ReeferMadness

That's awesome. I guess that makes you not a bigot. Wouldn't it be great if everyone could say that.

My bad - I just leapt to the crazy assumption that when Kimmy said "visit a prostitute", she was using that as a euphemism for buying sex. I guess maybe she just meant that someone was going to deliver cookies or something.

ech - I could do without the visual.

The quest for GDP has dominated policy of governments around the world. Probably no other single policy determinant has been as destructive in terms of the choices governments have made through modern history. GPI is a huge leap forward and should be actively supported. Certainly, some components of GPI could be improved but making perfection the enemy of improvement is the wrong thing to do.

Fort McMoney didn't just happen. It's an entirely foreseeable consequence of a deliberate policy. The gold-rush mentality was caused by government that took an irresponsibly rosy view of things. It caused over-development and resulted in a massive give-away of wealth to big oil companies. Although a relatively small number of people made big money, the overall effect of the high dollar was detrimental to the country as a whole. Watch me not care... The fossil fuel industry will be shut down - it's just a matter of when. And Canada has utterly failed to capture most of the benefits of that industry. Sadly, the best advice would require a time machine. Unlike Canada, Norway treated their oil wealth like the short term gold mine that it is. They managed development and maximized the benefit to the state. As a result, they have the world's largest sovereign wealth fund. In contrast, Alberta treated the oil like an entitlement, they bragged about the "Alberta advantage" of low taxes and no sales tax and they kept royalties ridiculously low. As a result, they've missed the opportunity of a generation (several, actually). Oil might have one last hurrah before fossil fuels are inevitably replaced by cleaner and cheaper alternatives. I almost guarantee there will not be governments smart and gutsy enough to take advantage of it if it comes. First off, the NEP was not the disaster that people want it to be. The fact is that the issues Alberta had in 1981 (I lived there) were almost entirely due to same factor as the issues they have today - low oil prices. People blamed Alberta's economic woes on the NEP back then in the same way that O'Leary blames Notley for Alberta's problems today. And both were (and are) mostly nonsense. The portion of the NEP that was bad policy (and is still bad policy in places like Saudi Arabia) was the artificial lowering of energy prices in Canada. Other portions of the NEP (increasing the government's take of energy revenues vs the oil company's take and the establishment of a national energy company) were sound policy and in fact are exactly what has allowed Norway to build the world's largest sovereign wealth fund.

So then I presume you wish Stephen Harper to be held personally liable for every crime ever committed by a temporary foreign worker that entered Canada while he was PM?

OMG.... O'leary himself is inspired by Trump. I don't even know what to say.

OK. Let's just say, for the moment, that the low Canadian dollar is a problem. Then what? Short of starting a war in the middle east, you're not going to push it back up to where it was. Peg the dollar to the US dollar? Reinstate the gold standard? Instate capital flight controls? All of these bring other problems (and don't get to the root of the issue). I would posit that the real problem (to the extent that there IS a problem) isn't the absolute level of the dollar, it's the speed at which the value changes. Canada's GDP isn't going to change that much so how did the dollar's value move so fast? And it's not done yet. If the dollar were a reflection of something stable (like GDP), it would change gradually and businesses would have time to react to changes. The problem is markets. They're driven partly by information, partly by greed and partly by fear. So, when you have a petro-dollar you have to expect that your currency is going to correct and over-correct like a drunk on a bicycle. When the dollar was at par, economists and pundits were saying it should be at 80 cents. It should probably still be at 80 cents but it's headed for 60 cents. You want a stable dollar? Instate controls on how fast the tar sands can be developed. Use oil profits to diversify the economy. Above all, don't base your economy on a single volatile commodity. It's really not that complicated.

lmfao. The same people who made excuses for Harper because the price of oil was low are now blaming Trudeau and Notley because it's even lower.

Been there. Damned close, anyway. You're hung up on money but it has an intrinsic value of zero. If people suddenly believed the Canadian dollar was worth nothing, then it would be. That's how currencies fluctuate - it's as much psychology as anything. Real things have intrinsic value that doesn't disappear because people stop believing in them. Money is an abstract notion that just stops existing as soon as people stop believing. It's like Santa Clause.

Wait a minute. Are you SURE that there was a pod of orcas up there? Maybe it was just invented. You can't trust those scientists, you know. They're all biased. Orcas are apex predators. When apex predators die off, that's not a good sign for the ecosystem. And pods up and down the coast have had issues maintaining their numbers for decades. Tankers dumping toxic crude in the water is just one of the many ways that we're polluting the ocean.

Sure. Get rid of the orcas. Why should you care? The important thing is that your energy stocks go up and gas is cheap for your SUV. Just close your mind and focus on your iphone. That's a good consumer.

I didn't say it didn't cost more but it's not as much more as you think. First of all, the cost of Canadian labour and materials has not risen. Second, the Canadian dollar has dropped a lot vs the US dollar - it hasn't dropped by the same amount vs other international currencies. Finally, a lot of major companies (like car companies) don't automatically adjust the prices whenever the dollar falls. When our dollar rises, it's cheaper to buy cars in the states. When our dollar falls, it's cheaper to buy cars here. They don't adjust the prices at the same rate as the currency changes. Regardless of any of that, there are more important issues than money.

So you think that fishing for species like halibut and salmon that spend most of their lives in deep water proves anything? Like Tim, you only see what you've already decided is the truth. On the beaches, you can still dig up pools of oil to this day. And from the CNN article. But what the hell do you care about a pod of orcas disappearing. As long as you can fly in and get your halibut, life's good, right? Who are you to speak for them?

I wish people on this planet would come to their collective senses and figure out that living according to the tenet of the major religions (Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, capitalism, nationalism) is getting us nowhere and the only path that will avoid an extinction event is for us to learn to cooperate with each other and respect the limits of the planet. But I might as well wish for flying unicorns that fart rainbows. Oh, sorry, you were talking about the horrors of our low dollar.... If I convert my money to American dollars, then yes. Otherwise, no.

It doesn't have to do anything. If prices are low enough, long enough, those same oil companies that beat a gold rush path to dig sludge out of Alberta will pack up and leave. Or go under. And the good citizens of Alberta will be left with the tab for the clean-up. More likely, it will just sit there like some abandoned Soviet mine as toxins slowly leach into the watershed.

Actually, it is a crime, since bill C-36 was passed.

You've as much as admitted that you're never going to admit the damage that oil spills do, no matter what evidence is presented. So, give it up. When I have views, I have science to back me up. You offer nothing but your deeply held religious beliefs. Everyone in this country with an RRSP or an interest in a pension plan (including the CPP) has an interest in this. It's just some of us are wise enough to see that the oil boom and the accompanying gold rush mentality has been more a curse than a blessing. It's pushed the dollar on a roller coaster ride that first priced manufacturing out of competitiveness in central Canada and now is causing food to spike across the country. Any economist can tell you that basing your fortune on a single volatile commodity is just plain idiotic but it seems some people can't figure that out. Not the least of which is Mr Economics Himself, his Lordship Harper. And I'm still waiting for you to tell me who is going to dredge the Strait of Georgia when the tanker goes down.

I'm guessing they got involved and once they had committed resources to it, they were embarrassed to admit they had wasted resources chasing a pair of half wits.

The latest on this sad case. Martha Devlin, a crown lawyer on the file (and now a BC Supreme Court justice), cast doubt on Nuttall as a terrorist, dismissing him as "a nut".

Of course it is but we're wasting our time here. If you read up, you'll see Tim earlier claimed that we couldn't be sure that there would be any serious long term consequences from a major spill of dilbit in the Strait of Georgia because there are no long term studies. If you look at his latest post, it's clear that he will just claim that the studies are a result of bias. The only thing that might change his mind is if the oil companies themselves admitted that there is no way to effectively clean up an oil spill that will work on a human time scale. There's no chance that will happen. Clearly he's so wedded to his beliefs that nothing will dent them.

I was listening to someone from the Dogwood Initiative on the radio and he said that Harper-appointed NEB refused to allow any questions on the characteristics of dilbit in water. I guess those of us who inhabit this area aren't supposed to question the the unfettered rights of corporations to put the BC waters at risk.

Substance addiction is a tragic thing. Addiction to oil seems to have the effect of impairing people's memories. The west coast of Canada is a gem. And it's a real shame that it's being risked for short term profits for multinational corporations operating in Alberta.

No, I didn't. Comprehension might not be one of your strengths.

Didn't say that. I just said they weren't the same. You and others seem to want to make these guys out to be some sort of freedom fighters. Turns out they're only a common lot of losers and thugs.