Changes could also lead to rise in illegal workers
Canada’s recent changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) are slamming the door on low-skilled workers trying to come to Canada, and in some cases to stay in the country. To some, this might not seem to be a bad thing, but a shortage of low-skilled workers will have consequences in both the short…
YVR shows what can be done with a little entrepreneurial spirit
The people of British Columbia are unhappy will the governance of the B.C. Ferry Corporation as fares increase and service declines. But another B.C. transportation company shows what can be done with a little entrepreneurial spirit. The ferry services it provides are considered an essential part of the highway system of British Columbia. However, the…
B.C. can’t live off just tech and tourism
There used to be a joke that Vancouverites loved the forest industry until they found out it involved cutting down trees. It was an overstatement, of course, but it goes to a central issue I see on display in the debate about Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). British Columbia was built, in large part, by thriving…
Need for people who can tell computers what to do growing fast
The car would not go and had to be taken to the garage. No big deal, right? But it would take a day or so to get it fixed; not because it needed a part or a mechanic was unavailable, but because there was a software problem and the software guy won’t be in until…
How to fix Canada’s business immigration program
Our new business immigration program is not working. The deadline for what has been called our millionaire migration scheme (officially the Immigrant Investor Venture Capital (IIVC) pilot program aimed at attracting 500 applicants from which only 60 would be randomly selected), in fact, has been extended numerous times. Those in the immigration industry blame the…
Why not rezone it for housing?
Twenty-first century cities are undergoing a radical transformation, yet our streets and neighbourhoods are still being planned and zoned for a world that no longer exists. Take Vancouver’s retail space. We now have too much retail space and we are going to need less. High-profile closures such as Chapters, Sony and Target are just the…
No one knows what it means or how to get it, but we know that, without it, projects are in jeopardy
Social license is like pornography, it’s hard to define, but you know it when you see it. Large-scale natural resource projects in Canada like pipelines, fracking, and mines are all running into brick walls of public approvals, even when they meet the legal and regulatory requirements. A “social license” is the new term describing broad…
The short answer is: not even close
Is the world running out of the basic resources and materials we need? One person attempting to answer the question as to whether we have reached Peak Everything is Vaclav Smil, a distinguished professor emeritus from the University of Manitoba. In 2014 he released the latest book – Making the Modern World – Materials and…