Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Tobi Cohen picks up on the possibility of a provincial NDP in Quebec, and notes that the federal party is considering what can…
Saskatchewan
1% Potash Royalties: Typo or Foreshadowing?
Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Energy and Resources has released its 2011-12 Annual Report. The potash table (page 36) incredibly shows “Royalty/Tax” revenue of only $62.5 million in 2010-11 and $38.4 million…
Labour Minister Wrong on Manufacturing
Saskatchewan newspapers report: “Certainly in professional, scientific and technical areas and in the mining and the manufacturing sector (the job numbers) are very strong,” Don Morgan, minister of advanced education…
On provisional boundaries
Volkov has already summed up the likely effect of the preliminary Saskatchewan federal riding boundaries released today. But before we start planning the Regina Lewvan victory party, the most important…
New Sask Ridings Give NDP a Leg Up
The folks doing the federal redistribution for the province of Saskatchewan has come out with their proposed boundaries today, finally putting to rest those horrible eight ridings that broke up…
Agrium Halves Potash Royalties
Agrium reports that it paid half as much to the people of Saskatchewan in the second quarter as it had in the same quarter of last year. The company’s quarterly…
Oro Lake
On Saturday my wife and I were in Oro Lake, which is SW of Regina. It used to be a Regional Park, but is now simply a community hall with…
Taking Over Nexen
The China National Offshore Oil Corporation’s (CNOOC) bid to acquire Nexen is a large and complex proposal. Canadians should call for a more thorough and transparent review than other foreign…
Saskatchewan’s Rising Cost of Living
Today’s Consumer Price Index provides further evidence of Saskatchewan’s rising cost of living. Among the provinces, Saskatchewan is tied for the second-highest annual inflation rate: 2.0%. Consumer prices decreased in…
As Close As We’ll Get
SaskAdapt.ca feels like waving the white flag, but it is an important website, and a project at the UofR. It’s also the closest we’ll get to an admission from the…
Mosaic Profit Argues for Higher Royalties
Today’s Mosaic quarterly report provides further evidence that the Government of Saskatchewan should improve its royalty and tax structure to collect a better return on the province’s non-renewable resources like…
Does Red Leaf’s "EcoShale" Technology Greenwash Oil Shale Extraction?
Red Leaf EcoShale.png At the Clinton Global Initiative in 2008, former Vice President Al Gore called the possibility of fossil fuel corporations extracting oil shale "utter insanity." Insanity, though, doesn't…
Investing in the Green & White – Why Not in Green Power?
At yesterday’s Saskatchewan Roughrider game, Premier Wall announced provincial funding for a new stadium: an $80-million grant and a $100-million loan to be repaid over time through a surcharge on…
Randy Hoback’s Pulp Fiction
Last week, Conservative MP Randy Hoback had another letter in The Prince Albert Daily Herald blaming the NDP for the pulp-mill closure in 2006. He still has not addressed my…
Right to Work, again
In case anyone was wondering about the effectiveness of right to work laws in suppressing unionization, here is a chart of Union coverage by U.S. State (the percentage of all…
Lost Train
I was all set to write something, great I’m sure, and had to do something before I started typing. I came back to this page, and I’d forgotten what exactly…
The Moose Jaw Tornado
Last week there was an impressive tornado south west of Moose Jaw. Here’s one of the more popular videos of it, brought to you by Saskatoon Scanner who I know…
Happy Birthday Saskatchewan Medicare from the U.S. Supreme Court
Fifty years ago, on July 1, 1962, Saskatchewan introduced the first universal health insurance program in North America. The United States Supreme Court’s decision upholding the Patient Protection and Affordable…
Solar Tour
On the weekend I had a fantastic tour of the Regina area, along with my parents, seeing the sights highlighted by conversions to solar energy. Solar PV, and active and…
Agreeing with Hoback’s Headline
I have the following letter in today’s Prince Albert Daily Herald (page 4): Reinvest Resource Wealth in Saskatchewan To the editor: I strongly agree with the title of MP Randy…