There is no justification for continuing to do business with the Saudis or selling our oil to the Americans for cut rates
What is the relationship between these events? Foreign Affairs Minister Stephane Dion announces the federal government won’t stop the controversial $15-billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia despite what he terms the kingdom’s “terrible” human rights record because “very surely … the equipment would be sold to Saudi Arabia by another country and this would not…
Blissfully unaware of the devastating impact of collapsed resource revenues on the entire nation
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has a penchant for clever quips. He seems to especially relish combining them with digs at Stephen Harper. He told a Davos audience, “My predecessor wanted you to know Canada for its resources. I want you to know Canadians for our resourcefulness.” Besides being a gratuitous shot that hardly dignifies his…
We pay a significant cost for investing socially in ideas that can't be supported by fact
Humans have always believed in myths, despite evidence that shows those beliefs had no foundation in fact. Sixteenth century Italian physicist Galileo Galilei was convicted of heresy after he angered Pope Urban VIII by publishing telescopic observations supporting Copernicus’s theory that the Earth revolved around the sun, rather than the other way around. More than…
Step aside climate change, it is the state of our oceans that is reaching the point of no return
Is climate change really the most urgent environmental threat facing our planet? At the COP21 (Conference of Parties) that concluded last week in Paris, leaders from around the world called for “urgent action” on climate change. But according to the most recent report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Mother Earth warmed by…
Natural gas offers an enormous opportunity for a cleaner atmosphere
On the final day of the June 2015 G7 summit in Germany, host Chancellor Angela Merkel announced the leaders had agreed on the need to “decarbonize the global economy in the course of this century.” Environmental activists were exultant. A week later, Pope Francis issued an Encyclical calling for the world to come together to…
The reality is that end users, including environmentalists, contribute the largest proportion of global GHG emissions
Since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution in the mid 1700’s, fossil fuels have transformed mankind’s journey in almost every conceivable way. Agricultural production has soared, transportation was revolutionized, electrical power enabled breathtaking technological advancements and petro-chemistry has provided synthetic materials for the manufacture of everything from fertilizers to plastics to clothing and even heart…
Canada remains the only G-7 nation besides Germany not facing a major deficit
Several years ago, a Globe and Mail Report on Business article highlighted the newspaper’s commitment to providing “perspective” in its news stories. I have long considered that a laudable and necessary component of professional journalism. Unfortunately, it’s all too rare in today’s print and electronic media. One of the most egregious examples of failure to present…
GMOs may be the only way to avoid catastrophic global water and food shortages
The UN’s annual World Water Development Report, published in March, warned that unless the balance between demand and supplies is restored the world will face a “global water deficit” of 40 per cent by 2030. Two weeks ago, protestors in hundreds of cities in 38 countries rallied against agricultural research giant Monsanto’s genetically modified plant…
The only country in the world that forbids competition with the public healthcare system
Here’s a little thought quiz to start your week. Which of the following characteristics come to mind when you hear the term monopoly service: efficient, customer-oriented, innovative, high quality, low cost? If you answered “none of the above”, you probably recall the days when hooking up your telephone, sending a package, or even travelling by…
What is the relationship between these events? Foreign Affairs Minister Stephane Dion announces the federal government won’t stop the controversial $15-billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia despite what he terms the kingdom’s “terrible” human rights record because “very surely … the equipment would be sold to Saudi Arabia by another country and this would not…
