Trudeau government policies actively and aggressively discourage strategic minerals development Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently visited the Saskatchewan Research Council’s experimental rare earth refining facility in Saskatoon to tout his government’s efforts to promote rare earth discovery, development, and extraction, along with the refining advances SRC has achieved. He and his ministers have been ‘talking…
Unlike those in Canada, Nordic ‘progressive’ voters are neither anti-business nor anti-capitalist Proponents of evermore expensive government social programs often point to other nations, usually in Scandinavia, as places Canada should emulate. These advocates call those nations, erroneously, Socialist or Social Democratic. However, they are not. It is important to recognize the difference between a…
Of course, the usual anti-human crusaders predictably decry this milestone Recently, the United Nations estimated that the population of Planet Earth had reached eight billion souls. Despite the chatter of the highly subsidized climate doomster complex, this is quite an achievement – it certainly indicates that the carrying capacity of our world is much higher…
And that will hurt your retirement
The National Post’s recent Canada Pension Plan investment philosophy profile notes that CPP Investment Board (CCPIB) managers have bought into the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) dogma with it comes to screening potential investments. Adhering to ESG limits when making investment decisions, however, exposes the over 20 million working and retired CPP members to added…
Canada has to step up to the plate and help its allies
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s recent visit to Atlantic Canada was an opportunity for a serious long-term strategy to address several different aims: European Union (EU) energy security, East Coast economic development, Canadian energy industry growth (and higher federal tax revenue), and the likely-alarmist crusade to lower carbon dioxide emissions. The result of his visit, unfortunately,…
The first problem with ESG is the lack of firm, objective, and uniform standards, criteria and targets
The adoption of environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards by institutional investors is ultimately a form of woke and green social credit scoring for corporations. It is meant to cajole, if not compel, investible companies to adhere to rigid rules and criteria established by investors or outside entities, such as consultants, to satisfy so-called climate…
Saskatchewan can’t depend on its current good fortune for its future prosperity
Saskatchewan is the beneficiary of elevated pricing and improved long-term prospects for nearly all of the many commodities it produces: grain, oilseeds, oil, gas, potash, uranium, gold, copper and forestry products. While this is very good news for its citizens and government, Saskatchewan can’t necessarily depend on such good fortune for its future prosperity. Neither…
It’s unclear if the feds are doing higher-risk, lower-income mortgage debtors any real favours
Just a few months ago, a regular national discussion was about house prices and a lack of affordability. No longer. With house, townhouse and condominium prices cresting, imminent data may likely confirm serious price declines. Mortgage carrying costs are rising as interest rates and debt servicing costs climb. The mortgage qualifying threshold is receding rapidly…
And help Albertans cope with the scary roller coaster that is the economy
Albertans received the pleasant news that their deficit-plagued provincial government might bank a surplus for their concluding fiscal year and could very well experience the same this year. The reason for this happy state of financial affairs is the elevated price levels of oil and natural gas – coming just as a resurgence in the…
Operational and funding costs are huge: $548M in 2019 (before COVID-19) and $597M in 2021
Investment managers and investors should often ask: If I didn’t already own this stock, would I buy it today? By any criteria, Via Rail, a federal Crown corporation, is not a good investment – even under unrealistically favourable assumptions. The federal government should rigorously examine this charitably-designated ‘enterprise,’ then aim it toward one of two…