James Alexander Michie | Blogger: November 2019

Wednesday, 27 November 2019

'Monopolies are very poor for the end consumer,' says B.C. doctor behind long push for private care

Dr. Brian Day outside B.C. Supreme Court on Sept. 17, 2018.Nick Procaylo/Postmedia/File

It should be noted that the Supreme Court battle over whether medical patients when faced with long waiting times, have the constitutional right to seek medically necessary services by paying out of pocket or through private insurance.

Thus, it is understood that those who oppose a public-private two-level or parallel system are concerned that such a system favors patients who can pay instead of those who need services most. Also, last year, the B.C. The government said it would begin enforcing the provisions of the province’s Medicare Protection Act that prohibits private billing for medically necessary care.

Even so, the plaintiffs in the current case managed to obtain a court order of execution until the constitutional case was heard

Arguments

Double standard applied to Andrew Scheer's social conservative views sends wrong message

Conservative leader Andrew Scheer, seen here during a news conference in Regina on Oct. 22, has attracted criticism throughout the election campaign and in the weeks since for his social conservative views on issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)

According to observers, Andrew Scheer’s messages about abortion cost votes on both sides of the debate. In fact, it has been indicated that Scheer is indeed pro-abortionist.

Even so, people have also incorrectly inferred that because Scheer does not personally support abortion, he would take away women’s rights.

What is true is that Scheer clearly stated that he would not reopen the debate.

Likewise, it has caused annoyance in some people who have in fact criticized Scheer enough for his lack of clarity and strength to respond to inquiries about his personal views. He did not directly address the concern about whether or not he would discourage backbenchers from submitting motions about abortion, for example. In this way, one could say that it could have been handled better and even used the attacks of its opponents as opportunities to talk about conservative and democratic values that unite Canadians, such as individual freedom.

A possible obstacle to leading a nation?

Certainly, we basically assumed that each person was characterized by so many differences than any other person that it was better to focus solely on meritocratic selection.

It is necessary to refer to a Survey of Post Secondary Teachers and Researchers that was designed to evaluate what is known as “diversity” among the selected groups, as a result of the commitment of the three Canadian research concession boards, under the direction of the government liberal, to increase “Diversity” among those who receive funds. For a long time, research funding depended, to the extent possible, on two factors, both intensely meritocratic. Even so, it has been indicated that it seems to be about to change.

Referring to diversity, there are those who have listed it as a very slippery term. Likewise, “Diversity” is a word that, in appearance, disguises itself as something positive, because it is positive, in some of its manifestations.

Immutable features

JEAN-PIERRE CLATOT/AFP/Getty Images

David Gunnlaugsson is an Icelandic politician who was the youngest acting prime minister of Iceland from May 2013 to April 2016. He was also president of the Progressive Party from 2009 to October 2016. He was elected member of the Althing (Iceland’s Parliament) as The eighth member of the Reykjavík North constituency on April 25, 2009. He has represented the Northeast constituency as its first member since April 27, 2013.

The weather is always changing and humans are always adapting, writes Iceland’s former prime minister, so people should stop panicking over global warming. Despite the stories delivered by “reporters with teary eyes” about the tragedy of the melting of the glaciers, the fact is that some glaciers melt while others grow and so it has been throughout history, says Gunnlaugsson.

What is absurd for Gunnlaugsson

The responses of the macro-financial market as we knew them now have changed and that is that interest rates are at the lowest point in the financial history of the United States.

That’s right, interest rates in the US debt markets recently reached their lowest point since 1790. Yes, the lowest in the 229 years of the financial history of the United States. That is not a printing error. But the reasons are darker and less conventional than what goes into a typical interest rate perspective.

Likewise, it is important to mention that for at least the last decade, the economies of Europe, Japan, and other areas have been essentially dying, as in a slow or zero growth. Faced with this problem, policymakers in those countries were inclined to the policy suggested by John Maynard Keynes in the midst of the Great Depression 83 years ago.

Things never are seen before

The Great Ideological Lie of Diversity

It is important to talk about a Survey of Post Secondary Teachers and Researchers which was designed to evaluate what is known as “diversity” among the selected groups, as a result of the commitment of the three Canadian research concession boards, under government guidance. Federal liberal, to increase “Diversity” among those who receive funds. For a long time, research funding depended, to the extent possible, on two factors, both intensely meritocratic: the applicant’s research record and the quality of the proposed research. Still, it has been indicated that seems about to change.

Referring to diversity, there are those who have listed it as a very slippery term. Likewise, “Diversity” is a word that, in appearance, disguises itself as something positive, because it is positive, in some of its manifestations. Obviously, it is not useful to establish an organization in which everyone thinks the same or only in the approved manner.

Questions that arise

Trudeau Liberals will turn on the spending taps to get, keep opposition support in minority parliament

It should be noted that after cordial meetings with the leader of the Québec block Yves-François Blanchet and the leader of the PND Jagmeet Singh last week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau clearly has the green light to move forward on an agenda focused on the fight against climate change, spending a lot on infrastructure and implementing pharmaceutical products.

Therefore, it is understood that this agenda will lead to deficits. But liberals don’t care about deficits anymore, and the federal NDP and Bloc never did. In this way, it has been said that we are going to party as if it were 1972.

Likewise, it should be noted that this was the year in which Pierre Trudeau’s liberals were reduced from majority to minority government, dependent to survive the David Lewis NDP.

Things that have not changed at all

'In panic mode now': How a Quebec snowboarder survived six nights in the B.C. wilderness

Encased in an impromptu snow cave, Stéphane Boisvert had been stranded in the unforgiving desert near the city of Golden in the interior of southern British Columbia for about four or five days; by then, everything was a bit blurry. All he could do was concentrate on his breathing.

And after losing snowboarding in the field of Kicking Horse Mountain Resort on January 29, 2017, the then 35-year-old from Victoriaville, Quebec, decided to follow a stream downstream, not realizing he was moving away from civilization. Soon he was surrounded by nothing but a fortress of trees, and suffocating silence.

Without a doubt, what awaited him would be really difficult.

Difficulty overcome

Rex Murphy: Shame on you Sportsnet. Don Cherry deserved much, much better

Don Cherry is photographed on Nov. 12, 2019, the day after being fired from Coach's Corner by Sportsnet for comments he made about people who don't wear poppies in honour of Remembrance Day.Craig Robertson/Postmedia News

Don Cherry deserved much, much more. Only three cheers for Don Cherry. And as that clearly seems insufficient, three more applause for the great old man.

Certainly for 39 years, Don Cherry has been the face, the voice and the proudest celebrant of the chosen game in the country, and Sportsnet closes that race and deepened it out of the air, because the so-called “usual crowd” became furious and screamed Just about what, in the worst case, was a rather delicate phrase that consisted of two words.

Likewise, there are diverse opinions that still exist, but many agree that there is no career in the entire sporting history of Canada, and there will never be another as successful, as entertaining, as lively and enthusiastic as Don Cherry’s. And this is how it ends. There is no testimonial dinner. There is no gathering of hockey heroes, old and young, to toast and toast the master communicator of the game. There are no television specials to celebrate the best television star that purely Canadian television has produced.

Poor recognition

There are clearly many possibilities that could answer this question, even so, there is a tendency towards corporate debt.

It is important to take into account the statistics and it is the same that indicates the history of deterioration.

Therefore, it is necessary to collect information that is useful. Thus, according to Bloomberg, the third quarter of this year experienced the largest reduction in the credit rating for US companies in relation to the updates since 2015.

Likewise, according to an analysis by Goldman Sachs, in the last 12 months, the S&P 500 non-financial cash balances have decreased by $ 185 billion, or 11%, the largest percentage decrease since at least 1980.

Vulnerable markets

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson tastes whisky during an election campaign visit to Diageo's Roseisle Distillery near Elgin, northeast Scotland, on Nov. 7, 2019.Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP/Getty Images

Certainly, the election of the United Kingdom is coming, which will take place on December 12. In this regard, it is estimated that this choice will be of great importance to the western world. And it is that the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union will be like the secession of California from the United States or British Columbia from Canada, a very serious blow.

Likewise, it is also estimated that the United Kingdom’s return to close cooperation with the United States and Canada would allow three of the G7 countries to join forces, with a combined GDP more than double that of China, substantially greater than the EU continues and with better economic growth.

In this way, it is understood that such a change will provide a reliable barometer of public policies that point away from fetishist globalism towards realism in alliances, capitalist economy and Anglo-American Values in general.

Letters on the table

'It's torture': Is a mysterious cannabis-related illness underdiagnosed in Canada?

A mysterious cannabis-related illness is turning up in emergency rooms in Canada, but exactly what causes it is unknown. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press)

Regina Denney’s 17-year-old son Brian called her in a panic; he couldn’t stop throwing up.

It was April 7, 2018 and the Indianapolis teen asked her to take him to the emergency room — but doctors there couldn’t figure out what was wrong.

He was severely dehydrated and constantly vomiting.

“As we’re sitting there talking, another doctor happens to walk by our room and she pokes her head in and she says, ‘Do you smoke marijuana?’” Denney said.

“And he said yes. And she said, ‘Does it get better with hot showers or hot baths?’ And he said yes.”

Brian Smith Jr. was diagnosed with a rare condition called cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome (CHS).

NYC, London, Vancouver Losing Luster With Luxury Homebuyers

Wealthy homebuyers are finding global cities less welcoming — even hostile — to their cash.

Luxury property prices in 45 global cities rose an average of just 1.1% in the third quarter from a year earlier, the weakest annual gain since the end of 2009, according to a report from Knight Frank. They fell 4.4% in New York, 3.9% in London and 10% in Vancouver.

No wonder. There’s uncertainty at every corner, from trade wars to Brexit, Hong Kong pro-democracy protests and a populist backlash in some of the world’s biggest and most affluent cities that are imposing new taxes on the rich.

“The safe havens are becoming less certain,” said Dan Conn, chief executive officer of Christie’s International Real Estate. “It’s becoming much more challenging in the hubs to find a high quality place to deploy capital.”

Corp. Chief Executive Officer Masayoshi Son speaks during a joint announcement with Toyota Motor Corp. to make new venture to develop mobility services in Tokyo, Japan, 04 October 2018. Alessandro Di Ciommo | NurPhoto | Getty Images

KEY POINTS

In a slide deck shown to investors, WeWork said it lost $1.25 billion on revenue of $934 million.
Occupancy decreased to 79% as the company added a record 115,000 desks.
The company is currently paring back non-core businesses as it focuses on sustainable business practices rather than rapid growth.

WeWork’s losses continued to mount in the third quarter, reflecting a fast-growth strategy undertaken by ousted CEO Adam Neumann, according to a slide deck the company presented to investors.

Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Canada needs to wake up to the threat posed by its geopolitical rivals and look for new allies as the United States withdraws from the world stage, says ex-CSIS director Richard Fadden. (Maxim Shipenkov/Pool Photo via AP)

Richard Fadden said Ottawa needs to acknowledge the United States is withdrawing from global leadership

Canada needs to be “clear-eyed” about the threat posed by Russia and China — and the power vacuum at the global level left by the United States’ growing isolationism — a former national security adviser to prime ministers told an audience of military and defence officials Friday.

“The risks posed by these two countries are certainly different, but they are generally based on advancing all their interests to the detriment of the West,” Richard Fadden, former national security adviser to both Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his predecessor, Stephen Harper, said in a speech to the Conference of Defence Associations Institute (CDAI) Friday.

“Their activities span the political, military and economic spheres.”

Diane Francis: Alberta Premier Jason Kenney came out fighting this weekend and, as many of us have recommended, embarked on a “workaround” strategy to get out from under Trudeau and the Laurentian elites who still control Canada.Jim Wells/Postmedia News files

Kenney’s workaround emulates Quebec’s near-sovereignty autonomy, aimed at escaping fed policies rigged to bribe Quebec with Alberta money

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s father rolled out the National Energy Program in 1980 — a punitive tax grab for Alberta’s oil revenues to pay for the Liberal welfare state. Years later, Justin Trudeau did a redo by discriminating against Alberta’s oil industry to pay for his welfare state, phoney climate agenda and Quebec goodies.

But again, the jig’s up and Alberta Premier Jason Kenney came out fighting this weekend and, as many of us have recommended, embarked on a “workaround” strategy to get out from under Trudeau and the Laurentian elites who still control Canada.

The Hungarian Uprising Against Soviet Rule, 1956

In the 1950’s and 1960’s, I lived in Communist Hungary. Because of alarming events now happening in Canada, I am reminded of my days in Hungary and I feel compelled to write about the oppressive Communist regime after WW 2 in Hungary. In 1944, fascist Nazi Germany had invaded Hungary. At the end of WW2, the allied winners divided Europe and gave Hungary to the Soviet Union to govern and ultimately oppress. In 1948, a small Hungarian minority of Communists took control of the country illegally and began the collectivization of land, industry and all aspects of life.

Unfortunately in Canada, we have a similar minority of politically-correct cultural Marxists that have all but taken over Canada and are turning Canada over to UN / globalist interests.

I was born in Hungary in WW2 to middle class parents. During the Communist occupation of Hungary after WW2, my family experienced living in constant fear and increasing poverty. At times, we did not have even sufficient basics of life such as food.

Internal documents: Swedish technical university cancels positions if male applicant found most competent

As a male candidate you are welcome to apply for a position as Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Engineering at Lund University. However, internal documents tell another story: the faculty only provides the necessary funding for the position if a woman is to receive it. If a male applicant is about to get the position, the appointment is canceled. Then the department can make a new attempt to get a woman by advertising a new position, and so on. One of the faculty’s researchers has reported the obviously discriminatory scheme to the Equality Ombudsman, who is now investigating the case.

At the Faculty of Engineering at Lund University (LTH) it is seen as a concern that there are so few female professors. The proportion of female professors in 2006–2016 has increased from 11.8% to 15.5%, but the distribution over different areas is very varied, according to an internal policy document. Women who have become professors have mainly become so through promotion.

This is far from the Swedish government’s goal that as many women as men should be recruited as professors by the year 2030, which is not a minor intervention in university autonomy.

In the case of LTH, it could be argued that women generally are not particularly interested in many of its research areas. A measure of actual interest is the proportion of beginner students in the various programs. According to current governmental statistics, the proportion of female beginners in electronics, computer technology and automation is 15%, which reflects the proportion of female professors in those fields. In other higher education areas, the inverse relationship prevails. At Sweden’s largest departments in gender studies, the female students represent an overwhelming majority, and there is only one male professor — in all the departments combined.

The mining mogul’s venture relies on Chinese cash despite fears over Beijing’s influence in resource-rich countries

When the new president of the Democratic Republic of Congo visited Washington in April, the mining billionaire Robert Friedland was waiting in a room at the Willard Intercontinental Hotel to greet him. Also there were the US ambassador to the DRC and Sun Yufeng, the head of China’s state-owned Citic Metals, the largest investor in Mr Friedland’s company Ivanhoe Mines.

Mr Sun and Mr Friedland wanted support for a new copper venture in the DRC that is set to solidify China’s influence over the resource-rich country — something that would not have skipped the attention of US officials taking part in tense trade talks ;with their Chinese counterparts across the city on the same day. Mr Sun told President Felix Tshisekedi about Citic’s ability to build large infrastructure projects, including roads, railways, ports and bridges, in the country — something few western mining companies could match. Since then Citic has agreed to invest an additional C$612m in the Toronto-based Ivanhoe.

Does a thinking person today have a chance of figuring out what to think about climate change? On the one hand, we are told there is a scientific consensus that humans are changing the climate. On the other hand, the most pessimistic future scenarios strain our credulity. The most extreme example may be the retired professor who believes that we will all be dead by 2026.

The activist group Extinction Rebellion is telling us that climate change represents “an unprecedented global emergency” and is calling for radical measures to deal with it. Such claims seem to be gaining ground and appearing with increasing frequency in the media. And according to a recent poll, nearly half of Americans believe climate change will result in the end of the world within the next 200 years.

Even among the more optimistic, many find it prudent to consider the worst case, but have very little information to help them decide where to draw the line between farsightedness and fantasy. And I understand those who assume that even though some claims may be exaggerated, surely with so much smoke, there must be a fire somewhere. A headline like “UN Says Climate Genocide Is Coming. It’s Actually Worse Than That,” implies that even discounting the exaggeration, it’s still “climate genocide.”

A new light armoured vehicle monument to honour those who served in Afghanistan is seen at Royal Military College on Friday. The monument will be dedicated and its plaque unveiled at 1:30 p.m. on Remembrance Day. (Steph Crosier/The Whig-Standard)

A new monument at Royal Military College will remind its visitors that veterans of the War in Afghanistan live and work amongst us and should not be forgotten.

“It’s about service and sacrifice in Afghanistan,” said retired brigadier-general Fred Lewis, who was part of the class of 1980 that brought the monument to RMC in honour of its 35th reunion in 2015. “One hundred and fifty-nine members of the Canadian Armed Forces gave their lives in that conflict.”

The monument is a decommissioned, third-generation light armoured vehicle once used by the Canadian Forces, purchased from Canada Company’s LAV III Monument Program. While it was never used in Afghanistan, it was likely used for training and domestic operations, Lewis said.

“I think people, once they know that the LAV is there, I think veterans of Afghanistan will often come and reflect on it,” Lewis said. “The message to the cadets at the college is that they’re about to join the profession of arms.

China is burning through its natural resources

China is the world’s top mining country, but lack of local reserves of main mineral commodities forces local companies to hunt for mining deals globally.

Since nearly all essential production data has became available to the public, this is a good time to determine the biggest mining countries throughout the world in terms of their domestic mines output.

Due to lack of a common methodology, a simple principle of appreciated mining points credited to countries comprising the top 10 was used in this preliminary estimation.

For example, the leader in copper production was awarded 10 points, whereas a country sitting on tenth place earned one point. If a country placed out of the top 10 producers for a particular commodity, it earned zero mining points.

To simplify calculations, no weights reflecting the importance of each commodity, and other modifying factors, were taken into account. Only those most important for the world economy and most popular among investable mineral commodities, have been considered.

Central Bank Gold-Buying Spree Shows No Sign of Letting Up

The central bank gold-buying spree shows no sign of letting up as countries seek to diversify their reserves away from the US dollar.

Globally, central banks added another net 47.5 tons of gold to their reserves in September, according to the latest data from the World Gold Council.

There were no significant gold sales by central banks in September.

The World Gold Council bases its data on information submitted to the International Monetary Fund.

Turkey led the way in September adding 22.9 tons of gold to its reserves. That follows on the heels of a 41.8-ton increase in Turkish gold reserves in August.

What is the price of dissent?

In India, Greenpeace is slowly finding out, one clash at a time.

A very public, ongoing battle between the powerful Indian government and the environmental organization that began a year ago with the release of an intelligence report singling out Greenpeace as a “threat,” made headlines again when a campaigner was denied entry into the country.

Australian Aaron Gray-Block was put on a flight to Malaysia last week after he landed in Bangalore because his name figured in a “blacklist.”

There has been no let-up to attacks on Greenpeace, said Priya Pillai, a Greenpeace climate campaigner in New Delhi. “For the past one whole year, it feels like we have been constantly firefighting.”

If you have a bunch of stuff in the ground that other people want to buy, and you can use the money from that stuff to give good jobs to tons of people and build roads, schools, and everything else across a vast landmass, it’s pretty much a no-brainer that you would sell that stuff.

And, for most of the world, that’s exactly how it goes.

Regardless of ideology, political system, national history, or any other factor, it seems that every place that has a substantial amount of oil uses that oil to help fuel their prosperity and development.

There’s a clear understanding that the benefits of selling oil, especially in a world that still needs a whole bunch of it, are immense.

As a result, the idea of transporting oil across your country so you can sell it isn’t really a big controversy, and the countries that sell it certainly don’t allow foreign interests to try and shut down their home-grown oil sector.

Except of course, in Canada.

The Making of the World's Greatest Investor

Jim Simons looked to math and computers as ways to eliminate the emotional ups and downs of investing. “I don’t want to have to worry about the market every minute. I want models that will make money while I sleep.” ELLEN MCDERMOTT

Jim Simons was a middle-aged mathematician in a strip mall who knew little about finance. He had to overcome his own doubts to turn Wall Street on its head.

Jim Simons sat in a storefront office in a dreary Long Island strip mall. He was next to a women’s clothing boutique, two doors from a pizza joint and across from a tiny, one-story train station. His office had beige wallpaper, a single computer terminal, and spotty phone service.

It was early summer 1978, weeks after Mr. Simons ditched a distinguished mathematics career to try his hand trading currencies. Forty years old, with a slight paunch and long, graying hair, the former professor hungered for serious wealth. But this wry, chain-smoking teacher had never taken a finance class, didn’t know much about trading, and had no clue how to estimate earnings or predict the economy.

For a while, Mr. Simons traded like most everyone else, relying on intuition and old-fashioned research. But the ups and downs left him sick to his stomach. Mr. Simons recruited renowned mathematicians and his results improved, but the partnerships eventually crumbled amid sudden losses and unexpected acrimony. Returns at his hedge fund were so awful he had to halt its trading and employees worried he’d close the business.

An aerial view of Toronto's central business district.

MONTREAL ― If you want an idea where the job market is headed next, take a look at business investment.

The money businesses put towards growing their operations is a key piece of the economic puzzle. After all, businesses can’t hire if they don’t invest.

So it’s a bit alarming to hear that business investment, as a share of Canada’s economy, has dropped to its lowest levels since the mid-1990s, when the country was pulling out of a particularly prolonged recession, and businesses weren’t in the greatest shape for investing.

“That is simply not normal at this advanced stage of the business cycle,” said Bank of Montreal chief economist Doug Porter. After a decade of solid economic growth following the financial crisis, Canadian business investment should be riding high ― as it is, right now, in the U.S.

Billions of dollars in oil and gas assets are for sale. Companies too. (Kyle Bakx/CBC)

Pengrowth Energy sells for a nickel per share in proposed deal

It was a rough week for the Canadian oilpatch, to say the least, with the Keystone pipeline shutting down after a leak, Encana deciding to become American, and a new drilling forecast for 2020 that is woeful at best.

To cap things off, Pengrowth Energy announced its pending sale.

The Calgary-based company was a homegrown success story and was once worth billions of dollars. Its share price was more than $13 in 2011.

On Friday, Cona Resources said it would buy Pengrowth in a deal that would value each share as worth a nickel.

That’s even lower than the 20 cents they were worth earlier in the week.

Essentially, a piece of leftover Halloween candy is worth more than a share in Pengrowth.

Facing few options

Conrad Black: With Trudeau re-elected, there are long years ahead

If the government does not take capital attraction and retention and competitive tax rates seriously, the climate in Canada will change, but not meteorologically.

It should be noted that the complacent tone of the successful re-election campaign of the government was based on the superior quality of life of Canada, the ability of its people and the stability of its institutions. That is certainly the opinion of the moderate left and the ruling liberals carried this message and were, in electoral terms, ratified. The somewhat less enthusiastic conservatives led the popular vote, but the non-regional leftist, liberal, new Democrats and green parties, although they had many suggestions on how to be more “progressive” and go more to the left, were unanimous in their opinion.

It is easy to assume that with half of a rich continent and a neighbor that, regardless of the abrasions that have occurred, has been relatively peaceful and a receptive and immense market, it was easy to build Canada. But it was very difficult. Baldwin and LaFontaine and Macdonald and Cartier had to be agitated enough to obtain British assent to the independence of Canada, but not to irritate the British so much that they exchanged their interest in Canada to the United States for another consideration.

It should be done better

The party leaders who competed in Canada's federal election on Oct. 21, 2019: Clockwise, top left: NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, Green Leader Elizabeth May, People's Party of Canada Leader Maxime Bernier, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer and Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-François Blanchet.News services

Before the recent elections, there are many comments that have arisen and among them questions as well as, when did our elections become contests for who is the worst?

And it is that during the campaign, the hopes of the party leaders depended more on avoiding the crime than on presenting their case to the Canadians.

It has been said that Canadians have reluctantly voted for someone who did not especially care, but who do you think is the best way to block the candidate or party that you desperately do not want to win?

Yes, it is an attractive image: an election that presents attractive candidates, who represent popular parties that represent reasonable policies. And is that each new election brings a renewed momentum for strategic voting.

Strategic voting

A Canadian Pacific Rail drill site in Medicine Hat, Atla.Canadian Pacific Railways Ltd.

Encana Corporation is a hydrocarbon exploration company. It is headquartered in Calgary, Alberta. Likewise, said the company is ranked 1408 in the Forbes Global 2000 and has been included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index.

Before asset sales began in 2013, Encana was the largest producer of natural gas in Canada.

Now, it is necessary to indicate that it was born from fire and explosion and it is that the roots of Encana are linked to the Western impulse of the Canadian Pacific Railway in the 1880s.

The company, at that time part of CP Rail, was the first to use natural gas as a heating source in Canada in the 1880s. But the birth of the company that now aims to move its headquarters out of Canada after Calling it home for 135 years, it occurred in the middle of a fire and an explosion and “by chance,” according to the Canadian Pacific website.

Encana to the passage of time

The CRTC needs to get out of the way — its attacks risk gutting our world-class telecom system

A man uses his cell phone in Toronto.Peter J. Thompson/National Post files

Opinion: With 5G on the horizon, this is hardly the time to gut incentives for new infrastructure that can actually bring competition to the industry

A recent CRTC decision would force companies that build telecom infrastructure to rent it out to rivals below cost. No surprise, then, that this decision is getting some pushback, with companies obtaining an order from the Federal Court of Appeal to suspend it while the case is before the court.

As the main issue is affordability it is worth remembering that prices here are relatively high because Canada has a spread-out user base, in part because of official encouragement to extend services to the remote North. Meanwhile, Canadians enjoy and expect world-class performance — Canada ranks sixth in the world according to Ookla in terms of mobile download speeds — that requires billions of dollars in new investment every year. Between 2010 and 2016 Canadian companies invested on average $78 per connection, nearly double the average of $40 in Europe.

The CRTC’s misguided attacks risk gutting this world-class system. Why would companies spend billions of dollars every year building networks only to have to rent them at a loss? Without steady new investment, Canadians might quickly lose their world-class speeds and be stuck with an increasingly outdated network that would come to feel like an old 56k modem would today.

Paulo Guedes, Brazil's finance minister, centre, applauds following the promulgation of the vote on pension reform in Brasilia © Reuters

Brazil’s Senate approved a much-anticipated pension reform on Tuesday, a victory for President Jair Bolsonaro that paves the way for his economics team to pursue further sweeping changes.

Decades in the works, the reform was hailed as “historic” by politicians across the spectrum. It is aimed at restoring domestic and international confidence in Latin America’s largest economy by tackling the nation’s woeful fiscal position.

By raising the retirement age for men to 65 and women to 62, the new legislation is forecast to save the state some R$800bn ($196bn) over 10 years.

The overhaul was passed following a second vote in the senate, Brazil’s upper house of parliament and although it could still be tweaked, it is expected to be formally enacted in the coming weeks.

41 Inconvenient Truths on the "New Energy Economy"

Image Credit: Anders Hellberg [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)]

Energy economics is a subclass of the economy that focuses on its relations with energy as the basis of all other relationships. Thus, it is established as a subclass of the ecological economy insofar as it assumes that the food chain in ecology has a direct analogy to the energy supply chain for human activities.

Now, it should be noted that a week does not pass without a mayor, a governor, a politician or an expert joining in a hurry to demand or predict an energy future that is based entirely on wind / solar energy and batteries, released from the “ cargo “of hydrocarbons that have fed societies for centuries. Regardless of the opinion about whether an energy “transformation” is required or why energy is required, the physics and energy economy combined with the realities of the scale makes it clear that there is no possibility that something resembles radically a “ new energy economy” in the foreseeable future.

Pages

Wednesday, 27 November 2019

Arguments

Monday, 25 November 2019