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Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Tories Kill Kyoto
No, not Dion's Dog.
Canada's commitment to the Kyoto accord.
Had they killed his dog well then maybe he would have had enough principles to get mad and get even.
But somehow I doubt it, after all he has made his choice.
Instead this staunch defender of Kyoto, the accord and his dog, wimped out and the result was gales of laughter in the house today.
Not because Canadians don't want an election, which is his excuse. But because the Liberals don't want an election. Showing that they are not only fiscally bankrupt but politically bankrupt as well.
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Canada's commitment to the Kyoto accord.
Had they killed his dog well then maybe he would have had enough principles to get mad and get even.
Dion's choice: Save the planet, or save his political ass
But somehow I doubt it, after all he has made his choice.
Dion pledges to ‘make parliament work'
Instead this staunch defender of Kyoto, the accord and his dog, wimped out and the result was gales of laughter in the house today.
Tory laughter rains down on DionOf course when you abandon your principles you deserve the cat calls.Dion drew the loudest laughs as he read press releases from environmental groups who accuse the Tories of cancelling Liberal programs and replacing them with inferior ones.
"And I quote the Sierra Club," Dion began.
"Federal programs were slashed and the importance of climate change was downplayed. An entire year was lost. End of quote.
"But I continue to quote the Sierra Club. . ."
Dion has accepted a Throne Speech that Kills Kyoto, and his Party will sit on their hands to allow it to pass.
Canada Liberals send PM lifeline
No retreat with honour for DionHarper's government a majority in all but name
Not because Canadians don't want an election, which is his excuse. But because the Liberals don't want an election. Showing that they are not only fiscally bankrupt but politically bankrupt as well.
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Rent A Crowd
The right wing press pundits and those opposed to Albertans getting their fair share will make a big deal out of the Oil Bosses Venezuelan Style Protest at the Leg today. Until you realize that the workers there were bussed in by the bosses and paid to be there, complete with signs provided by their bosses.
Also most of them have not read the Royalty Report nor know what its recommendations are. And thanks to your's truly helping get the message out about this right wing demo a counter protest occurred.
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Also most of them have not read the Royalty Report nor know what its recommendations are. And thanks to your's truly helping get the message out about this right wing demo a counter protest occurred.
The workers, many carrying signs printed by Ensign Energy, the drilling giant based out out of Calgary, and wearing hard hats brought by the company for the occasion, said they fear losing their livelihoods if the report's recommendations are accepted.
Whether the crowd had considered the accuracy of the report was another matter; while several said they felt it was flawed, they either admitted they hadn't read it, or, in several cases, that they didn't really understand the complexities of the royalty structure. Many also confirmed their employers had given them a paid day off to attend the rally.
And about two dozen pro-report demonstrators also showed up. Alan Boyle said he worked in the oilpatch for nearly 40 years. "I don't blame these people for being apprehensive because the message they're getting is fear and they're following that. They're scared for their jobs. I notice some older fellas who in the 80s were perhaps hurt when the NEP came in."
But Boyle also said based on the price of oil, the only reason for companies to fear monger about slowing down is because they want to make more money, instead of paying the public its fair share -- something that repeated reports from multiple economists suggests hasn't happened in years.
"It's generally fear and these people are bought and paid for. I don't think the royalty review is way out of line. I think it's quite fair. I don't really see where, based on the price of oil per barrel right now, that any company is really hurting. There are traditionally seasonal sectors feeling the pinch right now but that's got nothing to do with oil royalties."
The AFL issued in a statement criticizing the Wednesday event planned for the Alberta legislature in Edmonton. Gil McGowan, president of the AFL, said:
"These are people who have bought into the scare tactics currently being used by Big Oil. Obviously, they have a right to speak for themselves. But let's be clear: they don't speak for anything close to a majority of Albertans working in the oil patch or related industries." "It's always scary when the people who sign your paycheques start talking about job loss," says McGowan. "But it's clear that a strong majority of workers in this province - regardless of what industries they happen to be in - want a much better deal on the resources that we all own collectively as citizens. And they're not about to back down just because a few cranky CEOs have been rattling their sabres." "Right now, Big Oil is behaving like a kid throwing a tantrum," concludes McGowan. "They're stamping their feet and making threats. But they're not about to leave the sandbox - because there's too much money to be made and, frankly, because there's nowhere else for them to go."
While it’s being billed as a “grassroots oil workers rally,” McGowan wondered how it could be when most of the companies don’t work in the northern Alberta oil patch, including Fort McMurray. He added those involved are mostly natural gas employers. At a time when many industry players have already admitted the gas industry is slowing as basins mature and prices increase, McGowan said these companies are using those pre-existing market conditions as scare tactics.
“These employers have been trying to say their recent layoffs are a sign of things to come when in fact they have almost nothing to do with the current royalty regime or the one being proposed by the royalty panel,” he said. “Their problem has nothing to do with current royalty regime or the proposed one. They’re caused by the recent slump in the price for natural gas.”
As for the claims about the slow down in the conventional gas and oil patch, that is the nature of the business. Last spring was too warm for some patch operations. Guys I know working in the patch who start in December or January weren't getting started till late February early March. This fall appears to be another Indian Summer so again the patch will start up later than usual.
Dave Hamsing, who runs a drilling company south of Calgary, said companies are already scaling back operations, waiting to see how the government responds to the royalty review.
Hamsing has only two rigs booked this winter, after six were cancelled. He fears another bust in Alberta is a possibility.
"The ones who suffer from the fallout will be us, the service companies, entrepreneurs, employees, families. The rest of Alberta is going to suffer if they implement the royalty report in its state," said Derrick Jacobson, owner of a small oil service company in Red Deer.
"It's not threats anymore, I mean some companies have shifted operations to Saskatchewan already."
Jacobson called Wednesday's protest in Edmonton a "grassroots oil workers rally," but the involvement of a high-priced public relations firm is raising questions.
Don't believe me,well then lets ask Mr.Right Wing his-self, Neil Waugh;
Threat of job losses in the oilpatch due to royalty boost may just be a Big Oil invention
But it was a great day for the flat-earth believers in the Calgary oil towers and their compliant, soon-to-be communications directors.
Fortress Stelmach had been finally breached and the Stalmachistas are fleeing for the hills after the Cowtown oil aristocrats launched their third and final desperate assault - code-named the "Perfect Storm."
That is where tens of thousands of oilpatch workers would lose their jobs if the modest royalty tweaks go through - not to mention their double wides and dually diesels.
THE PROBLEM IS REAL
Of course, there is a problem. The winter drilling season is going to be a bust. And the summer one was nothing to brag about either.
Big Oil has already pulled back their big budgets. Rigs are racked and trucks haven't turned a wheel all summer, especially in Stelmach's rural heartland.
Big Oil invented the storm. Now they want to pin the blame on Stelmach, as rig moving king pin Murray Mullen tried to do last week when he announced the "temporary layoff" of 100 truck drivers and swampers.
Yep today's protest was the Oil Rig Bosses blaming the Royalty report for the fact that they had a poor spring and summer and are preparing for a slow start this winter. It has nothing to do with our getting our fair share and everything to do with the weather.
But heck you know they would look silly if they protested the weather.
Come to think of it I wonder if they have considered the impact of Global Warming on their jobs.
Nah, that's just another socialist plot like the Royalty Report.
Representatives from the fledgling Wild Rose Party and the Alberta Alliance, Alberta's two ultra-right wing parties, also addressed the crowd. Alliance leader Paul Hinman, the MLA for Cardston-Taber, called the recommendations a colossal mistake. "It's pure politics to talk about 'fair share' because that's how you make everybody upset, by saying 'you didn't get your fair share'," he said.
Don't Let Big Oil Set Our Royalty Rates make sure Ed hears from you
SEE:
Our Resources, Our Future, Our Decisions
Real Oil Workers Rally
I Am Malcontent
Who Will Decide About Royalties
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The Stephen Harper Party
This is the new logo for the former Conservative Party of Canada. Which has now become the Stephen Harper Conservative Party. The leader is the Party, the Party is the Leader. Hmm, where have I heard that before?
And continuing in the vein of the Great Leader cult of personality the Conservatives are no longer the "New Government of Canada". That has changed too.
H/T to Red Tory.
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And continuing in the vein of the Great Leader cult of personality the Conservatives are no longer the "New Government of Canada". That has changed too.
H/T to Red Tory.
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Tokenism
The Harper Government does this;
Instead of doing this;
And increasing the number of Burmese refugees we accept into Canada.
And considering how badly Foreign Affairs has bungled the cases of actual Canadians held as political prisoners well I hope she isn't expecting much.
Meanwhile these Canadian Citizens want to know why their government aided and abetted their imprisonment and torture. But they don't get to find out cause Harper has approved a secret Star Chamber review of their cases.
And this Canadian citizen remains incarcerated illegally at Gitmo facing a Star Chamber trial and the Harper government has done nothing about it.
SEE:
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Ottawa hopes to make Aung San Suu Kyi an honorary Canadian citizen
Instead of doing this;
NDP calls for review of Canadian Pension Plan investments in Burma
And increasing the number of Burmese refugees we accept into Canada.There are currently 140,000 Karen refugees from Myanmar living in nine border camps in Thailand, and many of them have been there for up to 20 years.
The Canadian government has pledged to resettle roughly 2,000 of the Karen refugees in this country, and the Grimsby church’s sponsorship is part of that initiative.
In fact making Aung San Suu Kyi an honorary Canadian citizen will not change what is happening in Burma. Nor give Canada any sway over the Burmese military junta.
There was never any chance that the monk-led "Saffron Revolution" in Burma in the last six weeks would be successful.
The notion of the junta collapsing and fleeing in the face of the moral armour of the monks and the National League for Democracy led by Aung San Suu Kyi is fanciful nonsense.
The generals have ruled Burma since 1962 -- two generations -- and, as they have shown in 1988 and in the last few weeks, they will not give up their golden goose without inflicting extreme violence on their enemies.
And considering how badly Foreign Affairs has bungled the cases of actual Canadians held as political prisoners well I hope she isn't expecting much.
Meanwhile these Canadian Citizens want to know why their government aided and abetted their imprisonment and torture. But they don't get to find out cause Harper has approved a secret Star Chamber review of their cases.
And this Canadian citizen remains incarcerated illegally at Gitmo facing a Star Chamber trial and the Harper government has done nothing about it.
SEE:
Canada's Not So White Knight In Burma
Burma Watch
Blogs Left and Right Unite
Blogging Burma
Myanmar Ghost Dance
No Reincarnation Without Permission
The Road Out of Mandalay
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Jack Layton PM?
The headline is misleading. Harper may be way ahead of Dion but Jack is right behind him in popularity
And in Qubec Jack beats him, Dion and Duceppe (!!!!) in popularity.
If as the article says his popularity is only 'slightly more' than Harpers in Quebec the same could be said of Harper in the rest of Canada. He is only slightly more popular than Jack. If the upcoming election is about leadership Jack wins.
Harper is way ahead in race for best leader, says pollSEE:Nationally, 63 per cent of voters gave Harper "great" or "good" leadership marks, compared with only 36 per cent for Dion.
NDP Leader Jack Layton scored 57 per cent.
In Quebec, Duceppe's leadership rating (63 per cent) was in a virtual tie with Layton's (64 per cent), and only slightly above Harper's at 61 per cent. Dion was last in his home province with 33 per cent.
Quebec By-elections
Rudderless Liberals
Layton and May Winners
Ouch
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House Divided
The Liberals are saying that Canadians tell them they don't want an election. Actually its the Liberals who don't want an election. After all the past few days have been like the rest of Dion's year as leader, Annus Horribilis.
SEE
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Stephane Dion remained undecided Tuesday whether to bring down the Harper government over its throne speech even as evidence mounted that his Liberal team - particularly in Quebec - is not ready to fight an election.The natural governing party is a house divided. Which means this is the best time for an election for the Conservatives and NDP.The Liberal leader lost both his Quebec lieutenant and the director general of the party's Quebec wing just hours before Prime Minister Stephen Harper unveiled the government's blueprint for the new session of Parliament.
More top Quebec Liberal officials quit party
With a federal election campaign possibly only days away, the federal Liberal party has just lost two of the key people responsible for ensuring it can fight a campaign in Quebec.
On Tuesday, former MP Serge Marcil resigned as the director-general of the party's Quebec wing, saying he has decided to take an attractive job offer in the private sector. While Quebec wing president Robert Fragasso agreed the timing was "very particular," he said Mr. Marcil is leaving the Quebec wing in good shape and there are a number of talented people who can replace him.
However, Mr. Marcil's departure leaves the Quebec wing without a director-general, just as the party is searching for a national director to replace Jamie Carroll, who quit amid controversy over remarks many members of the party's Quebec wing felt treated Quebec francophones as just another ethnic minority.
News of Mr. Marcil's departure came only 24 hours after Hull-Aylmer MP Marcel Proulx handed in his resignation as the Liberals' political lieutenant for Quebec. After MP Denis Coderre, a savvy veteran political organizer turned him down, Mr. Dion reached past his dozen Quebec MPs and into the Senate to name Celine Hervieux-Payette, one of the few caucus members who supported his leadership bid, as his new Quebec lieutenant.
However, her Senate colleague, Liberal party president Marie Poulin, was nowhere to be found on Tuesday.
While her office refused to comment, confirming only she was not going to be present for the reading of the speech from the throne, sources said Ms. Poulin is vacationing in Bermuda.Ex-Dion adviser is now the Prime Minister's secret weapon
Mark Cameron knows the inner workings of Stéphane Dion's brain, and now he is one of Stephen Harper's most trusted advisers.
In the unique position of having served Mr. Dion and now the Prime Minister, Mr. Cameron recently joked that if the Conservatives lose the next election and the Liberals win, he could just stay in the PMO and no one would notice.
Chrétien's book revives spectre of house divided
Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion could find that his old boss, Jean Chrétien, is more trouble than any Conservative attack ads, according to pollster Nik Nanos.
Pollster says former prime minister's memoir could undermine Liberal Leader Stéphane DionBy reigniting his old feud with Paul Martin, his successor, in his new book, Chrétien could do some serious damage to the Liberals, Nanos says.
"The Liberal brand has been able to effectively weather the image storm outside of Quebec," Nanos said yesterday. "Even with Stéphane Dion's rough ride, the Grits are still very competitive in Ontario and urban Canada. However, if a narrative emerges that the Liberals are a house divided, that would be potentially more damaging than any attack ad on Dion."
Harper vs. Dion: A battle of the bland
A new poll suggests the next federal election won't exactly be a battle of towering personalities.
Both Tory Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Liberal Leader Stephane Dion have a "charisma deficit" among voters, according to the Canadian Press Harris-Decima poll.
The good news for Harper is that while his personality is deemed a weakness by 41% -- among voters of both sexes and almost every age group -- Dion fares even worse.
Half deem Dion's personality as a weakness.
And while 38% consider Harper's personality an asset, just 19% feel that way about Dion.
SEE
Adscam Aftershock
Denis Lebel Nationalist
Sept. 11 for Dion
Politics is LocalQuebec By-elections
Rudderless Liberals
Liberal Flap
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Our Resources, Our Future, Our Decisions
Our Resources, Our Future, Our Decisions
Date: Time: Location: Street: City/Town:
Who should get the royalties - big oil or the people of Alberta? Come and have your say.
Participate in community discussions about the current Royalty Review. Hear from respected panelists and join in the discussion
Panelists Include:
Brian Mason - Leader of Alberta's NDP
Diana Gibson - Parkland Institue
Bill Moore Kilgannon - Public Interest Alberta
Don't Let Big Oil Set Our Royalty Rates make sure Ed hears from you
SEE:
Mason Hits The Bricks
I Am MalcontentWho Will Decide About Royalties
Headline Says It All
Ohhh Pulllleeeaasse
Alberta Needs A Chavez
Albertans Are Simpletons Says Government
Royalty Is NOT A Tax
Morons
More Shills For Big OilStelmach Sells Out
King Ralph Shills For Big Oil
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Leaky Ship Of State
Gee now who could have done this? Throne Speech Leaked
Considering how tightly under wraps they had their Income Trust announcement last year, and how tightly controlled all information from the PMO is, including its ability to gag cabinet and back bencher's, who do you think did it.
See:
Harpers Shoe Fetish
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Considering how tightly under wraps they had their Income Trust announcement last year, and how tightly controlled all information from the PMO is, including its ability to gag cabinet and back bencher's, who do you think did it.
See:
Harpers Shoe Fetish
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Real Oil Workers Rally
In response to the right wing rally by oil company executives in hard hats today at the Legislature the Alberta Federation of Labour will be holding a real oil workers rally in a real oil city.
Meanwhile the guys from Quattro Energy Services and their Alberta Alliance pals might be in for a surprise at their rally today. Real hard hat oil workers might show up to counter protest.
Don't Let Big Oil Set Our Royalty Rates make sure Ed hears from you
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Thursday, October 18, 2007 at 9pm to 10:30pm
Timberline Room, Sawridge Hotel, Fort McMurray
The Real Oil Workers Forum and Rally
Come sign our petition urging the government to increase royalties and guarantee more value-added production in Alberta. Make your voice heard. Bring copies of the petition back to your jobsites!
Hosted by the Alberta Federation of Labour
Meanwhile the guys from Quattro Energy Services and their Alberta Alliance pals might be in for a surprise at their rally today. Real hard hat oil workers might show up to counter protest.
Don't Let Big Oil Set Our Royalty Rates make sure Ed hears from you
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Bill Hunter, Alberta Royalty Review,
Alberta Cabinet, CAPP, Ed Stelmach,
Big Oil,oil royalties, PC, Calgary, Party of Calgary, politics, NEP, Conservatives, Fort McMurray, One Party State,
Conservatives Hollow Out Canada
More so called 'unintended consequences' of Harpers Income Trust flip flop and Ralph Klein's Electrical deregulation. And if you believe this was unintended then I have a bridge in Brooklyn I can sell you.
TansAlta Power pushed for deregulation and played the Income Trust game. It also has the right to sell power south of the border in a blended mix with American electrical utilities. One of the only Canadian utilities to have such an arrangement. Thus it's generation of electricity is for sale to the highest bidder.
Jim Dinning the man who would be Ralph was on the board of TransAlta. While 'private' it was created under the Social Credit government and its board has always been open to the parking of former government cabinet ministers.
Today the Transalta board is a whose who of Canadian and American business interests. It and Enbridge both have influential former U.S. ambassadors to Canada on their boards.
Enbridge is another private energy company that was also a Trust when Flaherty announced his Halloween Surprise last year.
Enbridge CEO Patrick Daniel also sits as the director on Encana, Conservative bag man Gwyn Morgans old company, which was another energy company that was about to become a trust when Flaherty made his ill fated announcement, and sits on Enerflex an oil field services and supply company.
Just as there are overlaps between Enbridge Trust board members and Telus.
The hollowing out of Canadian business is not a aberration, it is not accidental, it is the result of Canada's energy businesses situated in Alberta being open for business. The boards are made up of movers and shakers from the U.S. and Canada energy businesses, who are willing to sell off portions of their companies to foreign investors, by using the Income Trusts, which are unregulated.
Like energy deregulation, it was never about creating value for Albertans or Canadians but about creating value for foreign and American investors at our expense.
And since these guys are the movers and shakers in Alberta's energy sector they are also the same guys crying the blues about royalty increases. Not because it would hurt their bottom line but that it might not make their companies so attractive to foreign investment buy outs. But of course that too is a lot of Chicken Little nonsense as this recent buy out of TransAlta shows.
Alberta and Canada are open for business, come buy us out.
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Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing, Asia's richest man, is targeting further growth in Canada's energy sector as a company he controls has snapped up Calgary-based TransAlta Power LP for $629-million and could buy more of the country's beleaguered income trusts. TransAlta Power, one of Canada's larger power trusts, had put itself up for sale in May, claiming that the federal government's decision to tax income trusts like regular companies meant its business model was no longer the best way to serve unitholders. It is majority owned by Calgary-based private power producer TransAlta Corp.
People familiar with the deal said Mr. Li, who already controls approximately 71 per cent of Calgary-based Husky Energy Inc., is using his cash-rich position to take advantage of current uncertainty in the trust sector, with the TransAlta acquisition allowing CKI to become a meaningful Canadian electricity player without yet having to become an operator.CKI has some $1.1-billion of cash still to spend. Potential acquisition targets in Canada could include power generation trust subsidies owned by other infrastructure companies, such as Enbridge Inc., which will likely be sold or restructured as traditional common stock companies by 2011.
Mr. Li's increasing interest follows recent acquisitions in Canada's energy sector by another unlikely overseas player, Abu Dhabi National Energy Co., known as Taqa, which has targeted $7.5-billion on acquisitions in Alberta in just six months.
TansAlta Power pushed for deregulation and played the Income Trust game. It also has the right to sell power south of the border in a blended mix with American electrical utilities. One of the only Canadian utilities to have such an arrangement. Thus it's generation of electricity is for sale to the highest bidder.
Jim Dinning the man who would be Ralph was on the board of TransAlta. While 'private' it was created under the Social Credit government and its board has always been open to the parking of former government cabinet ministers.
Today the Transalta board is a whose who of Canadian and American business interests. It and Enbridge both have influential former U.S. ambassadors to Canada on their boards.
Enbridge is another private energy company that was also a Trust when Flaherty announced his Halloween Surprise last year.
Interprovincial Pipe Line (IPL), which became Enbridge Pipelines in 1998, was incorporated in 1949, shortly after Canada's first major oil discovery at Leduc, Alberta. The original pipeline was constructed to transport oil from Western Canada to refineries in the east.Ah yes Colombia, home of death squads for trade unionists, and now has been given Harpers favorite nation trading status.
Although Interprovincial had long been publicly traded, for most of its life the company was primarily owned by a handful of producers who shipped their products on the system. Then in 1983, Hiram Walker Resources took a major position in Interprovincial, through a share swap. That led to a string of events that included the acquisition of Home Oil in 1986, the creation of Interhome Energy, and control by Olympia & York. In 1992, Olympia & York sold its majority interest into the general marketplace, and Interprovincial became a widely held company. That was really the beginning of the Enbridge of today.
But Enbridge now is also owner and operator of Canada's largest natural gas distribution system, and is building a new gas distribution system for the province of New Brunswick. Enbridge participates in gas transmission through the Alliance and Vector gas pipelines. It is involved in the gas midstream business, liquids feeder pipelines, electrical power distribution, retail energy services, energy marketing, fuel cells, and has a growing involvement internationally with investments such as the OCENSA crude oil pipeline in Colombia.
Bush: Free Trade Benefits US Workers
Some in Congress have expressed concern over violence in Colombia, particularly attacks on trade unionists. President Uribe takes these concerns seriously, and he has responded decisively. He's established an independent prosecutors unit to investigate and punish homicides against labor unionists. He's allowed the International Labor Organization to station a permanent representative in Bogota. He's worked to offer young Colombians better alternatives to a life of violence and drugs -- including the new jobs and economic opportunities that would come from a trade agreement with the United States.
Colombia's record is not perfect, but the country is clearly headed in the right direction -- and is asking for our help. Both houses of the Colombian legislature have expressed overwhelming support for the trade agreement with the United States. And now they're waiting to see if we will uphold our end of the deal. If Congress were to reject this committed ally, we would damage America's credibility in the region, and make other countries less willing to cooperate in the future. As Prime Minister Stephen Harper of Canada put it, "If the United States turns its back on its friends in Colombia, this will set back our cause far more than any Latin American dictator could hope to achieve." By its bold actions, Colombia has proved itself worthy of America's support -- and I urge Congress to pass this vital agreement as soon as possible
.
Like TransAlta, Enbridge's board has former members of the Alberta Government, including the former CEO of Telus, as well as those with connections to the U.S. Government and with Dubai and other middle eastern investors looking to expand into the energy and utility markets in Canada.
There’s a new way of pegging an energy company a takeover target: TAQA-over.Like many of Alberta's energy companies there are overlaps between the board members.
As everybody knows, or will, once it finishes spending billions in the Canadian oil patch, TAQA is an acronym for Abu Dhabi National Energy Co., which is buying PrimeWest Energy Trust for $5-billion, and still has some $13-billion left to spend.
RBC analyst Fai Lee is calling Enbridge Income Fund a TAQA-over candidate. Without actually connecting the dots between the Abu Dhabi outfit and Enbridge, he calls the fund a potential takeover candidate for a private or strategic investor, given its attractive asset portfolio.J. LORNE BRAITHWAITE
(Age 65) Malahide, County Dublin, Ireland
Mr. Braithwaite joined the Board in 1989 and is a member of the Corporate Social Responsibility Committee and the Human Resources & Compensation Committee.
Mr. Braithwaite was President and Chief Executive Officer of Cambridge Shopping Centres Limited (developer and manager of retail shopping malls in Canada) from 1978 to 2001. As of January 2006, Mr.Braithwaite joined the largest shopping mall company in the Middle East, as the Chairman of MAF Shopping Centres, LLC, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. He is a Director of Enbridge Gas Distribution Inc. (public utilities company that is an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of the Corporation), Jannock Properties Limited (public real estate company), Bata Shoe Corporation (private international shoe retailing company) and Canada Post Pension Plan Investment Advisory Committee. Mr. Braithwaite is also a Trustee of Enbridge Commercial Trust (trust and a subsidiary of Enbridge Income Fund which is managed by a subsidiary of the Corporation).
Mr. Braithwaite owns 33,751 Enbridge Shares and 7,637 Deferred Stock Units.
Enbridge CEO Patrick Daniel also sits as the director on Encana, Conservative bag man Gwyn Morgans old company, which was another energy company that was about to become a trust when Flaherty made his ill fated announcement, and sits on Enerflex an oil field services and supply company.
Just as there are overlaps between Enbridge Trust board members and Telus.
The hollowing out of Canadian business is not a aberration, it is not accidental, it is the result of Canada's energy businesses situated in Alberta being open for business. The boards are made up of movers and shakers from the U.S. and Canada energy businesses, who are willing to sell off portions of their companies to foreign investors, by using the Income Trusts, which are unregulated.
Like energy deregulation, it was never about creating value for Albertans or Canadians but about creating value for foreign and American investors at our expense.
And since these guys are the movers and shakers in Alberta's energy sector they are also the same guys crying the blues about royalty increases. Not because it would hurt their bottom line but that it might not make their companies so attractive to foreign investment buy outs. But of course that too is a lot of Chicken Little nonsense as this recent buy out of TransAlta shows.
Alberta and Canada are open for business, come buy us out.
With globalization, however, hollowing out has become a political issue for most industrialized nations. The difference this time is that no single nation is the principal acquisitor, nor is any one country the sitting duck. The hunter and the hunted have become interchangeable. Companies in China, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Sweden and Switzerland are on the prowl. And the prey may be in Germany, Italy, Britain, Australia, the U.S. and, yes, even Canada.
In the first eight months of this year, foreigners gobbled up Canadian companies worth an astounding $90 billion. Canadian companies such as Inco, Dofasco and Alcan that formed part of the industrial backbone of the Canadian economy are Canadian no more.This "hollowing out" of corporate Canada worries many Canadians, including top business leaders. For example, Caldwell Securities, a major investment firm, has run full-page newspaper ads on "The Sellout of Corporate Canada." It called the loss of head offices and industrial leadership "one of the great corporate tragedies of our time."
Despite these warnings, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has left no doubt that he considers the sellout to be of little importance.
After months of rising pressure to do something about the supposed threat that foreigners will buy up too many Canadian companies, the federal government this week responded in almost exactly the right way: with a policy of tough-talking inaction.
Canada is not drifting towards protectionism despite a government promise to look into the country's foreign investment rules, according to Jim Flaherty, finance minister."We cannot turn our backs on what's happening in global trade nor would we want to," Mr Flaherty told the Financial Times. "You are not going to see a protectionist Canada."
Four out of five of Canada's leading CEOs think Ottawa should impose new restrictions on takeovers by foreign state-owned firms and seven out of 10 favour reviewing acquisitions by outsiders for national security concerns.
These survey results of Canadian Council of Chief Executives (CCCE) members are being released today as part of an effort by the 150-CEO group to address public fears about a "hollowing out" of Corporate Canada's head offices.
"The world is awash in capital despite the current credit squeeze and some of the biggest players wandering around snapping up companies have very deep pockets and happen to be state-owned players," said Thomas d'Aquino, president of the CCCE.
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