We can and should stand firm against outside pressure – principally from the U.S. – and internal pressure from people like Doug Ford
By Brendan Boyd MacEwan University and Barry Rabe University of Michigan Things look bleak these days for the federal government’s Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change. But Canada should stay the course. The framework represents Canada’s primary compliance path with the Paris climate accord, requiring provinces to establish a price on carbon or have…
A report released by ATB Financial on Thursday looks at the Producer Price Index of the construction sector since 1998
Diesel fuel has been leading the increase of building material prices over the last two decades. A report released by ATB Financial on Thursday looked at the Producer Price Index of the construction sector since 1998. The index tracks the price of different inputs purchased by producers, similar to the Consumer Price Index. In the…
But a new RBC Investor and Treasury Services report cautions that trade friction could impact the market
Canadian defined benefit pension plans were up 2.2 per cent in the second quarter and Canadian equities rose to 6.8 per cent. The latter reversed the first quarter loss of 3.9 per cent. A recent report from RBC Investor and Treasury Services All Plan Universe says the rebounding energy sector played a role. In a…
Oil and gas extraction’s surge to $125 billion in May marked an increase of 32 per cent from May 2016
Support services are not experiencing the same rebound as the energy sector itself, suggests a new study by ATB Financial. Oil and gas extraction surged to $125 billion in May, but energy service providers have not seen a comparable increase. “That has left thousands of service companies – many of them located here in Alberta…
Enbridge pipeline approval is good news but Canadian oil remains largely confined to U.S. market. We need a broader marketplace
By Elmira Aliakbari and Ashley Stedman The Fraser Institute Regulators in Minnesota recently approved Enbridge’s $9-billion Line 3 replacement pipeline project. The project will add much-needed export capacity for Canadian oil producers in Alberta who continue to face costly transportation constraints. When it comes on stream in late 2019 or early 2020, the project will…
The government should admit that its carbon tax will significantly burden families for a climate benefit too small to measure
It took some poking and prodding and committee testimony, but now we know what the bill will be for a $50-per-tonne federal carbon tax. In a report to the Senate Standing Committee on Energy, the Environment and Natural Resources, University of Calgary assistant economics professor Jennifer Winter revealed the bottom line. Using energy consumption data…
Even climate extremists should embrace natural gas, since it’s slowly replacing coal and oil, and cutting carbon emissions
The shale revolution, technology unleashing vast new oil and natural gas production, is delivering lower energy costs to countries, industries and consumers. Without revolutionary hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and horizontal drilling, Canadians’ heating bills would be twice what they are now. Gasoline prices – soaring now due it is half as deleterious as oil. And if…
Ottawa ignores the evidence with Bill C-48, which will make it more difficult to ship oil and byproducts to lucrative Asian markets
As virtually everyone knows by now, the federal government decided to address Canada’s inability to get pipelines built from Alberta to tidewater the old fashioned way. It nationalized the last viable pipeline project, the twinning of the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline, and paid $4.5 billion for the existing pipeline. With that purchase, we have…
B.C. still exports coal because to do otherwise would be to kill jobs in the province. The contrast with its pipeline stance is startling
Many opponents of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion justify their opposition by citing concerns about climate change and carbon emissions, but this raises some important questions. What about coal? Vancouver is North America's largest exporter of coal, one-third of it thermal coal for generating electricity. Vancouver exports U.S. coal because Oregon and Washington have stopped…
This is as close as Canadian politics gets to reality TV, with self-interested actors embroiled in conflict against a common enemy
Canada’s latest political drama has come from the state of jeopardy of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion. The federal government has announced it will take over the project from Kinder Morgan for $4.5 billion. The B.C. government is asking the courts if it can block the pipeline, creating bipartisan agreement by Alberta politicians for some…
By Brendan Boyd MacEwan University and Barry Rabe University of Michigan Things look bleak these days for the federal government’s Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change. But Canada should stay the course. The framework represents Canada’s primary compliance path with the Paris climate accord, requiring provinces to establish a price on carbon or have…
