regulations.
Captive Customer, Captive Supplier – Captive Government?
The discussion and debate related to usage-based billing of broadband communications essentially comes down to one problem. Residential customers in Canada for the most part are captive customer of one, two or three alternative service providers due to the nature of their connection from the residence to the network.
What most people forget is those connections, whether they be twisted pair copper cables or coaxial CATV cables, were deployed under a regulated monopoly regime mandated and enforced by public policy. When deregulation and competition was introduced into those sectors, the process did not include un-bundling that last mile link so that open and vigorous competition could emerge for the demand of residential customers.
Urban Sprawl Rules Choking Toronto Development: Building Industry
“Provincial guidelines intended to contain urban sprawl in the Greater Toronto Area are choking development, according to the building industry, pushing the value of single-family homes above $500,000 in 2010 as developers struggled to find land they are allowed to build upon.”
Joel Kotkin: Why Housing Affordability Matters
“Uber Geographer” Joel Kotkin weighs in on the housing affordability debate, arguing that limits imposed on housing supply by housing ethoses such as “smart growth” are taking us to a paradigm of neo-feudalism.