The Economist On Alberta's Fair Share

The Economist on Ed Stelmach's Royalty sell out. Yep folks his approach may have been balanced for the whiners in Calgary Petro Towers, but when it comes to the market place we are still getting shortchanged.

Nov 6th 2007
From Economist.com

OIL prices seem to hit a new peak each week. This is good news for governments which take a cut of revenues. And coffers will swell further as companies explore new sources of oil that had previously been too pricey to extract, such as oil sands in Alberta, Canada. The province's government recently announced an increase in royalties from 47% to 55% of net revenues in 2010. But this is still a relatively small share compared with many countries. The tax man in Norway, Russia and Libya takes over 70% of revenues.

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Loonie Beats Dollar Benefits Who

And, as predicted, the dollar reaches 1.10

Loonie surpasses US$1.08 in overseas trading

So what.I still see American price differentials of at least nine to ten bucks on CD's for sale at Starbucks, books at Indigo/Chapters. Heck even an American price differential on the duvet we wanted buy. Our dollar is high so who is raking in the profit? Well the retailers are and so are their suppliers.

Of course currency traders can make trillions off the cost of the loonie vs. the dollar, but for you and I well we are still paying last summers prices for American goods. Of course because the Canadian retailers bought their stock at higher prices last summer too. But often our retailers are simply branch plant operations of their American parent company. Which is why Wal-Mart can adjust its prices, so should Home Hardware. While Rona or Indigo can't do so as easily.

Wait a minute whatever happened to just in time production costs. You know the Toyotaization of the economy, where goods are produced and shipped as needed. Should the rising loonie be reflected almost immediately, give or take a month, in the actual production of items. Well of course, but to reprint all those book and cd covers costs money. So the price stays the same on the source label. It's up to the retailer to drop the cost.

Many of the town’s largest retailers say consumers can expect price cuts due to the rising Canadian dollar.

Local management at the big three - Canadian Tire, Wal-Mart and Zellers - wouldn’t comment personally, but passed the question on to press releases or spokespeople at their head offices.
Canadian Tire spokesperson Lisa Gibson said the chain has already dropped prices on over 1,000 items and more will come. The company is committed to being competitive, but Gibson said the exchange rate is only one factor in retail pricing.

"It’s a little more complicated than it seems," she said. "The products you see on the shelves we purchased months and months ago. If the dollar stays high there will be more savings."
A press release from Hudson’s Bay Company, parent company of Zellers, said price cuts started to take effect on Oct. 19. Zellers stores will feature a price cut promotional progam to signal to consumers the products where savings are being obtained.

"HBC is fighting for Canadians," said Rob Johnston, president. "We have worked with our vendors to obtain better deals on merchandise at Zellers. We understand that the rising Canadian dollar has led to a demand for lower pricing and this is our attempt to provide real savings for Canadian families."

According to a press release from Wal-Mart Canada, the company has been negotiating with suppliers for a year to turn the higher loonie into lower prices for its customers. As a result, thousands of items have seen price rollbacks each week. Wal-Mart is committed to 7,000 rollbacks weekly for the holiday shopping period.

Maybe before the Christmas sales rush the loonies rise will be reflected in a mark down of the American prices we pay. Well of course after all it's the Christmas rush. All retailers deal in volume, so we should expect to see prices drop.

MacKinnon said it may be a temporary blip, but even if, in the long run, the Canadian dollar stays exactly the same as the U.S. dollar, you can't expect prices to be exactly the same. Transportation costs, competition and a variety of other factors contribute to the price of goods: the exchange rate is only one part of the picture.

His advice for getting the best deals?

Do your shopping online.

Even though books and magazines that have been slashed to U.S. prices at places such as Wal-Mart, consumers can save even more money by shopping online and paying U.S. prices in Canadian dollars.

"That's what I'm going to be doing this year," MacKinnon said of the upcoming holiday shopping season.

And don't expect to get ten cents on the dollar if you trade in that old folded money from your last trip south of the border.

And beware of all the whining in the resource and manufacturing sector that accompanies the daily news of the loonies flight. Its a mirage. The real impact is declining prices for some resources.

The merger of Abitibi-Consolidated Inc. and Bowater Inc. is complete, but today both companies are expected to report their third-quarter financial results separately in the midst of an industry-wide newsprint slump.

And the final profit report for Abitibi is not likely to be good as its results are expected to be adversely affected by the strong Canadian dollar, rising costs and depressed newsprint prices. Analysts forecast Abitibi's loss at 29 cents a share during the third quarter.

The high loonie is only exacerbating problems in an industry beleaguered by stagnant natural gas prices and by changes imposed by the royalty review, industry watchers said yesterday.

The government's concern surrounds the fact that natural gas prices have remained stagnant and, thanks to the high dollar, Albertans are getting less cash today than they were for the same amount of the resource six months ago.

And even companies with American investments have made record profits despite the price differential between the loonie and the greenback.

Manulife Financial Corp. now earns so much of its $1.07-billion in quarterly profit from outside Canada that one analyst even asked yesterday why the company still reports its numbers using the soaring loonie.

"How do you justify using the Canadian dollar?" asked Desjardins Securities analyst Michael Goldberg of the company's executives on a conference call .

The Canadian dollar's rise cost Manulife's bottom line more than $56-million in the third quarter of 2007, while more than three-quarters of the company's premiums and deposits are from the United States or Asia, and almost 60% of quarterly profit comes from international operations.

In fact, Manulife has considered reporting in the U.S. dollar, said chief executive Dominic D'Alessandro.

But with more than half of all shareholders resident in Canada, it is unclear whether investors want U.S. dollar numbers, he said.

He might have added that the negative impact of the loonie's rise is hardly a dent in the longer-term growth of his powerhouse global insurer, one which had profit increase 10% over last year despite unexpectedly sharp currency movements.

And there is a silver lining to the rising loonie when it comes to some folks salaries.

Surging loonie giving Montreal Canadiens financial leeway,

And remember the Brain Drain not much in the news about that lately, but just wait the loonies rise will contribute to that too.

Your dollar will now go further than it has in quite some time. The US$40,000-a-year tuition bill is going to be, well, C$40,000. Duh, I know, but think about just five years ago, when that US$40,000 tuition bill was $60,000.

And it has not impacted Canada's hotel industry because that industry is relying more on internal travel than tourist accommodation.

According to Statistics Canada’s fourth-quarter survey of travel accommodation providers carried out in the second half of September, a majority of the survey’s 1,300 respondents expect to be busier in the fourth quarter of this year than they were in the third quarter and much busier than they were a year ago.

Because the travel accommodation industry is quite sensitive to exchange rates, the fact that its prospects strengthened in the fourth quarter sends two messages. First, it reinforces the view that domestic demand in Canada is strong heading into 2008.

Second, given the fact that accommodation providers expected demand to strengthen even before Mr. Flaherty’s recent mini-budget, the effects of lower taxes should give another boost to domestic travel and accommodation demand well into 2008.

And the rising loonie is helping Newfoundland pay off its debts. The same goes for the Federal government, and all other levels of government, provincial and municipal that borrow money in U.S. funds. Time to pay down those debts while the loonie is high, and damn the penalties.

The loonie's surge to historic highs means the provincial government will save more than $10 million in debt payments this year.

As of the beginning of the 2007-08 fiscal year, Newfoundland and Labrador had US$1.15 billion on the books in debt payable in American currency.

The province borrowed the cash in seven instalments - ranging from US$100 million to US$200 million - between 1987 and 1993.

One of those issues - for US$100-million, borrowed 20 years ago at an interest rate of 11-5/8 per cent - came due in recent weeks.

According to the Department of Finance, the province paid off that US$100-million debt, without re-borrowing, on Oct. 15.

Money socked away by the government in sinking funds over the years covered off more than US$89 million of the repayment.

The province had to pay the shortfall of US$11 million.

The good news is the strength of the Canadian dollar made that payment millions cheaper than it would have been even six months earlier.

And even car prices are dropping so wait before buying that new 2008. Especially if you live in Ontario and near the border. You can save a far amount thanks to the rising loonie. Add to it the supposed federal green rebate on some models, whenever that comes into effect, and the cut in the GST you can make some real savings.

One by one, the price dominoes are falling. Less than a week after Chrysler announced a series of incentives to keep your dollars from travelling across the border comes news that two more auto giants are joining in the stay-at-home fray while the loonie, already at an all-time high, continues to shatter its own marks.

Honda is planning to give you back $5,500 if you pay cash for a Pilot crossover utility vehicle, $1,500 if you choose a Civic and $4,000 on some Accords.

Ford has also put its foot on the rebate accelerator, offering to lower prices on some of its models by $7,000.

"Right now the MSRP on the car is $2,654," said Ted Hogan from Dixie Ford while talking about a deal on a brand new Fusion. "Ford has added an additional $1,200 E-bonus, they've added a $3,500 and an additional one per cent GST rebate."

Last week, Chrysler introduced a "3 For Free Program" that will see incentives put on almost all its best selling models, including 2007 Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge vehicles, along with its 2008 Grand Caravan, Town Country, Avenger, Ram 1500 and Ram Heavy Duty. Cash rebates of up to $10,750 are being offered depending on what you buy and when.

Ironically, all the rebates come at a time when Canadians are becoming frustrated in trying to buy cars in the States. Many dealers near the border have been ordered not to sell their cheaper vehicles to those from the Great White North or risk losing their franchises.

Honda and Nissan have also followed suit.

"There's also trade-in dollars up to $5,000 on some of the vehicles to try and encourage people to buy Canadian, to buy in Canada," said Honda executive vice president Jim Miller.

"Nissan is in the middle of doing all the adjustments to bring the prices down to what the market is bearing," said Dixie Nissan salesman Greg Carrasco. "We've been waiting for this, so I think it's finally going to happen."

While the Economist reminds us once again it is not workers in Canada that are unproductive, but the capitalist class. Their failure to invest can have a far more negative effect on the loonie than any other factor.

A strong currency reflects booming commodity exports and sound public finances. But not everyone is cheering

the industrialisation of China has boosted the world price of Canada's exports of oil, gas, minerals, metals and farm products. But the country has also done its housework: ten years of federal budget surpluses and a current-account surplus contrast with the twin deficits in the United States. In the end it was the “subprime” mortgage woes south of the border that elevated the loonie over the sickly greenback (or should that be the “Yankee lira”?).

Or perhaps it is Canada's weak productivity and unambitious businessmen. Company profits are healthy but investment remains sluggish. Because of the exchange rate, the price of capital goods fell by 10% over the past year, but purchases rose by only 5%, according to Philip Cross of Statistics Canada.

And then there are the naysayers. They are of course Americans.

Canada should put its loonie pride on hold

Despite the naysayers the reality is that the Loonie is getting stronger while the U.S. Dollar is in free fall. Even if the U.S. dollar rebounds the strength of the loonie may remain according to some market analysists.

FX – USD/CAD

Crude oil at record highs, market-wide weakness in the greenback and a rate cut by the FOMC has allowed USD/CAD to continue to fall like a rock. Most recently the pair hit a multi-decade low of 0.9328, but this support level does not appear likely to hold up as a bottom which leaves USD/CAD open to further declines. Indeed, Canadian economic data and strong oil prices support the case for additional gains for the Loonie, and Tuesday is unlikely to prove differently. Building permits are anticipated to rise 1.8 percent while Ivey PMI is forecasted to fall back to 55.0 from 56.0, but it is the latter report that has the greatest potential to be a market-mover given the risks for a surprisingly strong reading. If Ivey PMI is indeed better than expected, USD/CAD could push down through 0.9300 towards the next level of support at 0.9223. On the other hand, signs that the Canadian economy has taken a sharp hit from the Loonie’s rally could allow the pair to bounce above the 0.9400 level.

Chalk up merger-related demand for Canadian dollars as one more reason the loonie may strengthen against the U.S. dollar in the near term.

Dealing rooms yesterday were rife with chatter about the impact of the US$38.1-billion ($36.8-billion) offer by Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto RIO.LRIO.AX for Canadian aluminum producer Alcan Ltd AL.TO as the deadline loomed.

Retail investors typically wait until the last minute to tender their shares and so the currency conversions would likely take place over the next few days. Rio is going to pay off the deal in U.S. dollars, a company spokesman said. While the exact amount of the flows from U.S. dollars into the Canadian currency were far from clear, analysts said the loonie still had room to rise against the greenback as a result of the deal's timeline.

"The Canadian shareholders aren't going to want U.S. dollars, so they are going to have to convert them into Canadian dollars," said David Bradley, director of foreign exchange with Scotia Capital in Toronto. "There definitely could be significant flows."

Mr. Bradley estimated flows of U.S. dollars back into loonies would range between US$4-billion to US$12-billion. Alcan's shares outstanding are nearly evenly divided between its dual listings on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges.

The Canadian dollar has been on a tear this year, rising more than 20% to 33-year highs against the U.S. dollar. Surging commodity prices, stable growth, a robust equity market and a weak greenback have all helped the loonie. Merger-related demand has also played a role. In particular, the Rio deal, which would create the world's largest aluminum producer, has been a big driver for the Canadian dollar.

"I certainly do believe that the Rio Tinto bid for Alcan has certainly helped Canada trade to new highs," said Liz Bussanich, senior vice-president for foreign exchange at Bank of Montreal in New York.

See:

The Return of Keynes

Loonie Tories Blaming The Victims

Softwood Sell Out

Americans Recognize Canada

Parity

If It Ain't Broke

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Don't Bother Writing Us

If you are going to tell us to Get Out of Afghanistan Now.

The Independent Panel on Canada’s Future Role in Afghanistan
are meeting with a variety of stakeholders and experts in Canada and abroad. An important contribution to their analysis is input from the public.

* Submissions should take into account the same considerations and options as those outlined in the panel’s terms of reference/mandate, or propose alternative considerations

SEE

Rogues Gallery

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Musharraf's Coup

Against himself.

Which Musharraf is in charge in Pakistan?

Why the one who opposes liberal democracy while cuddling up to Islamic fundamentalist parties and the Taliban.

He won't take off the uniform and he won't run in elections without it. And even if he does take off the uniform you can't take the uniform out of the man. Or the dictator out of office even if he is elected.

And I am not sure why everyone is surprised at his actions since he telegraphed them in his musings last summer.

Since imposing emergency rule, the targets of President Pervez Musharraf's crackdown have not been the Islamic militants who took over a northwestern town Tuesday but thousands of lawyers and liberal activists from the secular mainstream that Musharraf has said he wants to rally against extremists.With the constitution suspended, authorities have assumed sweeping powers to detain without charge. In all, opposition groups have reported at least 3,500 arrests in the past three days, many of them lawyers.

On Saturday night, when Musharraf declared the emergency, Pakistan's top human rights defender was watching him explain on TV why such an authoritarian step was needed to combat terrorism when police knocked at her door to tell her she had been placed under house arrest.

The next morning — just hours after she and many judges, lawyers and activists were detained — Asma Jehangir laughed bitterly as she read newspaper headlines: The government had granted amnesty to dozens of pro-Taliban militants in the violence-plagued northwest.

Ali Dayan Hasan, South Asia researcher for Human Rights Watch, said the crackdown, that has also seen independent television news networks blacked out, was a targeted assault on liberal and secular elements of society pushing for the accountability of Pakistan's rulers.

"This is not a free for all. It has been very systematic and brutal and has targeted specific groups of people," he said Ali Dayan Hasan. "It is a coup against civil society."

SEE:

The Economist Agrees With Me

Afghanistan A Failed State

Pakistan Speaks For the Taliban

I Was An IslamoFascist For MI6

Harpers Silence Over Musharraf

Winning Friends

How To Create Terrorists

Say It Ain't So

Brief Cases vs Batons

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Fatalities and Near Misses In Afghanistan

I am sorry but this Taliban rockets slam near Mackay

Is not as important as this Over 100 killed, injured in suicide attack in N Afghanistan

After all they missed Mackay. And they didn't know he was there because it was another Conservative 'secret', 'unannounced', 'surprise' visit. So much for security.

Hillier told reporters he believed the base was the intended target — not MacKay. “The minister was not subjected to an attack,” he said.

Whereas the suicide attack north of Kabul, remember Kabul we used to have peace keepers there, was far worse.

A senior Afghan opposition politician was among scores of people killed Tuesday by a suicide bomb attack in a previously peaceful northern province of Afghanistan.

Reports of the number of people killed or injured varied from as low as 13 to as many as 100. But because many of the victims were young children, observers say, the attack was one of the most devastating to hit Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.

Some analysts, including Wadir Safi, a law professor at Kabul University, agreed that the attack was a political assassination.

Whether or not the Taliban do eventually take responsibility, Tuesday's bombing may feed popular fears that the Afghan government and the international military forces that support it are unable to control the insurgents, observers say.

More than 200 people have died in more than 130 suicide attacks this year amid signs that public confidence in the future of the country is starting to slip.

Though you wouldn't know it by the media coverage in Canada which focused on Mackay with the suicide bombing getting pushed aside.

And we are fighting in the south to protect the women and children of Afghanistan as Mackay likes to remind us. To bad the worst attack since 2001 occurred in the North.





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The Senators Fan Club

No not the hockey team. The old farts club in parliament. That vestigial remnant of the aristocracy, the days of Lords and Ladies, the Senate.

The Senate was intended to mirror the British House of Lords, in that it was meant to represent the social and economic élite.

It seems that the Liberal bloggers over at Progressive Bloggers are all aghast at the idea of abolishing their favorite retirement village; the Senate. All sorts of slagging of Jack Layton and the NDP is going on over this issue. As I posted about here. Not a peep out of them when Progressive Conservative Senator Hughie Segal announced his plan to call for a referendum on Abolishing the Senate weeks ago.

Mainly it is because they put their hopes in the Red Chamber, coincidently the colour of their party, where they hold the majority to be able to do what their Party in Opposition cannot do; oppose the Harper Government. They have no more vision than the realpolitik of the moment.

Read these pathetic partisan posts and you will see what I mean.

Why Canada Should Not Abolish the Senate
It is currently the closest thing we have to an actual opposition to the government.

Senate Reform
The end goal of yesterday’s announcement isn’t to abolish the senate, it’s to abolish the Liberal opposition. It’s another example of the fact that Layton is willing to work more closely with Stephen Harper than any other leader, so long as it’s good for his party

Jack?s Senate Follies

If there is going to be a referendum in the next election I would like to see a vote on reforming the voting system to proportional representation model. Jack has joined Harper’s in his plan to distract Canadians from our disastrous climate change, child care, poverty, and First Nations policies so we can yammer on about something that matters very little

Layton's Christmas present for Harpie came early

"Harper would back plan for referendum on abolishing Senate." Sure he'll take Jack up on his offer. He's not an idiot, after all. He'll absolutely take up Jack on his offer to get the Senate front and center on the nation's agenda. He wants an Americanized elected-equal Senate, as he does with most things. So if these two clowns have their way, we'll be spending eons of time in the next few years debating Senate reform, when the country is not crying out for it and has plenty of other priorities

Silly DipCons.

There is no doubt that the New Democrats and the Conservatives are in league together. There have been moments in Canadian political history where they?ve supported each other?s democracy to perverse the Canadian democratic tradition that has been celebrated for over a century. Conservative and NDP sources have told CTV that the Harper government will back a NDP motion slated to call for a national referendum to abolish the unelected Senate that?ll be introduced to the House of Commons next Tuesday.

DANGER DANGER DANGER
I was just watching Thomas Mulcair on CBC News. The NDP is now proposing a referendum on abolition of the Senate. To begin with, I doubt you would get a majority in every province so it's a non-starter.

Once again showing that Liberals are often no more 'progressive' than their partisan playmates over at the Blogging Tories. As if we needed any reminder.

Cudos go to those progressive bloggers who actually have defended this long standing policy of the CCF/NDP and the Left In Canada. Of course two of these are Dippers, but they are not particularly partisan.

Longheld NDP policy having its day
Today some big news broke on the electoral reform front. On the weekend in Winnipeg, NDP Leader Jack Layton called for a nation wide referendum on the abolition of the senate. That announcement should not have surprised anyone simply because the NDP and it's forerunner, the CCF, have been calling for the abolition of the Senate since 1932. The NDP also announced that they would be putting a motion before the House of Commons upon it's return to have this referendum. The Senate Abolition policy is hardly new policy for the NDP, but what added to the news was the announcement today Stephen Harper and his party would back the NDP's motion in the House.

NDP scores victory: Senate abolition takes a leap forward

Liberal MPs should take note, this is what effective opposition looks like.Despite what Stephane Dion might tell Liberal MPs, opposition parties are supposed get their ideas on the agenda, not roll over and have the government get its way like Liberals have of late

Changes To The Senate On The Way?
Now on the motion itself: I’m personally in favour of creating a “Citizen Assembly On Senate Reform” and let’s them decide what kind of action should be taken, approved by a referendum. But, hey, I don’t think that the current Senate is acceptable in today’s world, and abolition sounds like an acceptable alternative to me.

Though to be fair even some Liberals get it.

Stephen Harper is not Always Wrong
I guess this post should be titled why the senate should be abolished. Let's review our options on the Canadian Senate:The Status Quo:An unelected senate/ or quasi-elected (Harper's appointment of the senator from Alberta) senate with almost as much power (on paper) as the House of Commons.…

And then some folks at PB actually are defending the longstanding dream of the right wing populists in the Reform party of an Triple E Senate as an alternative to abolition. Anything but abolition.

Senate Abolition VS. Senate Reform
With a referendum being discussed, and potentially in the offing, the topic of senate reform has suddenly moved from the back burner to the front burner for many Canadians. This may provide an opportunity to begin the process of airing public concerns and potentially moving from an unelected, unequal and ineffective chamber toward the type of elected, equal and effective one that would be the most beneficial for everyone involved.

When push comes to shove the Liberals will accept Senate Reform to save their Red Chamber. That is perhaps what irks them most about Jacks move. They will be forced to accept the Conservatives Senate Reform as the lesser of two evils.

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An Idea Whose Time Has Come

I have said it before, and I have campaigned for it and will do so again. Good on Jack. And he is teaming up with a Red Tory; Hughie Segal to do it.

Layton calling for referendum on abolishing Senate

NDP Leader Jack Layton is calling for a referendum on the abolition of the Senate, an institution he describes as "outdated and obsolete."

"It's a 19th-century institution that has no place in a modern democracy in the 21st century," Layton told party organizers Sunday in Winnipeg.

"It's undemocratic because (senators) are appointed by prime ministers who then are turfed out of office. But these senators end up leaving a long shadow of their continued presence in the legislative context."

Layton has long called for the upper chamber to be done away with. The idea for a nationwide vote on the issue was floated two weeks ago by Conservative Senator Hugh Segal, who favours maintaining the upper house. He said a referendum could lead to important reforms if a majority of Canadians voted to keep the upper chamber.

Layton, albeit with different motives, is trying to put Segal's idea on the floor of the Commons. He said the NDP will introduce a motion calling for a referendum in the coming weeks, and is hoping Prime Minister Stephen Harper will allow Tory members to vote freely on the issue.

The referendum would not be costly, Layton said, because it could be held in conjunction with the next federal election.

"Why don't we start out by finding out how Canadians feel about it," Layton said.

Four provincial governments, including British Columbia, Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan have supported the idea of abolishing the Senate and the prime minister has warned that the upper chamber might be abolished if it can't be reformed.

Abolish the Senate, the anachronistic vestigial remains of British Parliamentary representative government, which was not democratic. It is a throw back to the days before universal suffrage when one had to own property to be elected to government.

In order to have authentic parliamentary and democratic reform in Canada the Senate needs to be abolished and replaced with proportional representation in the House with an increase in MP's.

And while we are at it lets implement some of those radical left wing populist notions from the turn of last century; Recall and Referendum's. Yes I said left wing because they were instituted in Alberta under the joint United Farmers/Labour government in 1921.

After all there is no democracy like direct democracy.

But there are those who are whining about this being unconstitutional. Must be Liberals. Not liberals.

The true sociological doctrines of modern times can be summed up in a few words: Recognizing that, in the political and temporal order, the only legitimate authority is the one to which the majority of the nation has given its consent; that are wise and beneficial constitutions only those for which the governed have been consulted, and to which the majorities have given their free approbation; that all which is a human institution is destined to successive change; that the continuous perfectibility of man in society gives him the right and imposes him the duty to demand the improvements which are appropriate for new circumstances, for the new needs of the community in which he lives and evolves.

1867 Speech of Louis-Joseph Papineau at the Institut canadien

For a different, but no less thoughtful,perspective see Jack Layton and the Drunken Chamber

SEE

Abolish The Senate Redux

Abolish The Senate 2

Senator Brown

Bully Boy Harper

Deforming The Senate

Abolish the Senate 1

Democracy Is Messy

Conservative Blogger Endorses NDP

Nosferatu Fortier

Whose Canada?

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Spring Election

This is why Stephen Harper likes closed meetings with his volk where the media isn't present. In case he blurts out his hidden agenda. In this case his plan for a surprise Spring Election.

In Castlegar, Harper put out the call for more Tory blue in B.C., even getting a bit ahead of himself in asking voters to support their local Tory candidate at the polls "next year."

He quickly corrected himself to say "next time."

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Behind Closed Doors

Harper quietly slipped into Alberta yesterday as part of his Western Canada tour. Even in all blue Alberta he remains aloof, paranoid and out of touch with the public.

Harper waves Tory flag in Fort McMurray, Alta., but only behind closed doors

The prime minister was to meet behind closed doors Monday in Fort McMurray, Alta., with the mayor, health region chairman and energy industry representatives. [ 5.11.07 CanadaEast]

And despite being in All Blue Alberta he got an earful. Which is probably why he listened under the cone of silence. And in the end he came, he maybe listened but did he hear? Well we won't know because he doesn't talk to the media.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper took his first tour of northern Alberta's multibillion-dollar oil sands bonanza yesterday, then heard first-hand about all the problems the massive projects are causing.

Harper and his entourage flew over the massive mining excavations by helicopter, then climbed aboard a three-storey-high, heavy hauler earth-moving machine. He then shook hands with Syncrude Canada employees.

Back in Fort McMurray, community leaders met with the Prime Minister in a closed-door invitation-only meeting to tell him about the flip side of developing Canada's energy riches.

"We need housing, we need better roads and we need better medical services," said business owner Francis Jean, who is also the mother of Brian Jean, the Conservative MP for Fort McMurray-Athabasca.

"People are paying exorbitant rents, making it difficult for families to move to here."

Other community leaders were equally blunt.

Melissa Blake, mayor of Wood Buffalo, the municipality that includes Fort McMurray, said it is great to have the Prime Minister visit an area that will provide much of Canada's economic oomph over the next decade.

Noting many of the region's problems fall within Alberta's jurisdiction, Blake said she hopes the federal government will contribute money to help the community build road, water, sewer, health and other infrastructure projects it needs to flourish.

The population of the Fort McMurray area has doubled to 90,000 people since 1999 and continues to grow quickly.

"It is the challenge of having a population that has doubled and is projected to triple within 15 years," Blake said.

"The infrastructure is simply not keeping pace under the regular funding mechanisms. We are looking at the possibility of sharing costs with other levels of government – be it federal or provincial."

Last week, media reported people in the area found notices on their doors warning of impending rent hikes exceeding $1,000 a month.

Harper would not speak to the media about the meeting, his tour of the oil sands or any other issue.

Boom has its stresses, McMurray tells PM

Harper tours oilsands, meets with community and business leaders, but makes no offers of help

Mike Sadava, The Edmonton Journal

Published: 1:35 am

FORT MCMURRAY - Stephen Harper may have been the first prime minister to visit Fort McMurray in more than a decade, but he made no promises to help this over-stressed city deal with its booming economy.

During his half-day tour of the area, Harper flew over the oilsands in a helicopter, toured part of the vast Syncrude site in a three-storey high "heavy hauler," and visited employees at the Syncrude control centre before meeting with oilsands executives and other business and community leaders.

Fort McMurray is one of the mostapidly growing cities in Canada, expected to hit a population of 100,000 within five years.

But the growth has come at a cost: extremely high house prices, rent increases of more than $1,000 in the case of one apartment complex, and a two-lane highway from the south that is clogged with slow-moving, oversized loads of prefabricated parts for the oilsands.

Harper did not talk to the media after the "round-table" meeting, but others

attending the meeting said it produced no specific help for the "energy superpower," as the prime minister has referred to the area.

Wood Buffalo Mayor Melissa Blake said consistent comments from those in the room clearly sent Harper the message that the boom has brought many challenges.

While many jurisdictions across Canada face labour and other growth pressures, "the order of magnitude is different here," Blake said the prime minister was told.

The meeting included a discussion of different levels of government working together, as well as the possibility of so-called P3 partnerships between business and government.

Blake was upbeat despite the lack of specific promises.

"The first step is awareness, and we certainly had that."

Athabasca MP Brian Jean said the provincial royalty review was brought up in the discussion. Harper pointed to last week's tax-cutting, mini-budget fiscal update and noted "that we brought corporations pretty well back to where they were before the royalty review."

"It was great news for corporations and great news for Canadians at every level of paying taxes," Jean said.

Monday marked the first time that Harper has visited Fort McMurray, at least as prime minister, and is the first time a prime minister visited the area since Jean Chretien's trip there in 1996.

Alain Moore, spokesman for Syncrude, said there was a lot of talk about the contributions of the oilsands to Canada's economy during his visit to the com-pany's site.

Many workers came out of their offices to greet Harper when he visited Syncrude's control centre.

"A number of Syncrude employees were thrilled and honoured to have a person of that national stature visiting them," Moore said.

After his visit to the northern Alberta city, Harper was flown to Castlegar, B.C.. where he was to attend an evening meeting with Tory party members.

H/T to Borges Blogue


SEE:

Presto Shills For Big Oil

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Calgary Sun Publishes My Letter

I sent a personal email to Licia Corbella on her editorial critical of the Harpocrites reversal on clemency and the death penalty for Canadians abroad. It may be one of the few things Licia and I agree on.

But since, as she wrote back, she had been swamped with letters critical of her stance she asked if she could publish it in the Calgary Sun. Here it is with adjoining letters in favour of capital punishment.

Letters: November 6

UPDATED: 2007-11-06 03:39:34 MST


By SUN READERS

CORBELLA'S DEAD WRONG

It was disappointing to read Licia Corbella's point of view that Canada should seek clemency for a convicted killer facing the death penalty in the U.S. ("Death row inmate leaves PM unfazed," Nov. 3.) In this, I support Stephen Harper. When our citizens commit crimes on foreign soil, they do so knowing the legal system is different than at home. We owe them nothing other to try and ensure they get a reasonably fair trial, as defined by the country they are in. I am not a supporter of the death penalty, but this is not our business. The U.S. is a sovereign country with a reasonable justice system. How would you like the Texans to come to Canada and execute one of their fugitives because, according to their laws, that would be the thing to do? Harper and the government deserve praise for this, not condemnation.

Werner Harder

(Not to mention the killer could be paroled if he's returned.)

---

PUT DEATH PENALTY TO VOTE

Maybe it's time for a referendum on capital punishment. I for one would vote in favour.

D. Gervais

(If ever there was a divisive issue, it is capital punishment.)

PRINCIPLED STAND

Excellent Nov. 3 editorial by Licia Corbella on capital punishment. I must say I am surprised since she seems such an avowed conservative, but I am pleased to see her stand on principle. Thanks for this clear-headed opposition to the Harper government's anti-democratic decision to abandon a long-standing Canadian policy to oppose capital punishment at home and abroad. It bodes ill.

Eugene Plawiuk

(Harper's government should make it clear whether it plans to reopen the debate on this issue.)

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