Canada's export credit agency is good at what it does. But part of that is taking risks with taxpayers’ money. It's time for that to end
Export Development Canada (EDC) has a big problem – the kind of problem Crown corporations have no business courting. Canada’s export credit agency, EDC loaned Turquoise Hill Resources, a mining company, $1 billion. Unfortunately, Turquoise Hill allegedly transferred a considerable amount of money offshore to minimize the taxes it pays in Canada. EDC’s mission is…
Selling slow-moving, inflexible Toronto Hydro would benefit both taxpayers’ pocketbooks and the service they receive
Increasingly, Toronto Hydro Corp. poses an expensive risk to all Toronto citizens. The century-old electricity distribution company’s aging equipment is breaking down, and the utility can’t keep up with the building boom in the Greater Toronto Area. It can take months for a new building to get connected. Last week, the Frontier Centre for Public…
Unsustainable debts, regulatory structure and evolving market conditions are holding utilities back
North American power utilities are grappling with a growing crisis and dramatic changes are needed. Nearly all the utilities on the continent (privately held or Crown corporations), and even some Brazilian hydroelectric companies that trade on the New York Stock Exchange, have negligible or outright negative free cash flow. The reasons should concern Canadian taxpayers…
The space race is on and the payoff is an untold cache of precious metals, large enough to completely dwarf the world's biggest mining companies
While not literally pie in the sky, asteroid mining used to be science fiction. It's getting closer to reality. Various private space companies have focused on launching satellites, with hazy side-bets on future colonization ventures. And now, technological advances make mining asteroids a legitimate prospect. There are millions of asteroids in space, many orbiting between…
The uncertain future of Puerto Rico's badly managed power utility (PREPA) should serve as a clear warning to several provincial governments
Public power utilities from B.C. to Newfoundland have expanded enormously, adding copious debt to provinces. This has burdened consumers and businesses with increasingly high power bills and will eventually lower their standards of living. With unsustainable debts, the provinces are going to be in trouble and restructuring looms for these companies. What’s happening in Puerto…
Companies in the U.S. will have more cash to give pay raises to employees, increase investment or raise dividends
Canada needs significant corporate tax reform to remain competitive with the United States. Federal and provincial policy-makers need to act quickly. A contentious but mostly growth-boosting tax system overhaul finally passed through the United States Congress shortly before Christmas and was signed into law by President Donald Trump. While it didn’t simplify and clean up…
It’s time to focus on preserving public safety while permitting a market system to thrive through the entire supply chain, from producer to consumer
By Alex Whalen and Ian Madsen Contributors In October 2012, Gerard Comeau left his home in Tracadie, N.B, and drove to Quebec to buy alcohol. Comeau, a retired power lineman, knew he could buy the same alcohol for less in Quebec. However, upon returning to New Brunswick, Comeau was stopped by the RCMP and charged…
There’s never been a better time to have a free-trade, investment and work-permit regime between Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore
As international trade deals devolve – or disintegrate – new opportunities should present themselves. Britain is leaving the European Union. Canada may be forced to leave the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) if President Donald Trump’s conditions for Canada’s membership become too painful. Several other nations are in unsatisfactory trade and investment treaties, and…
The energy revolution has brought conventional utilities to the brink, only to discover that solar and wind power can’t be relied on
Australia’s new National Energy Guarantee (NEG) has a sad, dangerous resemblance to Canadian policy. It’s a desperate attempt to make renewable energy projects viable when they’re not. The idea is to always have ‘dispatchable power’ – alternative sources – available to relieve brownouts and blackouts that result from an increasing dependency on renewable power. The…
On the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution, some romantics still embrace the fallacies of communism and its sister socialism
A number of Canadian newspapers recently noted the 100th anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution. The attention was misplaced and lacked perspective. In 1917, a small band of fierce, committed and violent extremists seized control of the Tsarist Russian Empire. They then created the much more oppressive and murderous Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. After the success…
Export Development Canada (EDC) has a big problem – the kind of problem Crown corporations have no business courting. Canada’s export credit agency, EDC loaned Turquoise Hill Resources, a mining company, $1 billion. Unfortunately, Turquoise Hill allegedly transferred a considerable amount of money offshore to minimize the taxes it pays in Canada. EDC’s mission is…
