Operational and funding costs are huge: $548M in 2019 (before COVID-19) and $597M in 2021
Investment managers and investors should often ask: If I didn’t already own this stock, would I buy it today? By any criteria, Via Rail, a federal Crown corporation, is not a good investment – even under unrealistically favourable assumptions. The federal government should rigorously examine this charitably-designated ‘enterprise,’ then aim it toward one of two…
Without the right tools, we can’t build a house. Without the right people, things will get broken
“You are fired!” John yelled at me as I was lying on the ground after falling off the roof of the house. John was mad because his sawhorses had been broken in half because of my stupidity. I was stunned and just wondering if I had broken anything in my body as a result of…
There’s actually a striking amount of broad-based consensus around energy
A new artificial-intelligence-powered social media tool is showing that Canadians aren’t as polarized about energy policy and transition as we might imagine. Developed by University of Alberta engineering professor Lianne Lefsrud and an interdisciplinary team of researchers, Ai4Buzz uses targeted keywords to harvest, aggregate and examine Twitter conversations about energy and energy policies. Organized by category into a series…
Approving new fossil fuel projects is moral and economic madness
After approving the Bay du Nord offshore oil project off Newfoundland and Labrador in April, the Canadian government has decided to take our climate risk-taking to a whole new level by issuing a Call for Bids for oil exploration for an area one third larger than the size of New Brunswick. Bids to drill for…
Supply management pushed up to 190,000 Canadians into poverty
By Krystle Wittevrongel and Gabriel Giguère New Zealand had never launched a dispute under a free trade agreement until two weeks ago, on May 12, when it launched a trade dispute against Canada under the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), accusing our government of breaking its promises on dairy imports. This was also the first dispute launched…
Consumers used to love to hate these machines. But things have changed
Self-checkouts have long been an unloved tool in the world of retail. In the beginning, nothing worked as it should, especially at the grocery store where an order for 20 items brought a new form of despair. But even if the mere presence of self-checkouts bothered many consumers, Canadians have apparently befriended them in some…
An overview of the extensive training that cloud providers offer to help information professionals
As more and more organizations move applications from their on-premises computing environment to their favourite cloud service provider, information system (IS) professionals need to build their cloud skills. Here’s an overview of the extensive training that the major cloud service providers offer to help IS professionals. It isn’t easy to choose among these excellent, in-depth…
Today’s guest is Dave Collyer (see his bio below). Dave reviews the frustrations of the industry and its current challenges. He advances the importance of frank dialogue, collaboration, and Net-Zero as an economic challenge. He considers the diversity of potential solutions and the need to simultaneously sustain Canada’s economy while also pursuing Net-Zero. Finally, he…
21,000 jobs, $890 million in taxes and about $2.5 billion in annual GDP
There’s been a big step forward for a major proposed Canadian liquefied natural gas (LNG) project that’s seen as an opportunity for economic reconciliation with Indigenous communities and help to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. Partners in the Ksi Lisims LNG project, including the Nisga’a Nation, have applied for a 40-year LNG export licence and…
Energy economy and carbon tech sector have become a 'new buffalo'
First Nations and Metis communities are becoming heavily involved in carbon capture and storage projects in Alberta, capitalizing on developments that would see carbon emissions from industrial sites get buried deep underground. Indigenous groups have obtained ownership stakes for two proposed carbon removal projects, the Open Access Wabamun Carbon Hub and Wolf Midstream Sequestration Hub,…
Investment managers and investors should often ask: If I didn’t already own this stock, would I buy it today? By any criteria, Via Rail, a federal Crown corporation, is not a good investment – even under unrealistically favourable assumptions. The federal government should rigorously examine this charitably-designated ‘enterprise,’ then aim it toward one of two…
