It is rare for the Province of Alberta to feel the effects of a policy decision made by the German Federal Government. However, it is clear that over the next few years, Alberta’s economy – from Calgary to Edmonton, from Banff to Lloydminster – will begin to see an unprecedented
Continue readingAuthor: 52ideas
52 Ideas: Tesla’s future and Alberta’s future are intrinsically – though inversely – tied together
Tesla doesn’t make money building cars. They make a little money on energy generation. However, as Andrew Ross Sorkin of the New York Times pointed out during our COVID summer, Tesla makes a lot of money in selling GreenHouse Gas (GHG) Emission Credits to other automobile manufacturers. In fact, Tesla
Continue reading52 Ideas: On Sir John A. MacDonald, Conservatives, Vergangenheitsbewältigung and Working Through Canadian History: the Approach Conservatives should take to Canada’s past
I believe that History matters. History matters because it teaches us how to be better. History provides us with the very best and worst lessons of what people are capable of. Just look at Nelson Mandela. He was one of many people who brought an end to Apartheid in South
Continue reading52 Ideas: I wish Rex Murphy would understand that change is coming…
In 2018, the Toronto Paramedic Service (TPS) introduced 11 hybrid-electric ambulances into their fleet. Like many other North American cities, Toronto has been working on reducing its carbon footprint. The adoption of hybrid-electric ambulances was just one step in changing its consolidated vehicle fleet. In the City of Toronto Consolidated
Continue reading52 Ideas: On the WE Scandal: When Parental Disappointment rears its head
As a parent, I have three modes of anger. The first and most basic level of my parental anger can be described as me just being “mad”. This most basic level of anger surfaces when my child has done something new that is wrong. Maybe she has taken something that
Continue reading52 Ideas: Siding with a former PC Premier: On an Alberta Pension Plan
When it comes to my politics, I am a pragmatist before anything else. While, I disagree with Michael Chong a lot, it is easy for me to say that his conservative approach to Parliamentary Reform (i.e. Reform Act 2015) was simply brilliant. While, the party I tend to back –
Continue reading52 Ideas: Licia Corbella opinion piece “let’s down the side”; it let’s Alberta down.
I come from a family that loves playing sports. So, being of Caribbean Heritage, I always heard one phrase: “don’t let the side down”. Now, to be honest, it is not a Caribbean phrase but one that the British left “us”. So if you played or watched rugby in South
Continue reading52 Ideas: On Alberta’s Budget (or now that we know that $68 USD per barrel is unrealistic, we need to update the Budget)
So, I am stuck in the house, like so many of us and I am starting to see unprecedented events; and only one thing goes through my mind: what does Alberta’s future look like? Anyone who knows me, knows that this is not unusual. For the last few years, I
Continue reading52 Ideas: What happens to Alberta when the 7th largest economy drives Electric Cars?
What would happen to an Oil Exporter when the world’s seventh largest economy decides that over the next fifteen years it will phase out gas powered cars? Any economist would say it is a simple demand and supply issue. If no new users of Oil came into the market, all
Continue reading52 Ideas: Jason Kenney & Alberta’s Oil Industry should fear the policies of the Chinese, European and Indian Governments and not Ottawa
When I started writing my blog, more than five years ago experts said that electric cars would only be competitive with gas cars in 2035 or 2040. At the time, there were valid reasons for that understanding. Science had to move quite a ways to get to parity and so
Continue reading52 Ideas: We need a Government of National Unity: A prescription for Justin Trudeau, Alberta and the 43rd Parliament
In October of 1995, I was a student at York University. There was a buzz in the air because History was being made every day. By this time in my life, the Cold War had ended, the Iron Curtain had fallen and we believed in the diversity of a “Thousand
Continue reading52 Ideas: The Automobile Industry is changing and it will affect Alberta
“McLaren is commited to having a 100% hybrid lineup by 2025 and has begun researching an all-electric auto despite concerns that clients might reject anything lacking the rumble of an internal combustion engine. “ McLaren Rolls out a GT to Rival Porsche 911 and Aston Martin, by Christopher Jasper, Bloomberg.com,
Continue reading52 Ideas: The Need and Will to Change: The Lessons Alberta can learn from Cape Breton and Research in Motion
In 1997, Apple was a company that was on the verge of bankruptcy. It was not Palm. It was not Research in Motion. While, Steve Jobs had returned to them and they were going to get an investment from Microsoft, Apple was seen as yesteryear’s company: one that should have
Continue reading52 Ideas: The Day After: the Argument for a Third Party in Alberta and a call for its Big Idea
For me, Jason Kenney’s victory is something new and novel to Alberta. Think about it this way, from 1935 to 2008, Alberta had always had a variety of conservative parties. When Social Credit was in power, they had to fend off the Progressive Conservatives. For the Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta had
Continue reading52 Ideas: In defence of Alberta, Decarbonisation and an Intelligent Transition to a Different Future
Many good-willed environmentalists have made the argument that Alberta would be better if it left all of its bitumen in the ground. One of them replied to my last post. His name is Bill Malcolm. When it came to my notion that politicians should try to provide the most benefit
Continue reading52 Ideas: In defense of Openness, Conciliation, Inclusiveness and Convincing
A few replies came in due to my last post and I was surprised by their disturbing tone and how some of them were laced with a sort of anger and/or a resort to partisanship, ideology or intransigence. There is an old saying: “one gathers more flies with honey
Continue reading52 Ideas: On Jason Kenney: My Hopes, Worries and Fears
So, Jason Kenney is now Premier. A friend of mine, who was not fond of Premier Notley, asked me my opinion. Anyone who knows me knows one thing: Russell Scantlebury will not give a simple answer. Accordingly, I thought I would jot it down here. To start off with,
Continue reading52 Ideas: On Alberta, West Virginia and a conversation about Oil
We often forget how quickly technology can move. While, Benz developed his first car in 1885; it was the development of Henry Ford’s Model T and his new innovative manufacturing techniques, in 1913, that helped to reshape the United States. By 1927, a total of just over 15 million Model
Continue reading52 Ideas: Why do we need politicians and statesman?
It used to be hard to argue that politicians provide any value. In the past, one could easily point to the good that great statesmen did. One could point to Abraham Lincoln, Sir John A. MacDonald, Rt. Hon. Pierre Elliot Trudeau, Peter Lougheed, Churchill or FDR. One could argue that
Continue reading52 Ideas: Why I am going to vote Yes in the referendum
Anyone who knows me will be shocked by the brevity of this piece. However, for me, it is pretty easy to see why the city of Calgary should move forward with the 2026 Olympic Bid. My argument is based on two facts: the precarious nature of WinSport’s finances and the
Continue reading