Apr 29 2013
Today, Federal Immigration Minister Jason Kenney announced that the Government of Canada was tightening the rules for companies wishing to use Temporary Foreign Workers (TFWs) in their businesses. I found out about this when Joan Crockett, another Calgary MP, tweeted: Now, this isn’t the only change to the regulations. Kenney also announced: …
Feb 06 2013
The Province of Alberta has put out a website so Albertans can take a crack at balancing the books. I decided to take a crack. Now let me give you a little history. Twenty years ago, when I was at the University of Calgary, I lived through the Ralph Klein / Jim Dinning era …
Feb 05 2013
Today, I discovered the organization chart for Alberta Health Services. It can be found here: http://www.albertahealthservices.ca/org/ahs-org-orgchart.pdf Egads!!! Look at all the people with the title Vice President, Senior Vice President, Executive Director, and similar titles! Now I recognize that AHS has over 90,000 employees and operates many facilities across Alberta. But the ration of such …
Jul 24 2012
British Columbia Premier Clark this week made waves by saying that her government’s support for the Gateway pipeline would depend on BC obtaining it’s “fair share” of the benefits of the pipeline – and she made it clear this was not a demand on Enbridge, but on the government of Alberta. Many have of course …
Jun 28 2012
Recently, I have been considering a post about the encroachment of government into the lives of individuals. While I live in Canada and clearly have a better handle on issues here than I do elsewhere, I have found myself fascinated by events in Europe and America (partly because Canada’s problems aren’t as immediately pressing). Today, …
Jun 20 2012
I have for some time found a common human behaviour very disturbing. Michael Shermer describes it in his book The Believing Brain: Dr. Shermer also provides the neuroscience behind our beliefs. The brain is a belief engine. From sensory data flowing in through the senses the brain naturally begins to look for and find …
Jun 09 2012
Thomas Mulcair, the leader of the Official Opposition, has in recent weeks declared his belief that the oil industry has turned the Canadian dollar into a “petrocurrency”, increasing it’s value and making manufacturers in Ontario and Quebec. There are a number of reasons why Mr. Mulcair is completely incorrect and in my mind foolish. …
May 25 2012
Recently, the City of Los Angeles decided to ban the use of plastic grocery bags, ostensibly for the purposes of reducing litter and being good for the environment. Jay Beeber over at Reason.com explained clearly this week why it is a pointless regulation, other than to make some leftist enviromentalists feel better: There’s a crisis …
May 23 2012
Last night, I viewed Part 1 of the new documentary from Niall Ferguson on PBS, titled “Civilization: The West and the Rest“. I have previously enjoyed books by Ferguson, so I was looking forward to this documentary. Before I provide my opinion on the program, I will given you a brief overview of his thesis. …
May 15 2012
The new President of France, Francois Hollande, has stated that he is against the severe austerity that European governments have been adopted and forced into by the EU, ECB and most notably, by Berlin. He has stated that the solution to France (and Europe’s) economic problems is more government spending. He is calling for the …
