Yesterday’s strong earnings report from the Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan confirms what this blog and the NDP have been contending: even modestly increasing Saskatchewan’s extremely low royalties on hugely profitable potash mines could fund substantially better provincial public services. The Saskatchewan Party still refuses to review potash royalties. In a well-timed column, Greg Fingas developed […]
Continue readingTag: potash
Accidental Deliberations: On decision points
Leftdog rightly points out that the Saskatchewan Party’s sudden, zero-consultation announcement about changing Saskatchewan’s school year looks to be nothing more than a distraction tactic. But let’s note why they would have felt the need to inject any…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: New column day
Here, on the costliest promise in Saskatchewan’s provincial election.For further reading, see Erin’s platform comparison and comment on potash royalties.Update: Leftdog highlights just how little PCS needs handouts from the province. And I’ll add the u…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Assorted content to start your week.- Romeo Saganash comments on the need to recognize and act on our common social bonds:Whether you live on reserve, in the remote north, or in the heart of a city, there is much healing — much teaching and learning -…
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: What if Potash Tanks?
Regarding the NDP platform’s reliance on additional potash revenue, columnist Murray Mandryk asks, “What if potash tanks as it did in 2009?” Of course, budgets are necessarily based on assumptions about future commodity prices. Saskatchewan Finance estimates that each dollar of change in the price of oil alters provincial revenues by $20 million (page 35). […]
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Saskatchewan Platform Comparison
Saskatchewan’s two major parties have unveiled their election platforms. The NDP’s fiscal plan is to collect higher potash royalties and reinvest the proceeds in public priorities like healthcare, education and housing. Columnist Murray Mandryk notes the spectre of Erin Weir. The NDP has expressed a willingness to discuss sharing resource revenues with First Nations. The […]
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Sask Party Deficit Math
The Saskatchewan NDP is proposing to collect higher potash royalties and save a portion of the proceeds in a new Bright Futures Fund. The NDP has also expressed its willingness to negotiate with First Nations about the possibility of resource revenue sharing. The right-wing Saskatchewan Party strangely claims that the NDP’s plan “would plunge the province […]
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On royal bias
The Wall government’s position on reviewing an eight-year-old royalty regime when the expected result would be substantially more revenue for the province: firmly against.The Wall government’s position on reviewing an eight-year-old royalty regime when…
Continue readingCarbon49 - a blog on sustainability for Canadian businesses: Smart KPIs for Sustainability
In any corporate sustainability project, whether it is reducing greenhouse gas emissions, paper use, or supply chain waste, choosing the right key performance indicators is a critical ingredient to success. At the conference on Environmental, Social and Governance Issues hosted by the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants, Cathy Cobey from Ernst & Young talked about how to choose smarter KPIs.
Continue readingPop The Stack: Pander, pander here. Pander, pander there.
Stephen Taylor has an interesting article about the decision to block the potash buyout today in the National Post. The gist is that fiscal conservatives are being betrayed by this protectionist action. I’m actually not sure which way I would go on the question of letting a foreign company own the potash resource. There are […]