You won’t find a city planner anywhere who would be so bold as to publicly argue the case for cars
EDMONTON: There has been much chit-chat among the chatterers of our fair city regarding the future of a two-lane, 109-year-old bridge that is the main route from Edmonton’s fast-growing south side to the downtown. To this day, the iconic, historic High Level Bridge is visually impressive. It’s very long, and very high, crossing the North…
Innovation will depend as much on social factors as technological ones
Increasingly, urban dwellers are looking for new and more sustainable ways to move around their cities. Technologies like autonomous vehicles and electric scooters may be top of mind for urban planners, but social and cultural factors may be just as important in helping Canadian cities prepare for the future, according to a co-author of a…
The medicine dispensed by the government to protect us has been much worse than the disease
Trucks are rolling across Canada to protest federal COVID-19 restrictions, and millions of Canadians of all stripes, colours and political affiliations are supporting them. It’s time! It’s true that some people have been seriously ill with COVID, but most who have died and were hospitalized had serious underlying conditions that are rarely mentioned. For most…
It puts Canadians' access to food at risk
The federal government apparently still wants to push ahead with its plan to require all truckers entering from the United States to show proof of vaccination starting Jan. 15. The plan creates some serious problems. Vaccines are the most effective way to reduce risks associated with COVID-19, stop the spread of the virus and save…
Four Canadian pilots founded Free to Fly at the end of August attracting more than 38,500 members
Should Canadians be free to fly without a COVID-19 vaccination? Four Canadian pilots thought so and founded Free to Fly at the end of August. By now, the organization has attracted more than 38,500 members, including 2,800 airline staff. In an interview, Free to Fly co-founder Derek Grigor said the time was ripe for their…
Rather than subsist on government aid, Air Canada should urge officials to ease travel restrictions
A year and a half into the COVID-19 pandemic, the only thing keeping Air Canada alive is the federal government bailouts. They’re delaying the inevitable and sensible way out: cutting travel restrictions, encouraging tourism by ensuring effective containment and encouraging vaccination. In April, the government granted the firm another $5.9-billion loan to keep it afloat…
The regulatory environment in Canada makes foreign expansion not only more attractive but necessary to avoid stagnation or decline
A bidding war erupted recently between Canada’s two mammoth and historic railways, Canadian National (CN) and archrival Canadian Pacific (CP), for the American railroad Kansas City Southern (KCS). KCS ultimately accepted CN’s US$30-billion bid after scrapping CP’s US$33.6-billion offer. This is all about KCS’s mid-American location and its extensive network in Mexico, where there’s considerable…
Fed's bailout marks a return to the airline's status as a stratospheric ward of the state
In early April, the government of Canada announced it would support Air Canada through the rest of the lockdown-induced decline in air travel, with loans and, in a return to its previous status as a stratospheric ward of the state, $500 million in equity capital. It’s understandable that the government would want some chance of…
The short-term consequences of his inaction will become permanent
It’s now clear that the Trudeau government will never be known for its operating speed or its strategic thinking when it comes to crisis management and public policies. Right from the start of the pandemic, the federal government was odd-man-out when it tried to reach an agreement with China to develop a new vaccine. That…
Reducing speed limits outside towns of Banff and Lake Louise could mean fewer fatal collisions, study suggests
The number of mammals killed by trains in Canada’s Rocky Mountains could be slashed if the railway reduced speed limits along eight km total of track on either side of the Banff and Lake Louise townsites, according to a study by University of Alberta researchers who used the train mortality record to pinpoint the most dangerous…