Trans Mountain oil pipeline faces nine-month delay over route dispute

Robert Tuttle, Bloomberg New

The expansion of a Canadian government-owned oil pipeline from Alberta to the Pacific Coast could be delayed by nine months if regulators don’t approve a route alteration, the project’s builder said in a regulatory filing.

The expanded Trans Mountain might not be completed before December 2024 in a “worst-case” scenario where regulators force the company to stick with a plan to tunnel under land that’s important to a local indigenous community, according to a filing with the Canada Energy Regulator. The earliest the tunneling could be completed is by April, the company said.

The Trans Mountain expansion has already faced repeated delays since it began more than a decade ago, causing the price tag to more than quadruple to $30.9 billion (US$22.8 billion). The project — which would more than triple the volume of crude Alberta’s producers can pipe to the West Coast to 890,000 barrels a day — was due to start operations by the end of the first quarter.

Trans Mountain is seeking approval for a route change in British Columbia that would scrap the tunneling project in favor of an alternative that’s more intrusive — but cheaper — after running into engineering challenges. But the local Stk’emlúpsemc te Secwépemc Nation, or SSN, opposes the change, saying the change would do “irreparable harm” to its cultural and spiritual rights. The regulator has scheduled public hearings on the proposed change for this month.

Trans Mountain didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment. 

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government bought the project from Kinder Morgan in 2018 after the company threatened to pull the plug on it amid fierce opposition in British Columbia. 

TikTok partnerships plentiful in Canada amid bans, foreign interference accusations

Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press

In the halls of Parliament, TikTok is banned from civil servants' phones as the government grapples with allegations of foreign interference. But on Canada's red carpets and in sports arenas, the popular social media platform is still welcome.

The video-sharing app has served as the official voting platform for the Juno Awards' fan choice award, livestreamed the Osheaga music festival in Montreal and even emblazoned its logo across the helmets of Toronto Maple Leaf players for the last two seasons.

It's in the spotlight right now as a media partner of the Toronto International Film Festival. Last year, TikTok set up a recording booth along the event's main strip last year and had influencers host red carpets for the premieres of "Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery," "The Woman King" and "Bros."

But this year's iteration of TIFF will be unlike the last because Canada finds itself in a very different political climate, where TikTok is being treated with caution and in February was booted from federal devices. It’s also been the topic of an ongoing investigation from Canada's privacy commissioner and three provincial counterparts looking into whether the app complies with the country’s privacy legislation.

The moves stemmed from concerns that data the app owned by Beijing-based ByteDance collects on users could end up in the hands of the Chinese government, or that the platform could be used to push misinformation on users to influence the public in pro-China ways. 

TikTok declined to comment for this story, but chief operating officer Vanessa Pappas has previously insisted China has never requested data from the company and it won’t comply if such an order is made.

Experts say the reasons for TikTok's Canadian partnerships in entertainment and sports are likely twofold: they offer a chance to placate worries by showing big brands are still comfortable being associated with the app, but also a means of boosting the app's userbase and coolness.

"It's a hearts and minds campaign," said Richard Lachman, a digital media professor at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU).

TikTok has linked itself to brands integral to the Canadian identity like the Maple Leafs, he hypothesized, so that the tech company becomes entrenched in the country's culture.

The thinking, he said, may be this: "We're going to be at all the cultural events you think of so that we are regular, we are mainstream, we're not some something outside the normal. We are part of regular culture in Canada, for sure."

Fostering that link goes hand-in-hand with deflecting attention away from concerns.

"They're trying to say, 'Maybe don't pay attention to these other news stories you might be seeing,'" said Lachman.

In recent weeks, those stories include TikTok being kept off New York City's government-owned devices and a Montana ban on new downloads of the app triggered by FBI and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken's concerns that China could access TikTok data. TikTok is challenging Montana's ban in court.

Brands don't appear to be put off by such headlines.

Asked about the political discourse around the app, the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, which hosts the Junos, said TikTok has been an “important partner” since 2021 and “engagement has been very strong.

“We hope to continue the partnership in the future.”

TIFF spokesperson Alejandra Sosa declined to comment.

The Leafs, which announced a TikTok partnership during the 2021-2022 season and extended it last season, did not respond to a request for comment. The team hasn't announced a partnership extension for this season.

Lachman suspects brands are drawn to TikTok partnerships because they help organizations drum up fans, attention and funding.

But the deals also have something equally lucrative for TikTok: access to wealthy crowds, including people who may control corporate advertising budgets.

"They're hoping to be in front of the business audience who attends regularly, who can afford the season ticket or the full festival pass," said Joanne McNeish, an associate professor at TMU specializing in marketing.

The celebrities, influencers, athletes and "young, more hip" audiences also make sponsorships attractive because they can draw in users that are sought after by advertisers, said Brett Caraway, a professor of media economics at the University of Toronto.

"Things like sports sponsorships, corporate events, concerts, any of that kind of stuff, festivals, are just another way for them to harvest more and more of those valuable users that they need on the platform to attract the people that they care the most about, which are actually advertisers," he said.

TikTok had about one billion global users in 2021, but a March 2023 report from TMU researcher Sam Andrey showed only 29 per cent of Canadians were on the platform.

However, those ranks are swelling. TikTok experienced the fastest rate of growth among top social media apps used by Canadians, nearly tripling its reach from 10 per cent in 2019.

Yet trust in TikTok was particularly low among respondents to Andrey's survey, falling so far that the app replaced Facebook as Canada’s least trusted social media organization.

About 50 per cent of respondents had low trust in TikTok, up from 36 per cent in 2021, while only seven per cent had high trust in the app, down from 16 per cent over the same period.

Despite declining trust, Lachman said many users don't appear to be concerned with TikTok or its brand partnerships.

"It does not seem like there's massive public outcry saying, 'We don't like this brand, we don't like this content. We're worried about Chinese or foreign interference, so we don't want your organization to be affiliated (with TikTok),'" he said. 

"I've not seen that level of backlash."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2023.

Trudeau announces first deal under $4B housing fund

Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press

More than 2,000 new housing units should be built in London, Ont., over the next three years as the city became the first in the country to sign a deal under the new national housing accelerator fund Wednesday.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he was issuing a challenge to other mayors to "step up with their proposals" and "build more homes faster."

The $4-billion accelerator program was first announced in the 2022 federal budget but applications weren't accepted until July.

Trudeau said London was the fastest to respond to the call for ambitious plans that eliminate municipal barriers to getting homes built more quickly. That includes, for example, zoning rules that limit the kind of homes that can be built in specific areas.

London's proposal, which Trudeau called "absolutely visionary," allows for building high-density housing developments without the need for rezoning and allows four units to be built on a single property even in low-density neighbourhoods.

London will receive $74 million toward the housing projects.

The announcement comes as the Liberals are facing heavy pressure to respond to a housing shortage that is compounded by two years of high inflation.

The Liberal caucus is meeting in London for a retreat before the House of Commons resumes sitting next week, and Trudeau is expected to get an earful from his MPs about the party's flagging fortunes in the polls.

Various media reports have quoted backbench MPs as saying the party isn't communicating its accomplishments well and that Trudeau isn't listening to the concerns of MPs who are not in cabinet.

Quebec MP Brenda Shanahan, the Liberal caucus chair, said Tuesday that her fellow MPs are having "very frank" conversations.

Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said those talks are crucial.

"We are going to have conversations that are sometimes not always easy, sometimes difficult, but necessary because we are a government that has been in power for eight years now, a government that has faced several crises and each time, we were able to overcome them.”

Earlier Wednesday, Housing Minister Sean Fraser said there are unprecedented measures coming on housing, and implied the London announcement is just the first of many.

"This (afternoon) announcement is one of a series of measures we're going to be advancing over the course of the fall that are going to have a meaningful impact to get more homes built in this country," he said.

Fraser said Ottawa is planning new measures to tackle the housing crisis, working with the private and non-profit sectors.

"We're going to need to advance measures that are going to help change the financial equation for builders who are dealing with a lot of projects that are actually approved but have been put on pause because of a higher-interest rate environment," Fraser said.

He also said the federal government will "work to change" how long it takes cities to issue zoning permits and find ways to attract immigrants with construction skills to Canada.

Fraser added the government will need to be "investing in innovation, like building homes in factories so we can actually be more productive with the assets that we have, with the investments that we make."

The Liberals are also trying to signal they are prudent fiscal managers. 

An ongoing spending review calls for a $15-billion cut over five years, and a drop of $4 billion each following year. Treasury Board President Anita Anand insisted that won't affect priorities such as housing, affordability and support to vulnerable Canadians. 

"We're going to continue to be focused on those priorities while making sure that our own fiscal house is in order. And that's what all Canadians are doing right now," she said.

Charles Sousa, a Toronto-area MP and Ontario's former finance minister, said the party needs to balance building more in the suburbs with managing federal spending. 

"We have to do more collaboratively with the provinces and municipalities, and we have to find ways to be constructive," he said.

"We redistribute wealth where necessary, but we have to promote growth; we have to promote economic vitality."

MPs are meeting in regional groups Wednesday to touch base on issues their constituents have raised, as well as unflattering polling numbers in surveys the Liberals commissioned this summer.

Yet Vancouver-area MP Ken Hardie claimed his constituents are generally feeling positive. 

"We were talking about this last night. Whatever the polls are saying, we're not hearing it at the doors," he said.

"We were expecting to run into some heavy weather; some people are upset. Most people aren't even paying attention." 

The caucus meeting is taking place in a convention centre with locked doors and heavy security.

On Tuesday, a dozen protesters gathered outside the venue holding flags with expletives seen during the Freedom Convoy protests in 2022. Some in that group were seen that evening lighting off fireworks in the vicinity of hotels where Liberal MPs were staying.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2023.

— With files from Emilie Bergeron

London, Ont.'s housing plan 'uniquely strong': Housing Minister Sean Fraser

Ben Cousins, BNN Bloomberg

London, Ont.’s flexibility when it comes to its housing strategy made it the easy choice as the first city to secure funding under the federal government’s new Housing Accelerator Fund, Housing Minister Sean Fraser said.

On Wednesday, the federal government announced London would receive $74 million toward its plan to build 2,000 new homes in the city. The funding announcement is the first under the government’s $4-billion accelerator program, first announced in 2022.

Fraser called London’s proposal “uniquely strong,” but only awarded the money after the city approved the federal government’s requests for housing projects near public transit and bylaw tweaks to allow four apartment units in a dwelling. 

“When they were able to add the additional competitive features to their application, it made the decision easier to make London be the first successful applicant through this fund,” Fraser told BNN Bloomberg in a television interview Wednesday.

Fraser said the money is intended to help boost the housing supply in the cities and communities that apply for grants, but how they choose to use the money will vary on a case-by-case basis.

This is far from the only announcement either, Fraser said the government has seen “hundreds and hundreds” of applications from cities of all sizes.

“We’ve now set the bar for what we expect,” Fraser said. “We expect cities to legalize housing more broadly, we expect cities to build more housing near transit.”

Fraser also teased that more announcements from the Housing Accelerator Fund would be revealed in the fall.

What homes can median income earners afford across Canada?

Daniel Johnson, BNN Bloomberg

As many prospective buyers struggle to afford homes, new research from Zoocasa is highlighting what median-income earners can afford across each Canadian province. 

Zoocasa shared the findings in a Monday blog post, noting that home ownership is “remarkably difficult” across all provinces and that median incomes were not enough to afford a home anywhere in Canada at benchmark prices.

However, the research highlighted some “hidden gems” across Canada when it comes to homes in an affordable range based on median salaries for that province.

MOST AND LEAST AFFORDABLE PROVINCES 

Newfoundland and Labrador was found to have the highest level of affordability among the Canadian provinces, where the difference between what someone earning the media income could afford and the benchmark price for a home was just over $43,000. 

Prospective buyers in Newfoundland and Labrador with a median income could afford a home worth approximately $246,459, while the provincial benchmark sits at $289,800, the research found.

Ontario and British Columbia were the least affordable provinces, according to Zoocasa’s findings.

In Ontario, the gap between the median income and benchmark price was about $637,000. Ontario homes were priced at about $920,000 on average, while median-income buyers could only afford homes priced up to $283,180. 

In B.C., median-income earners could only afford homes priced up to $277,466, about $722,000 lower than the benchmark price of $998,900. 

However, Zoocasa noted that the gap between median income levels and benchmark prices doesn’t necessarily mean home ownership is out of reach for median-income earners, as there are homes for sale in the range of what those buyers could afford. 

Here is a look at some of the homes listed across Canada within an affordable range for people earning median incomes.

ONTARIO 

In Ontario, Zoocasa highlighted that median-income earners could afford a home in Sault Ste. Marie listed at $229,000. The detached home features three bedrooms and one bathroom but it doesn’t have parking available. 

You can see photos of the home below, courtesy of  Exit Realty True North. 

ALBERTA 

In Edmonton, median income earners could afford a home priced at $319,900. The townhouse features three bedrooms, two bathrooms and two parking spaces. 

You can see photos of the home below, courtesy of  Yegpro Realty.

BRITISH COLUMBIA 

In Fort St. John, B.C., the Zoocasa report showcased a duplex unit with three bedrooms and two bathrooms but no available parking. The home would be affordable to median-income earners at a listed price of $260,900.

You can see photos of the home below, courtesy of  Century 21 Energy Realty.

 

NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR

Zoocasa highlighted a home in Newfoundland and Labrador listed for $225,000 that is within an affordable range for median-income earners. Located in St John’s, the detached home features four bedrooms, one bathroom and no parking spaces. 

You can see photos of the home below, courtesy of  3% Realty East Coast. 

Related

 

Cameco CEO on production cuts and nuclear outlook

Daniel Johnson, BNN Bloomberg 

Following a production guidance cut from Cameco this month, the Canadian uranium producer’s top executive says the reduction will be short-lived. 

“Our reduction is small and temporary,” Tim Gitzel, president and chief executive officer of Cameco, said in an interview with BNN Bloomberg on Tuesday. 

“In the meantime, we've got capacity to ramp up considerably.” 

Gitzel added that Cameco will increase production, provided it has the business to do so.

The Saskatoon-based mining company announced in its press release this month that it had lowered its 2023 production guidance at both its Cigar Lake mine and McArthur River-Key Lake operations in Saskatchewan.

At the Cigar Lake mine, the release said Cameco lowered production guidance from 18 million pounds of uranium concentrate to 16.3 million pounds. Production at the McArthur River-Key Lake operations is now expected to total 14 million pounds during the year, down from the previous 15-million pound estimate, the release said. 

NUCLEAR AND NET ZERO

As many nations push toward net zero, Gitzel noted that the global sentiment toward nuclear energy is gaining – and that has positive implications for his company.

“With the move to decarbonization, electrification, the race to net zero, and now energy security…there is lots of room for nuclear energy. Countries around the world [are] looking to expand, extend (and) build new SMRs (small module reactors) everywhere,” he said. 

 “It’s really positive for nuclear right now.” 

 

 

Robert Miller, accused of paying minors for sex, to sell Future Electronics for $5B

The Canadian Press

The Future Electronics logo is shown in a handout. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO

Montreal billionaire Robert Miller, who faces a class-action lawsuit alleging he paid underage girls for sex, is selling his company Future Electronics Inc. for more than $5 billion to a Taiwanese semiconductor distributor.

WT Microelectronics Co. says it has signed an agreement to acquire 100 per cent of the company's shares for US$3.8 billion — more than $5 billion Canadian — in an all-cash deal expected to close in the first half of 2024.

Future Electronics, which Quebec's business registry lists as wholly owned by Miller, is a global distributor of electronics components that employs 5,200 workers across 47 countries.

Co-founded by Miller in 1968, the Montreal-based corporation says it generated US$2.9 billion in revenue and US$184 million in profits in the first half of 2023.

A class-action lawsuit against Miller and Future Electronics saw around 30 women come forward this year alleging he gave them money and gifts in exchange for sex when they were underage.

Miller has denied all accusations, which have not been proven in court. In February he stepped down as chairman and CEO of Future Electronics amid the allegations. 

The encounters allegedly took place at downtown Montreal hotels and two residences in the wealthy Westmount neighbourhood between 1992 and 2012.

The class-action lawsuit, filed in February by the Consumer Law Group, has yet to be authorized by a judge.

This report by The Canadian Press was fist published Sept. 14, 2023.

CONTRADICTIONS OF CAPITALI$M

Statistics Canada says household debt ratio down in Q2 as income grew

The Canadian Press

Statistics Canada says the amount Canadians owe relative to how much they earn fell in the second quarter as disposable income comfortably outpaced the growth in debt and demand for mortgages fell.

The agency says household credit market debt as a proportion of household disposable income, on a seasonally adjusted basis, fell to 180.5 per cent in the second quarter compared with 184.2 per cent in the first quarter of the year.

In other words, Statistics Canada says there was $1.81 in credit market debt for every dollar of household disposable income in the second quarter, down from $1.84 in the first three months of 2023.

Meanwhile, the household debt service ratio, measured as total obligated payments of principal and interest on credit market debt as a proportion of household disposable income, was 14.79 per cent in the most recent quarter, down from 14.90 per cent in the first quarter, when it hit its highest point since 2019. 

The moves came as seasonally adjusted household credit market borrowing fell to $17.1 billion in the second quarter compared with $20.4 billion in the first quarter as demand for mortgage loans fell to their lowest point since 2005.

The seasonally adjusted total stock of household credit market debt in the second quarter was $2.86 trillion, up 0.6 per cent from the first quarter, while mortgage debt totalled $2.13 trillion.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2023.

Credit balances hit record high in Q2: Equifax Canada

Iva Poshnjari, BNN Bloomberg

Credit card balances hit a record high in the second quarter of this year, according to the latest data from Equifax Canada, even as Canadians pull back on spending amid high cost of living.
 
Equifax Canada’s Market Pulse report on consumer credit trends, released on Thursday, said card balances reached an all-time high of $107.4 billion in the second quarter of 2023, while total consumer debt in Canada reached $2.4 trillion.
 
Even with those sky-high figures, the report noted that heightened borrowing costs are causing consumers to be more hesitant on spending overall.
 
“Canadians are demonstrating a shift in their spending habits due to the current economic volatility,” Rebecca Oakes, vice president of advanced analytics at Equifax Canada, said in a press release.
 
"Non-mortgage debt continued to grow in the second quarter, largely due to substantial growth in credit card balances and a notable increase in debt among subprime and deep subprime consumers,” the report said.
  
HOUSEHOLD TRENDS
 
Credit habits varied across household types.
 
Mortgage holders and high-income segments showed the most slowdown in credit card spending, as they have more flexibility to scale back on discretionary spending to meet their increased credit payment obligations.
 
Meanwhile, consumers with depleting savings are facing an uphill battle when it comes to higher inflation and other expenses, resulting in a continued uptick in credit card debt, Oakes explained. 
 
The average credit card balances per credit card consumer have risen by nine per cent, with the largest increase seen in lower credit score segments, up 13.7 per cent year-over-year, the report showed. 
 
CREDIT CARD SPENDING IS SLOWING
 
Credit card spending as a whole has been consistently growing since the end of 2021. But is finally starting to slow, the report said, due to slowing inflation and rising financial pressure from high interest rate credit products. 
 
“Consumers are becoming more prudent with their credit related decisions,” Oakes said. 

 

Olymel announces closures affecting around 400 workers in Ontario and Quebec

The Canadian Press

An Olymel sign is shown in Montreal on Tuesday, March 24, 2020, in Montreal. Olymel is closing two plants in Quebec and Ontario and accelerating the closure of another, affecting around 400 employees as the company says it's still facing market challenges. , THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

Olymel is closing two plants in Quebec and Ontario and accelerating the closure of another facility, affecting around 400 employees as the company says it continues to deal with market challenges. 

The meat production and processing company says in a press release that the closures are part of measures to reorganize its business lines and optimize operations at its facilities.

The company is closing a pork boning and packaging plant in Princeville, Que., in November, affecting 301 employees, and is also closing a poultry processing plant in Paris, Ont., affecting another 93 workers. 

Olymel says employees affected by closures will have opportunities to transfer to other facilities within the company.

In addition to the newly announced closures, Olymel says it's accelerating the planned closure of its Saint-Simon distribution centre by more than a year to the end of January, affecting 15 employees. 

In the wake of the Paris closure, Olymel says its other poultry plants will benefit from an increase in capacity and production. 

In particular, it's refurbishing its Oakville poultry plant to add another production line, spending $8 million and creating 62 new jobs. The Paris and Oakville plants had been running below capacity, and consolidating their operations will generate efficiency and savings, Olymel president and CEO Yanick Gervais said in a press release. 

Olymel says it will work with authorities so that the 33 temporary foreign workers at the Princeville plant can also apply for relocation. 

"The fresh pork industry is slowly getting back on track after two years of tumult that forced us to reorganize our operations," said Gervais. 

Thursday's announcement was the latest in what's been a string of closures and layoffs by Olymel this year. 

In May, Olymel announced that around 80 workers at its pig farms in Alberta and Saskatchewan were facing layoffs as it moved to cull six production facilities in the ensuing months. 

The decision was due to "continued financial losses and uncertainty in the hog and pork markets for the foreseeable future," the company said at the time, with losses stemming from limited global market access and high feed costs. 

At that time, Olymel had already closed three other facilities in 2023, including two processing plants and one slaughtering facility in Quebec.

Twitter mass layoff severance fight heads to settlement talks

BEFORE AND AFTER 'X'

Ed Ludlow and Joel Rosenblatt, Bloomberg News

Bloomberg Markets Elon Musk has somewhat of a blank slate with 'X': Social media expert
Debra Aho Williamson, principal analyst at Insider Intelligence, joins BNN Bloomberg to talk about Twitter's rebrand, Musk's opportunity with a 'blank slate,' and how other social media players are evolving.

Elon Musk’s X Corp. has agreed to try to settle claims by thousands of former Twitter employees who say they were cheated of severance pay, according to a memo by a lawyer for the workers seen by Bloomberg News.

“After 10 months of pressing them in every direction we have succeeded in getting Twitter to the table,” attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan wrote in the memo to her clients, which was obtained from a former Twitter employee who declined to be identified disclosing confidential information. “Twitter wants to mediate with us in a global attempt to settle all claims we have filed.”

The company formerly known as Twitter has been accused in multiple suits of numerous labour and workplace violations, including failing to pay severance to thousands of workers fired late last year after Musk’s US$44 billion acquisition of the social media platform. Almost 2,000 former Twitter employees have resorted to fighting their claims in arbitration as the company has demanded, but Liss-Riordan has complained in court filings that Twitter hasn’t shown up.

X is complying with a court order to mediate, a person familiar with the matter said, asking not to be identified discussing private information.

The private negotiations with a mediator are set for Dec. 1 and Dec. 2, according to Liss-Riordan’s memo.

“We are very proud to be representing nearly 2,000 former Twitter employees, in individual arbitrations as well as more than a dozen class action lawsuits in court,” Liss-Riordan said in a statement Wednesday night. “We are working hard to recover what they are owed.”

She declined to elaborate or comment specifically on the scheduled mediation.

X Corp. spokespeople didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment, sent after regular business hours.

A San Francisco federal judge ruled in January that workers who filed one of the earliest challenges to Twitter over severance pay were obligated under their contracts to go through arbitration, in which private judges resolve disputes in closed-door hearings.

 

Twin polls suggest slim majority of Albertans support oil and gas emissions cap

"When (politicians) make statements like, 'Albertans do not support a just transition or an emissions cap,' those statements are not based in truth. Albertans understand that we cannot go on doing what we've done."

Bob Weber, The Canadian Press

Most Albertans would support some kind of national cap on carbon emissions from the oil and gas sector, two new polls suggest. 

The polls, conducted by different polling firms at the same time with the same questions, come after Alberta Premier Danielle Smith warned Ottawa last month not to test the "resolve" of Albertans to oppose such measures. 

"(The results) conflict with the narrative that our current government is telling Albertans and Canadians that Albertans do not support this kind of action," said Joe Vipond of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, which commissioned the polls.

"Our polling suggests that's not correct."

The federal government has promised to bring in a cap on oil and gas emissions this fall. Smith has pledged to fight any such legislation, calling it an enforced production cap. Alberta has a 100-megatonne emissions cap on its books, although it's never been implemented. 

The association hired the polling firms Leger and Research Co. to conduct the online surveys of more than 800 Albertans between Aug. 25 and 27. 

The polling industry's professional body, the Canadian Research Insights Council, says online surveys cannot be assigned a margin of error because they do not randomly sample the population. A random sample of 1,000 respondents would have a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

Neither pollster was aware of the other's work. Both used the same questions, including, "Would you support or oppose setting a nationwide emissions cap on oil and gas carbon pollution in Canada?" 

Leger found 57 per cent of respondents were at least somewhat in favour. Research Co.'s finding was 62 per cent in favour. 

That rough agreement adds confidence to the results, said Mario Canseco of Research Co.

"The numbers for each of the samples are pretty much bang on," he said. "I feel good because everything is similar."

The Leger poll, with a slightly larger sample size, was able to break out some demographic results. Urban areas supported a cap by 62 per cent and suburban areas by 56 per cent, with 46 per cent of rural Albertans in support.  

Results from the twin polls didn't surprise University of Alberta political scientist Jared Wesley, who has been leading a long-term surveying project on Alberta called Common Ground. He said a decade's worth of polling suggest that Albertans are much more environmentally conscious than they're given credit for -- and than they give each other credit for. 

"Most Albertans feel that way, but they don't think the average Albertan feels that way. There's a false sense of social reality.

"Until that changes, until people's perceptions of public opinion catches up with public opinion, there's not much incentive for politicians to change their rhetoric."

Albertans do show less support than those in other provinces for environmental measures that would affect its oilpatch. A poll released Wednesday on attitudes toward climate change, conducted by Leger and commissioned by The Canadian Press, found a nearly 30-percentage-point difference between Alberta and Quebec in those concerned about the issue.

Still, a slim majority of 55 per cent of Albertans expressed some level worry. 

On Aug. 30, Smith's office released a statement in which she was quoted as saying: "Under no scenario will the government of Alberta permit the implementation of the proposed federal electricity regulations or contemplated oil and gas emissions cap. We would strongly suggest the federal government refrain from testing our government’s or Albertans’ resolve in this regard.” 

Vipond said the polling suggests otherwise.

"When (politicians) make statements like, 'Albertans do not support a just transition or an emissions cap,' those statements are not based in truth. Albertans understand that we cannot go on doing what we've done."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 14, 2023. 

 

Japan to Restart Ultra-Rare Hovercraft Ferry Service

Oita Prefecture's new hovercraft fleet will be one of the last in the world

PUBLISHED SEP 12, 2023 7:05 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

 

The Japanese prefecture of Oita has taken delivery of a passenger hovercraft from a UK-based manufacturer, restoring one of the world's few public hovercraft routes to service after a long hiatus. 

Oita's airport used to have a commercially-operated hovercraft, the Oita Hover Ferry, which delivered passengers across the harbor to the city's downtown. In 2009, as travel and service industries were buffeted by the Great Recession, the company closed. Hovercraft have notoriously high fuel and maintenance costs, and the number of paying travelers was not high enough to sustain the operation. 

The original Oita hovercraft was a well-known local fixture, and the service route included a dramatic drift through an S-curve route next to the Oita airport, memorialized in many videos on social media. 

14 years later, Oita is about to revive its hovercraft service. In a ceremony held Friday, the government of Oita Prefecture took delivery of its first new, modern hovercraft built by UK manufacturer Griffon Hoverworks. Oita has ordered three, and plans to start passenger-carrying operations with its new fleet next year.

The high-speed craft will resume a 15 nautical mile route between Oita Airport and downtown Oita. The trip takes about an hour by bus, but aboard a 45-knot Griffon hovercraft, it will take just half an hour.

When it resumes service, the Oita hovercraft ferry route will be the only operation of its kind in Japan. It may be one of just two passenger hovercraft services left in the world, along with UK commercial operator Hovertravel, which uses a nearly-identical Griffon 12000TD. The mode of transport took off in popularity in the 1960s, but has declined due to its high operating cost when compared with conventional ground and waterborne transportation. 

Oita hopes that the novelty of its unique hovercraft service will become a tourist attraction in itself, offsetting the higher cost.

“Passengers can travel more quickly to and from the airport, and they can also take in the scenery from the vessel, such as the steam from Beppu hot spring resorts,” a prefectural official told Yomiuri Shimbun.