Oil industry disappoints (but doesn’t surprise)
Once upon a time I toiled in the oil patch and it was good to me. I worked for Shell Canada and the royal pectin paid well, provided excellent benefits…
Bill Longstaff
The planet is literally in hot water
According to the dictionary, getting yourself in hot water means getting yourself into trouble for which you risk punishment. Well, we are heating up the water that covers most of…
Alberta pauses the future
Alberta is Canada’s leader in renewables projects and investments. Of the new solar and wind generation capacity added in Canada in 2022, 75 percent was in this province. This, it…
Biden, Trump and the authoritarian urge
Recent polls show that Donald Trump and Joe Biden are tied in this very early stage of the 2024 presidential race. Each has just over 40 percent support of registered…
A Republican and a Democrat take on big tech
The headline in The New York Times “Lindsey Graham and Elizabeth Warren: When It Comes to Big Tech, Enough Is Enough” caught my eye for two reasons, both good. First,…
August 2—Earth Overshoot Day
The Global Footprint Network performs the public service of calculating how rapidly we are devouring the Earth’s natural resources. The Network is a charitable not-for-profit independent think tank headquartered in…
The amazing American economy
Reading a very good book recently I was once again reminded of the irrepressible nature of the American economy. The book is Chip War: The Fight for the World’s Most…
Japan—role model for a sustainable future?
There was a time, specifically the late 80s and early 90s, when the land of the rising sun was being touted as the new economic superpower. Since the end of…
Trump, would-be autocrat
There is a common assumption that Adolf Hitler was elected to the position of Chancellor of Germany. That isn’t strictly correct. In 1933, the Nazi Party held the most seats…
Alberta sacrifices agriculture for oil
There is panic on the prairies. The greatest fear of farmers and ranchers alike is stalking the land—drought. Drought has always been a part of prairie life, of course, but…
Seeing out the Holocene?
We are experiencing a truly momentous event. For 11,700 years we have been living in the epoch our geologist kin call the Holocene. Now they may be about to announce…
The cluster bomb curse
The United States recently took a step towards civilizing war, if war can be in any way termed civilized. Last Friday the US Defence Department made history by destroying the…
UCP to loosen reins on unions … charitably
Alberta’s UCP government likes to keep a tight rein on labour unions. One of the first pieces of legislation brought in after their election in 2019 was the infamous Bill…
Harper reveals new conservative colours
Stephen Harper has recently been promoting closer ties between Canadian conservatives and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government. Harper is chair of the International Democrat Union, a global alliance of…
Affirmative action—race or socioeconomics?
The US Supreme Court recently struck down race-based affirmative action as a basis for college admissions. Americans are now busy entertaining new ideas about how to account for historical disadvantage…
Discontent in the provinces
A recent Angus Reid Institute survey of Canadians’ approval (or disapproval) of their provincial governments’ performances was full of surprises while bereft of optimism. Angus Reid maintains a Government Performance…
Happy birthday, US of A
Today our good neighbours to the south are celebrating their country’s birthday—its 247th. Two hundred and forty seven days of democracy, the longest ever. The second most famous democracy—ancient Athens—lasted…
How neoliberalism brought down Russia … and nearly us
The economic collapse of the 1930s brought down democracies across Europe unleashing fascism across the continent. Other countries, including Canada and the United States, introduced drastic measures to protect the…
Preaching misogyny
The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is the biggest Protestant denomination in the US, descending from Baptists who settled in the American colonies in the 17th century. The southerners broke away…
Disaster city
“Canada is increasingly a riskier place to live, work and insure,” said Craig Stewart, Vice-President, Climate Change and Federal Issues, Insurance Bureau of Canada. The bureau’s stats back up Mr.…