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…
Saskatchewan
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…
Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Roy Romanow rightly notes that Canada’s federal government needs to take a lead role in building our public health care system, rather…
Prairie Music
Saskatchewan is known for many musicians, and types of music. It has a provincial name that is a challenge to include in songs too. However, not many people have heard…
I Spill, You Spill, We all Spill for Oil
The Canadian Press had a rather disappointing effort in presenting the true harm to the Red Deer area animal (and human) system. I know they’re short on time, so why…
Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Trish Hennessy reminds us that a system of taxes and social spending is ultimately the most valuable means of pooling our resources for…
Debating Hoback on Resource Royalties
Prince Albert MP Randy Hoback began last week’s inquisition by objecting to my recent op-ed in The Saskatoon StarPheonix on the “Dutch disease” debate between Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall and…
Labour Market Stalls
Canada’s job market stalled in May. Employment edged up by 7,700, almost all of it part-time. In fact, the number of employees paid by Canadian employers fell by 15,600. Total…
Chocolate Almonds Gone Bad
The context of the “joke” might change my opinion slightly. It’s sort of sad that some kids are so isolated as to not recognize scat, and its inedible quality. Were…
Energy McCarthyism 2: Hoback Attack
Saskatchewan conservatives are getting cranky. At last night’s Finance Committee meeting on the omnibus bill, MP Randy Hoback exposed me as being a New Democrat who writes “garbage” (as this…
Debating Boyd on Resource Royalties
Saskatchewan’s Minister of Energy and Resources replied to my op-ed and letter on Dutch disease and resource royalties. On Friday, he was promoted to Minister of Everything. Columnist Murray Mandryk…