Of particular note is that McKenna, In her new UN role, says what she might have said, but didn’t, as Trudeau’s environment minister;
“Net zero is entirely incompatible with continued investment in fossil fuels.”
Category: Canadian Politics
Remembering Mel Watkins
Death is a time for mythologizing, in the best sense of the word. Today, we mourn and celebrate a friend whose memory lives on in the myths he personified – Myths by which he influenced us, and by which we will remember him. Myths to live by.
Corporate Colonialism: Some Thoughts
Today’s giant global corporations have annual incomes larger than many countries and they act with almost sovereign entitlement. Their allegiances are not to countries, not even their country of origin, but to their management and shareholders. They are capable of subjugating populations in both North and South, subverting democracy in the process.
Record Oil Sands Profits, Public Subsidies Keep Pace. WTF?
First, remember: The cost of the federal government’s uneconomic, boondoggle, the Transmountain Pipeline Expansion (TMX), is now upwards of $21 billion and rising. TMX didn’t make sense to the private sector for good reason. The Trudeau government ignored the evidence and played the sucker. Canadians now own a money-losing pipeline. TMX is designed to move… Continue reading Record Oil Sands Profits, Public Subsidies Keep Pace. WTF?
Canada Day and Systemic Colonialism
Another Canada Day has passed, and another chance to reflect on the challenges that remain if we are to become a truly vibrant, inclusive democracy that takes responsibility for its treatment of all its citizens.
The Trans Mountain Scandal: Why Aren’t Canadians Angrier?
We trust our corporate colonizers and their political handmaidens and ignore the evidence that might demand we act to assume our democratic responsibilities. If Cecil Rhodes were alive and a Canadian today, he’d be an oil industry CEO or a Bank President.
CBC’s Colonized Economic Reporting
We have been schooled to accept that the disposition of excess (and unearned) profits – really, public rents transferred to the private sector – is purely a matter for corporate decision-makers. Democracy be damned. Climate emergency be damned. Future generations be damned. This is modern colonialism, folks…….
Alberta’s Royalty Windfall
When the Kenney government brought down its 2022-2023 budget on February 24 of this year, it was already out of date. This luckiest of provinces can’t keep up with the price of oil. Alberta’s mid-year fiscal update for ‘21-’22 had already reported a phenomenal revenue turnaround. A $17 billion deficit in ’20-’21 shrank to a… Continue reading Alberta’s Royalty Windfall
Nova Scotia’s Discriminatory Tax on CFAs
The Houston government is playing the short game like everyone else these days, searching for revenue at least political cost,. The long game requires the federal government to step up to the plate and start advocating measures in the interests of the majority of Canadians irrespective of where they live – measures that address the climate emergency, universal public health care, electoral reform, child and seniors’ care, adequacy of housing, and so forth.
Colonialism: The Home Front – Bay du Nord
Much has been made of the UN’s International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC’s) acknowledgement in its Sixth Assessment Report that persistent colonialism is a causal factor (with “high confidence”, no less) for catastrophic climate change. And it is a noteworthy addition. However, both the wording in the report and much of the positive reaction to it underestimate the pervasiveness of colonialism and colonial relationships beyond the obvious geopolitical level.