The approval of Keystone XL by Nebraska Governor Dave Heinemen has caused a lot of media excitement, as did the State Department’s latest environmental assessment. A consequence of “positive” developments in the approval saga is renewed opposition to the pipeline, such as the editorial in the New York Times arguing President Obama should say […]
On March 12th, the Globe and Mail had a front page headline “Canada has lost international stature, Chrétien says” which sparked a wave of media discussions. Most comments agreed with Mr. Chrétien and put the blame on Mr. Harper’s doorstep. A western think tank’s motto is: “If it matters, measure it.” How does one measure […]
The CNOOC $15.1-billion acquisition of Nexen stirred up a nationwide debate in Canada, not least because of a premium price tag that no other big oil player around the world considered matching. The source of CNOOC’s unrivaled financial power lies in Chinese government fiscal planning that places state capital expansion above the welfare of ordinary […]
With the Keystone XL debate heating up in the United States, many opponents focus on the greenhouse gas emissions record of oil sands production. Even though Alberta oil sands emissions are 7 per cent of Canadian greenhouse gas emissions and only a miniscule part (0.15 per cent) of worldwide emissions, Keystone XL has become the […]
Managers of federal programs are required to evaluate their programs once every five years. Evaluation results are made public and include an action plan for dealing with any problems identified. Programs found to be inconsistent with government priorities or ineffective in achieving program goals would become candidates for cutbacks as part of the federal government’s […]
Colleagues at the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy have recently published two detailed studies on energy literacy in Canada – amongst both the general public, and Canadian business leaders and policy “elites”. The results are disappointing: the studies paint a picture of citizens who are misinformed (or uninformed) about how energy is produced, […]
It is budget season again and that means it is time for the media and politicians to express outrage about just about everything in just about every government budget. In my experience these outrages are usually the result of a failure to properly understand some very basic measurement issues. A good example of this involves […]
It’s budget season once again and governments wanting to narrow budget deficits should not forget about the billions of dollars in spending programs that are delivered through the tax system. Not all of these tax-based spending programs provide value for money. For example, the federal and almost all provincial governments provide inducements to Hollywood film […]
The issue of greenhouse gas emissions came up during the Northern Gateway hearings on September 17th. Northern Gateway is a pipeline proposed by Enbridge, and the proposed route is from Edmonton to Kitimat, which has the third largest port on the west coast. There has been considerable public debate regarding the merits of the pipeline, […]