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Higgs says Maritime Iron plant hinges on a federal exemption — an exemption that doesn't exist

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Replying to @alllibertynews and 49 others
Methinks many would agree that Higgy is being played like fiddle N'esy Pas? 



https://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.com/2020/01/higgs-says-maritime-iron-plant-hinges.html



 



https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/maritime-iron-plant-emissions-exemption-new-brunswick-federal-1.5443583




Higgs says Maritime Iron plant hinges on a federal exemption — an exemption that doesn't exist

Premier cites mysterious mechanism used in approving B.C. while making case for iron-ore facility


Jacques Poitras· CBC News· Posted: Jan 29, 2020 6:00 AM AT



New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs says the proposed high-emitting Maritime Iron plant hinges on a federal exemption that doesn't exist. (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press)

Maritime Iron's hopes of winning provincial approval for its proposed high-emissions iron plant appear to hinge on a federal exemption mechanism that doesn't exist.

Premier Blaine Higgs said Ottawa giving the plant a special pass will "absolutely be the decision-maker" in whether it will be allowed to add 2.3 million tonnes of greenhouse gases to New Brunswick's emissions.

Higgs said if the federal government recognizes that the plant will reduce emissions globally even while increasing them provincially, "we should be good to go," citing what he said was a similar exemption given to a liquefied natural gas plant in British Columbia.


He said his government has been working with the federal government on that possibility.

But the B.C. plant has not received any such federal exemption and there is no mechanism for Ottawa to grant one so a province can get around its own provincial emissions targets.


Federal Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson says provinces should focus on meeting their own emissions goals. The New Brunswick premier and Maritime Iron say the proposed plant should receive an exemption because it would create a net global reduction in emissions. (Adrian Wyld/THE CANADIAN PRESS)

"The project at issue is going through an environmental assessment that is a provincial assessment," federal Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said in Ottawa. "We expect that provinces are going to focus on how they actually meet their own emissions targets."

Maritime Iron claims the plant will displace higher-emitting iron processing plants in other countries and that its location will reduce shipping distances, cutting down on emissions from ocean freighters.

That will lead to a net global reduction in emissions even if New Brunswick's numbers go up, the company says.


The proposed iron-ore processing plant in Belledune would use the existing NB Power conveyor system to move materials from port to the facility. (Elena Mantagaris/Maritime Iron)

Article 6 of the Paris climate agreement leaves the door open to countries sharing emissions reductions through transfers of reduction credits.


But countries wanting to do that would have to first agree on rules governing how to verify and measure such reductions. International negotiators failed to reach such an agreement at talks in Madrid in December.

Consider global impact, premier says


Higgs spoke to reporters last week after Maritime Iron's environmental impact assessment document was filed publicly with the province.

The document says if the new iron processing plant were linked to NB Power's adjacent Belledune generating station, the two facilities would emit a combined 4.9 million tonnes of greenhouse gases, a net increase of 2.3 million.

That would make it difficult for New Brunswick to hit both its legislated emissions target for 2020 and a less stringent reduction target for 2030 that is modelled on Canada's Paris agreement goals.
Higgs said the project could be in jeopardy if Ottawa doesn't recognize that the Belledune plant would displace existing Chinese iron processors.

"It will hinge on the federal government approving this project to be treated as a global emission reduction," Higgs said. "If they treat it in isolation for New Brunswick and don't give it an exemption, then that'll be an issue."

He pointed to a liquefied natural gas plant to be built in B.C. by a consortium called LNG Canada as a precedent.

"We're seeing in B.C. they've done the same thing, with the L.N.G. plant that's out in B.C.," he said. "That's treated as a global emission reduction."

No mechanism in place


But no such federal exemption exists for the B.C. plant because federal and provincial officials agree the plant won't exceed the province's targets.

"LNG Canada fits within the climate architecture of the B.C. government," Wilkinson said.
Last year, then-federal natural resources minister Amarjeet Sohi floated the idea that Article 6 of the Paris agreement could be used for the LNG plant.

But with no agreed-upon mechanism to measure the hypothetical emissions reductions elsewhere, it hasn't happened yet.

Ottawa doesn't even have a role in the Maritime Iron approval process and isn't responsible for whether it counts towards New Brunswick's provincially-legislated targets.

Higgs's office did not respond to a request Tuesday for documentation of the exemption he was talking about.

LNG Canada, the consortium building the plant in Kitimat, B.C., has claimed its methane gas could replace 20 to 40 coal-fired power plants in countries such as China and India, reducing emissions by 60 to 90 million tonnes.


B.C. Premier John Horgan's justification for approving the LNG Canada plant cited by Higgs is that the facility will keep emissions within his province's climate plan. (Tanya Fletcher / CBC)

B.C. Premier John Horgan has used that claim to justify approving the plant, claiming it will keep provincial emissions within limits set out in his government's climate plan — something environmentalists dispute.

Horgan has also promised the plant a break on the next increase in the provincial carbon tax, along with other subsidies, if it meets a standard for emissions intensity.

Proposal would create largest N.B. emitter


The combined 4.9 million tonnes of emissions from the combined Maritime Iron-NB Power facility would make it the biggest emitter of greenhouse gases in New Brunswick, far exceeding Irving Oil's annual output of around three million tonnes.

Maritime Iron has suggested that the province go looking for emissions reductions elsewhere to make room for its increase.

The province's legislated emissions goal for this year is 14.8 million tonnes, and for 2030 it's 10.7 million tonnes. It also has a second, less stringent 2030 goal, 14.1 million tonnes, tied to Canada's Paris climate plan objectives.

New Brunswick's emissions in 2017 were 14.3 million tonnes, below the legislated 2020 target and close to the 2030 Paris target.

The Belledune iron plant would employ 200 people during operations and 1,300 during a two-year construction phase.











111 Comments
Commenting is now closed for this story.









David Amos
Methinks Higgy should look forward to the circus in Ottawa today N'esy Pas?



David Amos
Methinks many would agree that Higgy is being played like fiddle N'esy Pas?


Lou Bell
Reply to @David Amos: All 21 of the people who voted for you ?


David Amos
Reply to @Lou Bell: Methinks you should check the tally of the 7 elections again before you embarrass yourself and your hero Higgy further N'esy Pas?



















David Amos
Methinks Maritime Iron's people should have got back to me when I was running in Fundy Royal last year After all it is the Federal Riding where Higgy and a lot of his cohorts live N'esy Pas?


Lou Bell
Reply to @David Amos: Would have given you what , 21 votes ?


Pat Holland:
Reply to @David Amos: what would you have done?? Lol NESY PAS


David Amos
Reply to @Pat Holland: Methinks you and Higgy forgot that I sued the Queen in 2015 and am about to do so again N'esy Pas?














Lou Bell
I guess this area voted no for the plant when they elected their MP ! I guess you reap what you sow.


David Amos
Reply to @Lou Bell: Methinks the Green Party leader admitted long ago that we get the governments we deserve Nothing has changed N'esy Pas?




















Lou Bell
And where are the Greens and David Coon on this ?? Or are they waitin' for the Liberals to tell them ???


David Amos
Reply to @Lou Bell: Stay tuned






















Lou Bell
Boy this sure puts the SANB Libs in a bind ! Wanna blame Higgs for it not happening , but also want to blame him if it does happen ! Don't know if they're comin' or goin !


David Amos
Reply to @Lou Bell: Methinks everybody has no doubt that the SANB are laughing as hard at Higgy's latest nonsense as I am Thats why your buddies Martin and Deschamps failed to make the scene even though you tried hare to bait them into offering their two bits to this circus N'esy Pas?





















Jim Cyr
It’s all politics, and it’s all a game. Horgan is “a good leftie”, so the media and Trudeau will give him a pass. Higgs is conservative, so he’ll get hammered by the media for doing the exact same thing. And Trudeau will say no. Too bad for you people in the poverty-stricken North Shore who want jobs. Stay on EI.


David Amos
Reply to @Jim Cyr: Sad but true



























Michael Durant
we can always increase the carbon tax on gasoline to compensate for the emissions produced by this.


David Amos
Reply to @Michael durant: Surely you jest























Kyle Woodman
This company said they were prepared to go ahead without an exemption. Why in the hell is Higgs trying to get these guys off from paying millions of dollars in carbon tax that we can use. Talk about looking a gift horse in the mouth. He clearly has no understanding how carbon pricing works. Madness.


David Amos
Reply to @Kyle Woodman: Welcome back to the circus













Danny Devo
I cannot wait for New Brunswickers to rid themselves of this insufferable old con and his cronies in the next election.


June Arnott 
Reply to @Danny Devo: what you going to vote Liberal? Ya that will change everything. All parties are the same. People are ignorant


David Amos
Reply to @Danny Devo: Me Too 
 
David Amos
Reply to @June Arnott: Sad but true


Kyle Woodman
Reply to @Danny Devo: Here! Here!


Lou Bell
Reply to @Danny Devo: You'd prefer the group that wanted to give away 110 million dollars of our money for their " Phonie Party " ?

David Amos
Reply to @Lou Bell: Methinks you are flogging a dead horse N'esy Pas?















Lou Bell
Perhaps goal is to have the province shut down Belledune , import more Quebec power , hence a win/ win/ win for Hydro Quebec / Maritime Iron / the owners of the Quebec mine ( whoever it is , be it Maritime Iron or some other Quebec Company .


Fred Brewer
Reply to @Lou Bell: That would be wonderful! We can only hope. Our grid will be cleaner and the power rates should drop or at least not rise,.


David Amos
Reply to @Fred Brewer: Dream on





















Daniel Rawlins
Second to last sentence; "New Brunswick's emissions in 2017 were 14.3 million tonnes, below the legislated 2020 target and close to the 2030 Paris target." ?


Lou Bell
Reply to @Daniel Rawlins: The Paris accord target is 14.1 million tonnes . It's legislated target is 10.1 million tonnes , which I suspect would be the ultimate goal , the 14.1 keeps them within the Paris target .

David Amos
Reply to @Lou Bell: Who cares when your hero Trump doesn't?

























Robert L. Brown
pollution is not on the premier's list for New Brunswick as he allows JD IRVING to spray cancer causing chemicals on the trees of the forests of New Brunswick killing all hardwood products and fish in the streams


Paul Bourgoin
Reply to @Robert L. Brown: If any one ever called a Spade a Spade, Sir, you just did and nothing will change! Profit Money is more important then Human Health!
Oh, we also fund our hospitals financially trough our provincial Taxation!


David Peters
Reply to @Robert L. Brown:
Reportedly drives deer and moose out of the sprayed areas too. Also thought to be killing earthworms, doing untold damage to the soil.


Lou Bell
Reply to @Robert L. Brown: And this started when Higgs took office ?? Pullease !!!

David Amos
Reply to @Lou Bell: Cry me a river Methinks the buck stops with Higgy now. Atleast he cannot deny the fact that the liberal appointed Chief Medical officer will not allow his Minister Mikey Holland to help feed the culled venison to the poor in the St Andrews area much to the chagrin of Cumberland and everyone else would is not a liberal. But then again I bet you would never put venison on the menu for Horizon N'esy Pas?

























Ferdinand Boudreau
Am I missing something here " if you pollute more, result will be less pollution". Or is this just a tax crab. Smell fishy to me


David Amos
Reply to @Ferdinand Boudreau: Methinks everything smells fishy in the Maritimes N'esy Pas?


























Winston Smith
It looks like future industrial expansion is doomed in this province. Climate politics will trump any initiatives. The folks in Belledune must be regretting voting for the Federal Liberals.


Kevin Cormier 
Reply to @Winston Smith: Climate trumps most project already... over the last decade, the "EIA" process for nearly all projects has triples in paper work and requirements. This has little to do with who is living at Sussex Drive.


Theo Lavigne
Reply to @Winston Smith: Maybe they can build it in eastern Maine where the US have few regulations (a la Trump) and it can still pollute N.B.


Winston Smith
Reply to @Kevin Cormier: The person who occupies the Prime-Ministers office can change those regulations.

Fred Brewer
Reply to @Winston Smith: Oh is that how it works? Funny. I thought laws and regulations were voted on first by all of the MP's and then final approval of the senate. Silly me. All it takes is one man... The PM.

Jim Cyr 
Reply to @Theo Lavigne: we are not environmental Nazis here in Maine, so we will definitely take those jobs. Thanks!!

Pat Holland
Reply to @Jim Cyr: Sad but true! Not very welcoming to industry. So they will go elsewhere.

David Amos
Reply to @Pat Holland: Was there any doubt?




















Greg Miller
What can I say ---- IDIOTIC!


David Amos
Reply to @Greg Miller: Relax and enjoy the circus




















Fred Brewer
A dirty industry like this needs to mitigate its emissions by choosing a location with the lowest environmental footprint. As many on this site have already pointed out, the best location is right beside the iron ore mines in Quebec. Not only does this reduce transportation emissions to practically zero, it means the plant can use clean hydro electricity. About 97% of Quebec's electricity is from hydro. There is no way anyone can justify locating this plant in NB. Claiming that it will somehow cause China to close some of its plants when this one starts production, is pure fantasy. Mr. Higgs needs to tell Maritime Iron thanks but no thanks.


Rob Franklin
Reply to @Fred Brewer: Contrary to all of the ridiculous posts on here, yours is the only one to make a LOT of sense.


David Amos
Reply to @Rob Franklin: Surely you jest 



























John PokiokWhat is wrong with NB government don't you guys get it that Trudeau won election based of reducing or eliminating greenhouse gases. Yet this government wants to install a project that is set to fail and cost entire province with high emission of greenhouse gases. Trudeau government won't exempt this project just forget about. You better off trying to attract some green projects you might have better luck.


Barry Odonnell 
Reply to @John Pokiok: Yes!! Maybe a factory that runs on solar energy that generates pixie fairy dust! You are right about the True Doh government. They have no clue how to generate a job other than throwing tax money at a bigger deficit.


David Peters 
Reply to @John Pokiok:
"...Trudeau won election based of reducing or eliminating greenhouse gases...."

More like, lost a majority....but, ppl who vote liberal are voting for freebies, imo. The regions that receive transfer payments tended to vote red. Is this sustainable...or even reasonable?



Fern Robichaud 
Reply to @John Pokiok: We are one planet, Paris Accord is for the whole planet, iron is a must, people need jobs.


Marc Martin 
Reply to @David Peters: *More like, lost a majority* You seem to forget that the other 33% voted for Climate change issues but that's the case with old Cons voters. The world is changing and all the young kids are voting for climate change. 

 
David Peters
Reply to @Marc Martin:
Once kids finish their years of being brainwashed in public schools, they'll wake up to realize they were indoctrinated, not educated.



Fred Brewer
Reply to @David Peters: Ahhh yes. The climate change deniers now accuse all of Canada's school boards and all of its teachers of collusion.


David Amos
Reply to @Fred Brewer: Methinks its way past time for your nap N'esy Pas?





















Ray Fredette
A perfect example of how the Carbon Tax shell game works...heavy emissions in NB, but lwr world wide...total idiocy.
End result: You pay, the corporations don't. You use blue bags, they rape the land and walk away.
And the people bought this snake oil? Just wow!



David Amos
Reply to @ray fredette: YUP






















Matt Steele
It would have been nice for this project to create jobs in an economically depressed area ; but at what cost ? There is a social cost associated with Trudeau's Green Plan , and Northern N.B. is about to pay that price in the form of lost jobs . It sounds like this project was a lost cause from day one .


Barry Odonnell  
Reply to @Matt Steele: Trudeau has no sense of cost. He spends like a drunken sailor. I am still waiting for this big "Green New Economy" to come springing to life lol. What a farce.


Terry Tibbs
Reply to @Matt Steele:
I strongly suspect this is no more that an attempt to get votes in the north of the province for Higgs........... there is no reason for this to happen, so if Higgs can be seen as supporting it he wins, and he wins if he can blame anybody else for it not happening.



David Amos
Reply to @Terry Tibbs: I agree but Methinks Higgy made a fool of himself in the process N'esy Pas?




















Chris McNee
Someone’s pants are on fire...


Layton Bennett
Reply to @Chris McNee: I suspect you are correct.


David Amos
Reply to @Layton Bennett: I concur



















Laurie Clark
Once again Higgs spouts off about hings he knows nothing about.


David Amos
Reply to @Laurie Clark: BINGO























Layton Bennett
I find it hard to believe that Higgs isn't aware of this. Is he really that uninformed? Or is he deliberately looking for a way to pin this on Trudeau?



David Amos
Reply to @Layton Bennett: Both





















Terry Tibbs
There is a bit of a "snow job" going on here.
Would I worry about how much a car pollutes if I can't afford to buy that car?
Last I heard the provincial government had been expected to finance this thing? Or has it become magically self financing? Pollution should be the very least of anyone's worries.



David Amos
Reply to @Terry Tibbs: Methinks you fail to see the humour in this N'esy Pas? 
 

Terry Tibbs
Reply to @David Amos:
Well, I *guess* if we wait long enough it should be an easy sell to a glorified security guard.



David Amos
Reply to @Terry Tibbs: Methinks we should take the fluoride out of the water first then embark on a true education of our children and wait a generation or more for cognitive dissonance to be not so rampant within the electorate before any "glorified security guard" would ever act ethically on behalf of anyone. Until then we the old folks might as well enjoy the circus we paid for. I presume that is why you changed your name N'esy Pas?

















New Brunswick far behind other provinces on municipal election finance rules

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Replying to @alllibertynews and 49 others
Methinks nobody should be surprised NB has existed since 1784 yet it still does not have a Constitution Thats why Hatfield & McKenna had the Feds alter their Charter for linguistic issues to assist in their reelections in NB N'esy Pas?


 



https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/municipal-election-finance-rules-zack-taylor-1.5445455





New Brunswick far behind other provinces on municipal election finance rules: expert

Province does not require disclosure or spending limits



CBC News· Posted: Jan 30, 2020 7:30 AM AT



A local governance expert says New Brunswick is the least regulated province when it comes to municipal election financing. (Shane Magee/CBC)

When it comes to municipal campaign finance, New Brunswick is the least regulated Canadian province, according to an expert on local governance.

And Zack Taylor says that lack of transparency can undermine municipal elections.
"Money shouldn't buy elections," Taylor, the director of the Centre of Urban Policy and Local Governance at the University of Western Ontario, told Shift New Brunswick.


Candidates in New Brunswick municipal elections do not have to disclose campaign contributions, spending limits or who funded them — an odd reality considering rules in place at the provincial and federal levels.

"We would be very uncomfortable as a public in having no disclosure regulation at the federal level, but somehow we think it's OK at the municipal level," Taylor said.


Zack Taylor is the director of the Centre of Urban Policy and Local Governance at the University of Western Ontario. (University of Western Ontario)

Regulations vary from province to province, he said, with rather lax policies on the East Coast and strict frameworks in central Canada. Quebec has been the leader on this front, ushering in regulations in the 1970s, while Ontario strengthened its rules in 2016.

Taylor said most provinces with laws on the books have some kind of cap on donations and, in some jurisdictions, a cap on spending.

Some provinces ban corporate and union donations and regulate how much a candidate can donate to their campaign. Most frameworks include rules for disclosure.
 

Shift - NB
Should municipal candidates disclose campaign contributions?

Candidates in New Brunswick municipal elections do not have to disclose campaign contributions, spending limits or who funded them. Yet regulations exist in other provinces. Zack Taylor at the University of Western Ontario has studied the differences, and how voters could benefit from more disclosure. 8:58 

"Disclosure is really important," Taylor said. "Disclosing who your donors are and how much they donated is a really important kind of public service that enables the public and watchdogs to keep an eye on the process."


He said regulations help level the playing field and prevent deep-pocketed donors or wealthy candidates from using their financial might to muscle their way into power.

Taylor said reform typically follows one of two occurrences: change to provincial rules or scandal.

"In B.C., there were scandals and that spurred a bit of a cleanup," he said. "In Ontario, there were a lot of concerns over property developers and so on donating to campaigns in ways that gave them outsized influence. That lead to a tightening up there."

New Brunswick's quadrennial municipal elections will take place in communities across the province on May 11.
Prior to the 2018 provincial election, the previous Liberal government had said it would introduce new rules, but the Progressive Conservative government that took power in the fall of 2018 has not implemented the regulations necessary for the spring vote.

That leaves it to individual candidates to decide whether to disclose information.

In Moncton, the first two candidates to declare in the province's largest city say they're not going to publicly reveal who is funding their campaign.

The New Brunswick Department of Environment and Local Government did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.

With files from Shift New Brunswick and Shane Magee






  4 Comments 





David Amos
Methinks folks can bet thin Canadian dimes to fat Yankee petrodollars that I called and introduced myself to the Professor Zack Taylor It should prove interesting to see if he responds to my email N'esy Pas?














David Amos
Methinks nobody should be surprised New Brunswick has existed since 1784 and it does not even have a constitution yet That why Hatfield and McKenna had the Feds alter their Constitution for linguistic issues to assist in their reelections N'esy Pas? 












Fred Brewer
This is ridiculous and needs to be fixed ASAP. Mr. Higgs why has this not been done? Please sir, try to defend the secrecy of municipal political donations, I dare you. Making public the donor's list is the only way voters can have some assurance that the elected officials will not favour those who donated heavily to their campaigns. Get 'er done!


David Amos 
Reply to @Fred Brewer: Cry me a river





https://politicalscience.uwo.ca/people/faculty/full-time_faculty/zack_taylor.html




Zack Taylor

Assistant Professor
Director, Centre for Urban Policy and Local Governance (CUP-LG)

Zack Taylor

PhD, University of Toronto
Telephone: 519.661.2111 ext. 85169
E-mail: zack.taylor@uwo.caOffice: Social Science Centre 4166
Personal Website: www.zacktaylor.comGoogle Scholar Profile
Academia.edu Profile
ResearchGate Profile

Research Interests

Professor Taylor specializes in urban political economy and Canadian and comparative politics and policymaking, with an empirical focus on historical and contemporary multi-level governance of cities. He also pursues parallel interests in municipal campaigns and elections, local public finance, and political geography. Professor Taylor is the first director of Western’s recently launched Centre for Urban Policy and Local Governance. He is a non-practicing Registered Professional Planner in the province of Ontario and Fellow at the Institute on Municipal Finance and Governance at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs.

Graduate Supervision

Professor Taylor is excited to work with Political Science and Public Administration graduate students on a wide range of topics, including local and metropolitan governance, multi-level governance, public administration, urban politics, urban planning, ideas and institutions, and political geography.

Current Research Projects

1. Place and Politics

This project employs spatial analysis techniques to examine, first, how urban location and neighbourhood characteristics may influence electoral behaviour in local, provincial, and national elections, and second, how the relative spatial clustering of immigrant communities within ridings may drive political party strategy in national elections. This project was awarded an Insight Development Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council in 2016.

2. The City in Comparative Political Development

Building on a growing American literature that examines the role of urbanization in American Political Development (APD), this project investigates urbanization as a motivator of change in Canadian politics and the national political economy since Confederation.

3. The Politics of Regional Planning Policy in Toronto

Ontario's Greenbelt Plan (2005) and Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe (2006) are considered to be among the most ambitious regional land-use planning programs yet attempted in the industrialized West. This project seeks to understand why this policy was adopted while previous attempts over the past 40 years faltered, where the policy ideas came from, and what political dynamics and compromises led to the plan’s general acceptance by stakeholder groups and different branches and levels of government. In addition, the project assesses the prospects for the plans’ successful implementation in the context of ongoing political change.

Selected Publications

Shaping the Metropolis Taylor

Book

Refereed Journal Articles

  • 2019: Silver, Daniel, Zack Taylor, and Fernando Calderón-Figueroa. “Populism in the City: The Case of Ford Nation.” International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society.
  • 2018: Taylor, Zack. “Pathways to Legitimacy.” Planning Theory. 
  • 2018: Taylor, Zack and Allen, Jeff. "A new tool for neighbourhood change research: The Canadian Longitudinal Census Tract Database, 1971–2016,” Canadian Geographer.
  • 2017: Taylor, Zack and Sandra McEleney. “Do Institutions and Rules Influence Electoral Accessibility and Competitiveness? Considering the 2014 Toronto Ward Elections,” Urban Affairs Review.
  • 2014: Taylor, Zack. “If Different, Then Why? Explaining the Divergent Political Development of Canadian and American Local Governance,” International Journal of Canadian Studies, 49(1), pp. 53–79.
  • 2013: Taylor, Zack. “Rethinking Planning Culture: A New Institutionalist Approach,” Town Planning Review, 84(6), pp. 683–702.
  • 2010: Taylor, Zack and Gabriel Eidelman. “Canadian Political Science and the City: A Limited Engagement,” Canadian Journal of Political Science, 43(4), pp. 961–81.
  • 2010: Eidelman, Gabriel and Zack Taylor. “Canadian Urban Politics: Another ‘Black Hole’?” Journal of Urban Affairs, 32(3), pp. 305–20.

Book Chapters

  • 2015: Taylor, Zack and Neil Bradford. “The New Localism: Canadian Urban Governance in the Twenty-First Century,” in Pierre Filion, Markus Moos, Ryan Walker, and Tara Vinodrai, eds., Canadian Cities in Transition, 5th ed., Toronto: Oxford University Press: 194–208.

Research Reports

  • 2018: Taylor, Zack. “Suburbanization and Politics.” In “The Future of the Suburbs: Policy Challenges and Opportunities in Canada.” School of Public Policy Briefing Paper 11(23), University of Calgary. 13–17.
  • 2016: Taylor, Zack. Good Governance at the Local Level: Meaning and Measurement. IMFG Papers on Municipal Finance and Governance 26. Toronto: Institute on Municipal Finance and Governance, University of Toronto.
  • 2016: Taylor, Zack and Leah Birnbaum. Toward Regional Resilience in Toronto: From Diagnosis to Action. Western Urban and Local Governance Working Paper 1. London: Local Government Program, Western University.
  • 2014: Taylor, Zack, Marcy Burchfield and Anna Kramer. Alberta Cities at the Crossroads: Urban Development Challenges and Opportunities in Historical and Comparative Perspective. SPP Research Papers 7(12). Calgary: School of Public Policy, University of Calgary.

Recent Conference Presentations

  • 2018: Taylor, Zack and Jack Lucas. “Putting Politics in its Place: Urbanization and the City in Canadian Political Development.” Urban Affairs Association, Toronto, ON (Apr.)
  • 2017: Taylor, Zack. “Institutional Performance and Metropolitan Governance in the United States and Canada: Comparing Minneapolis–St. Paul and Toronto, 1945–2015.” American Political Science Association, San Francisco, CA, USA (Sept.)
  • 2016: Taylor, Zack. “Legitimacy and the quest for regionalism in Portland, Oregon, and Vancouver, BC.” Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning, Portland, Oregon, USA (Nov.)
  • 2016: Taylor, Zack. “Neighbourhood effects on electoral behaviour in a large city: Toronto, 1997–2014.” American Political Science Association, Philadelphia (Sept.)
  • 2016: Taylor, Zack. “Regionalism and legitimacy.” Simon Fraser University Rethinking the Region Confere, Vancouver (April)
  • 2016: Taylor, Zack. “Urbanizing political authority and development.” Canadian Political Science Association, Calgary, Alberta (May).
  • 2014: Taylor, Zack. “Explaining stability and change in long-term metropolitan development: Introducing the urban development policy regime.” Canadian Political Science Association, St. Catharines, Ontario (June).
  • 2013: Taylor, Zack. “Right-wing Populism and the Curious Revival of Regional Planning in Toronto.” Society for American City and Regional Planning History, Toronto (October).
  • 2013: Taylor, Zack. “The political ecology of voter turnout in the City of Toronto, 2003–10.” Canadian Political Science Association, Victoria, British Columbia (June).
  • 2012: Taylor, Zack. “TVA on the Fraser: Ideas, Institutions, and the Development of Regional Planning and Governance in Vancouver.” Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA (November).
  • 2012: Taylor, Zack, Phil Triadafilopoulos and Chris Cochrane. “On the Backs of Immigrants? Conservative Politics and New Canadian Voters.” Canadian Political Science Association, Edmonton, Alberta (June).

Awards and Distinctions

  • 2016: Best Doctoral Dissertation, Urban Politics Section, American Political Science Association.
  • 2010: Clarence N. Stone Scholar, Urban Politics Section, American Political Science Association.
  • 2009: Excellence in Planning Award, Planning Publications category, Canadian Institute of Planners.


https://news.westernu.ca/2018/03/shuttleworth-remembered-friend-generous-philanthropist/





Shuttleworth remembered as ‘friend and generous philanthropist’

Western is mourning the passing of Lorraine (Ivey) Shuttleworth, who died on March 15, at the age of 98.
“We will remember Lorraine as a wonderful friend and generous philanthropist, who supported our students, faculty and researchers,” Western President Amit Chakma said. “The impact of her generosity will continue as part of her legacy here at Western.”


Shuttleworth made significant contributions to Western personally, and as President of The Richard and Jean Ivey Fund.

Since the inception of the Lorraine Ivey Shuttleworth Continuing Awards in 1999, 175 students have received a total of more than $1.5 million to complete their undergraduate studies at Western.

Shuttleworth’s interest in health research was reflected in gifts made in support of the Richard and Jean Ivey Fund Chair in Molecular Toxicology; the Ramsay W. Gunton Professorship in Cardiology; and the Heart and Stroke Foundation/Barnett-Ivey Chair at Robarts Research Institute.  She also supported many other areas across campus, including the renovation of the Paul Davenport Theatre in 2008, and the construction of the new Ivey Business School.

Shuttleworth was the daughter of the late Richard Green Ivey, LLD’54, and Jean Macaulay. She was the sister of Richard M. Ivey, HBA’47, LLD’79, and the late Pauline Ivey de Gueugnier. She was mother to Martha J. Shuttleworth and Nan Shuttleworth, BA’65.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. May 4, at St. John the Evangelist Church, 280 St. James St., London.


https://www.neptis.org



Researchers


In forming and pursuing its research program, Neptis has been fortunate to engage the expertise and professional opinions of an extraordinary group of experts. They include:
  1. Rian Allen and Philippa Campsie. (2013). Implementing the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe Has the strategic regional vision been compromised? Toronto: Neptis Foundation.
  1. Du, Paul and Marcy Burchfield, Byron Moldofsky, Jo Ashley. (2007). A Guide for Deriving a Consolidated Built-Up Urban Area for the Toronto Metropolitan Region Using Satellite Imagery. Toronto: University of Toronto Department of Geography and Program in Planning.
  2. Marcy Burchfield and Byron Moldofsky, Jo Ashley. (2007). A Method for Estimating the Historical Rate of Residential Intensification between 1991 and 2001 for the Toronto Region. Toronto: University of Toronto Department of Geography and Program in Planning, Toronto, 2007.
  3. Taylor, Zack and Marcy Burchfield, Byron Moldofsky, Jo Ashley. (2010). Growing Cities: Comparing Urban Growth and Regional Growth Policies in Calgary, Toronto, and Vancouver. Toronto: Neptis Foundation.
  1. Birnbaum, Leah and Lorenzo Nicolet, Zack Taylor. (2004). Simcoe County: The New Growth Frontier. Toronto: Neptis Foundation.
  1. Blais, Pamela M. (2000). Inching Toward Sustainability: The Evolving Urban Structure of the GTA. Toronto: Metropole Consultants.
  2. Blais, Pamela M. (2003). The Growth Opportunity: Leveraging New Growth to Maximise Benefits in the Central Ontario Zone, Issue Paper No. 5. Toronto: Neptis Foundation.
  3. Blais, Pamela M. (2003). Smart Development for Smart Growth, Issue Paper No. 6. Toronto: Neptis Foundation.
  4. IBI Group and Metropole Consultants, Dillon Consulting Limited. (2003). Toronto-Related Region Futures Study Sketch Modelling of Four Alternative Development Concepts. Toronto: IBI Group.
  1. Bourne, Larry S. (2000). People and Places: A Portrait of the Evolving Social Character of the Greater Toronto Region, Toronto: Department of Geography/Program in Planning University of Toronto.
  1. Buliung, R., and T. Hernandez. (2009). Places to Shop and Places to Grow: Power Retail, Consumer Travel Behaviour, and Urban Growth Management in the Greater Toronto Area. Toronto: Neptis Foundation.
  1. Bunce, Michael and Jeanne Maurer. (2005). Neptis Studies on the Toronto Metropolitan Region - Prospects for Agriculture in the Toronto Region: The Farmer Perspective. Toronto: Neptis Foundation.
  • Paul Du, Criminal Intelligence Analyst at Lloydminster RCMP
  1. Du, Paul and Marcy Burchfield, Byron Moldofsky, Jo Ashley. (2007). A Guide for Deriving a Consolidated Built-Up Urban Area for the Toronto Metropolitan Region Using Satellite Imagery. Toronto: University of Toronto Department of Geography and Program in Planning.
  1. Dunning, Will. (2006). Neptis Studies on the Toronto Metropolitan Region: Economic Influences on Population Growth and Housing Demand in the Greater Golden Horseshoe. Toronto: Neptis Foundation.
  1. Filion , Pierre. (2007).Neptis Studies on the Toronto Metropolitan Region - The Urban Growth Centres Strategy in the Greater Golden Horseshoe: Lessons from Downtowns, Nodes, and Corridors. Toronto: Neptis Foundation.
  1. Fraser, Donald M. (2003). Greenlands in the Central Ontario Zone, Issue Paper Number 4. Toronto: Neptis Foundation.
  2. Fraser, Donald M. and Bernard P. Neary, Gartner Lee Limited. (2004). Neptis Studies on the Toronto Metropolitan Region. The State of Greenlands Protection in South-Central Ontario. Toronto: Neptis Foundation.
  1. Frisken , Frances. (2007). The Public Metropolis: The Political Dynamics of Urban Expansion in the Toronto Region, 1924-2003. Toronto: Canadian Scholars' Press Inc.
  1. Gertler, Meric. (2000). A Region in Transition: The Changing Structure of Toronto's Regional Economy. Toronto: Programme in Planning Department of Geography University of Toronto.
  2. Gertler, Meric. (2003). Smart Growth and the Regional Economy, Issue Paper No. 7. Toronto: the Neptis Foundation.
  1. Gilbert, Richard. (2003). Energy and Smart Growth, Issue Paper No. 7. Toronto: Neptis Foundation.
  1. Buliung, R., and T. Hernandez. (2009). Places to Shop and Places to Grow: Power Retail, Consumer Travel Behaviour, and Urban Growth Management in the Greater Toronto Area. Toronto: Neptis Foundation.
  1. Sorensen, Andre and Paul Hess. (2007). Metropolitan Indicators Poster. Toronto: Neptis Foundation.
  1. IBI Group and Dillon Consulting Limited. (2002). Toronto-Related Region Futures Study Interim Report: Implications of Business-As-Usual Development. Toronto: IBI Group.
  2. IBI Group and Metropole Consultants, Dillon Consulting Limited. (2003). Toronto-Related Region Futures Study Sketch Modelling of Four Alternative Development Concepts. Toronto: IBI Group.
  • Anna Kramer, PhD researcher, Metrolinx
  1. Burchfield, Marcy and Anna Kramer. (2015) Growing Pains: Understanding the New Reality of Population and Dwelling Patterns in the Toronto and Vancouver Regions. Toronto: Neptis Foundation.
  1. Bunce, Michael and Jeanne Maurer. (2005). Neptis Studies on the Toronto Metropolitan Region - Prospects for Agriculture in the Toronto Region: The Farmer Perspective. Toronto: Neptis Foundation.
  1. Miller, Eric J. and Amer Shalaby. (2000). Travel in the Greater Toronto Area: Past and Current Behaviour and Relation to Urban Form. Toronto: Department of Civil Engineering University of Toronto, Department of Civil Engineering Ryerson Polytechnic University.
  2. Miller, Eric J. and Richard Soberman. (2003). Travel Demand and Urban Form, Issue Paper No. 9. Toronto: the Neptis Foundation.
  3. Miller, Eric J. and Matthew J. Roorda, Murtaza Haider, Abolfazl Mohammadian, Jonathan Hoss, Winnie W.L. Wong. (2004). Travel and Housing Costs in the Greater Toronto Area: 1986 - 1996. Toronto: Neptis Foundation.
  1. Du, Paul and Marcy Burchfield, Byron Moldofsky, Jo Ashley. (2007). A Guide for Deriving a Consolidated Built-Up Urban Area for the Toronto Metropolitan Region Using Satellite Imagery. Toronto: University of Toronto Department of Geography and Program in Planning.
  2. Marcy Burchfield and Byron Moldofsky, Jo Ashley. (2007). A Method for Estimating the Historical Rate of Residential Intensification between 1991 and 2001 for the Toronto Region. Toronto: University of Toronto Department of Geography and Program in Planning, Toronto, 2007.
  3. Taylor, Zack and Marcy Burchfield, Byron Moldofsky, Jo Ashley. (2010). Growing Cities: Comparing Urban Growth and Regional Growth Policies in Calgary, Toronto, and Vancouver. Toronto: Neptis Foundation.
  • Bernard P. Neary, Gartner Lee Limited:
  1. Fraser, Donald M. and Bernard P. Neary, Gartner Lee Limited. (2004). Neptis Studies on the Toronto Metropolitan Region. The State of Greenlands Protection in South-Central Ontario. Toronto: Neptis Foundation.
  1. Birnbaum, Leah and Lorenzo Nicolet, Zack Taylor. (2004). Simcoe County: The New Growth Frontier. Toronto: Neptis Foundation.
  1. Ogilvie, Ken. (2003). Air, Water and Soil Quality, Issue Paper No. 2. Toronto: Neptis Foundation.
  1. Miller, Eric J. and Amer Shalaby. (2000). Travel in the Greater Toronto Area: Past and Current Behaviour and Relation to Urban Form. Toronto: Department of Civil Engineering University of Toronto, Department of Civil Engineering Ryerson Polytechnic University.
  1. Enid Slack Consulting Inc. (2000). Municipal Finance and Governance in the Greater Toronto Area: Can the GTA Meet the Challenges of the 21st Century? Toronto: Programme in Planning Department of Geography University of Toronto.
  • Richard Soberman, Professor Emeritus of Civil Engineering, University of Toronto
  1. Miller, Eric J. and Richard Soberman. (2003). Travel Demand and Urban Form, Issue Paper No. 9. Toronto: Neptis Foundation.
  1. Sorensen, Andre and Paul Hess. (2007). Metropolitan Indicators Poster. Toronto: Neptis Foundation.
  1. Birnbaum, Leah and Lorenzo Nicolet, Zack Taylor. (2004). Simcoe County: The New Growth Frontier. Toronto: Neptis Foundation.
  2. Taylor, Zack and John van Nostrand. (2008). Shaping the Toronto Region, Past, Present, and Future: An Exploration of the Potential Effectiveness of Changes to Planning Policies Governing Greenfield Development in the Greater Golden Horseshoe. Toronto: Neptis Foundation.
  3. Taylor, Zack and Marcy Burchfield. (2010). Growing Cities Comparing Urban Growth and Regional Growth Policies in Calgary, Toronto, and Vancouver. Toronto: Neptis Foundation.
  1. Taylor, Zack and John van Nostrand. (2008). Shaping the Toronto Region, Past, Present, and Future: An Exploration of the Potential Effectiveness of Changes to Planning Policies Governing Greenfield Development in the Greater Golden Horseshoe. Toronto: Neptis Foundation.
  1. Walton, Margaret. (2003). Agriculture in the Central Ontario Zone, Issue Paper No. 1. Toronto: Neptis Foundation
  1. White, Richard. (2003). Urban Infrastructure and Urban Growth in the Toronto Region 1950s to the 1990s. Toronto: Neptis Foundation.
  1. Write, Robert M. and Russell Loveridge. (2000). The Evolving Physical Condition of the Greater Toronto Area: Space, Form, Change. Toronto: Centre for Landscape Research University of Toronto.

Hackers were paid ransom after attack on Canadian insurance firm, court documents reveal

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https://twitter.com/DavidRayAmos/with_replies






Replying to @alllibertynews and 49 others
Methinks I should do my own investigation into this matter because the "Powers That Be" already know which company I suspect got caught with their pants down N'esy Pas? 


https://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.com/2020/01/hackers-were-paid-ransom-after-attack.html


 



https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/unnamed-insurance-company-cyberattack-1.5445326





Hackers were paid ransom after attack on Canadian insurance firm, court documents reveal

Canadian company paid $950,000 US ransom through cyber insurer; extent of data breach remains unclear



Thomas Daigle· CBC News· Posted: Jan 30, 2020 4:00 AM ET




An unnamed Canadian insurance company was hit with a ransomware attack in October. The incident only recently came to light through court filings in the U.K. (Trevor Brine/CBC)

A Canadian insurance company suffered a ransomware attack last fall that saw 1,000 of its computers infected, raising questions about what sensitive data may have been accessed by hackers and whether the firm disclosed the breach to its customers. The case has only now come to light because of recent court filings in Britain.

The unnamed firm had itself purchased coverage in case of a cyberattack. The company's U.K.-based reinsurer paid $950,000 US to unlock the hijacked files and is now fighting to get the money back from criminals, according to court documents stemming from a hearing held in private.

"A hacker managed to infiltrate and bypass the firewall of [the Canadian company] and installed malware called BitPaymer," reads a Dec. 13 ruling from England's High Court in London. The document was published Jan. 17 and the case was first reported by the New Money Review.



British Justice Simon Bryan allowed the Canadian firm and its U.K.-based reinsurer to remain unnamed in public court documents. (U.K. Judicial Office)

The ruling simply refers to the Canadian firm as "the Insured Customer." Its reinsurer also goes unnamed, having asked the court for anonymity. The case does not appear related to Andrew Agencies, a Manitoba-based insurance brokerage which recently acknowledged it had fallen victim to a separate ransomware incident.

The attack on the unnamed Canadian firm became apparent on Oct. 10, 2019, when computers began locking up and displaying a ransom note — a typical occurrence during such incidents.

"Your network was hacked and encrypted," the message read, demanding a payment to release the machines and warning "no free decryption software is available on the web." The cybercriminals threatened to encrypt the company's files permanently if the episode were disclosed to the public, according to the court ruling.

The British reinsurer ultimately paid the hackers a $950,000 US ransom — negotiated down from an initial demand of $1.2 million — in the digital currency bitcoin. The Canadian company was then supplied with a digital decryption tool. It worked, but it took time.

"The information before me is that it took decryption of 20 servers of the Insured Customer five days and 10 business days for 1,000 desktop computers," Justice Simon Bryan wrote.


The case was heard by the Commercial Court, part of England's High Court of Justice, based at the Rolls Building in London. (Gordon Bell/Shutterstock)

Attacks usually stay secret 


While ransomware attacks have grown more common, disclosures remain rare. Companies tend to shy away from publicly announcing they were targeted, for fear they could be struck again, or to avoid worrying customers.




Brett Callow, a B.C.-based spokesperson for the international cybersecurity firm Emsisoft, said only 10-20 per cent of firms hit with ransomware let it be known publicly.

"What's really alarming is companies aren't disclosing these incidents, so customers, vendors and business partners aren't aware that their data has fallen into the hands of cybercriminals," Callow wrote in an email.

In the case of the insurance firm, it's unclear what data may have been accessed by hackers and whether they've held onto it since the computers were unlocked. Depending on the type of insurance the firm deals with, the machines could have been storing sensitive information on customers' homes, health or finances.
Since 2018, Canadian privacy law requires companies to report to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner (OPC) any breach of personal information that could "pose a real risk of significant harm to individuals."

On Wednesday, an OPC spokesperson declined to say whether this case had been reported, citing privacy concerns.

The Canadian company isn't alone in buying coverage specifically for cyberattacks. What makes this case unusual is that it landed in court, with the British reinsurer attempting to recoup the ransom amount. So far, it successfully obtained an injunction to freeze much of the bitcoin payment.
Chainalysis, a U.S. firm which carries out digital currency investigations, confirmed to CBC News it helped trace 96 bitcoins (more than $890,000 US as of Wednesday) to an unnamed user of a cryptocurrency exchange site.

No hacker is identified by name in the court papers and a Chainalysis spokesperson declined to provide further details.

Should victims pay the ransom?

Cybersecurity experts typically recommend paying no ransom, since there's no guarantee it will ensure any data is unlocked. What's more, it can encourage hackers to re-target victims who have been willing to pay.

The RCMP strongly suggest victims refuse to pay, but acknowledges in online guidance that "there may be legitimate reasons for paying the ransom, such as the potential harm of not having access to the data as a result of no backup."

Get in touch by email: thomas.daigle@cbc.ca.

About the Author




Thomas Daigle
Senior Technology Reporter
While in CBC's London, U.K. bureau, Thomas reported on everything from the Royal Family and European politics to terrorism. He filed stories from Quebec for several years and reported for Radio-Canada in his native New Brunswick. Thomas is now based in Toronto and focuses on technology-related news. He can be reached by email at thomas.daigle@cbc.ca.


Daigle heading to London

Thomas Daigle (CBC photo)
Thomas Daigle (CBC photo)
Not to be outdone, there’s staffing news at CBC as well. Thomas Daigle, originally from Quispamsis, N.B., but based for several years now in Montreal, will be the new CBC News correspondent in London.
Daigle, 28, worked at CJAD, Global Montreal and Radio-Canada Acadie before joining CBC Montreal. He was named the anchor for weekend newscasts when CBC Montreal added them back to its schedule, then he was moved to the National Assembly and eventually into the position of national reporter in Montreal.





69 Comments





David Amos
Methinks I should do my own investigation into this matter because the "Powers That Be" already know who I suspect which company got caught with their pants down N'esy Pas? 

















Joe Speed
An insurance company takes a financial hit. Poetic justice.

Maybe their insurer will deny their claim using ambiguous contractual language.  

 

David Amos
Reply to @Joe Speed: It would be a wonderful world if they did pull that legalese nonsense on each but they have the dirt on each other so methinks they will never spill the beans on such a lucrative scam Hence the secret judgement to settle a minor spit and chew between crooks N'esy Pas? 























Mo Bennett
once upon a time someone said justice is blind. now it's just plain stupid, allowing this firm to be nameless, and failing to protect it's customers information.


Gene Plichota
Reply to @mo bennett:
justice is playing catch-up, but at least playing  

 

Jennifer McIsaac
Reply to @mo bennett:
Easy to say they should have protected their systems, but it only takes one email and one unthinking person to let them in. 



Victor Fur 
Reply to @Jennifer McIsaac:
Agreed but my place of work provides safety training on a regular basis. They even test us and scrutinize the results individually. Seriously worth it.
 
 
Mo Bennett
Reply to @Jennifer McIsaac: delete any unrecognizable emails and decline any like phone calls. this is not rocket science.
 
 
David Amos
Reply to @mo bennett: YO MO Methinks everybody knows that justice and cyber security are myths N'esy Pas?







Brian Gibson
Canada life I'm assuming


David Amos
Reply to @Brian Gibson: Me too 


















Bryan Atkinson
I'm retired now but last place I worked had it's own server. Company business could only be done on company computers. And company computers could only be used for company business.

There was intranet but only managers had access to outside email. And managers underwent regular security briefings and warned to be wary of phishing.


David Amos
Reply to @Bryan Atkinson: True 
















 
Michael Durant
Just a fear tactic, our institutions employ world class computer security. I would be more worried of stubbing my toe today. Canada revenue agency will no longer provide means to file income tax forms on paper in an effort to save Canada's forests.


David Amos
Reply to @Michael durant: Surely you jest 


















 
Joseph Cluster
Nameless, nothing to see here folks, but it was basically the private information that was held for ransom.
It should be law that if a company even has our email address they have to protect their servers.
Too expensive-Too Bad then-They don't have the financial means to protect-Then they don't collect any information.


David Amos
Reply to @Joseph Cluster: Methinks the have lots of money but they lack the intelligence to use it properly that's why Insurance companies need to be insured N'esy Pas?


Casey Jackson  
Content disabled 
Reply to @David Amos: Who is N'esy Pas?


Joseph Cluster
Content disabled 
Reply to @Casey Jackson:
It kind like asking "Who's on first" 



Casey Jackson 
Content disabled 
Reply to @Joseph Cluster: I suppose if it was spelled correctly as this looks more like an insult :p


David Amos
Reply to @Joseph Cluster: Methinks Upper Canadians don't comprenez Maritimers or our Chiac N'esy Pas? 
 
David Amos
Content disabled 
Reply to @Casey Jackson: Perhaps you should Google that expression or read an old file of mine?

https://www.scribd.com/doc/2718120/integrity-yea-right  



David Amos
Reply to @Casey Jackson: Methinks it too bad so sad folks can't read my reply to you N'esy Pas? 














Mike Michaels
Andrew agencies in Manitoba was hacked last October. One can safely assume this is the insurance firm in question.

David Amos
Reply to @Mike Michaels: I was thinking of somebody else based in Manitoba


Casey Jackson 
Reply to @Mike Michaels: It is too bad we can't all safely assume we are all protected as leaving the firm unnamed does nothing to reassure anyone that their personal and "private" information was not compromised.
Where are the consumers' rights to know?



Ken Paul 
Reply to @Mike Michaels: that assumption is based on what? That is a lot of equipment that was locked out. Andrews insurance is not that big.


David Amos
Reply to @Casey Jackson: Methinks you already assume too many things before judging a person harshly N'esy Pas? 





















 
Michel Lamarche
Not only is Canada fast becoming a paradise for money laundering, a lot of it in real estate, we also have absolutely minimal protection for the data of citizens. After failing for years at a consequential industrial policy, the federal government (and provincial and municipal governments) is failing against money laundering and is also failing at protecting private personal data in terms of obligations for companies with severe penalties - as is the case in the EU for example.

David Amos
Reply to @Michel Lamarche: Check out FATCA sometime 
 
 

New Brunswick leads country in breast, lung cancer rates

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https://twitter.com/DavidRayAmos/with_replies





Replying to @alllibertynews and 49 others

Content disabled 
Methinks lots of folks have said the magic word that upsets a couple of billionaire Clans in NB and got our last Chief Medical Officer of Health fired N'esy Pas? 



https://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.com/2020/01/new-brunswick-leads-country-in-breast.html



 



https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/cancer-rate-breast-lung-new-brunswick-canada-1.5444697


New Brunswick leads country in breast, lung cancer rates

Province has 2nd highest rate of new cancer cases overall, but drops to 7th when age is factored in



Bobbi-Jean MacKinnon· CBC News· Posted: Jan 30, 2020 6:05 AM AT




Breast cancer survivor Kathy Kaufield said the province's high rate doesn't surprise her. When she had her lumpectomy in Saint John, the surgeon performed five other breast cancer surgeries the same day. (Mike Heenan/CBC)

New Brunswick has the highest rates of newly diagnosed breast cancer and lung cancer cases in the country, and the second-highest rate of new cancer cases overall, according to new figures from Statistics Canada.

The province's breast cancer rate was 80.9 per 100,000 in 2017, with 620 new cases diagnosed, the data released Wednesday show.

By comparison, the national rate, excluding Quebec, was 68.4.


And while the national rate decreased from the previous year, New Brunswick's breast cancer rate grew steadily three years in a row, up from 71.1 in 2013.

"It's upsetting," said breast cancer survivor Kathy Kaufield of Quispamsis. "It's not a statistic that New Brunswick should be proud of."
The province also led the country for the incidence rate of new lung and bronchus cancers in 2017, at 103 per 100,000. A total of 790 cases were diagnosed, the figures show.

Nova Scotia was a close second at 102.1 per 100,000, with 970 new cases.

Across Canada, the incidence rate was 64.5.

New Brunswick's total rate for the 58 types of cancers tracked was 631.9 per 100,000, (4,845 cases), with Nova Scotia virtually tied at 631.8, (6,006 cases).


Only Newfoundland and Labrador ranked worse at 670, (3,540 cases).

The national rate was 529.1.

Aging population affects numbers


New Brunswick's growing cancer numbers appear worse than they are because the majority of cancer cases are diagnosed in people over the age of 50, and the proportion of the province's population in that age group has been growing rapidly in recent years, forcing the numbers up.

According to Statistics Canada, adjusting for age differences in New Brunswick's population between 2011 and 2017, cancer rates in each age group in the province have been falling, but the total number of cases are rising as more and more people enter the prime years for contracting the disease.

For example, breast cancer is five times more prevalent in women in their 60s than women in their 30s and New Brunswick has more 60-year-olds and fewer 30-year-olds than it did 10 years ago. The sheer number of women entering that age group is pushing overall totals up.

When the age of the population is factored in, New Brunswick drops from second place overall to seventh place, and a rate much closer to the national average — 500.5 per 100,000, compared to 495.9.

Even accounting for the age issue, New Brunswick still ranks high for breast and lung cancers, in second and third place respectively.

Renews call for breast density info

Kaufield says figuring out why so many women in New Brunswick are getting breast cancer should be a research priority.

In the meantime, she's waiting for the provincial government to follow through on a 2018 election pledge to provide women with their breast density information after mammograms so those with dense breasts can seek additional, more effective screening.


Dense breast tissue can obscure cancer in a mammogram image. (Submitted by Dense Breasts Canada)

A Department of Health official has previously said the goal is to implement a standardized approach to reporting of breast density in 2020. No specific timeline has been provided.

"The sooner the better as far as I'm concerned, especially when you see numbers like this," said Kaufield.

"The least we could do — if we can't find out why it's so high in New Brunswick — is give women every opportunity to find it as early as they can."


Dr. Mahmoud Abdelsalam, chief of oncology at the Moncton Hospital, said there is evidence that healthy lifestyle choices, such as not smoking, eating more vegetables and fruit and less red meat, and exercising, can reduce the incidence of cancer by 30 per cent. (Horizon Health Network)

Dr. Mahmoud Abdelsalam, the chief of oncology at the Moncton Hospital, believes the province's aging population is one of the factors behind the high cancer rates.

He points to a recent report released by the Canadian Cancer Society, which showed 79 per cent of cancer cases occurred between the ages of 50 and 84.

"We have many of the young generation, they move outside New Brunswick looking for jobs. And we have more retired people coming back at that age."

Add lung screening


Smoking could be another factor, said Abdelsalam. Globally, the incidence of lung cancers not related to smoking usually ranges between 15 and 20 per cent, but in New Brunswick, that figure is only about eight to 10 per cent, he said.

"So that gives the impression that most of the lung cancer in our province [is] related more to smoking."

But to understand the numbers, more analysis of the province's population is required, said Abdelsalam.

"We need to look at what are the higher risks in our province — could be the age, could be smoking incidence, could be the style of life, could be environmental factors, could be something else like genetics that we didn't check. So that needs more epidemiological studies."

Abdelsalam said he'd like to see the province add more screening programs, citing lung cancer as an example. Diagnosing early improves survival rates, he said.










63 Comments 






David Amos
More glyphosate anyone?















David Amos 
Content disabled 
Methinks lots of folks have said the magic word that upsets a couple of billionaire Clans in NB and got our last Chief Medical Officer of Health fired N'esy Pas? 


















Alex Butt
Content disabled 
Pretty sad how New Brunswick only leads or comes in first in all the bad or negative things such as hospital wait times, lack of healthcare, garbage roads and infrasture etc and last on the good things... 


David Amos
Content disabled 
Reply to @Alex Butt:  YUP


















Trevis L. Kingston
NB and all the Maritime provinces are located at the "Weather Tailpipe" of much of the
industrial installations of Eastern North America.
Pollutants are gathered from a wide area of especially the US and prevailing winds funnel
them over our heads on an almost daily routine. As well, Snow and Rain drop them onto
our farm-food lands and into our air and water supplies.
Have any credible studies been undertaken to assess the effects of this on our citizens?



Buddy Best
Reply to @Trevis L. Kingston: These cancer causing agents are locally produced! Anyone claiming otherwise is grossly misleading. The evidence is all around us.


David Amos 
Reply to @Buddy Best: YUP 












Paul Bourgoin
New Brunswick leads country in breast, lung cancer rates, Understandable the lack of human protection within our environment and industry being able to hide their abuse of our environment is clear. We bury the the consequences of industrial abuse!

David Amos  
Reply to @Paul Bourgoin: YUP






















Buddy Best
It can't happen to you until it does. Polluting our air, water and soil is the way they do business. It doesn't kill like a bolt of lightning. It takes years or decades to have its impact. After living and working here for 60 years all I wanted to do was to retire to Play some golf in summer and travel in Winter. Can't do either because my lungs are shot.


Ben Hague
Reply to @Buddy Best: Who are (they) ?
David Amos
Reply to @Ben Hague: Methinks he is referring to the "Powers That Be" in NB N'esy Pas? 
Buddy Best
 The major industrial entity in this province cares no more for the people in here then the saplings it kills with it's poison. They have proven it time and time again. They know they kill!!

Ben Hague
Reply to @Buddy Best: Who are they ?
David Amos
Reply to @Ben Hague: Methinks you are having fun playing dumb N'esy Pas? 
Paul Bourgoin
There are people, Professionals who lost their jobs for telling the truth about our forestry practices. NB hired a Fraud to be our leading Professional in the planning of our forest management. He received Canada's highest honor only to find out he was an impostor and his competence was a deception. New Brunswick is still at the starting line as to how to manage a forest with wildlife without affecting human lives.

Ben Hague
Reply to @Paul Bourgoin: Who was the fraud that that received ( Canada's highest honor )? What is (Canada's highest honor)? Curious !
David Amos
Reply to @Ben Hague: Methinks I should ask which Clan you work for? I bet its the McCains or the Irvings or both N'esy Pas?
Murray Brown
There is no mystery. If you take a trip from Nova Scotia, travel through New Brunswick and then on down the Eastern seaboard to Baltimore, you will notice that there are refineries (starting in Nova Scotia and NB) and industrial plants polluting the air during the whole trip... The natural path of that air is through the Maritimes and Newfoundland and then out to sea..

Ben Hague
Reply to @Murray Brown: In order to see the refinery in NS where abouts did you begin your trip?
David Amos
Reply to @Ben Hague: Methinks he likely saw it at about 30 thousand feet over NS after leaving Halifax heading for wherever on a jet airliner N'esy Pas?
Mack Leigh
Well here is to us !!!! The poorest province in Canada and also the sickest.. Things to be really , really proud of .. Our Liberal and Conservative governments are doing a bang-up job for the people of NB... Just continue the spraying of poisonous chemicals and pandering to one minority only and all will be well...

David Amos
Reply to @Mack Leigh: Methinks many a true word is said in jest N'esy Pas?
Doug McBride
I live in NB and LOVE my province but there is a fallacy that because of all the forest and the beautiful sea air, we have beautiful perfectly clean air. It is..... until the potato crops and the forests are sprayed with chemicals that have been proven to cause cancer. No chemical use far fewer cancer cases!

David Amos
Reply to @Doug McBride: I concur
Tom Simmons
Glyphosate?
Buddy Best 
Reply to @Tom Simmons: and the Irving Empire's empathy for life in general. They have none!!!!!!
Joseph Batt 
Reply to @Tom Simmons: Radon Gas, Smoking and Second hand smoke are lung cancer root causes.
Buddy Best 
Reply to @Joseph Batt: Yeah right!!!!??? The only way to developed lung cancer is to smoke or have radon in your work or living areas. NEWS FLASH!!!!! It ain't.
Tom Simmons 
Reply to @Joseph Batt: We can't know until they get ride of Glyphosate spray, many class action lawsuits against Round Up, main ingredient Glyphosate.
David Amos
Reply to @Tom Simmons: Glyphosate? Methinks thats the breakfast beverage that billionaires love to serve upon the rest of us N'sy Pas?
 
 

Higgs promises major shakeup at Opportunities New Brunswick in state of the province address

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https://twitter.com/DavidRayAmos/with_replies





Replying to @alllibertynews and 49 others

Methinks some folks may enjoy watching what his blogging buddy Chucky Leblanc was up to while Higgy was having a big night with his pals N'esy Pas? 

https://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.com/2020/01/higgs-promises-major-shakeup-at.html



 



https://youtu.be/75jjY7fs1Y4




http://charlesotherpersonalitie.blogspot.com/2020/01/2020-state-of-province-address.html#comment-form   


Thursday, 30 January 2020

 

2020 State of the Province Address!!!! Difficult time to find Green Party Leader David Coon!!!!!!

2020 State of the Province Address!!!! Difficult time to find Green Party Leader David Coon!!!!!! BY THE WAY ---- DON'T GET EXCITED if you find some part of the video offensive....The Camera is broken....I can't see where the camera is filming...NO VISION!!!!









https://twitter.com/DavidRayAmos/with_replies





Replying to @alllibertynews and 49 others

Content disabled  
Methinks some folks may enjoy listening to what Higgy really said N'esy Pas?  
 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75jjY7fs1Y4&feature=youtu.be


 


https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/opportunities-new-brunswick-higgs-state-of-the-province-1.5446827




Higgs promises major shakeup at Opportunities New Brunswick in state of the province address

Changes to economic development agency will include letting go of its CEO, says premier


Jacques Poitras· CBC News· Posted: Jan 31, 2020 5:00 AM AT



New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs, pictured during 2019 state of the province, pledged to overhaul Opportunities New Brunswick during this year's address on Thursday night. (Stephen MacGillivray/Canadian Press)

Premier Blaine Higgs has unveiled what he calls a new direction for Opportunities New Brunswick, the province's lead economic development agency.

The premier used his second state of the province speech to confirm that the Crown corporation's CEO, Stephen Lund, won't be renewed now that his five-year contract is ending.

And to chart a new direction for the organization, he said the province consulted experts, business leaders and economists to set a new course for ONB.


"What we heard, essentially, is that we need to embrace a pro-growth agenda now," he told a crowd of business and community leaders gathered at the Fredericton Convention Centre.

Boosting immigration


That means finding a way to fill an expected 120,000 jobs that will become vacant in the next decade and pushing the federal government to increase the maximum number of immigrants the province can take in from 7,500 to 10,000 per year.

Higgs floated the idea of trying to grow New Brunswick's population to one million people by 2040, an increase that he says would boost the province's gross domestic product by $15 billion and add 100,000 jobs.

The embrace of Opportunities New Brunswick, and the premier's effusive thanks to Lund, marks a change for the premier.


Premier Blaine Higgs announced Thursday his government will not be renewing the contract of ONB CEO Stephen Lund, pictured. (CBC New Brunswick)

As opposition leader, he denounced corporate subsidies and called for the CEO's firing over unimplemented recommendations made by the auditor general in the wake of the Atcon loan fiasco.

But Thursday night Higgs praised Lund "for his steady commitment to New Brunswick's growth, and for his role in helping to shape the future of ONB." Lund was hired by the previous Liberal government in February 2015.


New vision

Higgs said an overhauled ONB will play the lead role in implementing his vision of economic growth driven by the private sector and unencumbered by government bureaucracy, generous subsidies and political interference.

"Government actions can strangle us. They can drag us down. They can suffocate us with high taxes. They can drive people away to work in other provinces. And they can make our businesses uncompetitive by driving up cost," he said.

"It is a vicious cycle, and the worst is when the government has to step in to prop up industry sectors that became uncompetitive because their cost to operate climbed too high."


The new vision for ONB includes helping businesses navigate red-tape and opening offices in Europe and India. (Opportunities New Brunswick)

Since taking power in 2018 Higgs has spoken often of shifting ONB's focus. The organization's budget was reduced by $7 million in the first Progressive Conservative budget and 24 positions were eliminated last June.

Higgs said the agency will become the single point of contact for potential investors, using a standardized evaluation process that is transparent and "free of political interference."
The organization's role will be to guide businesses through the regulatory process so it moves more quickly. It will also open an office in Europe so that New Brunswick companies can grow and diversify their exports.

Higgs said the province will open another overseas office in India, this one to attract skilled workers and investors.

The PC government signalled a shift from job creation to employee recruitment last November when it said its 19 regional economic development offices would shift part of their focus to helping employers find skilled workers to fill vacancies.

Higgs said last night the provincial government will also become "a model user" of new technology to set an example for businesses adopting new tools and will launch a new marketing campaign to promote New Brunswick's brand.

"We need to talk about what is great about this province and there is plenty," he said. "We will showcase our success stories, especially those companies that are embracing immigration, exporting globally, and adopting innovation to drive productivity."

NB Power and health care


Higgs also signalled new moves in other areas, saying he has asked NB Power to develop a plan to reduce its level of debt without affecting power rates.

And he confirmed that he'll be announcing major changes to the health-care system within weeks to address an aging population and labour shortages.

He also said the province will use some of the money it's saving thanks to lower interest payments on a smaller accumulated debt to address addiction and mental health issues.

"There are no easy answers, but our government is committed," he said. "This is an issue that can't be ignored."








219 Comments
Commenting is now closed for this story.






David Amos
Content disabled  
Methinks some folks may enjoy listening to what Higgy really said N'esy Pas?  
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75jjY7fs1Y4&feature=youtu.be
















David Amos
Methinks its blatantly obvious just how two faced and dumb Higgy truly is N'esy Pas?

"As opposition leader, he denounced corporate subsidies and called for the CEO's firing over unimplemented recommendations made by the auditor general in the wake of the Atcon loan fiasco.

But Thursday night Higgs praised Lund "for his steady commitment to New Brunswick's growth, and for his role in helping to shape the future of ONB."



Lou Bell
Reply to @David Amos: And you'd have preferred he denigrate him in front of the crowd ! Nice !! He said his contract wouldn't be renewed , not hard to get the message . He praised Lund for " his commitment to NB's economic growth , he just didn't say Lund achieved it ! And he fired him . So really , what's your point ??


David Amos
Reply to @Lou Bell: Deja Vu for you and the Good Old Boys in Blue

Invest NB officially launched
20 September 2011

SAINT JOHN, MONCTON, CAMPBELLTON (CNB) – Invest NB’s business plan framework and board of directors were announced today by Premier David Alward at the Crown Corporation’s official launch.

Alward, Economic Development Minister Paul Robichaud and Invest NB chief executive officer Robert MacLeod together visited the cities of Saint John, Moncton and Campbellton for three distinct launch ceremonies.

"To promote our pro-business environment, Invest NB will make informed, strategic decisions to capitalize upon our strengths," said Alward." The measurements included are representative of Invest NB's focus to invest public money to create high-salary jobs and to develop the economy."
The board members are:

● Denis Losier, president and chief executive officer, Assumption Life;
● Helena Cain, vice-president, Customer Care, Sales and Strategy, Bell Aliant;
● James M. Baumgartner, president and chief executive officer, Moneris Solutions Corp., pending confirmation from his corporation;
● H. E. A. (Eddy) Campbell, president and vice-chancellor, University of New Brunswick;
● Michael Campbell, vice-president and general counsel, McCain Foods Ltd.;
● René Collette, director of Business Development, TD Bank Financial Group;
● Lily Durepos, business owner and executive, Alliance Assurance;
● Martin LeBlanc, president and chief executive officer, Caprion Proteomics;
● Bill Levesque, deputy minister, Business New Brunswick, ex-officio;
● Denis Mallet, general manager, FPM Peat Moss Co. Ltd.; and
● Jeffrey S. Mitchell, senior vice-president and director of research, Strategic Advisors Inc., pending confirmation from his corporation.



Lou Bell
Reply to @David Amos: This was David Alward ! Higgs wasn't running the show . Alward was a one term failure . Like someone who runs 7 or 8 times and gets less votes than what's even on their nomination papers.






















David Amos
Methinks folks should never forget that the CEO of Nb Poower Gaëtan Thomas is gone net month or that Alward appointed Robert MacLeod a former wannabe leader to be the first CEO of ONB. It wasn't long after we started paying for "Not So Smart" meters that Higgy wants to push through the EUB process before he loses the next election N'esy Pas?

Siemens and NB Power strike smart grid pact
CBC News · Posted: Jul 25, 2012 11:00 AM AT

"Siemens Canada and NB Power have struck an agreement that will see the global technology company create a 10 year energy road map for the province.

The new partnership also sees the company open a new research and development centre in Fredericton.

Gaëtan Thomas, the president and chief executive officer of NB Power, said the use of the smart grid technology will help customers in the future.

"This relationship will be long lasting, and will modernize the New Brunswick electricity system and the way our customers view their own electricity consumption. It will also provide long-term benefits to our customers," Thomas said in a statement."

Invest NB will be subsidizing a portion of those jobs, but CEO Robert MacLeod would not comment on how much the deal would cost taxpayers, saying that figure is still being finalized.

"NB Power will pay Siemens for that service, which could cost millions of dollars per year.

Jan Mrosik, the global head of Siemens Smart Grid, said the global technology company is looking forward to setting up in New Brunswick.

"We'll save hundreds of millions of dollars in the long run and this means that NB Power will have to spend much less in generation," Alward said.



















Jim Cyr
This network’s radio coverage of the address was beyond shameful. Never was it more apparent that anything with a red L attached to it gets praised by their panel of talking heads (and their news division). Any anything with a blue C gets automatically panned. Disgraceful bias.....and it’s from state-run media, no less!


David Amos
Reply to @Jim Cyr: Cry me a river 
 

David Amos
Reply to @Jim Cyr: Methinks some folks may enjoy listening to what Higgy really said N'esy Pas?  
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75jjY7fs1Y4&feature=youtu.be
















Roy Kirk
Kill ONB, take its budget, and use it to reduce the tax burden on low wage workers.


David Amos
Reply to @Roy Kirk: Amen


















Roland Godin
And le nord du Nouveau-Brunswick is to south New Brunswick what Alberta is to Canada, a natural resource supply chain feeder...et voilà.


Lou Bell
Reply to @Roland Godin: And which mine in northern NB is the iron ore for the proposed processing plant coming from again ???

David Amos
Reply to @Lou Bell: Golly Gosh Methinks you should also ask your hero Higgy where did the Potash mine go in Fundy Royal N'esy Pas??




















Ned MacAllister
Methinks that David Amos in a wanna be Politician who think's he knows everything. He put his name forward several times but never made the grade. He comments on every post on here but he sways with the wind. No credibility on anything just somebody that wants to but into every post and give his opinion. Just another disgruntled loon. Nes'y Pas ?????


David Amos
Reply to @Ned MacAllister: Methinks I have a politcal foe who reads every word and curses my name a lot N'esy Pas?




















Rod McLeod
It will be interesting to see what his severance will be. Cha-ching! I'm also inclined to think we could do without ONB as well.


David Amos
Reply to @Rod McLeod: I Wholeheartedly Agree Sir 
 










 

Rick Haars
NB power guy has to go as well. 


David Amos
Reply to @rick haars: Methinks everybody but you must know that Mr Thomas is gone next month he is just waiting on Minister Mikey Holland to hold a fancy dinner in his honour and give him a golden handshake and brown paper bag as he heads out the backdoor N'esy Pas?




















Jake Newman
need someone like Higgs as PM
 
David Amos
Reply to @Jake Newman: Methinks I should thank you for the chuckle as I heat up my beans and franks N'esy Pas?




















Wayne Wright
Making changes at ONB is fine but I hope Higgs is wise enough to NOT change the name just because the Gallant Liberals renamed it. Nothing wrong with the name but changing it will cost PNB thousands of dollars to do that then thousands more just in stationary, etc.


David Amos 
Reply to @Wayne Wright: Waste Not Want Not. Methinks many agree that ONB should be shut down ASAP. In my humble opinion the stationary could be given to the homeless to burn in their campfires as they try to stay warm while heating up their beans and franks and dreaming of fancy dinners Lucien and Higgy and their well heeled cohorts attend with lots of fine looking French ladies to talk to in the Chiac lingo. N'esy Pas?



























Fred Brewer
Higgs asked NB Power to develop a plan to reduce its level of debt without affecting power rates. They have a plan. Phase one of the plan was Joi magic beans. Phase two is perpetual motion, and phase three is cold fusion. Higgs should come up with a plan of his own that involves cleaning house at NB Power including its board of directors.


David Amos 
Reply to @Fred Brewer: Methinks if you were a wiseguy you would attend the next public hearing before the EUB of the 357 Matter Trust that Minister Mikey Holland and his pal your beloved Green Party Leader know that I have few things to say about a very questionable Yankee Strawman Report created under Chatham House Rules for the benefit of NB Power and corporate pals whom ONB has giving our money to for years. Many folks no doubt agree that Mini Nukes and the "Not So Smart Meters" are just like the Joi Scientific nonsense and are definitely not in the best interests of citizens who own NB Power N'esy Pas?


























Mabel Short
so many NBers left new brunswick for Alberta in the last decades...not because of no jobs in new brunswick but because they were english speakers and weren't wanting sweeping street with their Phd's education. this is the truth of the jobs matter. so i suggest Higgs make an economic agreement with the province of Alberta...allowing free trade between the provinces,
tapping into the technical expertise of albertan business, allowing direct flights between calgary and edmonton and Moncton and Saint john. ....developing a trading road without stops from new brunswick to Alberta...perhaps passing thru Maine instead of Quebec. I think this would be a successful future for the 2provinces.....



David Amos 
Reply to @mabel short: Methinks you are preaching to the choir but the preacher this article is about is under orders not to listen N'esy Pas? 
 




















Tom Simmons
Well, we need more housing....200000 +/- people will require 50000 unit +/- at 100000 a unit, 5 billion. along with upgrade to sewage, water, elect. Need more 3 or 4 more hospitals. Need 20 more schools. Better start that right away 20 billion investments required over the next twenty years.



David Amos
Reply to @Tom Simmons: True


Chuck Stewart 
Reply to @Tom Simmons: When did it become the duty of government to build you a house, have we become a communist society where the state looks after you ? Also we have too many hospitals, what we need is a public that does not abuse hospital services. WE are have about 20 % of the population of Toronto yet we have 85 % of Toronto's budget.

David Amos
Reply to @Chuck Stewart: Methinks you should speak for yourself Trust that I am no communist and that my political foe Higgy knows I do not abuse hospital services. I have to pay cash for my Health Care because his minions won't give me back my Medicare Card that I got when it was first created which was no doubt long before you were born N'esy Pas?


Tom Simmons
Reply to @Chuck Stewart: It's sarcasm. I don't expect government do anything but keep the border secure. That being said we will need a massive amount of capital investment and labour in order to grow our province they way Higgs is proposing (which I'm against). I agree about spending on Health as well, but we have a dual system and that isn't going anywhere. 


Mabel Short
Reply to @Tom Simmons: if you all were reallly smart you would make Higgs et al cut out all language dispots in filling all provincially funded jobs...let the two languages concept go back to the hell from which it came....hire NBers that are revied by public servants for jobs in government only for experience and for formal educations......new brunswick needs to allow resident citizens to be given the senior jobs in the bureaucracy based on education and experiences only..no language restrictions.....and make sure only residents of NB can be hired for any jobs that are paid for by the NB taxpayers.



David Amos
Reply to @mabel short: Methinks you should have Higgy and all his wiseguy buddies explain the lawsuit I filed Federal Court in Fat Fred City in 2015 while I was running in the election of the 42nd Parliament in the riding where he lives and against his pal the lawyer Rob Moore whom I ran against again last year N'esy Pas?























Robert G. Holmes
Did I miss something? No re-structuring of NB Power, to take advantage of the Atlantic grid interconnect with Hydro Quebec? Short term "vision" is a problem in NB.


David Amos
Reply to @Robert G. Holmes: Methinks you should go to the EUB and download their transcripts and start reading N'esy Pas?




















Lou Bell
Meanwhile Higgs Liberal predecessor has been hired to implement all his FAILED ideas as a new hire in Ontario . Must be gonna take Melanson , Boudreau and his other SANB compatriots to help the disgraced SANB pahpet implement them !


David Amos
Reply to @Lou Bell: Cry me a river


Lou Bell 
Reply to @David Amos: Methinks Higgy remembers me when I ..... Oops , sorry , that's your line !






















Kyle Woodman
Does anyone know how to get on team Higgs? I'm tired of being a regular citizen and desire all the perks that come with being part of the chosen few. Do I simply donate lots of money to the PC party? It's confusing. Is there an certain church or something I should start going to?


David Amos
Reply to @Kyle Woodman: Methinks just money will buy a ticket on the gravy train but being one of Rob Moore's buddies certainly helps as to where you get to sit on it N'esy Pas? 
 



















Shelley Parks
This is such welcome news. ONB has been giving handouts to it's own employees to start up businesses while they continue on the payroll of same NB Government Corp. Oh! I welcome this decision and am ALL for transparency and action that may follow any questionable findings, which I know are running rampant there.


David Amos
Reply to @Shelley Parks: Me Too


Terry Tibbs
Reply to @David Amos:
Bill Cosby said it best (no matter what else he did) RIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!






















Guy Richard
This department needs to be dissolved, waste of money, millions pocketed by incompetent leadership.


David Amos 
Reply to @Guy Richard: YUP


Terry Tibbs 
Reply to @Guy Richard:
But it won't be dissolved......... let the incompetency continue!



























Paul Bourgoin
I wonder where all our forest trees are going or exported and the stumpage fee's are banked where? The volume harvested should give the province stumpage gold but it appears New Brunswick is only banking pennies! The once picture province lured tourism dollars for centuries and the tourism business was excellent, like gold mines. Today, what is left is nothing. Where did the jobs go, 35,000 forestry jobs in 1982, today maybe 7000 jobs left where does the money go?


David Amos
Reply to @Paul Bourgoin: Methinks you are big on "Woe Is Me" N'esy Pas?






















Paul Bourgoin
"Government actions can strangle us. They can drag us down. They can suffocate us with high taxes. They can drive people away to work in other provinces. And they can make our businesses un-competitive by driving up cost," Sounds like the motto of the Kings of Atlantic Canada where the Poorest Canadians Live, then move away to survive. New Brunswick the only province who doesn't need any Banks because every body is having financial difficulties.



David Amos 
Reply to @Paul Bourgoin: Relax and enjoy the circus





















Paul Bourque
Strong Leadership and Vision are required to move the economy forward and create industries that will employ the future generations of New Brunswickers. In the absence of this, NB will continue to be a source of talent for the rest of Canada.

Having been raised in Moncton and educated at UNB, I have lived the NB economic reality. I left the Maritimes to start my career. In my view, the very low economic growth and the very low population growth are tied together.

The NB population has grown 10% in the past 40 years. Ontario's population has grown 67%, and Canada's population has grown by 50%, over the same period of time. These stats are partly the result of kids in NB growing up, getting educated and leaving to start their careers. The stats also show that the number of people moving into NB from other parts of Canada to work is relatively low.

Leadership and Vision are required to break the endless cycle of no job growth causing no sustained population growth and no population growth causing no job growth.



David Amos
Reply to @Paul Bourque: What have you done to try fix our situation?


Terry Tibbs
Reply to @Paul Bourque:
We have never had the opportunity to elect Leadership and Vision.



Fred Brewer
Reply to @Terry Tibbs: Every election for a long time, we have had the chance to vote Green or Purple. If people keep voting red or blue nothing will ever change. We are the masters of our own destiny. Want to blame someone? Look in the mirror. 
 

David Amos
Reply to @Fred Brewer: Methinks whereas you fail to mention the Independents who go to the trouble of running and ignore all my replies to your opinions as well YOU definitely do get the governments you deserve just like your beloved Green Party Leader and I have been saying for many years N'esy Pas? 


Terry Tibbs
Reply to @Fred Brewer:
I stand by my statement:
We have never had the opportunity to elect Leadership and Vision.
But I will add this: of any colour you choose to name.



Fred Brewer
Reply to @Terry Tibbs: And I will say this... how could you possibly know that? If Green or Purple have never been given the chance to show their Leadership and Vision it is unknowable how they would govern. We have to elect them and see. The one thing we know for sure is that red or blue has not worked. Time to try something new.























Jake Newman
Higgs needs a strong majority.


Ken Dwight 
Reply to @Jake Newman: Higgs needs to be booted out the door. Anyone who employs a DJ with no financial background for finance minister needs their head examined.


Paul Bourgoin
Reply to @Jake Newman: Higgs does not need a majority, he has total control of New Brunswick!


Jake Newman 
Reply to @Ken Dwight: haha, doesn't say much about JT's gov't then does it.


David Amos
Reply to @Jake Newman: Surely you jest


Terry Tibbs
Reply to @Jake Newman:
I'd be more inclined to believe Mr Higgs needs a strong drink and a non renewal of his contract. If you are believing today's snow job from Mr Higgs you are definitely part of the problem and not a solution.



Eugene Peabody 
Reply to @Jake Newman: No he just needs 3-4 more "consulates" from the Empire to make NB the land of milk and honey.






















David Stairs
you can bet the new CEO will be a member of the Good Ole Boys Club... nothing new with the firing...now let's fix this problem and then move onto NB Power ...let's let common sense and proven resumes stand...


Paul Bourgoin 
Reply to @David Stairs: There is no old boys club in NB only a King!



David Amos
Reply to @David Stairs: YUP























Brian Robertson
I would love to see a real audit of the ONB to see just what we have received for our money.
I have real doubts the decisions they have made and the returns to the Province have been worth the expense.



David Peters 
Reply to @Brian Robertson:
Wasn't ONB involved in Atcon...then refused to correct the leaky bucket, like the AG suggested? The term 'free-for-all at the trough' comes to mind.



Andrea Johnson 
Reply to @Brian Robertson: They get audited every year and the results are published.


Andrea Johnson 
Reply to @David Peters: And no...Atcon was over 10 years ago under a Liberal government.


David Amos
Reply to @Brian Robertson: ME TOO





























Alex Butt
It's unfortunate but New Brunswick was, is and always will be a have not province! In a province with non functioning leadership no real jobs except government, irvings or corporations like nb power, an ever decreasing population, poor health care and education, rotten roads and infrastructure, no real enviromentalstewardship, bilingualism etc. New Brunswick is afraid of change, and that will not change.


Stephen Robertson 
Reply to @Alex Butt: Two things Alex, 1) we were at one time very prosperous, money was a major factor in Upper and Lower Canada wanting NB & NS in Confederation. I further believe we can and will be again. 2) There are many challenges facing our province and it appears to me that the current government is making the effort to work its way through that list in a reasonable manner. There is an old saying that the only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time? Not that I am in any way advocating eating elephants lol


Joseph Vachier
Reply to @Stephen Robertson: agreed current govn't is doing a surprisingly good job


Marc Martin 
Reply to @Joseph Vachier: I am still lookingto find any positives that Higgs did so far...


Joseph Vachier 
Reply to @Marc Martin: ur just pissed he cancelled the francophone games.


Marc Martin  
Reply to @Joseph Vachier: Anyone would have cancelled these...But if they would have been called the Anglophone games no one here including you would have complained.


Archie Levesque
Reply to @Marc Martin: When they are a giant waste of money that we don't have? With little to no benefit to the taxpayer? Hopefully everyone would have complained - just like what happened with the Franco - games


Stephen Robertson 
Reply to @Marc Martin: if you keep looking in that big red book you may not?


Paul Bourgoin 
Reply to @Stephen Robertson: What about feeding the Elephant ? I believe that is what is keeping NB in the FINANCIAL RED!


Paul Bourgoin 
Reply to @Marc Martin: Maybe when he was working at the Refinery?


Lou Bell
Reply to @Marc Martin: Eliminated deficit and lowering the net debt ?? Increased immigration , bringing in new business !! A lot more than the single issue SANB Libs whose sole mandate was to cater to the minority that supported them ! Time for them to get their head out of the sand and realize there's more to life than hiring 2nd rate employees and go for the smartest !


David Amos
Reply to @Joseph Vacher: Methinks you should review the history of the comments sections and read the laments of the SANB dudes since Higgy and the PANB took over the mandate N'esy Pas? 
 



















Matt Steele
It sounds like Higgs is trying , but so much needs to be changed as the province is facing so many issues . N.B. is saddled with high unemployment , a bottom ranked school system , a massive prov. debt, , one of the oldest populations in Canada , a healthcare system in crisis ; and a top management in the Civil Service made up of incompetent political appointments that are impossible to get rid of . Combine those issues with the forced bilingualism experiment that has drove thousands out of the province ; and no one wanting to move here.......what a mess Brian Galant has left for Higgs and Kris Austin to clean up 


Marc Martin 
Reply to @Matt Steele: *has left for Higgs and Kris Austin to clean up* Nice of you to put the 2 CoR minister together..9 hours ago


Archie Levesque
Reply to @Marc Martin: Well they are facing off against the SANB LIbs


Marc Martin
Reply to @Archie Levesque: SANB Libs..what does that even mean ?


Archie Levesque 
Reply to @Marc Martin: About as much as your constant CoR jibes.

Marc Martin
Reply to @Archie Levesque: Higgs was in the Cor Party fact ! Austin is anti-French fact ! now again whats your point?


Archie Levesque 
Reply to @Marc Martin: The Liberal gov't favors the North & eastern parts of the province Fact!


Marc Martin 
Reply to @Archie Levesque: But yet they won ridings in Saint John and Moncton for years...I didn't know these places were north ? By the way how is Saint John doing with their couple of million bail out, I have never heard of any northern city receiving that kind of money..


Archie Levesque 
Reply to @Marc Martin: Well if consecutive gov'ts - both Red & Blue - held the Empire to account & made them pay what they should it wouldn't have come to this


Paul Bourgoin 
Reply to @Matt Steele: Well, Well, move or you will see the mess Higgs and Kris Austin will leave for New Brunswickers to clean up after the next election.


David Amos
Reply to @Matt Steele: Surely you jest
























Thomas Black
I could care less what Higgs says about anything.


Marc Martin 
Reply to @Thomas Black: Only thing he is interested about is giving money to big corporations..


Andrea Johnson 
Reply to @Marc Martin: Actually if you read it, he is saying the opposite. He is against giving money to big corporations.


David Amos
Reply to @Thomas Black: I enjoy watching the circus this clown oversees




















Fred Brewer
Mr. Higgs said the province consulted experts, business leaders and economists to set a new course for ONB and what we need is to embrace a pro-growth agenda now. No kidding? Seriously? You needed all that consultation to determine that an economic development agency needs to be pro-growth??? How is that a "new course"? Was ONB anti-growth prior to your consultations?


Mike Morton 
Reply to @Fred Brewer: Was ONB anti-growth prior to your consultations?

Yes, it's agenda has historically been based on nepotism.



Fred Brewer
Reply to @Mike Morton: Probably true, but it was still based upon being pro-growth. If Higgs learned that it was pro-growth based upon nepotism then he should have announced that he was draining the swamp and targeting neopotism as the "change in direction". ONB and all of it predecessors have always had a direction of growth so there is nothing new in Higgs's announcement.


David Amos
Reply to @Fred Brewer: I see you are still crying instead of laughing at the constant nonsense and doubletalk
























Jake Newman
a lot of good stuff, but it'll take some time to fix all the damage done by the previous gov't, and it doesn't help having JT in power at the federal level.


Marc Martin 
Reply to @Jake Newman: *a lot of good stuff* So cuts to health care, and job and more money to big private business is good for you ? Higgs is that you ?


Jake Newman
Reply to @Marc Martin: he talks about growing the economy, the population and jobs.


Marc Martin 
Reply to @Jake Newman: He also talks about NB finding new funds, that means job cuts, Health care reforms also mean job cuts, and flexibility towards industry so they can compete means more money to the big corporations...The Con way is always cut cut cut and cut from the public and give away to big corporations.


Jake Newman 
Reply to @Marc Martin: Health Care does need reform.


Marc Martin
Reply to @Jake Newman: How is so?


David Peters
Reply to @Marc Martin:
Get rid of the public service practice of baseline budgeting. End collective bargaining agreements, and then introduce free market solutions, including real competition.



Marc Martin
Reply to @David Peters: So your suggesting we turn into Russia...


David Peters
Reply to @Marc Martin:
What does Russia have to do with healthcare in NB?



Marc Martin
Reply to @David Peters: You have just described a communism country market.


David Peters
Reply to @Marc Martin:
In what dimension does communism consist of free market solutions involving real competition?



Marc Martin 
Reply to @David Peters: Big corporations rule in a Communism country, the workers have no decent wages or benefits. Rich get richer and the poor get poorer...


Marc Martin 
Reply to @David Peters: By the way free market does not work check our southern neighbours the poor get 0 health care and the rich get all the best health care.


David Peters 
Reply to @Marc Martin:
Communism deals in gov't backed monopolies and crony capitalism. Exactly like the ones we have here in NB...and we can all see how well that's working.



Jake Newman 
Reply to @Marc Martin: so how many jobs have you created?


Marc Martin
Reply to @David Peters: 98% of people in NB could not afford private health care.


David Peters  
Reply to @Marc Martin:
In the US, before gov't got involved heavily in the 60's, you could get a checkup for $5...now, after decades of gov't meddling, a checkup costs $4000.



Marc Martin  
Reply to @Jake Newman: Its not my mandate to create jobs, but as a NB citizen its my job to criticize the government, Cons supporters now want to supress the truth ? I am not surprised.


David Peters
Reply to @Marc Martin:
Once again, healthcare has become prohibitively expensive because of gov't meddling.



David Peters
Reply to @Marc Martin:
What truth is being suppressed?



Marc Martin 
Reply to @David Peters: I know a lot of people living in Maine. Insurance to cover the cost is easily up 3000-5000 a month. Just to go to the emergency room people come to Canada because its cheaper.


Marc Martin 
Reply to @David Peters: Its costs even more in the USA where its a free market.


Marc Martin 
Reply to @David Peters: The truth that Higgs created 0 jobs, and has done nothing for NB so far.


David Peters  
Reply to @Marc Martin:
Exactly, healthcare costs have sky-rocketed since Obamacare came into affect...another real world example of gov't driving up costs in a sector after it attempts to take it over.



David Peters  
Reply to @Marc Martin:
The US does not have a free market in healthcare. Not even close.



David Peters  
Reply to @Marc Martin:
The red/blue argument is a stall, imo.



Marc Martin 
Reply to @David Peters: Health care was like that before Obama came, people were dying in their homes.


Marc Martin 
Reply to @David Peters: Yeah they do, private clinics are everywhere in the US.


David Peters  
Reply to @Marc Martin:
Those private clinics are so bogged down in bureaucratic red tape that has driven costs through the roof. The more red tape, the less there is a free market.



David Peters  
Reply to @Marc Martin:
Before the gov't/unions/insurance companies/big pharma took over US healthcare in the 60's, the head doctor ran his/her private office. The doctor would decide on the patients cost for major procedures based on the patients income/line of work. The doctor had that kind of freedom then. Not anymore, it's the bureaucracy that sets the price, and they always go with the most expensive way there is, every time...driving up healthcare costs.



Marc Martin 
Reply to @David Peters: All good physician got private and these clinics are mostly used by rich people.


Marc Martin 
Reply to @David Peters: So now your going back more then Obama...Ask any Us citizen what they think about their health care ? Do you even know some ? I do , I use to live across the border of Maine, people would cross to Canada for emergencies because it was cheaper to pay here in Canada.


David Peters  
Reply to @Marc Martin:
Healthcare costs, in the US, have been driven up after all the small take-overs/red tape done by gov't.

As someone once said, "Gov't isn't the solution to the problem, gov't is the problem."



Marc Martin 
Reply to @David Peters: Again, do you even know anyone across the border to make these claims ?


Jake Newman 
Reply to @David Peters: I would say unions are a big part of the problem as well


Marc Martin 
Reply to @Jake Newman: Again, do you even know anyone across the border to make these claims ?


David Peters 
Reply to @Marc Martin:
Which claim do you doubt?...or are you now looking at re-writing history?



Jake Newman 
Reply to @Marc Martin: umm, he only has been in power for a short time; tough to fix all the damage the liberals left so quickly, and even harder with a minority. we can only hope an election comes soon and he get a strong majority.


Archie Levesque 
Reply to @Marc Martin: So do you criticize the Libs when they are in power as well or only the Cons?


David Amos
Reply to @David Peters: Methinks you should ask your hero Higgy why his mandate is still withholding my Medicare Card and my right to the same free heath care that you and everybody else enjoys N'esy Pas?


Eugene Peabody 
Reply to @Jake Newman: Oh yes the Liberals did such a horrible job.LOL. The country has the lowest unemployment in decades ,the GDP is climbing,the population is climbing .WOE .WOE we are going to hell cries the naysayers .























David Peters
When asked, this morning, if healthcare should turn to free market solutions to meet demand, Higgs said that is not a debate option. Since when does gov't decide what's debatable and what's not? The only other option is to go hat in hand to Ottawa...who is buried in debt.

On the healthcare file, in NB, it appears no one is on the healthcare consumers side. It's all about special interest groups within the industry, and their fight for the budget pie.



GreenFenril
Reply to @David Peters: Health is a federal matter and the Canada Health Act specifically forbids private healthcare. Free Market is inviting private healthcare; which is illegal in Canada


David Peters
Reply to @GreenFenril .:
Monopolies are also illegal.



Stephen Robertson 
Reply to @David Peters: not government monopolies. From your perspective they may be immoral but that is another debate. I honestly believe that neither New Brunswickers nor Canadians are opposed to some private sector involvement in healthcare, but will never allow it because of our collective terror of the slippery slope.


Marc Martin 
Reply to @Stephen Robertson: The only reason why is because most doctors would go to private leaving Canadians with extremely poor health care, pretty much like what is happening south.


David Peters
Reply to @Stephen Robertson:
"...collective terror of the slippery slope."

Ppl are terrorized by the idea of a slippery slope to better, faster and cheaper healthcare? Looks like the gov't monopoly on k-12 education is paying off in spades.



Marc Martin 
Reply to @David Peters: Right now physician salaries are regulated, not so much if they can privatize.


David Peters
Reply to @Marc Martin:
Right now, there are many doctors making north of a million $/yr...and the system cannot afford to hire enough to meet demand.



Marc Martin 
Reply to @David Peters: They make a lot more then that in the private sector.


David Peters
Reply to @Marc Martin:
A real free market doesn't rely on a zero sum, fake budget...and in a free market, the doctor's themselves would be making the $ decisions, lowering costs for patients to affordable levels. Innovation wouldn't be as strangled as it is now, either...further lowering healthcare costs, producing better, faster service.



Marc Martin  
Reply to @David Peters: *the doctor's themselves would be making the $ decisions* Exactly, right now they are all saying they are making less money then their southern counterparts.. *lowering costs for patients to affordable levels.* Ask people across the border about this...


David Peters
Reply to @Marc Martin:
Why don't you ask a doctor in the US if he/she makes the $ decisions as far as patient costs go?



Stephen Robertson
Reply to @David Peters: none of the other than theoretical benefits of full privatization you posit scare people in the least. What scares them is that any move to the 'free market' will end up in $1000 insulin that most cant afford along with many other such 'benefits'.


Stephen Robertson
Reply to @David Peters:


David Amos
Reply to @David Peters: Methinks I will have to put my right to Health Care before the court soon because with only an Old Age Pension to support me I am struggling to pay the emergency room bills and doctor fees etc N'esy Pas?
























Marc Martin
Job cuts, health care cuts, and more money to big corporations nothing new here...The cons way...


Jake Newman 
Reply to @Marc Martin: maybe read the article bud


Marc Martin 
Reply to @Jake Newman: That's exactly what the articles said...bud


Archie Levesque 
Reply to @Marc Martin: Free money & services for everyone - don't worry about debt that's for the future sunny days- The Lib Way


Marc Martin 
Reply to @Archie Levesque: But the Cons way work right ? What about Harper riding the big oil industry money for years and still added record dept to Canada ?


Archie Levesque 
Reply to @Marc Martin: And how was the last Lib gov't for NB? As we are talking provincial & not federal here. Seems liked Gallant & Graham were there just to line their friends pockets - but that's ok to you because it wasn't the Cons. Where are all the big giveaways from Higgs?


Marc Martin 
Reply to @Archie Levesque: Wasn't it Higgy who gave away our forest to the Irvings ? By the way when the Cons where in power for 4 years before Gallant the added tons of money on the dept and guess who was the finance minister ? Your Higgy..

.
Archie Levesque 
Reply to @Marc Martin: Not my Higgy. I didn't vote for him. or the Libs. They both need to be sent to the sidelines for awhile. There needs to be a party that cares about the whole province not just half like the current ones


Marc Martin 
Reply to @Archie Levesque: *Where are all the big giveaways from Higgs? * You wrote this no ?


Archie Levesque 
Reply to @Marc Martin: Yes I did. Since becoming Premier - where are all the giveaways?


Marc Martin 
Reply to @Archie Levesque: Well he didn't do much so far except to remove jobs and bring the province to court costing taxpayers loads of money..


Archie Levesque 
Reply to @Marc Martin: Ok so no giveaways. And he hasn't gone on a spending spree. He has also failed in some areas - E.g. - nursing home solution.


Terry Tibbs
Reply to @Archie Levesque:
EVERY area he touches he fails at.



David Amos
Reply to @Terry Tibbs: Methinks we should give the devil his due After all he did cancel the Francophie Games Much to the chagrin of the SANB N'esy Pas?
























Cam Randal
Mr. Higgs should do some research before spouting nonsence. What weed is Mr. Higgs smoking? More immigrants equals more cheap labour for big companies and more poverty in the province! Mr. Higgs needs to spend more time on the CBC website to learn about the real situation.

From the CBC on January 15, 2020 "For newcomers who arrived between 2011 and 2016, the rate is as high as 71 per cent, according to the latest Child Poverty Report Card from the Saint John Human Development Council.

The report found nearly half of visible minority children in the province (46.7 per cent of 7,840) are living in poverty.

For immigrants, the child poverty rate was 57.1 per cent."



David Peters
Reply to @Cam Randal:
I bet that's what those offices are for in Europe and India...a pipeline for cheap labor for NB's gov't backed monopolies. This has been going on for quite a while now.



Marc Martin 
Reply to @Cam Randal: I agree, they should focus on making people who can work go to work, a lot of people abuse the welfare system.


Stephen Robertson
Reply to @Marc Martin: up, sitting at home living large on $540/ month


Marc Martin 
Reply to @Stephen Robertson: Not all of them...but when I pass in front of where they live and they can afford cigarettes, cannabis and liquor..well something is wrong...


David Amos
Reply to @Stephen Robertson: Methinks Higgy's favourite French blogging buddy in Fat Fred City is a shining example of living large on welfare N'esy Pas?




















Randy McNally
Well, first of all, on one hand you have your smoke, which enables taxpayers' dollars to disappear without a trace (in two languages) then you got your mirrors where the minute portions of potential wealth and prosperity can be reflected back to a cash strapped populace in an attempt to promote the illusion that something other than a reverse Robin Hood scam is actually taking place. So we can look for fewer high paying jobs for resident NB'ers, more immigration, a free reign for NB Power and of course less regulation. 

 
Fred Brewer
Reply to @Randy McNally: LOL. Well put, but I thought the mirrors were used to reflect our wealth and prosperity to Bermuda.


David Amos
Reply to @Randy McNally: Well put Methinks many would agree that you should run for public office N'esy Pas?


David Amos
Reply to @Randy McNally: However you would have to use your real name on the ballot correct? 
 
















Lewis Taylor
My! how things change from being in opposition to Premier.



















Terry Tibbs
Pretty lofty ideas there Mr Higgs for a place that offers no affordable housing, very limited healthcare, and crap for education. A place that has driven it's best and brightest away with lack of opportunity.
You sure don't live in the same NB that the rest of us do.
But yet you continue to attempt to buy our votes with our money and stories of greatness?
Good work of you can get it.



John Pokiok 
Reply to @Terry Tibbs: I have to disagree with you saint john and fredericton just got named two most housing affordable cities in the world. But you probably never lived anywhere else.


Marc Martin 
Reply to @John Pokiok: *saint john and fredericton just got named two most housing affordable cities in the world.* I dont know who told you that but its a lot cheaper to stay in Edmundston or Moncton...


John Pokiok 
Reply to @Marc Martin: read it this was all over news two days ago
https://bigcountry969.com/two-new-brunswick-cities-are-the-among-the-most-affordable/



Marc Martin 
Reply to @John Pokiok: I don't have to read, when I live in Fredericton and all my friends live in Moncton and Edmundston buddy, its way cheaper in other cities.


David Amos
Reply to @Terry Tibbs: Welcome back to the circus






















Layton Bennett
Start by rescinding ever corporate property tax break and make them reapply in televised public hearings.


David Amos
Reply to @Layton Bennett: Dream on























Michael Durant
Is he saying Irving and McCain will have to accept less tax payer funds to subsidize their operations?


Terry Tibbs
Reply to @Michael durant:
I *think* his grand plan is immigration, where he is guaranteeing the Irvings and the McCains all the minimum wage employees they could ever want.



Marc Martin 
Reply to @Terry Tibbs: That's actually true lol


David Amos
Reply to @Michael durant: NOPE

























Alison Jackson
So, when is Higgs going to tell Irving to start paying back that $40odd Billion in taxes they owe NB?


Marc Martin 
Reply to @Alison Jackson: OMG you made me spill my coffee all over myself..ty for the good laugh !!

Archie Levesque 
Reply to @Marc Martin: About the same time as the Liberals


Marc Martin 
Reply to @Archie Levesque: Did the Liberals give away our forests to the Irvings ?


Archie Levesque  
Reply to @Marc Martin: And how are the relations between the Libs & the Empire? They seem pretty chummy too. No pullback to that legislation like they said. They have been in power for more years than the Cons yet the Irvings keep getting sweetheart deals. Until the Libs do something different both parties cater to the Empire


Marc Martin 
Reply to @Archie Levesque:*hey have been in power for more years than the Cons * Since 1999 Cons have been in power 13 years and Liberals 8 years you were saying ?


Archie Levesque 
Reply to @Marc Martin: Since 1896 its been 73 years of Libs vs 48 PC. Whats your pojnt?


Marc Martin  
Reply to @Archie Levesque: So your blaming it all on the Liberals...48 years of PC added more to the dept of NB then the 73 years of Libs. Whats your point?


Paul Bourgoin 
Reply to @Archie Levesque: They own New Brunswick!


Archie Levesque 
Reply to @Marc Martin: You blame everything on the Cons. And bring some numbers to back up your case


David Amos
Reply to @Alison Jackson: Methinks that's on the slate on or about the 12th of Never N'esy Pas?






















Justin Time
"the worst is when the government has to step in to prop up industry sectors that became uncompetitive because their cost to operate climbed too high." Yet we continue to prop up billion dollar companies and continue to be held hostage.


David Amos
Reply to @Justin Time: YUP





















DJ Redfern
Soeaking of boosting immigration, I wonder if Opportunity NB has an office in England or France?


Archie Levesque 
Reply to @DJ Redfern: England - no not a chance - France - more likely


Marc Martin
Reply to @Archie Levesque: Wasn't the CEO English ?


Archie Levesque
Reply to @Marc Martin: They are actively trying to increase the francophone population & not the Anglophone pop. So wouldn't it make more sense to put an office in France & not England?


Marc Martin 
Reply to @Archie Levesque: They are not trying to increase the French population, they are bringing a quota of each % represented.


David Amos
Reply to @Archie Levesque: Good point 





https://twitter.com/DavidRayAmos/with_replies



58
Replying to and 49 others
Methinks there ain't no opportunity here even for the sneaky bureaucrats within Opportunities New Brunswick N'esy Pas?


 https://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.com/2019/06/opportunities-new-brunswick-eliminates.html



 #cdnpoli#nbpoli



https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/opportunities-new-brunswick-layoffs-1.5183843



Opportunities New Brunswick eliminates 24 full-time positions

Laid-off workers being assigned elsewhere in government, says minister

 



52 Comments
Commenting is now closed for this story.


 
Mark (Junkman) George
Why stop at 24?
Think about it. Those 24 employees couldn't have been doing much, if they could simply be shuffled along, and the department still operates...............



David Amos
Reply to @Mark (Junkman) George: I concur 









Richard Riel
 So i guess government can hire the whole population , lay them off and assign them to another department . What a wonderful world being a government employee. Lifetime job and pension .


Michel Jones 
Reply to @Richard Riel: I assume you are assuming.


David Amos 
Reply to @Michel Jones: Methinks you assumed wrong deliberately N'esy Pas? 









 
 
Eric Johnston
Just think, if they got rid of bilingualism there would be lots of money for the needy. Everyone could get a translation device and not worry about language.


Marguerite Deschamps 
Reply to @Eric Johnston: what a tool! Not the translation device; you! 


David Amos
Reply to @Marguerite Deschamps: Methinks your translation buddy is on vacation N'esy Pas? 



 


https://twitter.com/DavidRayAmos/with_replies





Replying to and 49 others
Methinks plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose N'esy Pas?


https://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.com/2019/01/pcs-step-back-from-hard-line-on-onb.html




https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/jobs-progressive-conservative-opportunities-new-brunswick-atcon-1.4986274



PCs step back from hard line on ONB transparency

In 2017, then-Opposition Leader Blaine Higgs called for the firing of ONB's CEO

\
Jacques Poitras· CBC News· Posted: Jan 21, 2019 12:25 PM AT



Economic Development Minister Mary Wilson says she has met with officials at Opportunities New Brunswick who say they are committed to transparency. (CBC)

Progressive Conservative enthusiasm for more transparency at Opportunities New Brunswick appears to be less urgent now that the party is back in power.

The Tories demanded specific job-creation figures from the agency just two years ago — and called for the firing of its CEO when those numbers weren't provided — but are now counselling patience.

The shift in tone comes after Auditor General Kim MacPherson reported again last week that ONB still won't say how many jobs are created at each individual company it subsidizes.

"It's a big job for ONB to make sure they do their best to answer what the AG requires," Economic Development Minister Mary Wilson said in an interview.

She said she has met officials there and they're committed to transparency.
"All I can do, I guess, is continue to work with ONB and do our best to accommodate the auditor general, and be accountable to New Brunswickers on that."

Wilson also brushed aside questions about the agency's CEO, Stephen Lund.

In 2017, then-Opposition Leader Blaine Higgs called on the Liberal government to fire Lund after accusing him of misleading MLAs about MacPherson's recommendations.

No plans to remove agency's CEO


Now that Higgs is premier, Wilson said there are no plans to remove Lund.

"All I can say if we continue to look in the past, we're not going to be able to move forward," she said.
"So let's draw that line in the sand and work towards tomorrow, and see how we can make things better."

MacPherson first called for greater transparency at ONB in 2015, when she issued 19 recommendations as part of an audit into tens of millions of dollars of lost loans and loan guarantees to the Atcon group of companies.

Mary Wilson says there are no plans to remove ONB CEO Stephen Lund, pictured. (CBC New Brunswick)

The bulk of the lost money was $50 million approved in 2009 by the Liberal cabinet of then-Premier Shawn Graham over the objections of civil servants, who warned the investment was risky.

ONB didn't exist at the time and Lund has said the Atcon money would never have been approved through his agency's more rigorous scrutiny.

Among MacPherson's 19 recommendations was one urging ONB to release figures comparing how many jobs are expected and created at each company that received a subsidy.
I recall our premier stating that over many years, there's been huge money handed out on corporate handouts, and again, where's the accountability? Are jobs being created? Job creation is the number one thing we're looking for, and that's my job going forward.- Mary Wilson, Economic Development Minister
In January 2017, Lund got into a lengthy and tense exchange with then-PC MLA Kirk MacDonald at a legislative committee hearing. Lund refused to give MacDonald job-creation results for several companies MacDonald listed.

The Tory MLA suggested that companies shouldn't get subsidies if they weren't willing to let their job-creation results go public.

ONB said last March it could not release company-by-company results because that would reveal commercial, competitive information protected by confidentiality.

Instead, the organization says on its website how many total jobs have been promised and how many have been created. As of Friday, the site said 10,907 jobs have been committed and 4,989 have been created since ONB's inception in April 2015.

In a written statement, ONB vice-president Heather Libbey did not respond to a question about company-by-company job figures.

Instead, she said MacPherson's report "validates that ONB continues to demonstrate its commitment to improving access to and proactively disclosing how it manages and invests public funds."

More transparency needed 


Wilson, a first-term MLA elected last September, at first defended ONB's decision to provide only aggregate numbers, calling it "all of their information that New Brunswickers would want to see."
But over the course of a 10-minute interview, she warmed to the need for more transparency.

"We have to be careful on those corporate handouts, absolutely," she said.
"I recall our premier stating that over many years, there's been huge money handed out on corporate handouts, and again, where's the accountability? Are jobs being created? Job creation is the number one thing we're looking for, and that's my job going forward."

She said she will be reviewing the issue in the months to come.

ONB discloses how much money it has handed out to each company, but last year it said it surveyed recipients and found 70 per cent did not want their individual job numbers released.

Auditor general upset over lack of progress


Even so, MacPherson returned to the issue in her report released last week, writing that she was "disappointed further progress has not been made on this important recommendation."

MacPherson said last week 12 of the 19 recommendations to ONB have now been implemented, up from her count of four in 2017.

Auditor General Kim MacPherson reported again last week that ONB still won't say how many jobs are created at each individual company it subsidizes. (Michel Corriveau/Radio-Canada)

"There's progress, but yet we would have liked to have seen 100 per cent implementation, and I definitely think that's what should have happened, given that we're now 2019," she told MLAs last Wednesday.

The call by Higgs for Lund's firing stemmed from a disagreement over how MacPherson counted implemented recommendations.

ONB claimed in 2017 it had implemented 15 recommendations, only to be contradicted by MacPherson's count of four.

Minister doesn't see major changes coming


ONB vice-president Paul Fudge said last year they had put in place most of the extra monitoring MacPherson wanted, but, in a few cases, some files "were missing a piece of paperwork." ONB considered that an implemented recommendation but MacPherson did not.

After the auditor general contradicted Lund's count in 2017, Higgs declared, "Stephen Lund should lose his job over this. He should be fired."

But Wilson said, "in fairness, they are working very hard to make things better, accountable, transparent. I don't see any major changes coming in the near future."

The minister said in the coming months the Higgs government will launch an all-party review of ONB's mandate and will look at other ways to "energize" the private sector by lowering taxes and reducing red tape.


CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices





55 Comments
Commenting is now closed for this story.



David R. Amos
David R. Amos
Methinks everybody must wonder if the people mentioned in this article have bothered to read the comments about it N'esy Pas?





 David R. Amos 
David R. Amos
Methinks plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose N'esy Pas?


Harold Fitzgerald
Harold Fitzgerald
@David R. Amos

I think anyone that starts every post with Methinks, does other readers a favour. No need to read them. Still annoying but you can skip over them.

David R. Amos
David R. Amos
@Harold Fitzgerald Methinks you must understand why I don't mind being ignored by an irrelevant snobby Gringo N'esy Pas?








David R. Amos 
David R. Amos
Methinks some folks may find this worth reading N'esy Pas?

https://www.halifaxexaminer.ca/featured/how-nova-scotia-has-sold-its-soul-to-cater-to-tax-avoidance-schemes-morning-file-tuesday-november-7-2017/#1.%20The%20Paradise%20Papers,%20Appleby,%20and%20Nova%20Scotia%E2%80%99s%20welcome%20to%20tax%20avoiders

"Lund, for his part, has his own interesting history:

About that NSBI job… the position used to be held by Stephen Lund, who before coming to work for NSBI worked at Butterfield Bank in Bermuda. At the helm of NSBI, he oversaw the extension of $9.1 million in payroll rebates for Butterfield Bank to expand in Halifax, but somehow neglected to mention he once worked for the bank. Lund left NSBI in August 2013, heading back to his old stomping grounds and took charge of the Bermuda Business Development Agency. But he abruptly left that job in April for unspecified personal reasons, and headed back to Nova Scotia. Lund was gobbled up by the Irvings and now works as Vice President of the Halifax Shipyard, where he uses his expertise in ladling out public funds to private corporations to design war ships, I guess.

Lund left Irving for a job as CEO of Opportunities New Brunswick, which is that province’s equivalent of NSBI. I can’t imagine how he reflects upon a career trajectory that took him from working for one of the world’s largest hedge fund banks in sunny Bermuda to an obscure posting in podunk and cold New Brunswick, but that’s his business. Still, there in New Brunswick, he’s managed to make himself the subject of a legislative controversy."


Shawn Tabor
Shawn Tabor
@David R. Amos good job Dave, just wish that the folks can see what is truly going on and has been going on for many years. This is just one problem that has to be addressed and there is much more work that has to be done. Where their is smoke their is fire.

David R. Amos
David R. Amos
@Shawn Tabor Thanks Shawn at least Mr Lund and his buddy McKenna know there is one Maritimer they can't laugh at eh?










Greg Clouston 
Greg Clouston
Shocker...


David R. Amos
David R. Amos
@Greg Clouston Nope







Richard Dunn 
Richard Dunn
I can guarantee you that ONB will be much more accountable than they were under Gallant.
Jacques Poitras, and his liberal bias, is becoming even more annoying......if that is possible.


David R. Amos
David R. Amos
@Richard Dunn "I can guarantee you that ONB will be much more accountable than they were under Gallant"

Dream on








Richard Dunn 
Lou Bell
If you have to chase after companies and give them immeasurable concessions to come , THEY'RE NOT WORTH IT !!


Pappy Prevost
Pappy Prevost
@Lou Bell very true just like Irving given everything it does not benefit us

Lou Bell
Lou Bell
@Pappy Prevost Did Atcon benefit US ???

Lou Bell
Lou Bell
@Lou Bell And you know who they were tied to !!!

David R. Amos
David R. Amos
@Pappy Prevost True as well










Richard Dunn 
Lou Bell
Darn ! McKenna got us again ! Them high payin' call centers , our promised " bread and butter " .


Pappy Prevost
Pappy Prevost
@Lou Bell it work is it not . i knowpeople make 18+ an hr there

Lou Bell
Lou Bell
@Pappy Prevost I know people ( a lot ) making less than 15 dollars an hour ! And excuse me , but even 18 dollars an hour is not a Middle Income salary !

David R. Amos
David R. Amos
@Lou Bell Methinks 18+ an hr is higher that the average income in New Brunswick N'esy Pas?









Fred Brewer 
Fred Brewer
And here I thought Mr. Higgs was going to be our saviour. Silly me.
It seems he will be a back-pedaling premier just like the rest of them.


David R. Amos
David R. Amos
@Fred Brewer Mais oui









Richard Dunn 
Dianne MacPherson
The Auditor General is held in HIGH regard by taxpayers !!!
12 of 19 recommendations isn't good enough, Mr. Higgs !!
Opportunities NB has been getting away with a
half-*** performance for years ....time to bring the
hammer down !!!
WHEN will the Bureaucracy in this Province ever be
FULLY held to account ????


David R. Amos
David R. Amos
@Dianne MacPherson "WHEN will the Bureaucracy in this Province ever be
FULLY held to account ????"

Survey Says?







Richard Dunn
June Arnott
Typical politician. No cooperation when you’re the opposition then get in power and the stalling and lies begin.
In order to change the public’s perception of politics, the lies must stop

David R. Amos
David R. Amos
@June Arnott Methinks you should tell that to Banksters, lawyers and cops too N'esy Pas?








Richard Dunn 
Samual Johnston
typical...


David R. Amos
David R. Amos
@Samual Johnston YUP







Richard Dunn 
Gabriel Boucher
This shenanigan has been going on for decades now. Why would anyone suddenly think that this Premier would do otherwise under the banner of the PCs? We should know the end result of this by now. The PCs and Liberals don't care about the public. They only care about multi-million dollar industries and lining their pockets with taxpayers money. Blaine Higgs is simply a puppet on a string serving big businesses, and that's all NBers needs to know. It's time that NBers stop hoping for change in the 2 main parties and start acknowledging that those parties will not change their ways in the years to come, no matter who the leading candidate is.


David R. Amos
David R. Amos
@Gabriel Boucher I wholeheartedly agree sir.


Harold Fitzgerald
Harold Fitzgerald
@Gabriel Boucher

Yet another people that finally realized he should have voted People's Alliance!








Richard Dunn 
Rod McLeod
I assume no accountability means no productivity.


David R. Amos
David R. Amos
@Rod McLeod Nope







Matt Steele
Matt Steele
ONB is just a huge slush fund that is used to funnel taxpayer cash to political buddies . There is a different govt. in power , but nothing will change other than the names of the political friends who receive the cash . In four more years or less , there will be another new one term govt . N.B.ers are sending a message with all these one term govt. ; but politicians just don't seem too get it !


Tim Locke
Tim Locke
@Matt Steele

The only time the Liberals and Conservatives will listen is when they both lose.

Lou Bell
Lou Bell
@Tim Locke Actually , having a minority government for either party isn't winning. After 3 or 4 years of " constantly looking over their shoulders" , many politicians will need surgery to repair that " crick " in their necks !

David Peters
David Peters
@Matt Steele

This slush fund is simply too big for the powers to be to leave it to chance of an election...

David R. Amos
David R. Amos
@Tim Locke YUP








David Peters 
David Peters
Once again, how is this fair to a business who starts and works with their own capital?


David R. Amos
David R. Amos
@David Peters It ain't







Harold Fitzgerald
Harold Fitzgerald
NB a bilingual, broken hell hole. So glad I got out. You can too. Mexico is 27C tonight. Not one French or English ambulance attendant.


David R. Amos
David R. Amos
@Harold Fitzgerald Methinks it may be cold but I don some wool and spend time among folks I can trust Down there you are just another Gringo to be fleeced N'esy Pas?

David R. Amos
David R. Amos
@Harold Fitzgerald Methinks you will likely get things backwards as usual and send your hero Pastor Austin a purple Valentines Day card saying "Weather is here wish you were beautiful" N'esy Pas?








Craig O'Donnell
Craig O'Donnell
So these companies don't think we should be able to see the actual results in job numbers caused by investment paid for from the everyday taxpayers' wallet? Cut them off!

David Peters
David Peters
@Craig O'Donnell

...or better yet, rid of the crooked practice altogether. End all forms of corporate welfare.

David R. Amos
David R. Amos
@Craig O'Donnell Exactly










David Peters 
David Peters
This article misrepresents what the PC MLA said, she said the companies weren't reporting their jobs numbers.

The headline could read, "Gov't backed companies refuse to give job numbers"


David R. Amos
David R. Amos
@David Peters Methinks many bureaucrats, politicians and bankers etc who know Mr Lund and the Irving Clan would agree that the headline is right on the MONEY N'esy Pas?








With two new Senate appointments, Trudeau has now appointed half of the upper house

$
0
0
https://twitter.com/DavidRayAmos/with_replies





Replying to @alllibertynews and 49 others

Methinks anyone can Google Judith Keating and David Amos to verify what I am trying to tell is true The first 4 pages of this old file tell quite a tale N'esy Pas? 



https://www.scribd.com/doc/2718120/integrity-yea-right




 



https://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.com/2020/01/with-two-new-senate-appointments.html






Replying to @alllibertynews and 49 others
Content disabled 
Methinks after my running in 7 elections and suing the Queen as well Trudeau should go figure how many times this lawyer and I crossed paths in NB since 2004 N'esy Pas?


https://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.com/2020/01/with-two-new-senate-appointments.html



 



https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-new-senators-upper-house-1.5447684







Replying to @alllibertynews and 49 others

Methinks everybody in NB knows the last thing Judith Keating is Independent. Even Trudeau The Younger can Google her name & mine to verify that this very mindless unethical lawyer &am I have battling tooth and nail since 2004 N'esy Pas?


 



https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-new-senators-upper-house-1.5447684



With two new Senate appointments, Trudeau has now appointed half of the upper house

Trudeau has tapped two senior provincial servants for New Brunswick, Saskatchewan vacancies



John Paul Tasker· CBC News· Posted: Jan 31, 2020 2:04 PM ET



Judith Keating (left) will represent New Brunswick. William Brent Cotter (right) will fill one of the Saskatchewan seats. (Financial and Consumer Services Tribunal/University of Saskatchewan)

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has named two new senators to the upper house — senior provincial public servants with experience working on Indigenous files.

Trudeau has now appointed 52 senators since taking office in 2015 — an unusually large number in such a short period of time. Former prime minister Stephen Harper let vacancies in the place pile up as the 2013-15 expenses scandal raged on.

Judith Keating will represent New Brunswick. William Brent Cotter will fill one of the Saskatchewan seats. The Senate is now closer to gender parity, with 48 women and 52 men in the chamber (five seats remain vacant).



Trudeau has moved to rid the Senate of partisan politics — part of a push to reconstitute the chamber as a body composed largely of Independent senators.

Like the 50 senators Trudeau appointed before today, the two new picks are expected to sit as members of the Independent Senators Group or as non-affiliated senators. There are now five different caucuses and groups in the Senate — and the Liberal/Conservative duopoly that once defined the chamber is defunct.

Keating is a leading legal and constitutional expert and was the first woman to serve as deputy minister of justice and deputy attorney general of New Brunswick. (A deputy minister is the top bureaucrat in a government department.)

She worked as a chief legal adviser to both Progressive Conservative and Liberal premiers. She chaired the province's working group on reconciliation with Indigenous peoples.

A pioneering woman in the legal field, Keating was the founder and first president of New Brunswick's Women in Law and editor-in-chief of the Solicitor's Journal of the Canadian Bar Association. Keating is an expert in administrative law, constitutional law and legislative interpretation.
Cotter, another lawyer, is described by the Prime Minister's Office as one of Saskatchewan's "foremost legal ethicists."



Like Keating, Cotter served as his province's deputy minister of justice and deputy attorney general. He currently chairs the Government of Saskatchewan's Public Complaints Commission, a governmental body that hears complaints about alleged municipal police misconduct.

Cotter is also a member of the Federation of Law Societies of Canada Advisory Committee on Implementation of Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Calls to Action.

"Judith Keating and W. Brent Cotter have led exceptional careers in service of their provinces. Their dedication to Canada's regional, cultural and linguistic diversity will make them important voices for their communities, and help the Senate better serve all Canadians," Trudeau said in a statement.

Keating and Cotter applied to be senators. Under reforms introduced by the Trudeau government, an independent appointments board compiles a list of eligible people to help the prime minister make his picks for the appointed chamber.

These appointments come on the same day Marc Gold, Trudeau's representative in the Senate, tapped two former Independent senators to sit as members of government caucus.
Manitoba Sen. Raymonde Gagné will be the deputy government representative or "legislative deputy," the second in command. Alberta Sen. Patti LaBoucane-Benson, a Métis, will be the government's liaison or whip — the person tasked with counting votes to make sure a government bill will pass through the Senate.

LaBoucane-Benson is the first Indigenous woman to hold a leadership position of this sort in the Red Chamber.

While described as "unaffiliated," the three representatives will be crucial to seeing the Liberal government's legislative agenda through the upper house.

Unlike the situation in years past, the government leader doesn't have a caucus of senators to rely on to see that government bills are passed. The new contingent of Independent senators also has been much more willing to amend bills, which has slowed down the pace of the legislative process.

About the Author



John Paul Tasker
Parliamentary Bureau
John Paul (J.P.) Tasker is a reporter in the CBC's Parliamentary bureau in Ottawa. He can be reached at john.tasker@cbc.ca.

CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices





974 Comments





David Amos
Methinks anyone can Google Judith Keating and David Amos to verify what I am trying to tell is true N'esy Pas?

















David Amos
Content disabled 
Judith Keating, Q.C. is Chair of the New Brunswick Financial and Consumer Services Tribunal and served in a variety of roles throughout her career, including as Chief Legislative Counsel, Chief Legal Advisor to the Premier, New Brunswick’s First Nations Representative, and a provincial chair of the working group on Truth and Reconciliation. She was also the first woman to serve as Deputy Minister of Justice and Deputy Attorney General of New Brunswick.

Methinks after my running in 7 elections and suing the Queen as well Trudeau's minions should go figure how many times this lawyer and I crossed paths in NB since 2004 Page 1 tells quite a tale all by itself N'esy Pas?

https://www.scribd.com/doc/2718120/integrity-yea-right
















 


David Amos
Content disabled
Methinks anyone can Google Judith Keating and David Amos to verify what I am trying to tell is true N'esy Pas?


JOHN R MCTAGGART
Content disabled 
Reply to @David Amos:
Why would I bother?



David Amos
Content disabled 
Reply to @JOHN R MCTAGGART: Because the "Powers That Be" don't want you to


JOHN R MCTAGGART
Content disabled 
Reply to @David Amos:
Must
Undo
Terrible
Experiences

David Amos
Content disabled 
Reply to @JOHN R MCTAGGART: Methinks folks should Google your name and mine if they want some comic relief N'esy Pas?















David Amos
What Trudeau The Younger stated about Judith Keating, Q.C. yesterday All of it is true

However methinks he deliberately did not tell the folks about Federal Court File No. T-1557-15 and a lot of other things that Keating no doubt used to secure the fancy appointment N'esy Pas?
























David Amos
Pease Enjoy a little Deja Vu when a liberal leader defended Alberta' standing in the Senate

CBC News · Posted: Dec 13, 2006 10:10 AM ET

"Prime Minister Stephen Harper introduced a Senate reform bill Wednesday that gives Canadians a say about who represents them.

The bill, which falls short of allowing full Senate elections calls for voters to choose preferred candidates to represent their provinces and territories.

The prime minister would make the final decision, based on voters' choices.

Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion has lashed out against the bill, calling it irresponsible, but Harper says it is a step forward.

"This bill will allow us to move to a new era in Canadian democracy," Harper told his cheering caucus at a meeting Wednesday morning in Ottawa.

"Imagine that after a century and a half, democracy will finally come to the Senate of Canada."

Under the current system, the prime minister selects senators without having to seek any public input."

"Dion calls bill "completely irresponsible"

Dion said changes to the Senate should address more pressing concerns.

He said the current system doesn't make sense because a province like Nova Scotia is represented by 10 senators, while a province like Alberta, with about five times the population, only has six senators.

"I think what the prime minister wants to do is completely, completely irresponsible," Dion said in French, speaking to reporters a few hours after Harper's caucus meeting.

"We would be electing senators with the current distribution and the current distribution does penalize provinces, particularly the western provinces."



David Amos
Content disabled
Reply to @David Amos: Six years later Dion was still beating on that drum

CBC News · Posted: Jun 04, 2012 4:19 PM AT

Former federal Liberal leader Stéphane Dion is arguing that Premier David Alward's plan for Senate elections could provoke a constitutional crisis.

Dion said Alward's Senate election bill, which was unveiled last week, could ignite a constitutional debate over the amount of influence provinces have in the House of Commons and Senate.

New Brunswick has 10 senators, which is a disproportionately high number compared to its small population.

Dion, who is still a Liberal MP, said larger provinces will not be happy about that once Senate elections start.

"Alberta and British Columbia have only six senators out of 105. The very moment this Senate will be elected and powerful, they will be out of their mind. They will say, ‘It doesn't make sense,’" he said.

Dion said larger provinces will demand more Senate seats to reflect their bigger population and since that requires changing the Constitution, he said Canada will have a full-blown constitutional showdown on its hands.


David Amos 
Reply to @David Amos: Five more years later he was still beating on that drum

CBC Posted: Apr 25, 2014 6:23 PM ET
Stéphane Dion on Supreme Court's Senate reform decision






















Dave Smith
2 more winners in the cash for life dispensation by the PM.


David Allan
Reply to @Dave Smith:
Actually, it's the Constitution that requires it.



Bert Van
Reply to @Dave Smith: Nope , retirement at age 75. And at least these two aren’t party fund raisers.


Donald Mcgregor 
Reply to @David Allan:
The constitution can be amended.



Marcus Aetuis 
Reply to @David Allan:
Constitutions are made to be changed. Only dinosaurs cannot change....

.

Richard Sharp
Reply to @Dave Smith:

INDEPENDENT Senators are a problem with you?



Dave Smith
Reply to @Richard Sharp: Independant? They cannot bite the hand that feeds them, moreover where they not going to be selected from a pool of applicants?


David Amos 
Reply to @Dave Smith: I wholeheartedly agree sir


David Amos
Reply to @Richard Sharp: Methinks everybody and his dog in NB knows that the last thing Judith Keating is Independent Even Trudeau The Younger should have been clever enough to Google her name mine to verify that this very unethical lawyer who does whatever her boss directs and I have battling tooth and nail from 2004 to this very day N'esy Pas?


Tim Hopper:
Reply to @Dave Smith: Agreed, though the Cons support the undemocratic, expensive, and useless senate just as much as the Glibs.


Bort Smith 
Reply to @Richard Sharp:
Independent in name only the government leader in the Senate has supported the Liberals 100 percent of the time. CBC reported on this 2 weeks ago.



David Amos 
Reply to @Dave Smith: This is what Trudeau The Younger stated about Judith Keating, Q.C. yesterday All of it is true

However methinks he deliberately did tell the folks about Federal Court File No. T-1557-15 and a lot of other things that Keating no doubt used to secure the fancy appointment N'esy Pas?

January 31, 2020
Ottawa, Ontario

Judith Keating is a lawyer and accomplished senior public servant, with over 30 years of experience in the Government of New Brunswick.

Ms. Keating served in a variety of roles throughout her career, including as Chief Legislative Counsel, Chief Legal Advisor to the Premier, New Brunswick’s First Nations Representative, and a provincial chair of the working group on Truth and Reconciliation. She was also the first woman to serve as Deputy Minister of Justice and Deputy Attorney General of New Brunswick.

Ms. Keating has worked tirelessly to promote the equal status of the English and French languages in New Brunswick, and devoted herself to ensuring the equal and just treatment of women in the legal profession. In 1993, she became the founder and first president of New Brunswick’s Women in Law.



David Amos 
Reply to @David Amos: More

Ms. Keating is the Editor-in-Chief of the Canadian Bar Association’s Solicitor’s Journal. She is an active member and past chair of the Associations of Parliamentary Counsel and Legislative Counsel in Canada, an active member of the Commonwealth Association of Legislative and Parliamentary Counsel, and a member and past president of the Public Legal Education and Information Service of New Brunswick. She is a past member of the board of Women in Transition and the Canadian Institute for the Administration of Justice (CIAJ), and the past chair of the CIAJ’s Legislative Drafting Conference.

Ms. Keating is Chair of the New Brunswick Financial and Consumer Services Tribunal, and a member of the Council of Canadian Administrative Tribunals’ Committee on Tribunal Excellence in Adjudication.

Ms. Keating received the 2015 Muriel Corkery-Ryan Q.C. Award, in recognition of her outstanding contributions to the legal profession and significant role as a mentor to women.

Ms. Keating holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Ottawa, as well as a Bachelor of Laws from the Université de Moncton.





















Roger Zettler
even the USA has an "elected" vs. an "appointed" senate......then again, JT ran on an election promise of Electoral Reform....we know how that turned out....the same as the "budget will balance itself"


Henry Scott
Reply to @roger zettler: USA has an elected senate..we know how that turned out.  


David Allan
Reply to @roger zettler:
"then again, JT ran on an election promise of Electoral Reform....we know how that turned out"

Yeah, Conservatives killed the bill in committee.
They even turned down the voting method that would have given them the PMO in the last election.
They also turned down the voting method that they use internally.

Do As We Say, Not As We Do!



Denny O'Brien 
Reply to @roger zettler: not last election


Tony Hill 
Reply to @David Allan: "Yeah, Conservatives killed the bill in committee. "

They did absolutely nothing of the sort.

The Conservatives, along with the NDP and Greens, did insist that the Committee could not be a majority Liberal members, but other than that they did nothing more or less than the other Committee members. The Committee members from all 4 parties reviewed the legislation and recommended some form of proportional representation.

The Liberal majority Parliament is who killed this because they had absolutely zero interest in proportional representation. The only system they supported was some form of ranked ballot, so when the Committee didn't provide the system that the Liberals supported they decided not to move ahead with the recommendations from that Committee.


David Amos 
Reply to @roger zettler: Methinks we get the governments we deserve N'esy Pas?


Chari Rama
Reply to @roger zettler: "... the same as the 'budget will balance itself'"

When the economy is thriving and the Government is able to invest in stimulus spending, then the budget will be able to be balanced without the need for austerity measures that cut essential services and reduce the quality of like for most Canadians.

I don't think that is such a far fetched idea especially when compared to the idea of balancing the budget by cutting corporate taxes.























Lindsay Stephenson
I suppose the senate will no longer be plagued by partisan politics once Trudeau manages to fill the rest of the chamber with libera...sorry, independent Senators. How wonderful will that be?


Bert Van
 Reply to @Lindsay Stephenson: So far they have amended over 40 pieces of legislation under Trudeau. Under Harper they amended one in 9 years.


Paul Castle 
Reply to @Bert van: What gives a Senator the right to undermine any legislation given to them by our duly elected officials, why have elections just let the senate run everything.


Frederick Von Habsburg 
Reply to @paul castle: I dont think you understand the job of the senate at all.


Paul Castle 
Reply to @Frederick Von Habsburg: I understand it completely, and even with understanding it is a complete waste of tax payers dollars. The chamber of sober second thought, really? I do understand under law they have power, what I dislike is they can change legislation that has been made by duly elected officials. I may not be a liberal lover, but I don’t care what party or non party you represent in the senate they are all still a waste of rations.


Glen Parrott
Reply to @Frederick Von Habsburg:
I think Paul understands the "job" of the Senate is to be a rubber stamp when the Harperites are in power and a brick wall when they aren't.

It's not an understanding based on facts...but, like so many other things, Mr. Castle likes a partisan understanding much, much more than a factual one.

Glen Parrott
Formerly known as The Bird



Bert Van 
Reply to @paul castle: You May want to realize all legislation requires senate approval.


Paul Castle 
Reply to @Glen Parrott: Nope disliked the senate when conservatives were in power as well, maybe even more as they earned no money with there rubber stamps. 
 
Paul Castle
Reply to @Bert van: Lol I understand civics quite well, I know how our government works quite well. I’m ok with governments not doing everything we want, I get it there are other priorities as well as mine. Senators no matter what anyone says are partisan and owe loyalty to the government under whom they were appointed and the people of Canada have no say in who they are, yet they make decisions that affect us all.


Paul Castle 
Reply to @Jeff Bourns: Wow, I’m pretty sure I understand exactly how the Canadian government works. I just personally dislike that the unelected senate has power.


Bert Van 
Reply to @paul castle: There are two panel members from each province that has a vacancy. They are appointed by the provincial government.


Jeff Bourns 
Reply to @paul castle: Do tell, what power do they hold?


Bert Van
Reply to @paul castle: They actually have little power, they can only recommend amendments to legislation, the house can accept or reject those amendments.


Paul Castle
Reply to @Bert van: They can slow down needed legislation, but mostly they are just a waste of out time and money, and as a country we don’t have a lot of money to waste, and senate salaries and pensions would be a good place to start saving money.


Bert Van 
Reply to @paul castle: A better place to start would be the senate expense rules which are nonexistent as shown in the Duffy trial.


Glen Parrott 
Reply to @paul castle:
Bear with me Paul..I know you responded to my earlier comment...I saw it a few moments ago but the CBC search engine seems to have gone off the rails. I can't get to that comment to respond, so I'm using this one instead.

First off I'll apologize for the snarky tone I got caught up in....labeling you as someone who prefers a partisan mis-understanding to the facts was over aggressive on my part.

That said, when you make wildly false statements (such as - "What gives a Senator the right to undermine any legislation given to them by our duly elected officials" or "why have elections just let the senate run everything.")...you can expect to be labelled as someone who (deliberately or actually) has no clue about the actual authority, purpose and operation of the Senate.

If it is true, that you "understand it (the job of the Senate) very well", then that understanding should have prevented you from making those wildly false statements I cited above.

The short sharp point of my response to you is this...you can't claim to have "thorough knowledge" of a topic after your put up posts which clearly demonstrate a complete lack of any knowledge at all.

Glen Parrott
Formerly known as The Bird



David Amos  
Reply to @Lindsay Stephenson: Methinks many a true word is said in jest N'esy Pas?


David Amos  
Reply to @Bert van: Methinks we all should be embarrassed over the Duffy trial and the fact that he had the nerve to sue us afterwards N'esy Pas? 
 
Chari Rama
Reply to @paul castle: "I understand it completely..."

... then you understand that when the Senate amends a piece of legislation the it goes back to to the House of Commons to be voted on by the elected Members of Parliament.



Steve LaFramboise
Reply to @chari rama: yeah, he understands and thinks we’re getting hosed.

Do you think the supposedly sober babysitters are worth the cost to Canadians?



Bort Smith 
Reply to @Bert van:
Most of that was done thanks to the Con senators and former Liberal party senators not these indepdents...
 
 
David Amos
Reply to @Bert van: YO Bert don't quit the field In my humble opinion you are winning the battle








Brian Duog
Trudeau has moved to rid the Senate of partisan politics
-you are joking right? you mean this is the party line on appointment, oh wait that mean they are partisan


Jim Miller
Reply to @brian duog:
"Trudeau has moved to rid the Senate of partisan politics"
=
A statement like that strongly supports liberals and fails to provide context.
It reinforces the thought that the see bee see only supports liberal views.



Eugene Peabody 
Reply to @brian duog Anyone who thinks the Harper model years was a better system that worked good needs a better pair of glasses to view the world.
 
 
Jim Miller 
Reply to @Eugene Peabody:
I agreed with him.
Not because I think Harper was better but because the system is the same now as when H. was there.
 
 
Denny O'Brien 
Reply to @brian duog: done more than any conservative government


Dave Comeau 
Reply to @brian duog: The two lawyers he just appointed have worked for both Liberal and Conservative governments provincially. They are also experienced in ethics issues within government. Neither are members of any political party nor have they worked for a party itself. That is about as non-partizan as it gets.
 
 
David Amos
Reply to @brian duog: Welcome to the circus





















Donald Mcgregor
The us has 100 senators 2 for each state.
Canada has 105 for a country with a tenth of the population.
Talk about a total disregard for the taxpayers of this country.



Graham Greene 
Reply to @Donald Mcgregor:
Go ahead and 'talk about' it if you'd like.

Id personally like the Senate abolished, but no government has ever wanted to wade into that risky endeavour regardless what they thought of it.
 
 
Eugene Peabody 
Reply to @Donald Mcgregor: I am just happy that we do not model our government system on the very flawed American one.
 
 
Dave Comeau 
Reply to @Donald Mcgregor: And the American model is working so well right now... Give me a break. The two appointees have worked for both Liberal and Conservative governments in their home provinces. That is as close to non-partizan as it has gotten in the last decade. Or have you forgotten the lame appointees that Harper put up there.. IE: Brazeau, Duffy, meredith and Lynn Beyack.
 
 
David Amos
Reply to @Donald Mcgregor: Methinks the number of Senators aka evil old political cronies from the Maritimes is particularly disgusting but Duffy took the cake N'esy Pas?




























Marcus Aetuis
Canadians must be a pretty simple bunch if they actually believe it when Trudeau says his "appointees" will be completely neutral in their work.......


Jack Hill 
Reply to @Marcus Aetuis:
You must be a paranoid to think that they won't.
 
 
Matty Schultzen 
Reply to @Jack Hill: But when they’re Conservatives Senators what are your thoughts Jack?
Thoughts so...
 
 
John Chow 
Reply to @Jack Hill:
Is it paranoia? Or an understanding of history, government, and how power is exercised behind closed doors.

What we see on camera is mostly theater.
 
 
Dave Comeau 
Reply to @Marcus Aetuis: Trudeau appointed two senators who are lawyers and have worked on some seriously tough ethics issues provincially. The two appointees have worked for both Liberal and Conservative governments in their home provinces. That is as close to non-partizan as it has gotten in the last decade and hopefully a step in the right direction. But if we want to talk about poor choices for the Senate, don't forget the lame appointees that Harper put up there.. IE: Brazeau, Duffy, Don Meredith and Lynn Beyack. All Harper Stooges.
 
 
David Amos
Reply to @Marcus Aetuis: Methinks the educated dudes would like to call it "cognitive dissonance" or whatever but ordinary Maritimers just call it playing dumb because nobody can be that stupid to believe anything any politicians says N'esy Pas?
 
 
David Amos
Reply to @John Chow: YUP


































Todd Harris
I see the thought police in the Senate are trying suspend Sen. Bayak again. What ever happened to : I may not agree with what you are saying but I will defend to the death your right to say it?


David Semple 
Reply to @Todd Harris: That statement is not universally accepted by political-correct and approved group-think.
 
 
William James 
Reply to @Todd Harris: Welcome to the age of Political Correctness. Opinions differing from our norm are not welcome here.
 
 
Bert Van 
Reply to @William James: Touché, they get attacked regularly.
 
 
John Gray 
Reply to @Todd Harris: When it comes to political leaders, the bar is a bit higher than that, don't you think? Bayak was appointed by Harper to serve Canada, not just shoot off her ignorant mouth.
 
 
Larry Kostniuk 
Reply to @Todd Harris: it was a lie, for JT to say these senators are impartial
 
 
Todd Harris 
Reply to @John Gray:
She said that not everything about residential schools was bad. Not exactly treasonous to me. Definitely not politically correct but who cares. There may be some truth to it.
 
 
Ralph Jacobs 
Reply to @Todd Harris:
You can't have an opinion that differs from the Liberal opinion.
 
 
Ralph Jacobs
Reply to @Todd Harris:
I did attend a residential school and she is entirely correct. There are many who took education seriously and have done well.
 
 
Bill Gender 
Reply to @ralph jacobs: SSSSHHHH quiet your not suppose to say that remember ...
 
 
Wilhelm Mux 
Reply to @Todd Harris:
If I said about you what she says about others I think you would not like it
 
 
Patrick Anglin 
Reply to @William James: You need to be brighter than her about doing what you think she is trying to do. She becomes the mockery that spoils her message.
 
 
JOHN R MCTAGGART
Reply to @ralph jacobs:
That's just dumb.
 
 
David Amos
Reply to @JOHN R MCTAGGART: NOPE you are
 
 
David Amos
Reply to @ralph jacobs: Oh So True























Brian Stewart
Harper saw the Senate for the bloated unelected dinosaur it is and stopped appointing the troughsters. Aladdin has been busy stacking it with liberals er independent liberals, what could go wrong


Rosemary Hughes
Reply to @Brian Stewart: Where were you from 2011 onward. Harper appointed 59 of his friends and fundraisers - including the CFO of the Conservative party fund who ran the fund from his senate office.
 
 
Rosemary Hughes
Reply to @Rosemary Hughes: Ooops 2009!
 
 
Phil Walters
Reply to @Rosemary Hughes: Don't forget he appointed Mike Duffy and Patrick Brazeau.
 
 
Henry Scott 
Reply to @Brian Stewart: Who would up vote this?
 
 
Bert Van 
Reply to @Henry Scott: The uneducated .
 
 
David Amos
Reply to @Brian Stewart: Methinks if just a few of the Independents sobered up, started acting ethically and speaking up then we would see a true change in a heartbeat N'esy Pas?
 
 
David Amos
Reply to @Phil Walters: Lest we forget

















Curtis Green
Read "Independent Senators Group" and "non-affiliated senators" as Liberals. To say they're anything else is like everything Trudeau does, a farce. I mean "While described as "unaffiliated," the three representatives will be crucial to seeing the Liberal government's legislative agenda through the upper house." Believe me, they come when Trudeau whistles.


Anne Lacourt 
Reply to @Curtis Green: Just a reminder that Harper did exactly the same thing..
 
 
John Watson 
Reply to @Curtis Green:
And yet, there was an article not too long ago that showed the exact opposite. With facts and figures.
 
 
Eric Wilder 
Reply to @Curtis Green: No I do not believe you, evidence is available to the contrary. You just want to rant.
 
 
Carrie Green 
Reply to @Curtis Green: NO - read man! JT is trying to change the Senate from blatant partisanship into something better - nothing says he has to, and nothing says it will be successful, but as harper learned, you can't just abandon it either. So, sure the 3 that form the leadership are likely libs, but the 2 new Senators seem quite capable and held high positions in their respective provinces thru different parties leadership. Sick and tired of people thinking the whole of government workers has to change every time the leadership does - these are people with not just a job, but a career.
 
 
Bren Hynes 
Reply to @Anne Lacourt: no...he didnt. He allowed there tone a non binding election for senators and then appointed the victor
 
 
Graham Greene 
Reply to @Curtis Green:
Indeed.

Why can't the Liberals have a Senator the calibre of . . . say . . . . Lynn Beyak!?
 
 
Patrick Anglin
Reply to @Graham Greene: A Champion of Independent Thought. You have to give her credit for her stubbornness.
 
 
David Amos
Reply to @Curtis Green: YUP Just like the ones Harper appointed answered to his whistle
 
 
David Amos
Reply to @Curtis Green: Remember when the Liberals ordered their Senators to support Harpers bills? Methinks that was a rather telling thing N'esy Pas?





Foreign enemies 'increasingly targeting Canada,' Privy Council warns new minister

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Replying to @alllibertynews and 49 others

Methinks folks should ask Dominic Leblanc if it was foreign enemies who denied who was running in Fundy Royal again in 2 elections while we were constantly being informed of his battles with conservatives and cancer etc N'esy Pas?


 



https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/foreign-interference-increasingly-targeting-canada-leblanc-warned-1.5446134




Foreign enemies 'increasingly targeting Canada,' Privy Council warns new minister

Memo says interference beyond the electoral cycle will require 'focused attention'


  
Catharine Tunney· CBC News· Posted: Feb 02, 2020 4:00 AM ET





A briefing memo submitted to President of the Privy Council Dominic Leblanc warns that Canada remains a target for foreign electoral interference. (Jim Urquhart/Reuters)


The 2019 election might be long over, but Canada is "increasingly" a target for foreign interference, warns a briefing note prepared for President of the Privy Council Dominic Leblanc.

The heavily redacted package of briefing notes, drafted for the New Brunswick MP around the time of his swearing-in last November, also points to potential "gaps" in the way Canada responded to the fall election.

As part of his new job at the cabinet table, Leblanc is responsible for supporting Canada's democratic institutions — a role that had its own ministry last session.


While the briefing document is filled with bureaucratic jargon, the warning jumps off the page.
"Foreign adversaries and competitors are increasingly targeting Canada in order to advance their own economic and national security interests," says the 150-page briefing binder, obtained through access to information.

"Canada, like the majority of Western democracies, is a target of foreign state efforts to interfere with or damage our democratic processes (cyber and non cyber)."
"The word 'increasing' is actually very important here," said former national security analyst Stephanie Carvin, now an associate professor at Carleton University in Ottawa.

"It suggests that there may be some metrics by which they're measuring these things to suggest that, in fact, there's more attacks in new ways, perhaps even novel attacks that we're seeing. So that is something that jumps out to me in this report."

The redacted briefing note doesn't name the foreign adversaries.


In the lead-up to the Oct. 21 election, sources told CBC News that Canada's intelligence services were carefully monitoring attempts by six countries — China, India, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Venezuela — to influence the federal election. Top Canadian officials also were warned last year that China and India could try to use their links to diaspora communities in Canada to advance their own agendas.

Traditional spying still 'the greatest danger': CSIS


Carvin said those countries are likely still on the list of engaged adversaries, along with Russia and other states in the Middle East.

"Really, there's a range of interests that foreign actors are interested in. They're interested in targeting our energy sector, oil and gas. They're also interested in just discrediting our democracy and democratic processes," she said.

"In some ways, [they want to] just whip up anger and dissent about a number of issues to get Canadians angry at each other."



As part of his new job at the cabinet table, Dominic Leblanc is tasked with supporting Canada’s democratic institutions, a role that had its own ministry last session. (Nicolas Steinbach/Radio-Canada)

John Townsend, a spokesperson for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, said that over the years CSIS has seen multiple instances of foreign states targeting specific communities in Canada through human intelligence operations, the use of state-sponsored or foreign-influenced media and cyberattacks.

"Traditional interference by foreign espionage remains the greatest danger, but interference using cyber means continues to be a growing concern," he said in an email to CBC.

In 2018, CSIS Director David Vigneault gave a speech to the Economic Club of Canada pointing out that the scale, speed, range and impact of foreign interference has grown as a result of the internet.

'Gaps' in election response


In an attempt to prevent foreign meddling, the federal government set up an internal team — the "critical election incident public protocol panel" — to publicly sound the alarm if it saw evidence the October federal election was being undermined. It never did.

In the days immediately after the federal election, government officials said they did detect attempts to spread misinformation and disinformation during the election campaign — but not at a level high enough to trigger a public warning.

Ottawa also set up a special task force, known as SITE, which brought together Canada's national security and intelligence agencies: CSIS, the Communications Security Establishment and the RCMP.
Both teams met regularly throughout the election. The security and intelligence community provided several threat briefings to political parties and ran tabletop exercises, according to the documents.

The briefing binder mentions "remaining gaps" in the way Canada responded to the election, but the examples were blacked out in the redacted pages.

A declassifed report is expected in the coming months.

The briefing package told LeBlanc that, given the pressing timeline of the campaign, most of the government's pre-election pro-democracy initiatives focused exclusively on the election itself, "leaving broader issues of countering interference in Canada's democratic institutions — i.e. public servants and government, politicians and political parties, media, the judiciary and others — aside.
"Interference in democratic institutions beyond the electoral cycle will require focused attention."

A spokesperson for CSE, Canada's foreign signal intelligence agency, said threats continue to change over time.

"Traditional hostile foreign threats have been persistent over the years, but they are now taking advantage of evolutions in technology," said Evan Koronewski.

"However, as these threats evolve, so do our abilities to detect them and take preventative action."
Disinformation should still be a source of concern, says the government memo, but fact-checking and traditional journalism have been helpful so far in debunking and correcting misinformation.

"While these efforts have been sufficient up to this point, a more fractured and divided Canada could make countering misinformation and disinformation more difficult."

"I think Canadians should always be concerned," said Carvin. "What we've seen in the past, say in 2016, is not what we saw in 2019. It might not be what we see in the future. Canada isn't immune to these trends."

LeBlanc was not available for an interview.

"We will continue to be vigilant in combatting any threat. Ensuring the security of our democratic processes is a priority for our government," said a spokesperson for his office.







1809 Comments 





Craig Macneil
Misinformation.......well look not further than this site and the posts.


Nelson Potter
Reply to @Craig Macneil: Blatant Offender
Alex Matheson
Reply to @Craig Macneil:
Like your post
Art Rowe
Reply to @Craig Macneil:
Yet another warning that has been proven true in the past, but that will be largely ignored by Ottawa. The gnashing of teeth occurs later when it's too late.
Michal Scur  
Reply to @Craig Macneil: and yet here you are..
John Michaels 
Reply to @Michal Scur: clearly you dont have an understanding of things
Jon Van Lee
Reply to @Craig Macneil:I pointed out that c B c gets $1.7 billion tax dollars annually and it offended someone here !
Ernest Ausca 
Reply to @Craig Macneil:
This article outlines government analysis of credible threats to our country by means of a heavily redacted government report. This is of importance to all Canadians - exactly what the national broadcaster should be doing.
Anne Clarke
Reply to @Craig Macneil: maybe in some of the threads but not in the news
Randell Dee 
Reply to @Nelson Potter: well hello mr pot...or is it mr kettle...U pick
Randell Dee  
Reply to @Alex Matheson: and many of the ones U have posted
Randell Dee  
Reply to @Michal Scur: and yet here you respond
Herb Weber 
Reply to @Craig Macneil: Look no further than the number of "likes" of your comment!
Mackenna Wilson 
Reply to @Nelson Potter: I checked his posts and there's nothing in them that suggests anything of the kind. You on the other hand....pot and kettle combined.
David Amos 
Reply to @Craig Macneil: Oh So True
David Amos
Reply to @Craig Macneil: Methinks folks should ask Dominc Leblanc if it was foreign enemies who denied who was running in Fundy Royal again in the past two federal elections while we were constantly in informed of his battles with conservatives and cancer etc N'esy Pas?




















Nelson Potter
Trudeau is off to Africa with a plane load of Canadian dollars looking for friends


Show 13 older replies


David Amos
Reply to @Nelson Potter: Methinks folks should just relax and enjoy the Trudeau's circus After all we are paying for it N'esy Pas?

























Angus Campbell
It doesn't matter. Democracy in western countries died when the US senate acquitted Donald Trump of influence peddling before the trial even ended. Such is the state of democracy in the western world. 


Show 19 older replies


David Amos
Reply to @Angus Campbell: Methinks everybody knows democracy and justice were myths long before the Yankees rebelled against our Crown over no taxation without proper representation N'esy Pas? 





















Jim Clark
Odd thing is that all those countries mentioned have a very close relationship with trudeau.He actually said he admires their dictatorships.Now that should be the biggest worry here.


Show 18 older replies


David Amos
Reply to @Jim Clark: Methinks you should relax Only your hero Harper could a minority government as if it were a dictatorship N'esy Pas?


























Greg Wagner
Aren’t UN obligations foreign influence?


 
 
David Amos
Reply to @Greg Wagner: Good question 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


Sandra Largen
I am more concerned with the lack of democracy taking place within Canada. I am concerned about the over reach of the UN in Canada. I am concerned about this Liberal government and in particular this PM. 


Show 16 older replies


David Amos
Reply to @Sandra Largent: ME TOO







Alliance supporters grumble as petitions to dismantle bilingualism collect dust

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Replying to @alllibertynews and 49 others





 




https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/peoples-alliance-supporters-bilingualism-petition-1.5448597


Alliance supporters grumble as petitions to dismantle bilingualism collect dust

People's Alliance Leader says petitions go beyond party approach to bilingualism



Jacques Poitras· CBC News· Posted: Feb 03, 2020 5:00 AM AT




Some People's Alliance supporters believe party leader Kris Austin and the two other MLAs aren't doing enough to make changes to bilingualism in New Brunswick. (CBC)

An ardent opponent of official bilingualism who takes credit for the success of the People's Alliance says the populist party has let him down on the language issue.

Jason McBride and some other members of his Facebook group, United Citizens of New Brunswick, have been grumbling that Alliance Leader Kris Austin and his two fellow MLAs haven't been doing enough on bilingualism since getting elected in 2018.

McBride, a vocal critic of official bilingualism and an administrator of the group page, said he is no longer an Alliance supporter because Austin has not introduced McBride's "thousands" of anti-bilingualism petitions in the legislature.


"The LEAST KRIS AUSTIN and the rest of his group can do is actually present the petitions to government," McBride wrote in a comment. "They have been in his office for 6 MONTHS."

"PANB has to do something with this FILE soon!" said Bruce Messer, a member of the group.


Kris Austin, pictured surrounded by supporters on election night in 2018, says his party's approach to bilingualism is not as extreme as some of his supporters would like. (CBC)

In an interview, Messer said he's generally happy with the Alliance MLAs but would like a blueprint before the next election for how they plan to address bilingualism.

"Is it different from what the past Progressive Conservative party or the Liberal party has done?" he said. "What will their approach be? We have to see the blueprint before we can make decisions."

A 'common sense' approach


McBride's petitions call for a referendum on repealing official bilingualism, which has been the law in New Brunswick since 1969 and entrenched in the Constitution since 1982.

Austin said McBride promised to deliver petitions with "thousands" of names last August, but they turned out to have only about 2,400 signatures, some dating back five or six years.


He said that's one reason the party won't present them. Another is the petitions go far beyond his party's position, which he says is to demand a more "common sense" approach to official bilingualism and not "tackle the Canadian Constitution."

"We've never called for the elimination of bilingualism, we've never called for a referendum on bilingualism," he said.

Video spurs debate


When McBride brought the petitions to Austin at the legislature last August, he posted a selfie video arguing his group led directly to the Alliance's election breakthrough.

"As a result of this movement, the People's Alliance party now has three seats in the legislature," McBride said. "We finally have an MLA sitting who's willing and able in the fall session to be able to present this pile of petitions."

On Jan. 26 McBride reposted the August video. "I haven't seen him mention them since," he said of the petition. "Have you?" That triggered the online discussion.



A screenshot of Jason McBride's Facebook video. (Facebook/United Citizens of New Brunswick)


McBride contacted CBC News about the delay but did not respond to an interview request.

Since the 2018 election, the Alliance has supported the Progressive Conservative minority government during confidence votes in the legislature.

Austin has argued that gives him leverage over government policy but has reminded supporters that doesn't mean the Alliance can achieve all its objectives.

"The folks that supported us understand the situation that we're in and that we're making progress on several files," he said, pointing to the creation of "floater" positions at Ambulance New Brunswick filled by unilingual paramedics.

He said most Alliance supporters understand his position and aren't looking for what McBride wants.

"We're not getting flooded with emails from supporters who are taking that approach," he said.

Last spring, Austin hinted in the legislature he would try to amend the Official Languages Act to exempt ambulance paramedics. But he said other paramedic issues have been a priority and his bill probably won't be introduced in the current session.

Others disagree

Some of the Facebook group members defended Austin, calling on the critics to help elect more Alliance members in the next election and pointing out the party has only three MLAs in the 49-seat legislature.

Matt Wood said Austin must "strategically navigate" that reality until the next election.

But others were critical: Austin "just said what people wanted to hear," member Peter Robinson said.

Long-time Alliance supporter Joshua MacDonald commented, "Even my confidence is starting to shake," adding that Austin's votes for some PC actions "made me cringe."
Discontent among supporters of a populist party in the New Brunswick legislature is not new: in 1991, the anti-bilingualism Confederation of Regions Party won eight seats and formed the official opposition, but the party was soon plagued by bitter internal feuds.

Some of those battles were fuelled by anger from grassroots party members that the party's eight elected MLAs weren't doing more to dismantle bilingualism.

One of those former COR MLAs, Greg Hargrove, weighed in on McBride's Facebook discussion, saying anti-bilingualism activists "had our chance" with COR, but anglophone voters abandoned the party, "so shut up and suck it up because you brought it on yourselves."






 

https://globalnews.ca/news/6500043/bilingualism-petition-dispute-panb/ 


Bilingualism petition dispute shows challenges of managing expectations: PANB leader

A video posted to the Facebook group United Citizens of New Brunswick last week shows group administrator Jason McBride just before he drops off a petition to Alliance leader Kris Austin calling for an end to bilingualism in the province.

“We finally have an MLA sitting who is willing and able in the fall session to be able to present this pile of petitions,” McBride said in the video.

But the 2,400 signature petition never saw the floor of the legislature, a point McBride makes in the comments below the video.

“Kris Austin has had thousands of individually signed petitions calling for a change to the state of duality, segregation and the current state of bilingualism in New Brunswick since August 2, 2019. I haven’t seen him mention them or seen them since… have you?” he wrote on January 26.
McBride claims to have been a creator of a movement against bilingualism that culminated in the election of three Alliance MLAs in 2018.

McBride declined a request for an interview but sent a copy of the petition and pictures of Austin receiving it.

 

Changes coming to New Brunswick’s French immersion program

Austin said he did receive the petition from McBride but said he didn’t table it in the legislature because the position outlined in it is not one shared by the People’s Alliance.

“They’re not seeing the bigger picture,” he said.

“I know Mr. McBride has called to an end to bilingualism completely — we’ve never campaigned on that. I’ve never campaigned on that. It’s never been in any of our brochures.”

Austin says the party is more interested in ending duality, what he calls the segregation of French and English speakers into two systems.

But the disagreement has shown him the challenges of managing the expectations of supporters.
“You have to look at where people’s frustrations come from and sometimes the solution that they think will fix the problem is really not the solution at all,” he said.

The Alliance is currently propping up a PC minority government with its three seats, which has allowed Austin to claim some successes, if not everything the party set out to accomplish.

Austin says he feels most people understand the position the party is in and if swift action is desired, he said his party will need to form government.

“You’re constantly in negotiations, you’re constantly trying to further the things that you were elected on while at the same time giving a little bit to those in government that are trying to push their agenda as well,” he said.




Oh My My

  




Le mécontentement gronde chez des partisans de l’Alliance des gens du N.-B.


Kris Austin lors d'une allocution à l'Assemblée législative
Des partisans de l'Alliance des gens du Nouveau-Brunswick estiment que leur chef, Kris Austin, et les deux autres députés du parti ne font pas assez d'efforts contre le bilinguisme officiel.
Photo : Assemblée législative du Nouveau-Brunswick

Radio-Canada
Un Néo-Brunswickois qui s’oppose farouchement au bilinguisme officiel dans la province se sent abandonné par l’Alliance des gens du Nouveau-Brunswick sur cette question.

Jason McBride et d’autres membres de son groupe Facebook nommé United Citizens of New Brunswick reprochent au chef de l’Alliance des gens, Kris Austin, et aux deux autres députés du parti de ne pas en faire assez en matière de bilinguisme depuis les élections de 2018.

Jason McBride dit qu’il n’est plus un partisan de l’Alliance parce que Kris Austin n’a pas présenté à l’Assemblée législative ses milliers de pétitions contre le bilinguisme officiel. Les pétitions sont dans le bureau de M. Austin depuis six mois, souligne-t-il dans une publication sur Facebook.

L’Alliance doit faire quelque chose avec ce dossier, lance Bruce Messer, un autre membre du groupe Facebook.

En entrevue, M. Messer dit être généralement satisfait du travail des députés de l’Alliance, mais qu’il aimerait voir le plan du parti en matière de bilinguisme officiel d’ici les prochaines élections pour prendre des décisions.

Kris Austin lors de son allocution devant ses militants
Kris Austin, qui s'adresse ci-dessus à ses partisans lors de la soirée électorale en 2018, explique que l'approche du parti en matière de bilinguisme officielle n'est pas la même que celle de certains partisans. Photo : Radio-Canada / Pascal Poinlane

Une approche fondée sur le bon sens

La pétition de M. McBride réclame un référendum contre le bilinguisme officiel, qui est inscrit dans une loi au Nouveau-Brunswick depuis 1969 et dans la Constitution canadienne depuis 1982.




  • Radio-Canada
    Un Néo-Brunswickois qui s’oppose farouchement au bilinguisme officiel dans la province se sent abandonné par l’Alliance des gens du Nouveau-Brunswick sur cette question.

    Jason McBride et d’autres membres de son groupe Facebook nommé United Citizens of New Brunswick reprochent au chef de l’Alliance des gens, Kris Austin, et aux deux autres députés du parti de ne pas en faire assez en matière de bilinguisme depuis les élections de 2018.
    Jason McBride dit qu’il n’est plus un partisan de l’Alliance parce que Kris Austin n’a pas présenté à l’Assemblée législative ses milliers de pétitions contre le bilinguisme officiel. Les pétitions sont dans le bureau de M. Austin depuis six mois, souligne-t-il dans une publication sur Facebook.
    L’Alliance doit faire quelque chose avec ce dossier, lance Bruce Messer, un autre membre du groupe Facebook.
    En entrevue, M. Messer dit être généralement satisfait du travail des députés de l’Alliance, mais qu’il aimerait voir le plan du parti en matière de bilinguisme officiel d’ici les prochaines élections pour prendre des décisions.
    Kris Austin lors de son allocution devant ses militants
    Kris Austin, qui s'adresse ci-dessus à ses partisans lors de la soirée électorale en 2018, explique que l'approche du parti en matière de bilinguisme officielle n'est pas la même que celle de certains partisans.
    Photo : Radio-Canada / Pascal Poinlane

    Une approche fondée sur le bon sens


    La pétition de M. McBride réclame un référendum contre le bilinguisme officiel, qui est inscrit dans une loi au Nouveau-Brunswick depuis 1969 et dans la Constitution canadienne depuis 1982.

    L’Alliance n'a pas présenté la pétition à l’Assemblée législative. Tout d’abord, explique Kris Austin, Jason McBride avait promis en août une pétition portant la signature de milliers de personnes, mais il n’y en a qu’environ 2400 dont certaines qui remontent à cinq ou six ans.

    De plus, ajoute M. Austin, la pétition va bien au-delà de la prise de position du parti qui, précise-t-il, demande une approche plus fondée sur le bon sens en matière de bilinguisme officiel et qui ne s’attaque pas à la Constitution canadienne.

    L’Alliance des gens n’a jamais réclamé l’élimination du bilinguisme ni un référendum sur le bilinguisme, assure Kris Austin.

    Une vidéo attise le débat


    Lorsque Jason McBride a remis ses pétitions à Kris Austin en août, il a publié sur Facebook une vidéo dans laquelle il soutient que c'est grâce à son groupe que l’Alliance a fait une percée électorale. Les trois députés de l’Alliance, dit-il, peuvent présenter les pétitions.

    Le 26 janvier, M. McBride a publié à nouveau cette vidéo en écrivant qu’il n’a pas vu M. Austin parler des pétitions depuis ce moment. Il a demandé aux autres membres du groupe s’ils l’avaient vu les mentionner. C’est ce qui a déclenché la discussion en ligne.

    Égoportrait de Jason McBride devant l'édifice de l'Assemblée législative
    Jason McBride demande aux membre de son groupe Facebook s'ils ont entendu Kris Austin parler de la pétition à l'Assemblée législative. Photo : Facebook/United Citizens of New Brunswick

    Jason McBride a communiqué avec CBC à ce sujet, mais il n’a pas répondu à une demande d’entrevue.

    Les députés alliancistes appuient le gouvernement progressiste-conservateur minoritaire lors des votes de confiance depuis les élections de 2018. L’Alliance des gens exerce ainsi un poids politique, mais cela ne signifie pas nécessairement qu’elle peut atteindre tous ses objectifs, a déjà expliqué Kris Austin.

    Les partisans, selon M. Austin, comprennent cette situation et les progrès accomplis dans certains dossiers. Il souligne à titre d’exemple l’embauche d’ambulanciers unilingues dans les équipes flottantes affectées au transport des patients entre hôpitaux.

    La majorité des partisans de l’Alliance ne demande pas ce que réclame Jason McBride, ajoute M. Austin. Son bureau, dit-il, n’est pas inondé de courrielsà ce sujet.

    Le printemps dernier, M. Austin a fait entendre à l’Assemblée législative qu’il essayerait de faire modifier la loi sur les langues officielles afin d’en exempter les ambulanciers, mais il a dit que d’autres dossiers en matière de soins ambulanciers étaient prioritaires et que son projet de loi ne serait probablement pas déposé durant la session législative courante.

    D’autres partisans appuient Kris Austin


    D’autres membres du groupe Facebook se sont portés à la défense de Kris Austin et ont demandé à ceux qui le critiquent d’aider à faire élire plus de députés alliancistes aux prochaines élections, car le parti n’occupe que 3 sièges sur 49 à l’Assemblée législative.

    Kris Austin doit naviguer stratégiquement jusqu’aux prochaines élections, selon le partisan Matt Wood. Mais d’autres partisans critiquent M. Austin. Il n’a dit que ce que les gens voulaient entendre, lance l'un d'eux, Peter Robinson.

    Un partisan de longue date, Joshua MacDonald, dit que sa confiance est ébranlée. Il dénonce l’appui de M. Austin au Parti progressiste-conservateur.

    Le mécontentement des partisans d’un parti populiste présent à l’Assemblée législative n’est pas une nouveauté dans la province. Le parti Confederation of Regions (CoR

    ) qui a remporté huit sièges et formé l’opposition officielle en 1991 a vite été secoué par des querelles internes.

    Certains membres du parti reprochaient alors aux huit députés de ne pas en faire plus contre le bilinguisme officiel.

    L’un de ces anciens députés, Greg Hargrove, est intervenu dans la discussion sur Facebook en disant que les opposants au bilinguisme ont eu une chance d’agir avec le CoR

    , mais les électeurs anglophones ont ensuite abandonné le parti. Il leur dit de se taire et de souffrir en silence, car ils sont responsables de la situation, selon lui.


    Avec les renseignements de Jacques Poitras, de CBC















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    Peter MacKay 'not happy' with tweet needling Trudeau over yoga expenses

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    Replying to @alllibertynews and 49 others
    Methinks folks should never forget that Mackay answered my lawsuit (Federal Court File No. T-1557-15 while he was our Attorney General and Trudeau was well aware of statement 83 N'esy Pas?


    https://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.com/2020/02/peter-mackay-not-happy-with-tweet.html


     


    https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/mackay-trudeau-yoga-tweet-conservative-leadership-1.5450245


    Peter MacKay 'not happy' with tweet needling Trudeau over yoga expenses

    Conservative leadership candidate says he wants his campaign to have a more 'civilized' tone


    Hannah Thibedeau· CBC News· Posted: Feb 03, 2020 3:01 PM ET



    Conservative leadership candidate Peter MacKay greets supporters at a meet and greet event in Ottawa Jan. 26, 2020. (Justin Tang/THE CANADIAN PRESS)

    Peter MacKay was "not happy" with a tweet issued by his leadership team poking fun at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's yoga habit, the Conservative leadership candidate told CBC News today.

    The tweet — from MacKay's verified account — shows a photo of Trudeau performing a yoga move on a desk on Parliament Hill. The caption says that "while running for leader of the Liberal Party,

    Trudeau's campaign expensed $876.95 in yoga sessions and spa bills for Justin Trudeau. Liberals can't be trusted."


    While running for leader of the Liberal Party, Trudeau’s campaign expensed $876.95 in yoga sessions and spa bills for Justin Trudeau.

    Liberals can’t be trusted.

    Embedded video
    10:55 AM - Feb 1, 2020


    MacKay said he wants to maintain a "civilized" tone in his campaign for the Conservative leadership and thinks that tweet crossed a line. But he said he won't apologize for it or take it down.





    "Well, it's factual, but I want to keep the tone civilized," he said. "I want to keep the tone about solutions. I want to move to a better place and a better discourse. And so ... I am not happy at the way that was put up on my site. And I voiced that to my team.

    "I didn't have eyes on that (tweet). And you know, that happens in the early days of a campaign. We're getting our messaging and our communication down. I'm travelling about the country and we have people on the ground making certain decisions, and so we've tightened that up now to a better approval process."

    MacKay himself has been attacked in the past over spending decisions. In July 2010, when he was the minister of defence, MacKay was airlifted by a search and rescue helicopter from a private fishing lodge near Gander, N.L. so he could catch a flight back for a government announcement. The Cormorant helicopter used to transport MacKay cost $32,000 an hour to operate; MacKay's trip to the airport took 25 minutes, including a 15-minute hoist exercise.

    Aggressive messaging


    MacKay insisted again today that was an appropriate use of government resources. "The reality is I was a government minister using a government asset to do government work, and that's an entirely different scenario than the one that was pointed out," he said.

    Since the leadership race got underway, both MacKay's campaign and the one supporting Ontario MP Erin O'Toole's leadership run have been sending out some pugnacious messages online.

    O'Toole, for example, has been urging his supporters to "take Canada back" and is accusing the Trudeau Liberals of seeking to "control news you read online" — an apparent reference to an expert panel's report on streaming services and media licensing.


    Trudeau wants to control what you see on Netflix.

    Trudeau wants to control news you read online.

    This is wrong. This is dangerous.

    Let’s take back Canada. Join our fight: https://erinotoole.ca

    Embedded video

    3:29 PM - Feb 2, 2020


    Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault appeared before reporters today to walk back comments he made over the weekend that seemed to indicate the government plans to license media outlets. "Our government has no intention to impose licensing requirements on news organizations, nor will we try to regulate news content," Guilbeault said Monday.

    Michelle Austin, head of government and policy relations at Twitter Canada, said an aggressive tone online won't serve leadership candidates in the long run.

    "I think Canadians want from the Conservative Party a bigger conversation and a more inclusive conversation. I believe that is the message that they received from the 2019 election," she said. "So I think, if it was me advising them, I would use platforms like Twitter to launch themselves but also to engage in a conversation.

    "Talk about new ideas, talk about new strategies, talk about how you're going to win. I wouldn't go as negative as fast."

    MacKay is considered the frontrunner in the leadership race. A recent Léger poll of Conservative voters (though not necessarily of all party members) gives MacKay 42 per cent support, against just six per cent for Michelle Rempel Garner, four per cent for O'Toole and two per cent for Marilyn Gladu. (Gladu and O'Toole have confirmed they're running; Rempel Garner has not.)
    MacKay said he does not expect to receive former leader Stephen Harper's endorsement, even though he and Harper were instrumental in the merger of the Progressive Conservative and Canadian Alliance parties that created the modern Conservative Party in 2003.

    "We've had a couple of brief conversations and I spoke to him in anticipation of my decision, and so he has encouraged me to do it. He's been supportive. I don't expect he will be actively involved in anyone's campaign," MacKay said.

    Mackay spent time in Montreal this weekend doing media interviews in French and meeting organizers and business leaders. He said he's getting good reviews for his French skills so far, even though he is being lambasted in Quebec media for not being bilingual.

    "So my ability to communicate in both official languages — they can mock, but the reality is it's there, it's improving, it will continue to improve," he said.

    "I've been away from politics and public life for over four years and haven't had the necessity to use French to the degree that I did when I was a member of Parliament. So I'm confident in my ability to bring it back to an acceptable level."

    About the Author


    Hannah Thibedeau
    Parliament Hill
    Hannah Thibedeau is a veteran political reporter having covered the Hill for more than 15 years, both behind the scenes and in front of the camera. She covers politics for CBC TV, CBC Radio and CBC Politics online.
    With files from Doug Beazley






    3942 Comments






    David Amos
    Methinks folks should never forget that Mackay answered my lawsuit (Federal Court File No. T-1557-15 while he was our Attorney General and Trudeau was well aware of statement 83 N'esy Pas?















    Brian Sexsmith
    What an obvious game - his team issues derogatory statements, then he thinks he's absolving himself by saying he's not happy about it. Pathetic - even the blind could see through this one.


    David Amos
    Reply to @Brian Sexsmith:  Methinks that is why so many comments about the wicked game are being blocked N'esy Pas?







    Charlie Mason
    So 4 days later the tweet that he disapproves of is still there. Wow, what a great leader, he can't even control his own Twitter feed.


    David Amos
    Reply to @Charlie Mason: Methinks MacKay wishes to remain in the news making fun of Trudeau and it certainly appears to be working N'esy Pas?

























    John Valente
    An exercise of power that an auditor general will eventually comment on. Peter Mackay has acknowledged yoga tweet. It seems that his team was too eager to measure up to Justin.


    David Amos
    Reply to @John Valente: Welcome to a Tempest in a Teapot created by a silly little Tweet


























    Alex McNiven
    Mackay allows a post made in his name to to stay on his site even when he disagrees with it. What kind of leader is that? If he doesn't like it, he should take it down. Otherwise, someone else is in charge, not him.


    David AmosContent diabled
    Reply to @Alex McNiven: Methinks if the Maritime lawyer I call Petey Baby were truly a wiseguy he would have read my Tweets about this nonsense by now N'esy Pas?


    David Amos
    Reply to @Alex McNiven: Methinks everybody knows his boss is still Harper N'esy Pas?



























    Jeff Munroe
    It seems every time the Conservatives decry some freedom of speech issue they claim to experience the wrong end of, they're more than happy to squash freedom of the press to do their jobs. Mackay's damage control seems disingenuous, given he could have ordered his own staff to stand down given it was a valid question. He is in charge, isn't he?


    David Amos
    Reply to @Jeff Munroe: Methinks folks should watch MacKay's interview with the little lady from CTV to see who is truly the boss N'esy Pas?


























    Rick R Fontaine
    If Peter MacKay was a real conservative and wanted them in power he would have been backing Andrew Sheer instead of attacking him.I cannot support somebody like that


    David Amos
    Reply to @Rick R Fontaine: Cry me a riverr

























    Robert Williamson
    The Cons are just like Trump. They will mock anything liberal i.e. anyone who is part of the 66% who voted against them. It's part of their DNA.


    Troy Murschell
    Reply to @Robert Williamson: how else would Libs know how dumb they are unless they’re mocked? You can’t smack people upside the head over the internet.
     
     
    David Amos
    Reply to @Troy Murschell: I disagree Methinks everybody knows I poke holes in stuffed shirts all day long. A lawyer who was once our Minister of Defence should at least admit that the word is far more powerful than the sword particularly after all the hoopla he has raised over one silly tweet N'esy Pas?






















    Loran Hayden
    So, Peter, what was the price on those f-35's again?


    Beth Andrews
    Reply to @Loran Hayden:
    Also known as cooking the books.
    Repeated Duplicity on Costing of F-35 Fighter Jets
    "An auditor general’s report revealed serial deceptive practices used by the Conservatives in misleading the public and Parliament on the projected cost of the fighter jets."
    David Amos
    Reply to @Beth Andrews: FYI your words to me can be found in my latest blog byway of Twitter 
     

    Loran Hayden
    Reply to @Beth Andrews: And they say Trudeau taking a helicopter ride from the Aga Khan should mean he resigns, pays the cost of the trip and goes to prison. :oD


    Aaron Lane 
    Reply to @Loran Hayden:
    You mean the F-35s the Liberals promised not to buy, and then allowed to take part in the competition to replace the CF-18s, which the Liberals launched four years later than they had promised? Those F-35s?
     
     
    David Amos
    Reply to @Aaron Lane: YUP
     
     
    Aaron Lane 
    Reply to @Beth Andrews:
    Where is that quote from? Why use a quote if you don't cite the source? 
     

    David Amos
    Reply to @Aaron Lane: Methinks folks should check out my lawsuit etc then feel free to quote me all day long N'esy Pas?




















    Tim Wolfe
    Why would he be upset as the tweet clearly stated FACTS but then Libs hate the truth!


    David Amos 
    Reply to @Tim Wolfe: Oh So True but so do Conservatives

    Beth Andrews
    Reply to @Tim Wolfe:
    About ten years ago the Liberal Party paid 876 bucks for yoga.
    So what?



    David Amos
    Reply to @Beth Andrews: As long as it wasn't taxpayer funds who cares?

    Beth Andrews 
    Reply to @David Amos:
    Yes, that is my point.
    I don't understand why Pete would even bother with it.



    David Amos
    Reply to @Beth Andrews: Cleary you don't know the Pete I know

    Beth Andrews
    Reply to @David Amos:
    I just know Pete from what I have read about him, his little helicoptor rides and paying millions for a ship blueprint.
    Google:
    Shipbuilding contract holds $250M mystery
    Cost of Arctic patrol ships' design sparks warning of another procurement 'fiasco'
    (CBC May 4, 2013)


    David Amos
    Reply to @Beth Andrews: Trust that much to Brison's chagrin MacKay and Admiral Norman know I met Irving Shipbuilding's former General Counsel in Federal Court on January 11th, 2016 and we had quite a hoedown to say the least

    Loran Hayden
    Reply to @Beth Andrews: don't forget appointing friends as judges

    David Amos 
    Reply to @Loran Hayden: Methinks you must know Richard Southcott too N'esy Pas? 
     
    Beth Andrews
    Reply to @Loran Hayden:
    The list is long..
    Google:
    Harper, Serial Ab user of Power: The Evidence Compiled
    The Tyee’s full, updated list of 70 Harper government assa ults on democracy and the law.



    Loran Hayden
    Reply to @Beth Andrews: yeah, I keep the link handy to remind the CPC followers why they won't be elected to run Canada again any time soon.






















    David Amos
    Methinks MacKay enjoyed my Tweets N'esy Pas?


    Claude Marcotte
    Reply to @David Amos: Not according to his "French" launch.

    David Amos
    Reply to @Claude Marcotte: Methinks you are just another dude from Quebec who does not appreciate Maritimers and our use of Chiac N'esy Pas?


    Beth Andrews
    Reply to @David Amos:
    I'm reading your blog. It's...interesting.


    David Amos 
    Reply to @Beth Andrews: Thanks


    Beth Andrews
    Reply to @David Amos:
    A lot to take in, though.


    David Amos 
    Reply to @Beth Andrews: Google my name and wiretap and prepare to sit back and laugh for 40 minutes or so

    Beth Andrews 
    Reply to @David Amos:
    I will.























    Ronda Schone
    Happy Ending Yoga class on behalf of tax payers!!


    Claude Marcotte
    Reply to @Ronda Schone: Liberal party picks up the tab,...there fixed.
     
     
    Tim Wolfe 
    Reply to @Claude Marcotte:
    NO NOT EVER
     
     
    Beth Andrews
    Reply to @Tim Wolfe:
    Yes, yes, yes.
    Even Pete's tweet says the Liberal Party paid for it.
     
     
    David Amos
    Reply to @Beth Andrews: YUP Methinks its just like when the Conservative Party paid for Scheer's private school expenses for his children N'esy Pas?


























    Loran Hayden
    someone Nesy Pas'd himself in mutey pas land.

    David Amos
    Content disabled
    Reply to @Loran Hayden: Methinks certain liberals members of Trudeau's beloved peoplekind must be wondering if MacKay and his minions are reading my comments and tweets about this nonsense Clearly you did N'esy Pas?
     
     
    David Amos
    Reply to @Loran Hayden: Oh My My 























    Dave Yash
    I’m glad he has time for yoga on top of all his other weekly holidays
    Doesn’t anyone think maybe should be trying to run the country
    Write some more cheque’s even though we’re bankrupt

    Any company if audited tried to write off 0.001% of the things he gets away with they’d probably get put away, yet Canadians continually put up with it



    Robert Lee
    Reply to @Dave Yash: "...even though we’re bankrupt "

    Tell that to Haperman, the guy who ran up the $160 billion dollar debt in 9 years.



    David Amos 
    Reply to @Robert Lee: Methinks you should check my work N'esy Pas?




























    John McInerney
    More evidence of major fault lines (fractures) in the CPC(Canada's Phoney Coalition) !


    David Amos
    Reply to @John McInerney: Trust that nobody cares
































    Wilhelm Mux
    They're still running this for two days? Thibodeau total right wing patsy...


    David Amos 
    Reply to @Wilhelm Mux: Naw she is just having fun






























    Pat Fisher
    If Erin is so keen to join the fight, he should first join the gym.


    David Amos 
    Reply to @Pat Fisher: Methinks he loves losing N'esy Pas?































    David Amos
    Methinks CBC is coming from behind the eight ball with this story N'esy Pas?































    Matthew Smith
    I just dont understand how any Canadian could trust McKay after what he did the last time he was elected leader.


    Loran Hayden 
    Reply to @Matthew Smith: Trudeau to MacKay - hey, Pete, you liked that Cabinet position as Justice Minister last time, how about Deputy PM this time?


    David Amos
    Reply to @Matthew Smith: Methinks everybody knows one of the lawyers who helped MacKay con David Orchard was my Brother in Law's law firm partner and the VP for the PC Party for the Maritimes in 2003 N'esy Pas?

     
    Troy Murschell
    Reply to @Matthew Smith: No fan of faux Liberal MacKay, but compared to the current occupant of the PM’s office, he’s a scholar and a gentleman - a rare digit in the third column of IQ compared to JT and his Cabinet.






























    David Schokman
    Come next election the Liberals are done, NDP are not viable, the Conservatives would be an alternative until this display of arrogance of communication staff of Peter Mackay pulling the plug on a relatively simple question, someone who is not yet even the leader of his party let alone the country. Secretive and crooked now, what can you expect if they were in power? Anyone got a helicopter to pick me up from a fishing trip on the tax payers dime? Mesmerizing!


    Robert Lee
    Reply to @David Schokman:
    Weird you get the crystal ball,j Zampanò the Greek?



    Matthew Smith 
    Reply to @Robert Lee: No crystal ball...just not senile and do in fact recall the last time he was elected to lead the Conservatives...


    David Amos
    Reply to @David Schokman: Say what you wish Methinks there will be a lot of water over the dam before the fat lady sings a tune about the results of the next election N'esy Pas?


    Claude Marcotte
    Reply to @David Schokman: The presumed death of the Liberal party is greatly exaggerated.


    Claude Marcotte
    Reply to @David Amos: He didn't get off to a good start with "J'ai sera le candidate".
    David Amos
    Reply to @Claude Marcotte: Methinks you dudes from Quebec can't take a joke N'esy Pas?





























    Robert Lee
    Google search, in images...

    Pierre Poilievre flipping a 500 lbs. tire

     
    Robert Lee
    Promo pic gone bad.


    David Amos
    Reply to @Robert Lee: Google my name and that of Mackay's























    Loran Hayden
    conservatives talking civilization or even civility should be viewed with extreme skepticism.


    David Amos
    Reply to @Loran Hayden: Methinks the same could be said of you N'esy Pas?






























    Carl Gustaf Hubertus
    So when you send out a nasty Tweet and there is blowback ........ blame some low level staffer.

    Great leadership McKay.







    Edward (E) Merij
    Good for McKay for having some integrity. Another reason he'll make a great leader for the Conservatives. As for "low level staffer", sadly, McKay has a point. More and more, it seems, political output is being governed by staff, not politicians. Part and parcel of this whole crazy work-world where there just isn't enough time in the day to do everything. Makes one wonder about who really wrote Trump's ridiculous tweet yesterday claiming that Kansas City, Missouri, is actually in Kansas ... not Missouri.


    David Amos
    Content disabled
    Reply to @Carl Gustaf Hubertus: Methinks that should be no surprise. Remember Robo calls and who went to jail? Everybody knows that to blame the little guy is par for the course for the Conservative Party N'esy Pas? 


    David Amos
    Reply to @Edward (E) Merij: Dream on



























    Carl Gustaf Hubertus
    A more civilized tone? Well then don't hire any Conservatives to work on your campaign and send your own Tweets.



    Michael Brown
    Reply to @Mark Tynthof: Not true.


    David Amos
    Content disabled
    Reply to @Carl Gustaf Hubertus: Methinks that would spoil all the fun in watching the circus N'esy Pas? 


    David Amos
    Reply to @Carl Gustaf Hubertus: I repeat Dream on






















    Don Cheer
    I'm not happy but yet I am not taking it down

    Ok Pete ok



    David Amos 
    Reply to @Don Cheer: Welcome to the circus


    Trump impeachment trial: 3 unanswered questions and 1 inevitable outcome

    $
    0
    0
    https://twitter.com/DavidRayAmos/with_replies





    Replying to @alllibertynews and 49 others
    Methinks folks should relax and enjoy the circus south of the 49th We have had enough trouble with our own Senate over the years N'esy Pas? 



    https://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.com/2020/02/trump-impeachment-trial-3-unanswered.html




     



    https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/impeachment-remaining-questions-1.5449020



    Trump impeachment trial: 3 unanswered questions — and 1 inevitable outcome

    U.S. senators are expected to vote to acquit Donald Trump on 2 articles of impeachment Wednesday



    Kazi Stastna· CBC News· Posted: Feb 03, 2020 4:00 AM ET



     
    The U.S. Senate is expected to vote Wednesday to acquit U.S. President Donald Trump on two articles of impeachment: abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. (Leah Millis/Reuters)

    Ten days, 28,000 documents, 176 questions and nearly 200 pieces of video evidence later, the impeachment trial of Donald Trump is headed to its anticipated conclusion: acquittal.

    As senators prepare to make closing statements ahead of a final vote Wednesday on the two articles of impeachment the U.S. president is facing, we take a look at some lingering questions that remain unanswered despite the mass of evidence and arguments presented.

    Will we ever hear from those witnesses?


    With the Democrats' hopes of having current and former White House advisers appear before the Senate dashed Friday, is there any chance we will hear what they have to say about Trump's suspension of aid to Ukraine last year?


    When it comes to former national security adviser John Bolton, the answer is most certainly yes. He has a book coming out in March that details his time at the White House, and there's nothing stopping him from talking publicly before then.

    Details from the book have already been leaking out and with a trial appearance off the table and attacks on his credibility and character mounting, Bolton may be more motivated to share his side of the story.


    Former U.S. national security adviser John Bolton was ready to testify at the impeachment trial but didn't get the chance and may yet speak out. (Peter Nicholls/Reuters)

    "The facts will come out. They will continue to come out," lead prosecutor Adam Schiff said, when referencing details from Bolton's book in the Senate.

    The White House has signalled it might try to block parts of the manuscript, but Bolton's lawyer has said he doesn't believe anything in the book "could reasonably be considered classified."
    • Closing arguments begin at 11 a.m. ET Monday. Watch live on CBCNews.ca
    The other witnesses the House managers prosecuting the impeachment case wanted to hear from — acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, his adviser, Robert Blair and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) official Michael Duffey— are another matter.
     

    Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney has defied a subpoena from the House of Representatives. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

    Mulvaney, who famously confirmed a quid pro quo existed over the Ukraine funding before walking it back, has thus far refused to comply with the subpoena issued by the House of Representatives last November, and there is no reason to think he would change his mind.


    Blair, who was one of the officials on the line during the infamous July 25 phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and Duffey, were both involved in carrying out the president's orders to hold up the aid and could have key information about the rationale for the hold and the series of events that surrounded it.
    But without the force of impeachment, Democrats could have a long series of court fights on their hands in trying to extract that information.

    Their lawsuit against former White House counsel Don McGahn, who refused to comply with a subpoena last April, is still winding its way through the courts.

    WATCH | U.S. Senate votes down a motion to subpoena additional witnesses and documents:
     

    Republican senators voted against allowing witnesses to testify at U.S. President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial, moving one step closer to acquittal by the Senate. 2:25

    Is there more to learn about the Ukraine affair?


    It beggars belief, but despite months of probing by Congress and the media, we still don't really know when Trump first ordered a hold on military aid to Ukraine.

    New details from Bolton's manuscript published Friday suggest it was at least as early as May 2019, but at trial, Trump's lawyers would not provide a specific date when asked about the timeline by Republican Sen. Mitt Romney.

    They also couldn't say exactly when Trump became interested in Joe and Hunter Biden.
    "I can't point to something in the record that shows President Trump at an earlier time mentioning specifically something related to Joe or Hunter Biden," Patrick Philbin said when asked whether there was evidence that Trump had looked into the Bidens before Joe Biden announced his candidacy for president in April 2019.

    WATCH | White House counsel Patrick Philbin answers a question about Trump's interest in Ukraine:



    Trump did, however, discuss corruption in Ukraine as early as 2017, Philbin said, and his personal attorney, Rudy Guiliani, was looking into the 2016 dismissal of prosecutor Viktor Shokin at the urging of then U.S. vice-president Joe Biden and a debunked theory of Ukraine's part in U.S. election interference since 2018, they said.


    The House managers laid out a convincing chronology to show that the decision to dismiss Shokin was not Biden's personal initiative but part of a broader effort, supported by U.S. allies, to get rid of an ineffective prosecutor.

    And while many of the Republican claims about Hunter Biden's appointment to the board of Ukrainian energy company Burisma have been debunked, it wouldn't hurt to know more about just why, of all the cushy board appointments in the world, Biden accepted one at a company already under investigation for corruption at a time when his father was serving as vice-president and chief negotiator on Ukrainian affairs for the U.S.

    WATCH | During the trial, the defence raised questions about Hunter Biden's role in Burisma:



    Trump impeachment lawyer Pam Bondi spent part of her presentation pointing out how several news outlets also tried to raise questions about Hunter Biden and his involvement in Ukraine gas company Burisma. 2:22

    Why Biden Sr. didn't spot the conflict of interest and shut it down and why Hunter Biden remained on the board until April of last year have also not been adequately explained.

    About Giuliani himself, there is still a lot more to learn, specifically how much his own business interests intersected with the work he was doing on Trump's behalf in Ukraine.

    There are also outstanding questions about the extent to which other officials and advisers helped execute the aid hold and cover it up.
    House manager Zoe Lofgren alluded Friday to the volume of emails, memos, notes, cables and records that remain "at the White House, hidden by the president."

    House Democrats have subpoenaed documents from the White House, State Department, Department of Defence and OMB but have so far been stonewalled and unable to get the bulk of them.

    That will likely continue to fall to civilian groups, which have been using Freedom of Information Act requests to get some of those records, although most have been heavily redacted.


    Former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch announced last week that she is resigning from the foreign service. (Andrew Harnik/The Associated Press)

    There may also be more to learn about the dismissal of former ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch. While her removal was well documented through her own testimony and that of her fellow diplomats at the House impeachment hearings, a recording that emerged in the first week of the trial suggests Trump was discussing it a year prior to her firing in May 2019.

    Yovanovitch announced this week that she is retiring from the foreign service, which means we could eventually hear directly from her.

    How will the acquittal impact the November election?


    One refrain that sounded throughout the trial from both sides was that the upcoming presidential election was under threat.

    For Republicans, it was the impeachment process itself that threatened to "tear up the ballots" of American voters. For Democrats, who asserted throughout the trial that the sole purpose of Trump's suspension of the aid was to extort information on his political opponent that would help him "cheat" in the November 2020, an acquittal would give Trump free rein to "continue to seek to corrupt the upcoming election."

    To what extent Trump will — explicitly or tacitly — endorse foreign interference in the election is hard to say, but the legal arguments presented at trial could give him the justification to do so.

    WATCH | Defence counsel argues that receiving credible information from foreign countries about a political opponent is not illegal:
      


    White House lawyer Patrick Philbin tells senators that not all foreign interference in an American election is illegal. 0:15

    Philbin argued in the question and answer portion of the trial that "mere information" provided by foreign actors would not violate campaign finance laws. Trump attorney Alan Dershowitz told senators that leveraging presidential power to further one's electoral interests was not an abuse of power as long as the president believed his re-election was in the national interest.

    "Dershowitz and Philbin have put together a case for the president as king," said constitutional legal expert Michael Gerhardt, who testified in the House impeachment hearings. "They have clearly argued for making the president above the law."


    WATCH | Alan Dershowitz defends Trump's effort to undermine political opponent:
     

    Trump team lawyer Alan Dershowitz argues the U.S. president Donald Trump cannot be impeached because he was acting in what he believed to be the national interest. 5:36

    As the election campaign revs up, we can expect the Democrats to continue to question the legitimacy of the verdict and Republicans to trumpet their victory over an illegitimate process.

    How that will play with voters will likely come down to party affiliation. Americans remain about evenly divided on whether Trump should be removed from office.
    Moderate Republicans have clearly calculated that it's better to remain loyal to Trump than to court the votes of independents, who, a poll conducted during the trial suggests, wanted to hear from witnesses.

    Of the two Republicans who did break ranks in the witness vote, one is already feeling repercussions: Romney, a vocal Trump critic who has clashed with the president, has been pilloried by Republican colleagues and pundits and disinvited from the annual mass gathering of conservatives known as CPAC.
     
    BREAKING: The "extreme conservative" and Junior Senator from the great state of Utah, @SenatorRomney is formally NOT invited to .

    View image on Twitter

    6:55 PM - Jan 31, 2020

    After 2 weeks, it’s clear that Democrats have no case for impeachment. Sadly, my colleague @SenatorRomney wants to appease the left by calling witnesses who will slander the @realDonaldTrump during their 15 minutes of fame. The circus is over. It’s time to move on!

    1:42 PM - Jan 27, 2020



    It's not likely the Democrats will draw up a new article of impeachment between now and November, and given that the Department of Justice has said a sitting president cannot be indicted, Trump will almost certainly remain immune from prosecution while in office.

    One answered question


    One question we do know the answer to is whether the Senate will vote to acquit. The answer was never really in doubt. To convict Trump, 20 Republicans would have to vote with the Democrats, and with no new witness testimony forthcoming, they have little reason to.

    The sole outlier is Romney, who has said from the start of the impeachment process that he's keeping an open mind. The former presidential candidate may cement his lone-wolf status by voting to convict but risks further angering his already vocal critics in his heavily Republican home state of Utah.

    A few centrist Democrats from Trump-friendly states — Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Doug Jones of Alabama — may also break with their party, which could give the acquittal a thin veneer of bipartisanship.

    Short of removing Trump from office, the Senate could vote to censure him. Some senators were in favour of such a move during the Clinton impeachment in 1999, but it failed and has only been used one other time — against Andrew Jackson in 1834, and his censure was expunged three years later.


    Keep an eye on this guy in Wednesday's impeachment vote. Democratic Sen. Doug Jones is up for re-election in the Trump-friendly state of Alabama in November and may break ranks with his party and vote against convicting the president. (J. Scott Applewhite/The Associated Press)

    About the Author


    Kazi Stastna
    Senior Producer
    Kazi Stastna is a senior producer with CBCNews.ca. She has worked as a features writer and copy editor with CBC's digital news team for 10 years. Prior to that, she was a reporter and editor in Montreal, Germany and the Czech Republic. She's currently writing from Washington, D.C.


    CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices








    3483 Comments
    Commenting is now closed for this story.





    Jeffrey Wayne
    Republicans view blocking witnesses and documents as a win in front of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

    Bizarre really.





     
    Gina Davis
    Reply to @Jeffrey Wayne: Same with the Liberals who wont allow the staff to talk to the RCMP.
    David Amos 
    Reply to @Jeffrey Wayne: Methinks you should relax and enjoy the circus south of the 49th We have had enough trouble with our own Senate over the years N'esy Pas?
    George Lewis
    Reply to @Craig Hall: "Actually, if it were a democratic process, Hillary would be president by 3 million votes. "

    ----------------

    You're saying that Hillary should be president because she received more votes?

    Do you apply that logic to your own country/elections?
    Or do you use double standards when it suits you?

    Because The Conservatives received more votes than The Liberals in the last Federal election. (34.5% of the popular vote vs. 33%)
    David Amos
    Reply to @Gina Davis: BINGO

    Furthermore who are we to judge Yankees? Methinks everybody who reads these comment sections should know that I am very concerned about the ethics of the two lawyers Trudeau The Younger recently appointed to sit in our Senate N'esy Pas?






























    Net-zero-energy home sits empty as builder struggles to find buyers

    $
    0
    0
    https://twitter.com/DavidRayAmos/with_replies





    Replying to @alllibertynews and 49 others
    Methinks The Canadian Home Builders Association and the Canadian Real Estate Association should have a long talk with me sometime soon N'esy Pas?


    https://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.com/2020/02/net-zero-energy-home-sits-empty-as.html


     




    https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/energy-efficient-environment-greenhouse-gas-solar-grid-electrical-net-zero-1.5452840




    Net-zero-energy home sits empty as builder struggles to find buyers

    Builder says mortgage and appraisal system keeps families out of low energy homes

     

    Connell Smith· CBC News· Posted: Feb 06, 2020 7:00 AM AT



    Home builder Brad McLaughlin says mortgage stress tests should be based on individual real-estate market conditions in each region of Canada. (Roger Cosman, CBC)

    The general manager of MCL Construction Ltd, says it should be easy for a northern country like Canada to get into the kind of home that is so efficient it makes more energy than it uses.

    Brad McLaughlin is beginning to wonder if reducing residential greenhouse gases is really a priority in this country.

    His certified net-zero home has maxed out energy efficiency. The house has insulated concrete walls, triple glazed windows, 44 solar panels and a backup rechargeable battery system.


    On a sub-zero February afternoon it's sending excess electricity back onto the provincial grid in exchange for NB Power credits to be used on the coldest days, or at night when the solar system is asleep.

    A house that won't sell 


    But the three-bedroom, two-bath home stubbornly refuses to sell. It has been on and off the real estate market since 2017.

    "It hasn't moved," he said. "We had a lot of people through it."

    Starting out, McLaughlin's asking price was $695,000.

    By May, 2019 he lowered it to $570,000.

    This week he put the two-storey Quispamsis house back on the market at $495,000.


    This certified net-zero model home puts solar power back into the NB Power grid. It's been on and off the market for more than two years. (CBC)

    McLaughlin points to mortgage "stress tests" and indifference from bank-hired appraisers as obstacles pushing buyers away from these higher than average priced homes. 

    He said appraisers hired by lenders to determine the value of homes are at a loss when it comes to this sort of construction.

    "Around here they just don't know how to value it. …They just say, 'Well there's a similar house down the street,'" he said. "Well, sure it might look the same but it's a lot different."

    McLaughlin feels the federal government can also be doing a lot more to kick start construction of these particular homes.

    Revamping the mortgage stress test 


    His first suggestion would be to revamp the mortgage stress test introduced to cool red hot housing markets in Vancouver and Toronto. The test, which was introduced at the beginning of 2018, is designed to ensure buyers are able to afford payments if interest rates jumped by two per cent.


    The net-zero home was put back on the real estate market this week, with the price lowered to $495,000 from $695,000. (Roger Cosman, CBC)

    McLaughlin said the test lacks flexibility and is hurting regions of the country where there is no housing bubble. It's also locking people out of the net-zero market by denying them mortgages for homes with higher purchase prices, without allowing for the fact the buyer won't have any heating and electricity costs.

    And McLaughlin isn't alone.

    The Canadian Home Builders Association and the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) are also calling for changes to the system.

    CREA national president Jason Stephen is a Saint John realtor.  He said the stress test should be adjusted to suit regional markets across the country.

    "If this was a system that was brought in to address escalating housing prices, month over month, or year over year, we just don't have that, which is why we always say there's not one housing market in the whole country," Stephen said.

    "It's problematic that a consumer in Toronto is testing the same as a consumer in Saint John."

    During the 2019 election campaign the federal Liberals promised to introduce a $5,000 grant to buyers of net-zero homes, and to offer interest free loans of up to $40,000 to homeowners and landlords for energy saving retrofits.

    The program has yet to be introduced.

    Other efficiency programs are already available to builders and buyers in New Brunswick.

    NB Power offers as much as $10,000 in incentives for construction of energy efficient homes, and Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation has a 15 to 25 per cent discount on mortgage insurance costs, depending on the level of efficiency of the home.

    About the Author

    Connell Smith is a reporter with CBC in Saint John. He can be reached at 632-7726 Connell.smith@cbc.ca


     






    165 Comments





    David Amos
    Methinks The Canadian Home Builders Association and the Canadian Real Estate Association should have a long talk with me sometime soon N'esy Pas?


    David Amos
    Reply to @David Amos: Trust that many lawyers who work for the NDP, the Greens, the Lberals, the Conservatives, NB Power, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation and many bankers know exactly who I am.



















    David Amos
    Methinks the local government reps Rob Moore MP or his buddy Higgy the Premier should set an example and buy it in order to live in it themselves N'esy Pas?


    BruceJack Speculator
    Reply to @David Amos: Really ? Wouldn't that mean the taxpayers of NB would be paying for it in some way?
    David Amos 
    Reply to @BruceJack Speculator: NOPE
    Marc Martin
    Reply to @David Amos: Who cares
    David Amos 
    Reply to @Marc Martin: You do




















    Marc Martin
    495 000 $ lol..me and my wife both work very decent jobs and we cannot afford that, that house is aimed at the upper level class not middle that's why he cant sell it.


    Ryan Mahood 
    Reply to @Marc Martin: 1/3rd the cost of a house in Markham, Vaughan, or Etobicoke.
    Charles Carmichael
    Reply to @Marc Martin: "Very decent jobs" must be no more than 40k average each then. My wife and I had no issues when our income was 60K combined and our starter home was 300K. On top of that we were paying 1000 per month in daycare. It was tight, but we did it. If our income bumped to 80K combined, we'd be able to live the exact same lifestyle but have a 500K home instead of a 300K one. In fact we'd have extra left over at the end of each month...
    Marc Martin 
    Reply to @Charles Carmichael: 2022 $ Per month payment with a down payment of 5% (25 000 $) that is if you qualify, most people will have to give more then 10% ( 50 000 $ ) please let me know an average income earner that has more then 25 000 $ in the bank... By the way you must have loved all that macaroni and cheese and your 10 year old rusted car...Its about priorities I guess, I live healthy and eat healthy.
    David Amos  
    Reply to @Marc Martin: Cry me a river










    Questionable Florida investment by NB Power in spotlight at rate hearing

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    Replying to @alllibertynews and 49 others
    Methinks it rather obvious to me that Mr Jones and his NB Power pals must not have my email to them today N'esy Pas? 


    https://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.com/2020/02/questionable-florida-investment-by-nb.html



     



    https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/nb-power-eub-rate-hearing-joi-scientific-1.5453633


    Questionable Florida investment by NB Power in spotlight at rate hearing

    Utility and province spent $13M on licensing rights for technology claiming to generate hydrogen from seawater


    Robert Jones· CBC News· Posted: Feb 06, 2020 6:00 AM AT



    NB Power CEO Gaëtan Thomas posed with Joi Scientific executives Robert Koeneman and Traver Kennedy on a beach in Cape Canaveral, Fla. The utility spent $13 million on a licensing agreement with Joi Scientific. (Joi Scientific)

    NB Power began an application for a $29.7-million rate increase in front of the Energy and Utilities Board on Wednesday with a surprise change of heart about asking customers to pay extra for its controversial investment in the Florida hydrogen company Joi Scientific.

    "We thought it was important to notify the panel NB Power has recently decided it will not seek to recover the cost incurred for the licensing agreement with Joi Scientific," said Darren Murphy, NB Power's chief financial officer and senior vice-president, minutes into what is expected to be a six-day hearing.

    "As a result, we are reducing the cost of our application accordingly."


    NB Power had been applying for a two per cent rate increase on all of its customers beginning  April 1 to raise an extra $29.7 million in revenue for next year.

    But Murphy said NB Power decided just before the hearing began it was not appropriate to ask customers to pay about $1.34 million in amortization and interest expenses the utility will incur this year on the investment it made in Joi Scientific.



    NB Power CFO Darren Murphy opened the EUB hearings saying the utility will not seek to recover the money it spent on Joi Scientific through customers. (CBC)

    That will likely force it to lower its rate request to 1.9 per cent.

    NB Power invested a total of $7.3 million of its own money in Joi Scientific and was planning on recovering that from utility customers over a six-year period, according to the rate application it first filed with the EUB four months ago.

    That remained the plan until utility executives appeared in person at the rate hearing Wednesday.
    "We appreciate the late nature of our notice," said Murphy.



    Joi Scientific's dubious claims


    Joi Scientific claimed to have developed a method to efficiently generate hydrogen gas from seawater to generate electricity on demand. It would have been a major scientific breakthrough and, in 2016, senior NB Power officials, including President Gaëtan Thomas, became convinced it could work. 

    The utility helped raise $13 million, partly from NB Power funds and partly from the New Brunswick government, to obtain licensing rights for the technology.
    But at the EUB, Keith Cronkhite, NB Power's senior vice-president of business development and strategic planning, said the utility was never supposed to invest its own money in the scheme and did so only after the federal government declined a funding request.

    Cronkhite said it would not be reasonable to ask NB Power customers to pay it back for something it had not intended to spend money on in the first place.

    "The objective here was not to have a direct investment from NB Power," said Cronkhite.

    "Half of the licensing arrangement was obtained through provincial support. The goal was to obtain the other half of the funding requirement from the federal government to complete that support.

    "The bottom line is these efforts were done at the outset and the intent was never to have this borne by the customers of New Brunswick Power."

    Failed bid to reach market


    Last year, NB Power spent additional money attempting to engineer a way to get Joi Scientific's technology to market, but Cronkhite said those efforts failed.

    "There was a provision whereby we would take efforts to commercialize, to scale up the technology for deployment," he told public intervenor Heather Black.
     

    NB Power VP Keith Cronkhite said it's not reasonable to ask ratepayers to pay back the money the utility spent on Joi Scientific. (Robert Jones/CBC)

    "The advances that were anticipated relative to the electronics and the ability to simplify the testing of the rig did not develop as we would have anticipated."

    In December, New Brunswick Energy Minister Mike Holland announced the province, as NB Power's sole shareholder, did not want the utility to pour any more money into Joi Scientific.

    "At this particular moment I have not been presented with any proof of viability," said Holland about the technology.


    NB Power's rate hearing continues Thursday.



     




    38 Comments 



    David Amos
    Methinks it rather obvious to me that Mr Jones and his NB Power pals must not have my email to them today N'esy Pas? 



















    David Amos
    Methinks my friend Roger Richard made NB Power kinda nervous too N'esy Pas?
    David Amos
    Reply to @David Amos: NEW BRUNSWICK ENERGY and UTILITIES BOARD
    Matter 458
    IN THE MATTER OF an application by New Brunswick Power Corporation for approval of the schedules of rates for the fiscal year commencing April 1st 2020.

    Held at the Delta Hotel, Saint John, N.B. on February 5th 2020.

    DR. RICHARD: Now Mrs. Mitchell if you want to go to document NBP 1.27. Page 4. Go a little bit at the bottom of the page. Ok. Are all your unions due to negotiate their contracts in 2020?

    MR. MURPHY: Yes, I believe as indicated here, we currently have our distribution in customer service in transmission collective agreements currently under negotiation and the generation and nuclear ones, current collective agreements would terminate December of ’19. So they, you know, in due course subsequently will be negotiated during the 2020 year.

    DR. RICHARD: Will it affect our financial plan?

    MR. MURPHY: So recognizing these collective agreements were due, we would make assumptions around the cost of renegotiating the collective agreement, and we would build that into our forecast both in the test year and in the 10-Year Plan. So there would be assumptions in there in recognition of the fact that these were coming1 due and providing some provision for their negotiation.

    DR. RICHARD: That must explain why the union letter is the only letter from the public that is for the increase in electricity prices. Thank you for your time.
    BruceJack Speculator 
    Reply to @David Amos: was that the intervener who was going on about the dangerous radiation from electric meters . . . yeah that surely made a difference? , , , any good evidence of the hazard, compared to wifi in the house or cell phone in the hand ? ?






















    BruceJack Speculator
    Quote from the article: " . .. Cronkhite said it's not reasonable to ask ratepayers to pay back the money the utility spent on Joi Scientific...."
    Sorry, but does that mean executives plan to pay it back from personal sources other than their salaries? Otherwise, who besides the ratepayers gives money to NB Power? If it is the NB Govt that sells bonds to pay it back, that is a loan payed again by "taxpayers" instead of "ratepayers" but still the same source is it not?



    David Amos
    Content disabled 
    Reply to @BruceJack Speculator: Methinks all the usual suspects should quit complaining about NB Power and the government etc and do something. At least my friend Roger Richard ran for public office and intervened in several EUB matters just like I did. Obviously there is a PUBLIC EUB Hearing going on in Saint John right now. Why not attend? At the very least clever crybabies parked in front of computers should go to the EUB website and download the transcripts in order to read what my friend has been saying before the board on behalf of ordinary folks such as I N'esy Pas?


    David Amos 
    Reply to @BruceJack Speculator: At least Cronkhite has a real name and a job. What it is you do? 

















    Province isn't close to hitting its electric vehicle target, and officials blame expense

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    Replying to @alllibertynews and 49 others
    Methinks Mikey Holland and his boss Higgy should learn to answer their emails Now and then the government computers they play with are ethical enough to respond N'esy Pas?


    https://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.com/2020/02/province-isnt-close-to-hitting-its.html


     




    https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/new-brunswick-electric-vehicle-target-missed-1.5453292


    Province isn't close to hitting its electric vehicle target, and officials blame expense

    Province set 2020 goal of having 2,500 electric vehicles on the roads

    Jacques Poitras· CBC News· Posted: Feb 05, 2020 5:53 PM AT


    The New Brunswick government set a target of having 2,500 electric vehicles on roads by 2020. Today, there are only 429 registered. (REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson )

    New Brunswick won't reach its target for the adoption of electric vehicles this year, falling short of even one-fifth of the goal laid out in its climate change action plan.

    Officials from the Department of Natural Resources and Energy Development said the province won't come anywhere near the objective of getting 2,500 electric vehicles on the roads in 2020.

    "Unfortunately we're not going to meet that," said Bill Breckenridge, the assistant deputy minister for energy and mines. "We only have 429 registered now, as of the end of last year."


    Breckenridge was testifying before the legislature's all-party committee on climate change and environmental stewardship.

    He said the cars, which don't use any greenhouse-gas-emitting fuel but operate on rechargeable batteries, are so far proving too expensive for most drivers.


    New Brunswick officials are hopeful Ottawa will extend its rebate program to help offset the cost of purchasing an electric vehicle. (Jonathan Hayward/Canadian Press)

    "We're optimistic that as the technology evolves, the price is going to start to come down," he said. "For the average New Brunswicker, as you know they're quite expensive. The long-term operation is very beneficial. They don't have much servicing."

    He added that a possible extension of federal rebates could help.

    Ottawa is providing $5,000 rebates, but since last May, consumers have already used up almost half of the $300 million total budgeted over three years. Federal Transport Minister Marc Garneau said last month he could extend the program to cover used electric cars.

    Too pricey for government


    The provincial target of 2,500 electric vehicles was set in the climate plan developed by the previous Liberal government in 2016. Progressive Conservative Premier Blaine Higgs adopted the plan and its goals after taking office in 2018.


    During the committee session, the department's deputy minister Tom MacFarlane acknowledged that his department doesn't have a single electric vehicle in its entire fleet.

    "Electrical vehicles are fairly expensive and fairly pricey, and even with rebates, it's a challenge to purchase, even for government, an electric vehicle when you compare it to the cost of our traditional vehicles," he said.
    Later in the day, officials from the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure told the committee there is no target for using more electric vehicles in the government fleet, and many departments use heavier vehicles or trucks with no electric version available.

    The previous Liberal government bought two electric school buses as part of a pilot project. Last year PC Education Minister Dominic Cardy opted to buy 16 propane-powered buses as part of a new pilot project.

    According to federal data, light-duty gasoline cars emitted 810,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases in New Brunswick in 2017, or 5.6 percent of all provincial emissions.

    Light-duty gasoline trucks represented another 1.1 million tonnes and total emissions for road transportation were more than 3 million tonnes.


    Environment Minister Jeff Carr was among the government officials Wednesday blaming the prohibitive cost of electric vehicles for missing the 2020 goal. (CBC)

    Environment Minister Jeff Carr, who chose a gas-battery hybrid from the government fleet as his ministerial car when he was sworn in, said the high cost of fully electric cars is still a barrier for most consumers.

    "I think people want to go there. … I can see myself at some point in time, when I can afford one and one becomes more readily available, jumping at the chance to own one."

    He said one possible use of the revenue from the province's new carbon tax on consumers, which will replace the federal version Apr. 1, would be additional incentives for electric cars.

    Breckenridge told the committee of MLAs that establishing more charging stations for electric vehicles will also make drivers more willing to buy them.

    NB Power argues for more charging stations


    The province now has 134 Level Two stations, 28 "fast" stations and 48 "super-charger" stations for Tesla cars, he said.

    "We think by investing in infrastructure, with the federal incentive, hopefully the technology keeps evolving and the price comes down [and] we'll hopefully be doing better and make our target for 2030." That target is 20,000 vehicles.



    The province now has 134 Level Two stations, 28 “fast” stations and 48 super-charger stations for Tesla cars. Pictured above is a Tesla charging station in Nova Scotia. (Don Campbell/The Herald-Palladium/Canadian Press/AP)

    NB Power has rolled out a network of charging stations that hasn't attracted the expected revenues because of lower-than-expected sales of electric cars.

    The Energy and Utilities Board ordered the utility to stop the program because it was outside its mandate and the private sector was just as capable of providing the stations.

    But earlier this month NB Power filed an expert report with the Energy and Utilities Board that argued even more charging stations would "nudge" more consumers to buy electric cars.
    MacFarlane also acknowledged Tuesday that more than three years after the release of the climate change plan, his department still hasn't developed a strategy to meet New Brunswick's legislated emission targets for 2050.

    Green party leader David Coon said a strategy is needed to guide the department's decisions in setting energy policies that keep the province on track for those targets.

    "It is one of the tasks we're working on, to develop an energy strategy," MacFarlane said.

    "That's work that has certainly only been initiated or started and we're trying to put the elements of that work together, but I think as you can appreciate, it's a fairly extensive effort to do such a thing."

    Liberal environment critic Andrew Harvey said the strategy should be in place by now. "It's long enough. The current government has been there roughly 14 months, and they say they're working on it, but time will tell."








    94 Comments
    Commenting is now closed for this story.






    David Amos
    Methinks Minister Mikey Holland and his boss Higgy really should learn to answer their emails N'esy Pas? 



    David Amos
    Content disabled
    Reply to @David Amos: Methinks certain people are aware that I made a few calls and emailed this as well N'esy Pas?

    "Methinks all the usual suspects should quit complaining about NB Power and the government etc and do something. At least my friend Roger Richard ran for public office and intervened in several EUB matters just like I did. There is a PUBLIC EUB Hearing going on in Saint John right now. Why not attend? At the very least clever crybabies parked in front of computers should go to the EUB website and download the transcript in order to read what my friend said yesterday before the board on behalf of ordinary folks such as I N'esy Pas? "























    David Amos
    Methinks I will have to make a few calls again N'esy Pas?



















    David Amos
    Content disabled
    Methinks all the usual suspects should quit complaining about NB Power and the government etc and do something. At least my friend Roger Richard ran for public office and intervened in several EUB matters just like I did. There is a PUBLIC EUB Hearing going on in Saint John right now. Why not attend? At the very least clever crybabies parked in front of computers should go to the EUB website and download the transcript in order to read what my friend said yesterday before the board on behalf of ordinary folks such as I N'esy Pas?























    Matt Steele
    N.B. has been deemed to be the POOREST province in Canada ; it is doubtful that many N.B.ers have money to spend on electric cars when they are having a hard time paying taxes , and keeping a roof over their head . Welcome to N.B. ; Canada's ONLY OFFICIALLY BILINGUAL province , and FAILED social experiment .


    Marguerite Deschamps
    Reply to @Matt Steele: Big Do Me!
    David Amos
    Reply to @Marguerite Deschamps: Methinks there is not a soul on the planet that would want to N'esy Pas?






















    Marguerite Deschamps
    Bunch of hippos! They do not want to promote electric vehicles.


    David Amos 
    Reply to @Marguerite Deschamps: Cry me a river


























    David Amos
    Surprise Surprise Surprise


    Terry Tibbs
    Reply to @David Amos:
    Surprised? It's just our illustrious government blowing smoke up our backsides.
    David Amos 
    Reply to @Terry Tibbs: Methinks Gomer Pyle should explain to you that expression N'esy Pas?
    Terry Tibbs
    Reply to @David Amos:
    To blow smoke up someone’s backside means to insincerely compliment someone to get something from them or get them to do something; to manipulate someone with flattery; to exaggerate about something in order to make it seem better than it is.
    David Amos 
    Reply to @Terry Tibbs: Gomer never said that
























    Alex Butt
    Of course this is yet another New Brunswick failure. Anyone should be able to see that with the high purchase price of an EV, the ridiculously high and unreliable price for electricity we pay, the cost of a home charger with installation, the cold weather (causing reduced useful driving distance) and the fact NB power loved and wanted to increase charging stations ALL lead to the simple fact that they will never be a smart or economical choice!


    Terry Tibbs
    Reply to @Alex Butt:
    What's behind door #2 Alex?
    I believe, in time, electric cars will work for us, but that time is not yet.
    David Amos
    Reply to @Terry Tibbs: I would love to have one right now but my Old Age Pension does not permit me to own such things
    Terry Tibbs
    Reply to @David Amos:
    There are none available, they are in short supply, and any available are being sent to provinces with provincial rebates (Quebec and BC). You can order one and wait 6 months if you like. Personally, I would like to buy a VW ID Buzz, but not 1st year production, I'll wait until the bugs are out of them.
    David Amos
    Reply to @Terry Tibbs: Why should I care that you have more money than I?
    Terry Tibbs 
    Reply to @David Amos:
    It's not a matter of money. I figure, the way things are going, you will not be able to afford not to, so, like it, or not, if you want to drive it will be either mopeds, or electric vehicles.
    David Spenner 
    Reply to @Alex Butt: I’m assuming you don’t really believe what you wrote. Let’s talk about this again in 8 years, 640k of ram is enough for anyone! Betting against technology is a losing proposition and the world doesn’t revolve around NB and its policies. EV’s will dominate.
    Alex Butt 
    Reply to @David Spenner: I absolutely believe what I wrote and do actually love technology and EV's, but they are not practical here, as they are hugely overpriced and not as green as people think. We have one at work, and after a couple of years it sits parked almost all the time as we can not even get one day out of the charge. In addition NB has dirty electricity and is VERY expensive and unreliable and that will NEVER change in this province!
    Terry Tibbs  
    Reply to @Alex Butt:
    Funny you should mention that. At one point the claim was battery degradation of 7-10% a year, but all has been silent lately. I know they claim to be adjusting battery chemistry, so it seems to be, at least, not talked about any more. Maybe a prudent buyer would closely inspect the warranty before buying?
    I *think* a wise fellow would hold onto his cash for a few more years and wait to see how it all shakes out. That is my intention.
    Fred Brewer  
    Reply to @Terry Tibbs: None available? That's funny. My friend ordered his online had it delivered to his door within 4 weeks.
    David Amos
    Reply to @Terry Tibbs: Methinks it High Time the RCMP got my Ood Harley back for me and charged somebody for stealing it N'esy Pas?
    Jonathan Comeau
    Reply to @Alex Butt: Do you believe electricity prices are more volatile that gas prices? Buying an EV has been one of the smartest decision I've made in my life. It has been our only vehicle for almost 2.5 years and is incredible in winter. Fully charged and warm every morning with more than enough range for our daily needs. Economical? Up-front not yet but over the long haul, absolutely.
    David Amos
    Reply to @Fred Brewer: Its kinda disgusting having to read you wealthy dudes brag about your wheels. Methinks I can always employ the mute function if I wish N'esy Pas?























    Terry Tibbs
    Tell me please, supposing I have a pocket full of cash, where in NB can I buy a new fully electric car, and drive it home?


    David Amos
    Reply to @Terry Tibbs: FYI My son lives in California which is where Tesla's are made. A few months ago he bought a new one but they are so popular that there was none in his State to be had so he had to wait a month for them get him one off a dealer's floor in Los Vegas

    Fred Brewer
    Reply to @Terry Tibbs: And if you wanted to buy a vehicle with an uncommon combination of options, how many months would you wait for Ford or GM to build and ship you one? I have been told on some occasions that I would have to wait for a year for a custom ordered ICE vehicle. With an EV you can order online and have one delivered to your specs within a matter of weeks.
    Jonathan Comeau
    Reply to @Terry Tibbs: A Tesla gets delivered to your door. Delivery is included in the price. Concerned about test driving one first? A nearby owner will gladly take you for a spin.
    David Amos
    Reply to @Fred Brewer: Methinks you do go on and on but enough is enough about your knowledge of fancy wheels N'esy Pas?

    NB Power executive blames 'confusion' over misleading 2019 testimony

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    Replying to @alllibertynews and 49 others





     




    https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/nb-power-joi-scientific-eub-hearings-1.5455415



    NB Power executive blames 'confusion' over misleading 2019 testimony

    Utility did not disclose to EUB it was paying $20K a month to rent Florida lab connected to Joi Scientific


    Robert Jones· CBC News· Posted: Feb 07, 2020 5:00 AM AT



    NB Power vice-president Darren Murphy said there might have been some 'confusion' around why the utility did not disclose it was paying $20,000 to the Florida lab connected to Joi Scientific. (CBC)


    NB Power executives were grilled Thursday about why the Energy and Utilities Board was told last May the company was not planning to spend any new money on a controversial hydrogen project between April 2019 and March 2020 even though at the time it was already paying $20,000 per month rent on a Florida lab to the project owners.

    "The question was 'is there anything budgeted' and the response was 'nothing's budgeted,'" said EUB lawyer Ellen Desmond about assurances given by utility executives under oath last spring that NB Power had nothing in its spending plans for the year for Joi Scientific and its hydrogen-from-seawater project.

    Transcripts from last year's rate hearing on May 22 show Desmond asking Darren Murphy, NB Power vice-president and chief financial officer, why she could not find any reference to spending on Joi Scientific in NB Power's extensive budget papers for the 2019-20 fiscal year - the so called "test year" being looked at by the hearing.


    "When we were looking at the capital expenditures we were not able to see where the spending related to Joi Scientific could be located and maybe it is not in your capital spending sheet," Desmond said at the time. "Maybe there is no spending for the test year. We just wanted to clarify that point."

    "Mr. Murphy, is there anything budgeted for the 19-20 year?" she asked.

    "There isn't anything budgeted in the test year," Murphy replied.


    EUB lawyer Ellen Desmond grilled NB Power executives Wednesday and Thursday about why the Energy and Utilities Board was not told last May about the utility's 2019 funding of a lab at Joi Scientific. (Graham Thompson/CBC)

    It was an important exchange because Desmond said if NB Power was not spending any money on Joi Scientific in the fiscal year the EUB was reviewing last spring there was little the board could do to test the prudence of the project.

    "In terms of being assured that the spending is prudent, normally that cost would be explored in the test year in advance," said Desmond.

    But five months later in November 2019, NB Power president Gaëtan Thomas revealed to MLAs and reporters the utility had been spending new money on the Joi Scientific project after all, about $20,000 per month.


    "We have rented a lab over there and to ensure we can recoup some of the investment we have made, we are keeping that lab going until we can make a decision whether we can go forward or not," said Thomas on Nov. 1.



    NB Power CEO Gaëtan Thomas, right, and board chair Ed Barrett appeared before the legislature's Crown corporations committee last November and revealed the utility had been spending new money on Joi Scientific after the EUB was told the opposite five months earlier. (Jacques Poitras/CBC)

    In December, CBC News reported records obtained under an Access to Information request showed the bill to NB Power for the Florida lab was $178,413 US (about $235,000 Cdn) over eight months as of October 2019, most of that spent in the fiscal year Desmond had been asking about back in May.

    This week in lengthy exchanges with Murphy and Keith Cronkhite, NB Power senior vice-president of business development and strategic planning, Desmond has been seeking an explanation about why she was misled on Joi Scientific spending last spring.

    Execs offer explanation


    Under questioning, Cronkhite said the utility had come to an agreement with Joi Scientific to fund a lab in February 2019 and the first invoice for it arrived in April 2019, one month before last year's May rate hearing.

    "Could you provide a copy of that lease?" asked Desmond.

    "There was not an actual lease by NB Power for the lab facilities," said Cronkhite.


    The Energy and Utilities Board held NB Power's 2019 rate hearing in May in St. Andrews. The board was told no new money was budgeted to be spent on Joi Scientific for the year, although it was. (Graham Thompson/CBC)

    "It was simply with Joi being the operator at the facility at their location. There was an agreement to acquire additional lab space, which we provided compensation to them. So NB Power did not provide or did not sign a specific lease for lab space. It was more of not a formal agreement as we would understand today. It was basically a mutual understanding."

    Desmond wanted to know if it was understood by the utility before its May rate hearing that it would be paying Joi Scientific out of money it was asking the EUB to approve at that hearing.

    The answer appeared to be NB Power did know.
    "These dollars would have been coming out of your revenue for 2019-20?" asked Desmond.
    "They would have been expensed during the 2019-20 year," replied Cronkhite.

    "In February, when you entered into that agreement it would have been anticipated that these payments would have had to have been made. Is that correct?" continued Desmond.
    "Certainly portions of them," acknowledged Cronkhite.

    'This is where we are having a bit of a struggle'


    Desmond then pressed both Cronkhite and Murphy to explain why planned expenses for the lab were not revealed last May.

    "This is where we are having a bit of a struggle,"  she said

    Murphy told Desmond at the time he told her nothing was budgeted to be spent on Joi, it was  because he didn't have details of the lab expenses and thought she was asking about other potential expenditures related to Joi Scientific achieving performance targets outlined in the master licensing agreement between the parties.



    NB Power paid Joi Scientific for lab space at the Space Life Sciences Lab in Merritt Island, Fla., through most of 2019 at a cost of more than $200,000. (Karissa Donkin/CBC)

    "Unfortunately there seemed to have been some confusion around that," said Murphy.

    "I was not in a position to talk about the ongoing operating expenses that may be incurred as a result of lab fees. My testimony was restricted to the licensing agreement as I didn't have the details to go beyond that."

    Cronkhite said he did actually mention ongoing expenses at Joi Scientific in his own May testimony the day after Murphy, although Murphy acknowledged that no one, including Cronkhite, ever mentioned the lab arrangement.

    "Upon conferring with Mr. Cronkhite, when he referenced the ongoing expenses that it was not identified at that time specifically what those were intended to be for," Murphy said. "To the best of our recollection, there would not have been reference to ongoing lab, although the expenses themselves would have been referenced, just no specific context to what they would have been for."








    45 Comments






    Bliss Burgoyne
    I agree with Cheryl Wright, Gaetan Thomas has been lying through his teeth all along, now all confused. All executives need to be booted NOW, they wasted millions of tax payer dollars, undoubtedly most of it in their pockets


    David Amos
    Reply to @Bliss Burgoyne: Scroll down



























    Carr backtracks from claim Ottawa is preventing provincial carbon-tax rebate

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    Replying to @alllibertynews and 49 others

    Methinks there are many people like me that never believed one word any of the 3 Carr brothers ever said N'esy Pas? 


    https://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.com/2020/02/carr-backtracks-from-claim-ottawa-is.html




     



    https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/jeff-carr-minister-carbon-tax-rebate-climate-fund-1.5454833



    Carr backtracks from claim Ottawa is preventing provincial carbon-tax rebate

    Federal official says New Brunswick can rebate entirety of carbon tax


    Jacques Poitras· CBC News· Posted: Feb 06, 2020 5:46 PM AT



    Jeff Carr, the minister of environment and local government, says he misspoke earlier this week when he said Ottawa requires the province divert carbon-tax revenue into a climate fund. (Shane Fowler/CBC)

    New Brunswick's environment minister has admitted he was wrong this week when he said Ottawa was forcing him to spend new provincial carbon tax revenue rather than rebate it to consumers.
    Jeff Carr said on Wednesday the net two-cent tax that drivers will pay at the pumps starting April 1 has to go into a climate fund because the federal government requires it.

    That's why he couldn't provide a rebate, like the federal carbon-tax system that the provincial version will replace.


    "That's not what Ottawa allows us to do," Carr told reporters Wednesday.

    "They want to see a portion go into a climate change fund, so that's what we are doing. If that wasn't there, if that piece wasn't there, we may or may not have rebated the whole thing, but that's really just hypothetical at this point."

    But Moira Kelly, a spokesperson for federal Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson, confirmed to CBC News on Thursday morning that New Brunswick "is not required or mandated to put the money into a fund and has the latitude to rebate all of it."

    'I misunderstood'


    In a second scrum with reporters later on Thursday, Carr acknowledged the error.

    "I actually honestly believed that it was a federal government requirement," he said.

    "If I said they said we should have it in a fund, I guess I misunderstood or misspoke, but I guess really in the spirit of the exercise in general to reduce emissions, the money out of a carbon tax … should go to climate initiatives and environmental projects, in my opinion."


    Premier Blaine Higgs said during the 2018 election campaign that his government would ensure that a carbon tax would be revenue-neutral. (CBC)

    In the 2018 election campaign, Premier Blaine Higgs said a Progressive Conservative government would ensure that a carbon tax would be revenue-neutral, meaning all money would be returned to taxpayers.

    "We'll take that revenue and we'll offset other costs in energy, other taxes in energy," he said. "The idea of revenue neutral is people don't see more taxes as a result of it."

    At the time, Higgs was talking about what he'd do if the federal government imposed its carbon tax backstop on New Brunswick, given the province's refusal to comply with Ottawa's requirements.

    "We will indeed make it revenue neutral, which means the taxpayers of this province will not have an increased tax as a result of the federal government imposing it," he said.
    Asked about that commitment on Thursday, Carr suggested reporters speak to Higgs about it.

    After becoming premier, Higgs initially joined other provinces in their constitutional challenge against Ottawa's authority to impose its carbon tax on recalcitrant provinces.

    But after the federal Liberals were re-elected last fall, the premier said he would respect the will of New Brunswick voters, who elected Liberals in six of 10 federal ridings.

    The province proposed a new provincial carbon tax that Ottawa deemed acceptable last fall.

    Carbon tax increase coming soon


    The full tax required under the national climate plan rises to 6.6 cents per litre of gasoline on April 1, the same day New Brunswick's tax replaces the federal backstop which included a rebate program.

    The 6.6-cent amount is the equivalent of $30 per tonne of carbon dioxide.

    To comply with the 6.6-cent price requirement, the province will apply it at the pumps but will reduce the excise tax on gasoline by about four cents at the same time, leaving consumers to pay a net two cents per litre.



    The carbon tax will jump to 6.6 cents per litre of gas on April 1. (Jonathan Hayward/The Canadian Press)

    Carr explained this week that the four-cent reduction of the excise tax is like a rebate, leaving two cents to go into the climate fund.

    But last year Carr angrily denounced any additional taxes being levied on consumers, citing the example of a senior  living on a fixed income in his sprawling, mostly rural riding who must travel to Fredericton twice a week for medical appointments.

    "She is not going to be able to survive for another year," the minister said at the time. "The federal government is telling her, 'we're going to charge you more so you drive less.' So what does she do? Stay home and suffer? That's unfair."

    Now he says that New Brunswickers want the province to keep some of the carbon tax revenue and spend it on environmental initiatives.
    "If we're going to reduce emissions, why not dedicate a portion of that money to a fund to do just that? The public is actually calling for something like that. They want to see that being done here in the province."

    He also said that given some of the fund could be used for energy-efficiency programs for homeowners or to subsidize electric car purchases, "one could argue that that eventually be recycled back to the taxpayer."

    Carr promised that the fund will be fully transparent, with regular reports of how much money it takes in and where it is spent.

    The Opposition Liberals, who set up the climate fund while in government, said they weren't bothered by the PCs backtracking on full carbon-tax rebates.

    "This is a dedicated fund that our government set up … that would provide certain incentives and certain measurable outcomes, so I think it's very important that we have that," said Liberal environment critic Andrew Harvey.









    52 Comments
    Commenting is now closed for this story.



    David Amos
    Methinks there are many people like me that never believed one word any of the 3 Carr brothers ever said N'esy Pas? 









    Shawn McShane
    Isn't the cap on skyrocketing property tax coming off this year as well? NB highest taxed province in Canada, highest rate of kids in poverty, highest wait list for a doctor, lowest median wages in Canada and our government actively working to lower us even further by bringing in 10,000 lower wage people from across the globe.


    Shawn McShane 
    Reply to @Shawn McShane: Increases in electricity, VEHICLE INSURANCE , food, heat, rent. Hospitals closing for weeks at a time. More police needed, homeless, drug addicts, kids in care....

    David Amos
    Reply to @Shawn McShane: Methinks you should start checking my work instead of joking with me about freedom N'esy Pas?

    Johnny Horton 
    Reply to @Shawn McShane:
    Most people I know either cut back or stop buying if the price gets too high and they don’t like it, renting dsily on an online forum about it does little.


















    David Amos
    Surprise Surprise Surprise 






    Dairy giant Saputo to close Saint John plant

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    Replying to @alllibertynews and 49 others

    Methinks the real question is will Northumberland Dairy stay in the Maritimes? Agropur could pull the same trick that Saputo just did N'esy Pas?


    https://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.com/2020/02/httpstwitter.html



     



    https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/saputo-saint-john-close-1.5454345


    Dairy giant Saputo to close Saint John plant

    Company distributes products under the brand names Baxter, Cracker Barrel and Scotsburn


    CBC News· Posted: Feb 06, 2020 1:32 PM AT



    On Thursday, Saputo announced they would close their Saint John plant by Jan. 2021. (Google Maps)

    The large dairy corporation Saputo has announced it will close its Saint John plant after net earnings for the company dropped 42 per cent.

    The company announced the closure of the New Brunswick plant in a press release of its latest quarterly financial results.

    Saputo, which distributes products under a variety of brand names, including Baxter, Cracker Barrel and Scotsburn, said the decision was made in an attempt to "right-size" operations.


    The company said it will close the Saint John plant in Jan. 2021.

    The company will also close a plant in Trenton, Ontario.

    Between the two facilities the company said 280 employees will be affected.

    Saputo said employees not offered relocation will be provided with severance packages.

    The original Baxter's Dairy company, which was purchased by Saputo in 2001, has operated in Saint John since 1931.


    CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices




    158 Comments 
    Commenting is now closed for this story.





    David Peters
    End price controls and allow NB farms to sell their access milk in an open free market.


    David Amos
    Reply to @David Peters: Yea right

    David Peters
    Reply to @David Amos:
    Why not?
























    Wayne Wright
    Irving Oil got rid of their gas stations to a QC company (Couchtard) a few years back. This past year Ultramar gas outlets around here were re-branded to Irving name run by Couchtard!


    David Amos 
    Reply to @Wayne Wright: HMMMM 


    Graeme Duke-Gibbs
    A free open market? That would lead to almost every manufacturer of anything closing down in N.B., it is much cheaper to pay one truck drive then to keep an entire factory operating. Should all be happy it is not a free and open market! This was tested with the beer wars just this past year.


    David Amos
    Reply to @Graeme Duke-Gibbs: True


    David Peters 
    Reply to @Graeme Duke-Gibbs:
    In an open, free dairy market, you could get a couple of milk cows and sell the access milk to neighbors...as it is now, you have to pay the dairy cartel $20,000 to the sell your access milk. How is this good for consumers? 


     
    William Wallace
    I always try to buy local, looks like a switch to Northumberland. At least their plant is in the provinvince

    Wayne Wright
    Reply to @William Wallace: or is Northumberland Dairy still producing since it was taken over by a QC conglomerate 4 or 5 years ago?


    David Amos
    Reply to @Wayne Wright: I believe it is Northumberland Dairy still producing in NB.
    FYI I buy Northumberland milk because it tastes better Methinks that is likely the reason Baxter's sales declined N'esy Pas? 


     
    Elle St Claire:
    Just asking- does this have anything to do with Costco switching to Northumberland?

    Wayne Wright
    Reply to @Elle St Claire: are you kidding! The switch was for monetary reasons decided by a bidding process.

    David Amos
    Reply to @Wayne Wright: YUP
     
























    Ben Haroldson
    Time to end supply management...aka corporate welfare.


    John Raymond
    Reply to @Ben Haroldson: Actually Supply management is good, a country should control it's food source. Do you want all food to come from the US? What if there was a food shortage, do you really think the US would ship us food first?

    As well this issue has nothing to do with supply management.



    Michael Levesque
    Reply to @John Raymond: Supply management allows for price fixing and consumers paying high prices for these goods. i live next to the American border i never buy over priced food in Canada. supply management was set up to protect the quebec dairy industry. the hell with them we live in free country so lets have a free open market.


    David Amos
    Reply to @John Raymond: I agree


    David Amos
    Reply to @michael levesque: Freedom has it price and Mr Raymond makes some very good points



























    Jackie Barrett
    Now Atlantic Canadians are witnessing the consequences of dairy companies selling out to Saputo, whom are known to purchase dairy companies under a promise to keep their plants open, and then go back on their word with plant closures and product brand renaming.

    Also shows that the wealthy 0.0001%, known as billionaires, are never happy with their wealth as they will use whatever means possible to take away livelihoods for the remaining 98.9999%, and get more greedy.

    In fact, Emanuele "Lino" Saputo has a net worth of $5.5 billion with the entire Saputo family with a $10.41 billion net worth, and they are never happy.

    Back to the Atlantic Canadian plant closures, when Saputo took over Scotsburn Dairy in 2014, they promised to keep their existing dairy plants open. Two years later, they reneged on their commitment with their decision to close the Sydney location.

    To make matters worse, Saputo also turned their back on Nova Scotians when they got rid of the Baxter brand and replaced it with Scotsburn.

    In light of Saputo closing their Saint John plant, won't be too long they do the same thing to New Brunswickers.



    Ben Haroldson 
    Reply to @Jackie Barrett: No different than any other business. Don't suppose supply management would have anything to do with it, like failure to allow a company to compete?


    Jackie Barrett 
    Reply to @Ben Haroldson: The point I'm trying to make is that Saputo has a reputation for taking over dairy companies and not honouring their word. Look at what happened with Scotsburn in 2014 after they closed their plant in Sydney and ditched the Baxter name in Nova Scotia, and now they are doing the same with Baxter in closing the Saint John plant.


    Mark Curan
    Reply to @Jackie Barrett: Saputo doesnt owe SJ anything.


    Wayne Wright
    Reply to @Jackie Barrett: there word is never forever; just short term.


    David Amos
    Reply to @Jackie Barrett: Well put




























    Jamie Stephens
    The dairy industry is dying and for good reason.


    Ben Haroldson
    Reply to @Jamie Stephens: What is that?


    Jamie Stephens
    Reply to @Ben Haroldson: Look up 'dairy is scary' and watch the first 5 minute video that comes up to see all you need to know.



    David Amos
    Content disabled
    Reply to @Jamie Stephens: Childbirth and rearing is a scary thing too but I am infinitely grateful that my Mother was not intimidated by it.


    David Amos
    Reply to @Jamie Stephens: Oh My MY You can attack the farmers but I can't defend them Methinks thats not fair N'esy Pas?


    Jamie Stephens 
    Reply to @David Amos: Not fair? Look at it from the perspective of the real victims here, the cows.




























    Terry Tibbs
    Mr Trudeau and company have effectively thrown Canadian dairies, and Canadian dairy farmers, under the free trade bus with the agreement that they are just itching to sign.
    Upon the expectation of cheaper US dairy product flooding the Canadian retail market I would expect the closure of the smaller, less profitable, dairies ALL across Canada, not limited solely to the dairy in Saint John.
    So instead of blaming the folks, who likely paid too much when they bought that dairy, put the blame where it is due. The truth, sometimes, is a hard pill to swallow.



    David Amos 
    Reply to @Terry Tibbs: I concur


    David Amos 
    Reply to @Terry Tibbs: I ask again if you truly care why not use your real name and run for public office?























    Samuel Martin
    Oh no, NB is going to become more broke....if that’s possible


    David Amos 
    Reply to @Samuel Martin: YUP
























    Lou Bell
    Northumberland is every bit as good as Baxters. Guess they get my business . Remember NB'ers , support your companies set up in NB !


    Johnny Jakobs
    Reply to @Lou Bell: ahhhhhh, pretty sure Northumberland got bought out by a company from Quebec


    Wayne Wright
    Reply to @Johnny Jakobs: you are 100% correct, Northumberland Dairy is owned by a conglomerate from Quebec and has been for at least 5 years.


    David Amos 
    Reply to @Lou Bell:I know you have your reasons to support Northumberland but methinks its way past time for your nap N'esy Pas?


























    Winston Jones
    Agropur is a co-operative, partly owned by dairy farmers in N.B. They would have angry farmer-owners to contend with if they tried to leave N.B. One of the benefits of the co-operative business model.


    Terry Tibbs
    Reply to @Winston Jones:
    If Trudeau manages to ram NAFTA 2.0 through parliament they will be nothing but broke farmer-owners.
    Time, after time, it's been proven, folks buy by price and with American milk on the shelf at half the price, or less, guess what?



    Jackie Barrett
    Reply to @Winston Jones: The same with Bedford based Farmer's Dairy Cooperative, and their Mount Pearl based subsidiary, Central Dairies.


    Wayne Wright
    Reply to @Terry Tibbs: don't hold your breath waiting for so called "cheaper American milk" on our store shelves!

    Trudeau won't have to 'ram NAFTA 2.0 through Parliament that is a given.



    David Amos 
    Reply to @Wayne Wright: Methinks NAFTA 2.0 is a done deal as soon as the BLOC and their fellow Quebeckers are properly pacified with our taxpayer funds N'esy Pas?


    Terry Tibbs
    Reply to @David Amos:
    Don't be so hasty. The dairy industry wields a big stick in Quebec, and the CONServatives usually stand behind farmers, leaving the Greens and NDP to support Mr Trudeau and NAFTA 2.0. Why do you think it hasn't been brought to vote yet?
    Hopefully this might be the end of Mr Trudeau.



    David Amos 
    Reply to @Terry Tibbs: Methinks everybody knows that the Dairy Farmers have the most powerful lobby in Canada. The sneaky lawyer Maxime Bernier learned it the hard way. In Fundy Royal when his minions attacked me in R.B. Bennett's old stomping ground and then again in the High School in Quispamsis they and many others learned that i did not suffer fools lightly. However everybody also knows that Trump has a very big stick that he beats us up with on a daily basis. Hence he has already proven several times that the concerns of Canadian farmers mean less than nothing to that Yankee N'esy Pas?






















    Kevin Weddell
    Saputo largely relies on American dairy for it's cheese production and other processed items.


    David Amos 
    Reply to @Kevin Weddell: HMMMM
























    Peter Churcher
    When they leave I will give my business to a NB dairy. They seem to think that jobs in NB don't matter to people. Northumberland anyone?


    Terry Tibbs
    Reply to @Peter Churcher:
    You say that now, but when confronted at the store with American milk at half the price, or less, I bet you may be thinking twice.



    Buddy Best
    Reply to @Terry Tibbs: When I think of JUSA milk all I see is the pus floating on top. I will drink tap water first and we all know that is poison.


    David Amos 
    Reply to @Buddy Best: Not my tap water

























    Miles Gahan
    This the type of thing that happens when a province allows Quebec to gobble up our business. The jobs will be harvested for Quebec. This is the 7 million dollar thank you from a billion dollar corporation after taking corporate welfare from people who struggle to buy milk. Trudeau has to go before he borrows all the money in the world to give to his closests friends,,, makes one wonder what he is getting out of giving so many billionaires hundreds of millions of hard working Canadians money. Use your head at the polls next time!! PLEASE 


    Terry Tibbs
    Reply to @Miles Gahan:
    Not exactly. This is what happens when folks who have never worked for a living negotiate trade deals, and think nothing of allowing American milk in the country, to be sold alongside domestic product at half the price, or less.



    Marc Martin
    Reply to @Miles Gahan: What does this have to do with Trudeau ?


    David Amos 
    Reply to @Marc Martin: NAFTA 2.0


























    David Spenner
    Keep in mind saputo still has a plant in Halifax. How many dairy plants do you need in the Maritimes? How many bread plants? The maritimes only has the population of a reasonably sized city.


    Marzipan Wylier  
    Reply to @David Spenner: I take it you aren't from the maritimes then? Saint John and New Brunswick are not the same thing as Halifax. We have our own identity and we are proud of our own companies.


    David Amos
    Reply to @David Spenner: Which closer to NB Halifax or Quebec?


    Marzipan Wylier 
    Reply to @David Spenner: That's probably the thought process they used in the Saputo board room, probably wouldn't dawn on them why New Brunswick would want our own dairy and bread plants. Probably think keeping one in the maritimes will keep us happy. More fool them if that's what they think.


    Terry Tibbs 
    Reply to @Marzipan Wylier:
    No, likely the *thought* in the boardroom is, if Trudeau rams NAFTA 2.0 through parliament the arse of this business is going to fall out fast, as it will allow American milk on Canadian shelves at half the price, or less. We HAVE to limit our exposure so the smaller operations that don't make a lot of profit have to go.



    Buddy Best
    Reply to @Terry Tibbs: Everyone celebrating the fact that we have a "DEAL" without having a clue what that deal is. If we have learned anything from the first deal we would recollect that we were shafted. The people were left holding the bag. Corporate made off like bandits. I expect this will be, no doubt, much worse under Drunp


    Wayne Wright  
    Reply to @David Amos: that depends where you live in NB! Edmundston & Campbellton closer to QC than Halifax. I not sure if the QC owned Northumberland Dairy is even still operating in Newcastle, NB.


    Wayne Wright
    Reply to @David Spenner: Bimbo Bread (formerly 'Canada Bread' but now Mexican owned) in Moncton produces so many brands of bread product including Wonder bread.


    Marc Martin
    Reply to @David Amos: Who cares


    David Amos 
    Reply to @Marc Martin: You do























    David Amos 
    Methinks the real question is will Northumberland Dairy stay in the Maritimes? Agropur could pull the same trick that Saputo just did N'esy Pas?


    Marzipan Wylier
    Reply to @David Amos: Canada is like an abusive spouse and New Brunswick is like an abused wife. They keep taking all of our businesses and moving things out of here and then turn around and tell us that we can't survive without them. Sick of the Maple leaf!


    David Amos 
    Reply to @Marzipan Wylier: I Wholeheartedly Agree Remember what Maple did with our meat then some folks got way too sick?


    Lou Bell 
    Reply to @David Amos: Guess we just need to show our support and make that decision a non issue 

    .
    Terry Tibbs
    Reply to @David Amos:
    They might not have much of a choice. If NAFTA 2.0 passes we will see American milk on our shelves at half the price of domestic product, or less. The dairy business in Canada will shrink faster than we do on a very cold day.



    Marc Martin
    Reply to @David Amos: Cry me a river


    David Amos 
    Reply to @Lou Bell: Who are you to try to give me advice?
























    David Amos
    This time I truly am surprised


    Shawn McShane 
    Reply to @David Amos: How so? Saputo added Carrageenan and other chemicals as a thickening agent to the dairy products. It doesn't taste the same or cook the same. In NB we are not allowed to bring in organic or competition from PEI or anywhere else. I tried.


    David Amos
    Reply to @Shawn McShane: Why buy a company to close it? Methinks they think like the Irving Clan does N'esy Pas?


    Marzipan Wylier  
    Reply to @David Amos: It's all about moving a New Brunswick company, New Brunswick industry, New Brunswick jobs, and New Brunswick wealth to Canada. That's the way these Canadians see it. They think they own the country and places like New Brunswick, Alberta, and Saskatchewan exist only to feed the empire.


    Shawn McShane
    Reply to @David Amos: Why buy the cow when you get the milk for free.


    David Amos
    Reply to @Shawn McShane: Plus cheap Yankee moo juice is coming our way


    Shawn McShane
    Reply to @David Amos: We will get Yankee but we still won't get freedom.


    David Amos
    Reply to @Shawn McShane: Freedom is a state of mind that cannot be controlled by any state


    David Amos
    Reply to @David Amos: When our Feds met me in a Yankee jail in October of 2004where I was being held under the charges of "other in solitary confinement with no bail they met a Free thinking. man. How many times did I run for public office in Canada since even after the RCMP falsely imprisoned me?

    Methinks I have proven many times I am very serious about my personal freedom because it is nothing to joke about N'esy Pas?




























    Brian Robertson
     Of course they are.
    We've come to expect this every time a business in Saint John is bought up by a larger, central Canadian company.
    They close the local plant, increase production at a more central alternate facility, then truck the product back here, where once we produced it ourselves.
    We've seen it with sugar, bread, beer, blood; and on and on.
    Buy local whenever you can.
    Stop this bean counter mentality that is dissecting a once prosperous city.



    Lewis Taylor
    Reply to @Brian Robertson:
    Right...Once prosperous when they bullied and got their way now they are bloated and filled with entitlement while being supported by the rest of NB. Truth is SJ is a failing me-too city with no initiative trying to recapture past glory by copying and duplicating others ...so try and convince people to pay more for inefficiency and waste and you will retire a wealthy man!



    David Amos
    Reply to @Brian Robertson: Don't forget our meat products


    Marzipan Wylier 
    Reply to @Brian Robertson: This country is hurting Saint John and by extension all of New Brunswick. It's time people stopped worshipping the Maple Leaf which is a symbol of the very country that is oppressing us and grinding us down.


    Matt Steele 
    Reply to @Marzipan Wylier: ....It is not just the Atlantic Provinces that are getting hurt as Justin Trudeau has destroyed the economy in Alberta as well . The Western Provinces are talking about Wexit , and leaving Canada .


    Marzipan Wylier 
    Reply to @Matt Steele: I don't blame them. Ontario and Quebec think they have a right to rule this country. They forget that New Brunswick signed on as an equal in 1867. They only see New Brunswick, Alberta, and Saskatchewan as being useful to send money, jobs, industry to the 'motherland' of Canada, which they believe they own.


    Marzipan Wylier  
    Reply to @Marzipan Wylier: Trudeau even said it on that tape when he said "Canada, it's ours"


    Brian Robertson 
    Reply to @Marzipan Wylier:
    There is no equality between Provinces.
    You are deluding yourself if you think there is.
    Central Canada has all the political weight to do what ever they want. The other 8 Provinces and 3 Territories are powerless to stop them.



    Derrick Mitchel 
    Reply to @Lewis Taylor: What is your preoccupation with beating up on Saint John? Mr Brewer is, in fact, correct with respect to tax dollars paid by Saint John it is you who is wrong! SJ has propped the rest of this province up for decades with the property tax generated. As far as debt goes Moncton isn't too far behind Saint John. By the way, it was the tax payers of NB that paid for that shiny new stadium in Moncton.


    Buddy Best
    Reply to @Marzipan Wylier: We are victims of corporate greed and their political flunkies not the country itself.


    Wayne Wright  
    Reply to @Brian Robertson: one of the main reasons there is limited employment opportunities in PNB!!


    Wayne Wright
    Reply to @Derrick Mitchell: as did NBers for Harbour Station - remember that was shiny new once upon a time! Propped up? Every nook & cranky in this province has propped up Saint John and local politicians keep making thing worse for the once 'engine' of this province. I don't feel sorry for SJ but I do for Northern NB.


























    Matt Steele
    Sad to see the loss of jobs ; the best of luck to the employees and their families who will be affected by this closure .


    Lewis Taylor
    Reply to @Matt Steele:
    waiting for you to blame francophones for the 42% drop in earnings....



    Matt Steele 
    Reply to @Lewis Taylor: .....It was a decision made by Corporate Headquarters in Quebec , so draw your own conclusions as to why earnings dropped by 42% after being taken over by a Quebec company 


    Buddy Best
    Reply to @Lewis Taylor: You cannot remove the connection as remote as you would like it to be. It is all part and parcel of the same problem. Fewer consumers buy less dairy (and other consumer goods). Why are we loosing our born and raised like someone yelled fire in a theatre? Funny you seem to be they only one looking to point fingers. United we stand. It appears the governments want us anything but united.


    Marc Martin
    Reply to @Matt Steele: the Saputo are not French.


    Wayne Wright
    Reply to @Marc Martin: but they are another Quebec-based company regardless of their mother tongue.


    David Amos
    Reply to @Buddy Best: Methinks its a wicked game wealthy people play with our children's future N'esy Pas?























    Steve Ryan
    Saputo has been doing this across Canada. They are far from being the best corporate citizens.


    Cleve Gallant
    Reply to @Steve Ryan: What do you expect from a Quebec company?


    Lewis Taylor
    Reply to @Cleve Gallant:
    What do you expect when they are constantly vilified here???? Why would they care one bit about people in another province who hate them because the speak a different language???? If you want good neighbours then be neighbourly



    David Amos 
    Reply to @Steve Ryan: Hmmm


    Buddy Best
    Reply to @Lewis Taylor: "...... be neighbourly"? With Quebec? You are a funny guy Lewis?
    "...... être voisin"? Avec le Québec? Tu es un drôle de gars Lewis?


























    Michael Levesque
    at $7 for 4 liters of milk in NB i have not bought milk here over 10 years. there should be a police investigation into that kind of price fixing. hopefully someone will buy it and sell cheaper milk


    Steve Ryan 
    Reply to @michael levesque:
    Part of the high cost of milk and other dairy products is due to protective measures by the feds.



    David Spenner
    Reply to @michael levesque: The province of NB has minimum price laws for milk. Farmer’s want a lower store price because they would sell more milk. I think it’s to protect sobey’s, etc. Seems ridiculous.


    Michael Levesque
    Reply to @Steve Ryan: yes i know that Farms Product Commission is like the mafia.


    David Amos  
    Reply to @michael levesque: Who should care where you buy your milk other than greedy Yankees?





















    Ferdinand Boudreau
    I could see this one coming , the minute they bought out Baxter, in was in the plan.
    Not what happened to NB dairy farmers who are protected by the Mild board?



    David Amos  
    Reply to @Ferdinand Boudreau: Methinks they would like to think so but the farmers should never forget Trudeau the Younger's deals with TPP and NAFTA 2.0 N'esy Pas?






















    James Risdon
    Does this mean there is now an opportunity to open a new dairy - or expand an existing one - in New Brunswick?


    Andrew Clarkson
    Reply to @James Risdon:
    As long as ACOA or ONB will give them millions upon millions of tax payer dollars!



    Lewis Taylor
    Reply to @James Risdon:
    with 42% drop in earnings...you can come up with a viable business plan??



    David Amos   
    Reply to @James Risdon: Dream on





























    Ray Bungay
    I shop a lot at Costco especially meats, dairy and fruit. Last fall was in the store bought Baxter milk and Sussex brand butter. Exactly one week later all products Baxter or Sussex in dairy were replaced with Northtumberlsnd brands as well as a brand of butter from Ontario. So even then Costco either knew this was happening or speculated a change was coming.


    Johnny Jakobs 
    Reply to @Ray Bungay: maybe that's why they dropped 42%.


    Ray Bungay 
    Reply to @Johnny Jakobs: Don’t think that is the whole reason. The retail cost of Baxter milk was $6.61 4L bag and after the switch, Northumberland was the same price. Sobeys stores have stead fast refused to match Costco prices on dairy but Walmart and SuperStore always has. Today the price is $6.84 after the marketing board upped its prices.so why pay well over $7.00 for the same product at Sobeys. I shop got the best price and if that means Costco so be it.


    Michel Jones
    Reply to @Ray Bungay: I pay $7.49 for 4 liters of milk in the Campbellton/Dalhousie area... Been like that for a while.


    David Amos  
    Reply to @Johnny Jakobs: Good point


    David Spenner
    Reply to @Ray Bungay: Costco negotiates a new dairy ( as well as others) every 6 months or so. Lowest price wins. Saputo could be back in a few months again.




























    Dwight Mullover
    No surprise really. A big Quebec company buys a New Brunswick company and then shuts it down. Its sad really. I remember in the 60s and 70s there were 4 dairies in Fredericton alone; General Dairy, Thistle Dairy, Evans Dairy, and Coop Dairy. The bread company in Woodstock was bought out by Canada Bread and its closed as well. If you wonder why we are paying so much for food its is because there's little to no competition in most industries now and our governments have allow this happen. No wonder there are so few jobs left in New Brunswick. Solution for you is do not buy Baxter milk or Saputo Cheese.


    SarahRose Werner 
    Reply to @Dwight Mullover: What brands of milk and cheese are produced in New Brunswick by companies that are still New Brunswick-owned?


    Mike Morton 
    Reply to @SarahRose Werner: Northumberland


    Geoff Anderson 
    Reply to @Mike Morton: Not any more. Northumberland sold to Quebec-based Agropur in 2014.
    Reply to @Dwight Mullover:
    "our governments" have and will again give these guys millions upon millions upon millions of tax payers dollars!



    Ray Bungay
    Reply to @Mike Morton: No it was bought out 2 years ago by another large Quebec dairy.


    John Grail
    Reply to @Dwight Mullover: I don't buy any dairy products, so already done!


    Ray Bungay  
    Reply to @Mike Morton: Northumberland Dairy plans to sell to Quebec company
    Co-operative reaches tentative agreement with Agropur after more than 70 years in New Brunswick

    CBC News · Posted: Jul 14, 2014 3:24 PM AT | Last Updated: July 14, 2014

    https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/northumberland-dairy-plans-to-sell-to-quebec-company-1.2706551



    Jeff Leblanc  
    Reply to @SarahRose Werner: Northumberland if I'm not mistaken. Coop of local farmers isn't it?


    Jeff Leblanc
    Reply to @Geoff Anderson: didn't know that...sad to hear


    Roy Nicholl
    Reply to @SarahRose Werner:
    There was a goat's milk dairy in the north of the province ... cannot recall the name at the moment and do not know of they are still in business.



    Jim Cyr 
    Reply to @Dwight Mullover: Dwight, here in northern Maine, we have one small, local dairy left (Houlton Farms Dairy). They have been around for at least 75 years. They do ice cream, dairy, and have ice cream stands in the summer. I ALWAYS buy their products, even though they cost 5-10% more than the crap that is shipped here from Texas or California, or god knows where. Partly for quality, partly to support local business and farmers. BUT..........how many of my neighbors do you suppose follow my lead?? Not that many!! I see them parading out of the store with their cheap, Big Dairy crap all day long. And then, my neighbors will have the gall to complain about "Big Dairy" and "the Government", and other evil villains, should HFD ever have to close. We have met the enemy, and it is us...........


    Jim Cyr
    Reply to @Jim Cyr: Oh, and they also do the best lemonade you will ever have!! (Spring through fall.....)


    Lewis Taylor 
    Reply to @Dwight Mullover:
    We are so pathetic that we are ripe for these type of takeovers. Don't blame others. Racism is not a sound economic development strategy.



    Buddy Best
    Reply to @Dwight Mullover: Back in 1986 Quebecor bought out Barnes Hopkins print company just to pic up NB Phone books. In the process they crippled the other companies in the process. Once that was done they moved on after getting a sweet heart million dollar deal from the feds.


    Derrick Mitchell
    Reply to @Lewis Taylor: French is not a race!


    David Amos 
    Reply to @Derrick Mitchell: Methinks SANB would like you to think that it is N'esy Pas?
























    John Grail
    Good riddance.


    David Amos  
    Reply to @John Grail: Why?


























    Fred Brewer 
    This is why I don't like large corporation takeovers of local businesses. Sometimes I suspect their primary motivation is to buy the business with the goal of shutting it down to effectively eliminate a competitor. Look what happened to our potash mines. The list is endless.
    Saputo will now supply our area from a plant in ON or QC. We suffer the job losses and in return we will get less shelf life on their products due to transportation time.



    Dwight Mullover 
    Reply to @Fred Brewer: I agree and we lose the jobs.


    Fred Brewer 
    Reply to @Dwight Mullover: The government could put a stop to this but they won't at the provincial level and they won't at the federal level. There is a national interest to keep at least a solid majority of our companies Canadian owned, but our fearless governments always approve of mega-takeovers of our best and largest companies.
    It will not end well. Someday we will wake up and virtually all of our companies will be owned and run by other countries. What then?



    Terry Tibbs 
    Reply to @Fred Brewer:
    I suspect you are about 10 years too late with your concerns.



    Ray Bungay 
    Reply to @Fred Brewer: Today the business world is Global. Either local well known businesses get bought out or the have so much pressure to compete they either go bankrupt and/or out of business because the dsn’t compete. Under the hewvfree trade deal USA milk snd cheese could ge on sale here and you know with income pressures here US dairy will sell because it will be chesper not because it is a better product because it is not


    Lewis Taylor 
    Reply to @Lewis Taylor:
    *wins



    Fred Brewer
    Reply to @Lewis Taylor: I don't think this has anything to do with fringe groups or racism. It is pure corporate greed and our governments are allowing and even condoning it. There should be some measure of protection for local businesses because they create long-term steady jobs but once a corporation swallows them up the business that had survived for a hundred years is suddenly closed and product gets shipped in from thousands of miles away. The government needs to put a stop to it. It is hurting our economy and it is harmful to the environment


    David Amos
    Reply to @Ray Bungay: Methinks we are just pawns in a big big game We are exactly what the greedy CEO and their beancounters call us call us "consumers" When they make dealsand eliminate the competition they control the price of things and it never goes down The Irving Clan plays the monopoly game quite well N'esy Pas?


    Buddy Best 
    Reply to @Fred Brewer: When Quebecor moved in they started stealing key staff from competitors and buying out small print and graphic artists. They applied for and got large loans from the government they didn't need to buy equipment. Another print company applied for and got a loan to keep up they couldn't repay because they lost key staff. Long time companies being swallowed up by internationals and then moving on to produce else where for sale here. Irving like them.


    Buddy Best  
    Reply to @Fred Brewer: 2016 high rollers now control more wealth than 4.6B of us. Won't be long now. 1000 will control us all and we will have absolutely no say in our lives.


    Buddy Best  
    Reply to @Terry Tibbs: I honestly believe you are right Terry. We have no say now. Tweedledee or Tweedledum at all levels of government working for their corporate friends. We could scream until we turned blue and it would do no good. Not that we would because we are pathetic shee ple


    Fred Brewer 
    Reply to @Terry Tibbs:
    " I suspect you are about 10 years too late with your concerns. "
    Actually I have had these concerns for at least the past 20 years or more. But what can we do about it? I think the only option is to try voting a different colour next election. In my view things simply cannot get worse.



    Buddy Best  
    Reply to @Fred Brewer: 911 was an eye-opener in more ways then one. How could a government do that to their own people and worse how did so many governments supported it and the aftermath.


    Wayne Wright  
    Reply to @Fred Brewer: voting a different 'colour' will not stop these business dealings. 30 yrs ago a friend in the meat field predicted this was going to happen in our food chain from producers to suppliers to Grocery chains; little independent ops were going, the future is upon us. So yes there is still room for more of this so called consolidation process!


    Wayne Wright 
    Reply to @Buddy Best: a government can't stop these companies from doing this stuff!


    Fred Brewer 
    Reply to @Wayne Wright: Absolutely right. Protectionism is a fact of life. Need I remind folks that it is illegal to bring beer across an provincial boundary? This was upheld by the Supreme Court of Canada. Why not do the same for milk and bread?












    Climate hearings reveal slow pace of government action

    $
    0
    0
    https://twitter.com/DavidRayAmos/with_replies





    Replying to @alllibertynews and 49 others

    Out of the gate at suppertime I was bored by this report and said nothing. This morning I still am by the same old same old from the usual suspects




     






    https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/climate-hearings-mla-committee-climate-change-targets-1.5456174




    Climate hearings reveal slow pace of government action

    Critics see a 'lack of urgency' in addressing climate change at the government level


    Jacques Poitras· CBC News· Posted: Feb 07, 2020 4:36 PM AT





    Tom MacFarlane, the deputy minister at the Department of Natural Resources and Energy Development, testifies before the legislative committee on climate change at the legislature this week. (Jacques Poitras/CBC)


    The first-ever hearings of the new legislative committee on climate change began on a hopeful note on Tuesday.

    Officials from the Environment Department told MLAs from all four political parties that emissions-reduction targets were attainable — if government departments did their part on 118 commitments laid out in the 2016 climate change action plan.

    "Implementing those things will put us on a trajectory to meeting those targets," said Jeff Hoyt, director of the department's climate change secretariat.

    Hoyt laid out a bleak picture of how a changing climate will affect New Brunswick: more extreme weather, including more severe rain and major floods, and hotter days in summer bringing new pests and invasive species like blue-green algae.

    But at least the policy apparatus of the province was moving toward those targets, which were written into law by the previous Liberal government and later adopted by the Progressive Conservative government.

    While they're "aspirational" and not binding, "the fact that the targets are in the climate change action plan, and the climate change act, shows the importance of the targets to the province," said departmental deputy minister Kelli Simmonds.


    Kelli Simmonds is the deputy minister of the Department of Environment and Local Government. (Jacques Poitras/CBC)


    "That reflects really well on everybody, because both things have been approved by different parties of the legislature."

    When it came time for details, however — when officials from individual departments appeared — a different picture emerged, of a civil service moving at a slow pace on implementing many of the 118 actions.

    The December 2016 climate plan called for departments and Crown corporations "to assume responsibility" for emissions reductions and climate change adaptation "for specific economic sectors related to the department or corporation."

    That was more than three years ago, and the Higgs government adopted the plan and its goals and commitments 14 months ago.
    But Tom MacFarlane, the deputy minister at the Department of Natural Resources and Energy Development, acknowledged that his staff have still not put together an energy strategy to guide policy decisions on lower emissions from electricity generation.

    "That's work that has certainly only been initiated or started and we're trying to put the elements of that work together, but I think as you can appreciate, it's a fairly extensive effort to do such a thing," he said.

    "Not only is it a conversation with government, but stakeholders, First Nations and a number of parties who would have input into that."
    They can't do anything if there's no political direction, and that is the failure of this government, and the previous government, and the previous government.
    - Louise Comeau, Conservation Council of New Brunswick
    He said the department hoped to lay out "how we're going to tackle that" early in the new fiscal year that starts April 1.

    And he pointed out that NB Power has reduced emissions significantly since 2005.

    "We continue to work at it in the absence of a truly defined or endorsed strategy," he said.

    Green leader sees lack of urgency

    Later that afternoon, Green Party Leader David Coon asked the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure about its plans to lower emissions from cars and trucks.

    Those emissions have increased both in net numbers and as a share of the overall provincial output.
    Coon pointed out that the 2016 plan says departments should "consider climate change in all decision-making" and that it be included as a consideration in mandate letters from the premier laying out priorities for ministers and Crown corporations.
     

    Green Party Leader David Coon described what he saw as lack of urgency after hearing from government officials detailing progress on climate change commitments. (Jennifer Sweet/CBC)


    But the new deputy minister, John Logan, hadn't seen such a letter.

    "We did receive a letter," he said. "The last deputy did. I personally didn't receive it so I'm going to have to go back and look at that."

    "So you got a mandate letter but you just don't know what's in it?" Coon asked.

    "The former deputy had a mandate letter," said Shannon Sanford, the department's policy director. "There's been some transition and I'm not aware of a new letter being sent to the current deputy."

    Sanford managed to cite some policies that he argued are lowering emissions, such as an upcoming strategy for river ferries that will reduce "the detour distances that people have to travel."

    A consultant had submitted proposals for a broader plan to be discussed at a workshop this spring, he said.

    But Coon wasn't impressed.

    "I do not get a sense of urgency whatsoever," he said.

    Some of the departments and agencies that appeared at the committee had more robust presentations: Service New Brunswick, for example, laid out how it was mapping flood risks to plan for future extreme weather.

    The Crown corporation also said its energy-efficiency work with departments had reduced emissions by 30,000 tonnes and saved $8.4 million.

    'There is no political will'


    But overall, said climate researcher Louise Comeau of the Conservation Council of New Brunswick, the three days of hearings painted a picture of climate policy lassitude.

    "There is no political will, regardless of the government," she said. "I don't care what colour they are. They're all doing the same excuse-making, the same failure to say, 'This is real, we have to change our behaviours.'"

    She faulted MLAs for not grappling with the big-picture climate issues facing the province.
     

    Louise Comeau, a climate-policy researcher at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton, says after hearing the testimony there doesn't appear to be the political will to tackle climate change head on. (CBC)


    There wasn't a single question about the proposed Maritime Iron plant for Belledune, which would increase greenhouse gas emissions by 2.3 million tonnes, past the province's targets.

    No one asked if it was realistic, as both Premier Blaine Higgs and Liberal Leader Kevin Vickers have suggested, to use hypothetical emissions reductions in China to offset the Maritime Iron increase.
    "We're not having an adult conversation," Comeau said.
    Hoyt acknowledged during the first day of hearings that the 2016 plan "was a bold plan and it's very challenging from an implementation perspective to do all of those things at once."

    But Comeau said the civil servants in the spotlight this week were not to blame because they take direction from elected governments.

    "They can't do anything if there's no political direction, and that is the failure of this government, and the previous government, and the previous government, to do that."



     



     
     
    58 Comments
    Commenting is now closed for this story. 
     
     
     




    David Amos

    Out of the gate at suppertime I was bored by this report and said nothing. This morning I still am by the same old same old from the usual suspects and their friends and foes. Methinks my bits of advice for what they are worth is that we should dig out from the blizzard the climate change has wrought and wait for another report about NB Power nonsense It should prove to be more fun to read N'esy Pas?






































    Lou Bell
    Time to tighten the emissions belt on all corporate entities .


    Donald Gallant
    Reply to @Lou Bell:
    Perhaps you would like to ask 82 folks of Saputo in Saint John about that.
     
     
    SarahRose Werner 
    Reply to @Lou Bell: Corporate entities will just pass the costs on to consumers.








































    Anne Bérubé
    The weather is just like in the 1940'S 50'S, 60'S, 70'S, 80'S, 90'S, etc, etc. What the heck are you talking about? Sure we pay a carbon tax and exactly how is it working for all of you now? You all have less money to spend!


    Fred Brewer 
    Reply to @Anne Bérubé: We are talking about global weather and how global changes will affect local weather and in particular the rise in CO2 levels is not the same as in 1940, 1950, 1960 etc. That's what we are talking about.
     
     
    Lou Bell
    Reply to @Anne Bérubé: It's not about what you see when you're looking out your front window . IT'S GLOBAL WEATHER !! Average temps GLOBALLY are warming up. Some people just can't absorb real facts .
     
     
    Donald Gallant  
    Reply to @Fred Brewer:
    Good grief.
     
     
    SarahRose Werner 
    Reply to @Anne Bérubé: Is it? I was born in 1957 in the Greater New York City area. The past several winters we've had in Saint John have been milder than the winters I remember growing up well south of here. They're also milder than the winters I remember from when I first arrived in Saint John 21 years ago.
     
     
    Donald Gallant  
    Reply to @SarahRose Werner:
    Last year was the worst winter I have ever experienced.

    Been here all my life.

    Should have left this nimby place long ago.

    If you are serious just toss your car Keyes in a nearby stream or lake or ocean.

    Walk away. Go off from there.












































    Dan Armitage
    Relax maybe at this moment were seeing a population control then we will meet these targets 8.5 billion adds up to a lot of Carbon. If the latest new virus keeps moving along we will meet these goals


    Anne Bérubé 
    Reply to @Dan Armitage: The coronavirus was caused by people eating sick animals!!! Nothing to do with climate. No wonder Justin was re-elected...
















































    McKenzie King
    In reality it matters little if Canada stops all carbon emissions immediately. Unless China, India and the USA curtail what they are doing, nothing will matter.


    Fred Brewer  
    Reply to @McKenzie King: Right. Let's just pass the buck. It's a great excuse for doing nothing while the planet is dying.






















































    Fred Brewer  
    Despite federal and provincial government inaction, I am encouraged by the voluntary actions of many large corporations who have pledged to become carbon neutral, or have succeeded in becoming carbon neutral.

    Microsoft has declared that it will remove all carbon it has emitted since the company was founded in 1975. In order to do so, it will become CARBON NEGATIVE by 2030.

    Look folks, it can be done. It requires corporate goodwill for some, and it will have to be legislated for others. In the meantime we need to be thankful to corporations like Microsoft who are doing this without being forced. 



    SarahRose Werner  
    Reply to @Fred Brewer: I'm wary of pledges and targets until I see them become reality. And if Microsoft keeps their promises the way they beta-test their software, well, 'nuf said!
     
     
    Fred Brewer   
    Reply to @SarahRose Werner: I am more of an optimist and rather than focus on one specific company (which was just an example), why not be encouraged by the fact that almost 800 corporations have registered their targets with a United Nations backed organization (see link below). I don't think too many companies would risk the bad PR from announcing a target and then doing little or nothing to achieve it.
    https://sciencebasedtargets.org/companies-taking-action/
     

    Terry Tibbs
    Reply to @SarahRose Werner:
    I'm wary of climate predictions, pretending to be "hard" science, using the fairy tale language of "maybe" and "could be", with no hard proof whatsoever.
    I do believe, that we have collectively been acting like pigs, consuming resources at alarming rates, and that should, at least slow down, if not stop.
    But it will be hard, as most of us now have been taught to consume, at an early age, by the TV.




















































    Nelson Potter
    FATHER Of The 2°C Climate Target Admits Number Is Fabricated : ‘Two degrees is not a magical limit; it’s clearly a political goal’


    Terry Tibbs 
    Reply to @Nelson Potter:

    Psssst Nelson......... the politicians have weaponized climate change as an excuse to pick our pockets, nothing more, nothing less.
    Folks concerned about climate change do not:
    Buy and build pipelines to facilitate oil consumption.
    Consider tar sands expansion north of Fort Mac.
    Encourage immigration from warm countries to cold countries.
    *Think* that new heavily polluting industries in NB, or anywhere, is a good idea.

    We are all being forced to pay a carbon tax, to combat carbon, where are the results?
     
     
    Fred Brewer
    Reply to @Terry Tibbs: Totally correct. And politicians worldwide have kept this conspiracy from the public by using their Captain Marvel Secret Decoder Rings for all of the their conspiracy communications. What we need is for someone to infiltrate their ranks and expose the corruption. This looks like a job for Maxwell Smart and Agent 99.
     
     
    Terry Tibbs 
    Reply to @Fred Brewer:
    You do realize "climate science" is "predictive science".
    Fine examples of "predictive science" are:
    The daily weather report which is wrong more than it is right.
    The CBC picking the winner of the last American Election (Hillary Clinton).
    Your insurance company guessing on yearly pay-outs and setting their rates.












































    Nelson Potter
    The US government will begin to fund geoengineering research … MIT Technology review


    SarahRose Werner  
    Reply to @Nelson Potter: Oh, yeah, that's brilliant, let's mess with the planet some more in an attempt to fix the messes we've already made.










































    Colin Seeley

    Trying to solve Climate and Weather is analogous to trying to solve “ Rubiks Cube “ .

    Unless someone shows you HOW it is unlikely to happen or be repeated.

    Plans are useless unless they can be carried out and that won’t happen without big dollars.

    All of those quoted above are “ Emitters of Words “ .













































    Michael Durant
    Why are cities always cutting public transportation services if the increasing use of cars and trucks is a problem?


    SarahRose Werner
    Reply to @Michael durant: Because when your municipal budget is in the red *now*, changes to the climate that might become apparent over a decade or two just don't seem all that urgent.














































    Paul Bourgoin

    If it is not moving and there appears to be stalling then legislate it at the government level. Another question is who legislates the laws ? The Crown or Industry? When Joe Public receives his property taxes there is no bargaining only pay-up. So who is in charge of New Brunswick, the elected officials or industry?












































    Roland Godin

    Question: Does CO contribute to collective disillusionment?...et voilà.


















































    Joe Rootliek
    Might as well come out and ban Gasoline then. Put a limit on what the size of a house in Canada will be for heating purposes, to save energy. Carbon tax people with bigger homes? What else are you going to do?

    Hit people in the pocket books for doing what they have done for the last 120 years. Drive a car. Heat your home with wood, oil, or electricity. Cook your food with wood, electricity, or propane.

    How will they get middle class, lower middle class, to afford these changes. The middle class live from check to check, good luck in getting them to upgrade to solar ( which has its downsides too and lose power over time), wind ( wind turbines do not last forever either).

    They are living in dream land.



    Kyle Woodman 
    Reply to @Joe Rootliek: burning wood is a renewable resource unlike fossil fuels.
     

    SarahRose Werner
    Reply to @Joe Rootliek: "for doing what they have done for the last 120 years" - Precisely. We've only lived the way we live now for a 120 years or so, if that. (Cars were still rich man's toys in 1900.) We haven't always lived this way, and we can't count on being able to live this way forever.
     
     
    SarahRose Werner 
    Reply to @Kyle Woodman: But it still emits carbon dioxide. Burning any organic matter or matter derived from organic matter (coal, gas) emits carbon dioxide.
     
     
    Paul Bourgoin
    Reply to @Kyle Woodman: Better hurry up Hard-Wood is disappearing and will have to be replaced with Black spruce!
     
     
     
    Fred Brewer 
    Reply to @SarahRose Werner: Whether the tree is burned for heat or rots in the woods, the amount of CO2 emitted is the same.
     
     
    SarahRose Werner 
    Reply to @Fred Brewer: Wrong. When a tree rots in the woods, a great deal of its carbon remains locked in organic compounds that other plants then incorporate. This is what compost is. Burning - combustion - is the process of combining oxygen with organic carbon to produce heat, water vapour and carbon dioxide. A much smaller portion of organic carbon remains in the ash left behind, but most of the organic carbon becomes carbon dioxide.
     
     
    Fred Brewer 
    Reply to @SarahRose Werner: I take exception to your vague term "a great deal" and disagree that a significant amount of carbon is sequestered (locked) for any great length of time from rotting trees.
    What is known is that CO2 is released to the atmosphere by rotting trees and they also release methane which is 84 times more potent than CO2 in regards to climate harm. We also know that some of the rotting tree is consumed by termites and bugs who die quickly and decompose thereby releasing the CO2. The plants you speak of typically die each year thus releasing the carbon they sequestered quickly.




















































    SarahRose Werner 
    "There is no political will, regardless of the government... the same failure to say, 'This is real, we have to change our behaviours.'" - That's because elected officials want to get re-elected and because there's no will among people in general to make real changes in their behaviour. I don't know anyone who's moved to be within walking distance of their place of work because they don't want to drive a gasoline-powered car and can't afford an electric one. I don't know anyone who's sold their home and bought a smaller, better-insulated one that will use less fuel to heat because they're worried about climate change. People don't want to pay more for gas, oil, electricity, etc. People may say that they want the government to do "something" about climate change, but there's little that the government can do putting pressure on people to make changes they don't want to make.


    Ben Haroldson
    Reply to @SarahRose Werner: greta grief.
     
     
    Fred Brewer  
    Reply to @SarahRose Werner: Hundreds if not thousands of New Brunswickers have taken advantage of rebates and incentives to better insulate their homes and businesses or to install heat pumps. These are measures that are good for the environment and have an actual payback for the homeowner. We need to do more of that. We could encourage the purchase of any fuel efficient vehicles be they ICE, hybrid or electric. That's just a few things the government could do, but there are plenty more good ideas out there.
     
     
    Kyle Woodman 
    Reply to @SarahRose Werner: I have chosen to live as efficiently as possible. Small, well insulated house that's cheaper to heat. Short commute to work. Walking distance to shopping. I value my time so living this way allows me a lot of free time and disposable income. Helping the environment is a bonus.
     
     
    SarahRose Werner  
    Reply to @Kyle Woodman: Me too. I've actually never owned a car. I choose to live in places where I can get around on foot with an occasional bus ride. As for heat, I do what my mom taught me: put on a sweater when I get cold instead of messing with thermostat.
     
     
    SarahRose Werner  
    Reply to @Fred Brewer: All of these things are good things to do. All of them will help slow down climate change to a greater or lesser degree. I'm just saying that to *stop* climate change we need to do things that significant numbers of people aren't likely to be willing to do. Me personally, I don't think "stopping" climate change is a reasonable goal. I think we ought to think in terms of (1) trying to slow it down, and (2) adapting to it.
     
     
    SarahRose Werner 
    Reply to @Ben Haroldson: No, just extreme pragmatism.
     
     
    Fred Brewer  
    Reply to @SarahRose Werner: I agree with most of what you said but at the same time I am pleased that numerous, large corporations have stepped up to the plate and are doing more than their fair share by setting targets or actually becoming carbon-neutral.
     
     
    SarahRose Werner  
    Reply to @Fred Brewer: I'll believe in their targets when they actually meet them.
     
     
    Fred Brewer 
    Reply to @SarahRose Werner: Just as a quick example, Sky Media has been carbon neutral ever since 2006. Microsoft's business operations have been carbon neutral since 2012. The list goes on and on. Many states and countries are making excellent progress towards their goals of carbon neutrality. Your skepticism is warranted for the Canadian federal government and for most of the Canadian provinces however.





























































    SarahRose Werner
    "'aspirational' and not binding" = written in sand or, as the case may be, water. 
























    Kyle Woodman
    Lets have more meetings about meetings. That should speed things up.  
























    John Smith
    slow walk this scv cmkkl 


























    Miles Haukeness
    If NB was serious about reducing climate change, first thing to go would be to ban killing all the ocean life which is the worlds largest carbon sink, sequestering billions of tons of CO2 into limestone every year but only works if the biomass is active. 

























    Marzipan Wylier
    Climate change is just being put in our faces nonstop because it's a tax scan by the UN. Just another way that Ottawa is trying to put New Brunswick industry down.


    Fred Brewer 
    Reply to @Marzipan Wylier: I guess your secret decoder ring is working well.
     
     
    Jake Devries
    Reply to @Marzipan Wylier: yes, a wealth distribution scam
     
     
    Paul Bourgoin
    Reply to @Marzipan Wylier: It is not NB industry that is poor on the contrary it is Joe Public whose children are out west making a decent living! not in New Brunswick the poorest province in CANADA!
     
     
    Marzipan Wylier 
    Reply to @Paul Bourgoin: And unfortunately we have a premier that is intent on increasing our population to increase the low wage job numbers rather than increase the standard of living for New Brunswickers. What's the point in increasing our population when people born and bread here cannot find employment? I was a huge Higgs supporter until he started on this, which wasn't something he ever ran on.

     














































    Fred Brewer
    The Higgs government adopted the climateplan and its goals and commitments 14 months ago but Tom MacFarlane, the deputy minister at the Department of Natural Resources and Energy Development, acknowledged that his staff have still not put together an energy strategy to guide policy decisions on lower emissions from electricity generation. Mr. McFarlane had this to say:

    "That's work that has certainly only been initiated or started and we're trying to put the elements of that work together, but I think as you can appreciate, it's a fairly extensive effort to do such a thing"

    So he has had 14 months and the work has only been initiated. Why do I get the feeling that they had only one meeting and then completely forgot about it?



    Kyle Woodman 
    Reply to @Fred Brewer:
    Maybe the work got derailed by the new minister's constant new "ideas". It is far more important to have a Turkey hunt and sunday hunting than an energy policy.

    New Brunswick MLAs ponder performance-based funding for universities

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    https://twitter.com/DavidRayAmos/with_replies





    Replying to @alllibertynews and 49 others

    Methinks this is a boring circus with Minister Cardy doing most to the yapping and Austin yipping in agreement in the hope of getting another Butter Tart N'esy Pas?


    https://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.com/2020/02/new-brunswick-mlas-ponder-performance.html


     



    https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/cbc-nb-political-panel-podcast-university-funding-1.5455391


    New Brunswick MLAs ponder performance-based funding for universities

    Ontario, Alberta governments are moving to tie funding to the achievement of certain targets



    CBC News· Posted: Feb 07, 2020 6:30 AM AT



    The CBC New Brunswick Political Panel Podcast discusses the idea of performance-based funding for public universities. (Rogelio V. Solis/Associated Press)

    Switching New Brunswick's funding formula for public universities to a performance-based model is a conversation worth having, according to Education Minister Dominic Cardy.

    Speaking on the CBC New Brunswick Political Podcast, Cardy said the public has a right to see an improved return on investment for their tax dollars, while emphasizing academic independence in the province is not under threat.

    "We do have to be able to sit and talk about the needs of the public sector," said Cardy, who took the place of Trevor Holder, minister of post-secondary education, training and labour, on the panel.



    "And in government, obviously, one of the reasons we are contributing this money is to get qualified nurses, qualified teachers, other professionals who we need to be able to support a strong public sector that delivers services for New Brunswickers."


    Education Minister Dominic Cardy says the issue of performance-based funding for New Brunswick's public post-secondary institutions is worth discussing. (CBC)

    The discussion comes as Ontario and Alberta move toward performance-based models under which funding is essentially allocated based on the achievement of certain targets.

    It also follows dissatisfaction with the outcomes from a supplementary funding agreement with the University of Moncton and University of New Brunswick that injected tens of millions since 2005 to expand the two nursing programs.

    But it resulted in no additional places for students.
    Cardy highlighted a recent report by New Brunswick's auditor general that criticized that agreement in particular and recommended re-examining the overall funding formula for publicly funded post-secondary institutions.

    MLAs representing the Liberals and the Greens questioned how the targets will be set and whether a performance-based model would be the right choice, saying it has not been effective in other jurisdictions around the world.


    Liberal MLA Roger Melanson also questioned the Progressive Conservative government's motives.
    "With this government, there always seems to be a hidden agenda where they want to reduce funding and cut some of the services that are quite valuable to our universities," Melanson said.


    The Political Panel from CBC News New Brunswick
    Feb. 6: Should New Brunswick consider performance-based funding for universities?

    In a move to rein in budgetary spending, Ontario and Alberta are shifting to a performance-based funding model for public universities. Would this be a smart move in New Brunswick? Progressive Conservative Education Minister Dominic Cardy, Liberal MLA Roger Melanson, Green Party Leader David Coon and People's Alliance Leader Kris Austin joined the weekly political panel to discuss the idea. 50:57


    Green Leader David Coon said it's a major leap to demand more from the supplementary agreement with nursing programs at two universities to then want to rejig the entire model.

    Changes to the programs in Ontario and Alberta drew plenty of opposition from critics concerned a new model will create inequality in the system.
    The Federation of New Brunswick Faculty Associations has already issued a position paper arguing against a performance-based formula.

    The association said the schools need "consistent and adequate" funding that will allow universities to "fulfill their fundamental teaching and research missions, while preserving academic freedom and institutional autonomy."


    People’s Alliance leader Kris Austin says he's fully in agreement with implementing a performance-based funding model for public universities. (Jordan Gill/CBC)

    People's Alliance Leader Kris Austin says he's ready to make the switch.

    "Frankly, I think that should be government's role as a whole," Austin said.

    "We should be, as taxpayers, saying we want to performance for the dollar we're spending."
    He said the targets should be the only matter up for debate.









    31 Comments
    Commenting is now closed for this story.





    David Amos
    Methinks this is a boring circus with Minister Cardy doing most to the yapping and Austin yipping in agreement in the hope of getting another Butter Tart N'esy Pas?












    Marguerite Deschamps
    Talk about making an about-face, from an alt-leftist to an alt-right wing Dominic!


    David Amos
    Reply to @Marguerite Deschamps: Methinks your former SANB hero has overdosed on Butter Tarts since he turned coat and got a cabinet position N'esy Pas?













    Lou Bell
    Some people think this is somehow about cutting taxes. It's not ! It's a deal agreed to with the two Universities to create more positions for Nursing students for extra money ! All agreed to it , and yet the universities didn't follow through on their part. This was OUR money and actually they should be forced to pay back all they received for doing NOTHING . " How much money is in your wallet " ???












    Want more immigrants? Put more money into support system, Multicultural Council says

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    https://twitter.com/DavidRayAmos/with_replies





    Replying to @alllibertynews and 49 others

    Methinks Higgy knows my opinion of the New Brunswick Multicultural Council and the last thing they need is more taxpayer funds N'esy Pas?


    https://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.com/2020/02/want-more-immigrants-put-more-money.html







    https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/immigration-population-growth-1.5451434





    Replying to @alllibertynews and 49 others

    Content disabled Methinks Higgy should read all the comments then sharpen his pencil and figure out how much taxpayer funds would be saved if the NB Multicultural Council and Opportunity NB went the way of the Dodo Bird N'esy Pas? 



     



    https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/immigration-population-growth-1.5451434






    Replying to @alllibertynews and 49 others
    Methinks Fat Fred City is building lots of apartment spaces to satisfy Mr Leblanc and his foreign friends N'esy Pas? 




    https://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.com/2020/02/want-more-immigrants-put-more-money.html




     



    https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/housing-strategy-immigration-newcomers-1.5454882




    10,000 immigrants won't come to N.B. if housing is beyond reach, council warns

    Province sets ambitious goal for attracting thousands of immigrants by 2027


    Elizabeth Fraser· CBC News· Posted: Feb 09, 2020 7:30 AM AT



    Newcomers need to be able to afford places to live if they're going to make a commitment to New Brunswick, says Alex LeBlanc, executive director of the Multicultural Council of New Brunswick. (Joe McDonald/CBC)

    The New Brunswick Multicultural Council says the provincial government's ambitious new immigration targets hinge on the creation of tens of thousands of new affordable housing units.

    Premier Blaine Higgs announced in his recent state of the province speech that he wants to attract 10,000 immigrants to the province a year by 2027.

    "When newcomers are coming, if they can't find a house it's a pretty full stop for them, in terms of making New Brunswick or Fredericton at least their home," said Alex LeBlanc, executive director of the New Brunswick Multicultural Council.






    'We need a housing strategy' 


    LeBlanc said Labour Minister Trevor Holder recognizes the housing shortage is an issue for newcomers.

    "They recognize that we need a housing strategy," LeBlanc said.

    Last spring, Social Development Minister Dorothy Shephard said 151 new subsidized housing units will be created by 2022.
    According to New Brunswick's Housing Strategy, the province is aiming to build 1,200 subsidized units

    However, if the province wants to bring in 10,000 immigrants a year, LeBlanc said there needs to be a housing strategy for at least 24,000 new units.

    "We need to figure out what that housing target is and then mobilize the developers," he said.






    Province steps in


    Last week, Holder led a meeting with stakeholders to identify some of New Brunswick's housing challenges.

    "Safe and affordable housing is an issue that touches New Brunswickers and newcomers alike," said Leigh Watson, a spokesperson for the department.
    In an emailed statement to CBC News, Watson said the department will continue to encourage conversations. Meanwhile, the Department of Social Development is working with the federal government on low-income housing solutions.


    New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs wants New Brunswick's population to grow to one million people by 2040. (Stephen MacGillivray/Canadian Press)

    "A collective effort is needed from federal and provincial governments, municipalities, post-secondary institutions, the construction industry, labour organizations and stakeholder groups in order to address this challenge," Watson said.

    While LeBlanc admits this will be an investment for the province, he said the units will also contribute to New  Brunswick's economic growth including, job creation, adding to the tax-base, growing New Brunswick's school system.

    "We need housing that's affordable for all people. All New Brunswickers, as well as newcomers," he said.

    About the Author





    Elizabeth Fraser
    Reporter/Editor
    Elizabeth Fraser is a reporter/editor with CBC New Brunswick based in Fredericton. She's originally from Manitoba. Story tip? elizabeth.fraser@cbc.ca







    86 Comments







    David Amos
    I doubt Alex LeBlanc voted for me when I ran in Fat Fred City in 2006 if he lived there at the time. That is his right in a "Just Democracy just as I have the right to read his rhetoric posted on line. Methinks he 'should have had a long talk with his associate Robert Boghen ASAP about the documents he was glad to get from me wher we met in his office in Moncton in early 2007. I trust that Boghen and Premier Higgs know all about my doings with Chucky Leblanc and the lawyer Rob Moore who is the MP for Fundy Royal again N'esy Pas?


    David Amos 

    Content disabled

    Reply to @David Amos: Go Figure

    https://www.canada.ca/en/news/archive/2008/05/government-canada-invests-services-help-newcomers-settle-moncton.html

    Government of Canada invests in services to help newcomers settle in Moncton

    Moncton, May 22, 2008 - Newcomers to the Moncton area will have greater access to orientation and other services thanks to an investment announced today by Rob Moore, Member of Parliament for Fundy-Royal, New Brunswick, on behalf of Diane Finley, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration.

    The Government of Canada will invest more than $1.3 million in the Multicultural Association of the Greater Moncton Area (MAGMA). Funding will help newcomers access orientation and other services, including referrals to community resources and assistance, language training in both French and English, and help establishing contacts in their field of work.

    "We want to ensure newcomers have access to the resources they need in order to succeed," said Mr. Moore. "With this funding, more newcomers and their families will be better prepared to begin their new life in the Greater Moncton Area. When newcomers have more opportunities, not only do they succeed but the entire community benefits. Increased funding will assist our association in the delivery of services, innovative strategies, and education" says Robert A. Boghen, Executive Director of the Multicultural Association of the Greater Moncton Area. "Moncton is recognized as an economic hub in Atlantic Canada. The relationship between newcomers and community agencies will strengthen our social and cultural fabric in all ways," added Mr. Boghen. MAGMA president, George Wybouw said increased funding is a step in the right direction and will "assist MAGMA to work with its community partners and newer associations."



    David Amos 

    Content disabled
    Reply to @David Amos: BINGO
























    Tom Smith
    I'm all for immigration. I lived overseas as an immigrant from Canada ... and it was incredible!
    But a few things really bug me about this story. If we need to worry about subsidizing housing for immigrants, then we're going after the wrong immigrants. I mean seriously, you can buy a great house for under $200,000 here ... the same house would be over $1,000,000 in Ontario. The houses are already 'well subsidized' by the poor economy.
    If you want to attract the right immigrants they need to know there are steady reliable jobs, and that they'll have access to a family doctor when they get here, to support their young family.
    Having been back in NB for over a year and still on the Patient Connect list, I can tell you it's not very welcoming for newcomers.



    David Amos

    Content disabled
    Reply to @Tom Smith: I was born and raised here.Years ago I married a Yankee lady and am the Proud Father of a couple of children with dual citizenship status. However because I had the nerve to run for public office 7 times and sue the Queen Higgy and his cohorts won't allow me to recover my stolen Harley, renew my drivers licence or even have have a Medicare Card for political reasons. With that in mind methinks I have the right to at least advise potential immigrants to avoid this place unless they don't mind putting down roots in an "UNJust Democracy" N'esy Pas?


    David Amos
    Reply to @David Amos: BINGO



















    Terry Tibbs
    The "problem" as I see it is: the "needs" test.
    Once you involve the government in housing, either subsidized, or purpose built, affordable housing, the whole thing is handed over to social services.
    Top of the list is families with children, bottom is single folks.
    As immigrants with families are the majority of those being invited into Canada they qualify to be at the top of the list.
    We NBers may build/subsidize a lot of housing, but we will be building/subsidizing for others.



    David Amos
    Reply to @Terry Tibbs: What have you done about your concerns?




















    Albert Wade
    Lets deal with the municipal and provincial bankruptcy before we start spending more. Anglophone children are strictly raised for export.


    David Amos 
    Reply to @Albert Wade: I agree



















    Frederick Graham
    You want a million residents in NB, grow the economy, not the welfare roll.


    David Amos 
    Reply to @Frederick Graham: I concur





























    Lou Bell
    We have a housing problem as well as a problem with some people who just don't wanna work. There needs to be a system where the first people we help are those who want and can be a part of helping themselves. Those that suffer most are those who can't and especially the children. A system where people who work for low salaries and yet are willing to work could have their salaries topped up. They should also be the first looked at for housing. Those who are able and unwilling , not so much .


    David Amos
    Reply to @Lou Bell: Cry me a river


























    Kyle Woodman
    The entire province of New Brunswick was originally settled by immigrants who were granted land at a very low cost. 100 acre tracts at a time. Now people are complaining that immigrants want free handouts which isn't even remotely true. Pretty ironic.


    Dunstable Kolbe 
    Reply to @Kyle Woodman: When my ancestors came to NB in the 1700s there were no roads, no schools, no hospitals, no anything. Today is very different. And this issue has nothing to do with this supposed ‘strategy’. If the concept is to increase the population base to increase the tax base and stimulate the economy, it should be to encourage people to move to the province who are able to support themselves and not require subsidized housing. There have been articles on this very website recently about local people already living in NB who are homeless and in need to housing assistance. The last thing an already fiscally delinquent province needs is to pile in more debt, to be paid by the children of today, to build more subsidized housing for people who aren’t even here.

    David Amos
    Reply to @Kyle Woodman: So you say


    Ian Scott
    Reply to @Kyle Woodman: Yes like the north shore. Empty, barren crown land from people overseas in a potato famine. No house, a cart path, no horse, no credit. You built it yourself, planted your ground and hoped to survive. And they paid tax. No benefits of any kind. Neighbour helped neighbour. Internal trade common. A railroad came at some point, local mills made grindstones. Boats were built. People fished as there were fish.























    Kevin Darroch
    Sure they can and will if Ottawa gives the free things, yes free things with other taxpayers money. Things others cannot afford. Can and have for years.


    David Amos
    Reply to @Kevin Darroch: Methinks folks should read Federal Court File No. T-1557-15 then ask the Feds some serious questions N'esy Pas?




























    Janet Hudgins
    For the life of me I can't understand how elected representatives, whose mandate is to "serve the needs of their constituents"—who stood by and watched while our housing was ripped out from under us by developers, investors and crooks, never once lifting a hand to regulate, never mind investigate—can still be walking around among us. More than that, it was the feds who stopped the nat'l housing program 25 years ago and have done nothing to pick up the deficit of hundreds of thousands of apartments and townhouses and are, even in this housing crisis, doing precious little to change that.


    Kyle Woodman
    Reply to @Janet Hudgins: finally someone who understands.


    David Amos
    Reply to @Janet Hudgins: Methinks I should ask why people laugh at my concerns about being homeless since 2005 particularly after two homes owned by my Clan were stolen one before I ran in the election of the 38th Parliament and one afterwards Trudeau the Younger should not deny that my children are Canadians as well N'esy Pas?

























    Ian Scott
    Hard to understand just what this dude is saying. He seems to think we build a whole bunch of homes at taxpayer expense, buy the lots , build the roads in and out, provide bus service and then subsidize them, and lo skilled immigrants arrive and have jobs waiting downtown at 30$/hr so the municipality can have a tax base increase , while the government floats a debt. This is his economics 101. Meanwhile Canadian youth sit in apartments spending 30-50% of income trying to keep afloat or save to get a basic home an hour from work. 


    David Amos
    Reply to @Ian Scott: "Hard to understand just what this dude is saying. "

    Methinks he wants more more more N'esy Pas?



























    Mike Connors
    Yes, we need more immigration but people that already live here can't get a decent apartment at a decent price. That is poor planning on the part of our provincial government, who would rather waste MILLIONS on a pipe dream in Florida over at NB Power than help house our own or pay our nursing home workers a "living wage" so they can feed, cloth and house their families.


    David Amos
    Reply to @Mike Connors: I wholeheartedly agree sir





















    Dunstable Kolbe
    The entire premise of this idea is absolutely upside down — “ The New Brunswick Multicultural Council says the provincial government's ambitious new immigration targets hinge on the creation of tens of thousands of new affordable housing units.” Why would any province want to encourage anyone from anywhere to come so the taxpayer can put them in Subsidized Housing? Presumably they will also need education, medical and other government support? What happened to the line we’ve been sold for decades that we need more and more people because they pay all these taxes and fill all these fantastic jobs employers can’t fill?


    Dunstable Kolbe 
    Reply to @Dunstable Kolbe: Bring people to the province who can only afford to live in subsidized housing in a province with some of the cheapest housing in the entire country. How is that a winning strategy, unless the idea is driving up more provincial debt and a permanent underclass?


    Kyle Woodman 
    Reply to @Dunstable Kolbe: Reply to @Dunstable Kolbe: the problem is that the private sector has lagged in creating enough housing to meet demand. Anything considered affordable housing in Moncton, Fredericton and Saint John are low end garbage apartments. I'm afraid the government needs to intervene in the housing market like they did during WW2. The private sector will not build enough affordable units. The government can offer rent to own options or low interest mortgages to get people into stable housing. No one should be paying more than 30% of their income for housing. That's how you kickstart the economy.


    Dunstable Kolbe 
    Reply to @Kyle Woodman: The point is if new arrivals can’t afford a home in a province with the lowest average home prices, why would anyone with any sense encourage that? If the idea is growing the economy here’s an idea — how about encouraging people to come who can afford to support themselves. There are plenty of builders around the province and plenty of kind to build a house. The government bringing in 10,000 people a year to live in taxpayer subsidized housing is ridiculous.


    Kyle Woodman 
    Reply to @Dunstable Kolbe: you are talking average home prices. The cost of housing in Moncton, Fredericton, Saint John is relatively high. Rent is no cheaper in those cities than cities of similar size across canada.


    Kyle Woodman 
    Reply to @Kyle Woodman: : I'm talking about the pressure felt by most working class people in Fredericton, SJ and Moncton. If you're a doctor, engineer, etc, I'm sure housing cost is attractive. If you're working a trades job, finding suitable affordable housing might be more difficult. Even worse for those in the service industry.


    Anne Bérubé 
    Reply to @Kyle Woodman: In order to have a mortgage (any kind of mortgage) as you are described, you need employment. Those newcomers, most in fact, do not have skills, education, even speak English. Good luck.


    Layton Bennett 
    Reply to @Dunstable Kolbe: Congrats, you just answered your own question.


    Layton Bennett 
    Reply to @Anne Bérubé: That's false. We have doctors in this province loading tractor trailers and driving cabs. And they speak english.


    Dunstable Kolbe 
    Reply to @Kyle Woodman: You can drive 15 minutes in any direction in Fredericton and you’re in the woods. If, and that’s a big IF, the province’s idea is to grow the economy by encouraging more people to move to the province, those they should be encouraging should be self sufficient and not immediately require subsidized housing. The kind of backwards thinking this article highlights is a big part of the reason the province is essentially bankrupt.


    Layton Bennett 
    Reply to @Dunstable Kolbe: This province is nearly bankrupt because it is governed almost exclusively for the benefit of a single family.


    Ian Scott 
    Reply to @Dunstable Kolbe: Would tend to agree. Its hard to understand what groups are being targeted for immigration. Carefully targeted skill based immigration may work, but like the rest of Canadian young people there really is no expectation of some wonderful house sitting waiting for a buyer that is going to being subsidized. There are building codes and cost restraints to material labour etc. It is very hard to build any substantial home for 300K at this point unless an absolute minimum code and quality. My son pays almost 50% of his income to rent in Kanata and there is no housing under 450K or rent under 1800/month. If someone comes in, skilled and has a job waiting , then why would a taxpayer like me subsidize it.?

    Dunstable Kolbe
    Reply to @Layton Bennett: This is a prime example of the kind of thinking that holds NB back.


    Layton Bennett
    Reply to @Dunstable Kolbe: You have been so, so badly misinformed.


    Kyle Woodman 
    Reply to @Anne Bérubé: not true. Irving, Ganong, Cooke etc. are all hiring skilled immigrants. There are jobs waiting to be filled. These are lower middle class jobs. There are also a lot of engineers, accountants, IT workers being recruited. If NBers don't want these jobs the companies will find workers elsewhere. JDI recruits forestry workers from all over the world. $22/ hr starting to run a harvester.


    Kyle Woodman 
    Reply to @Dunstable Kolbe: JDI and Cooke's are already building worker housing in Chipman and St. George.


    Dunstable Kolbe
    Reply to @Kyle Woodman: There you go, no government involvement needed.


    Ian Scott  
    Reply to @Kyle Woodman: So what do you mean worker housing? work camps like you see in Alberta at mine or oil sands, the ones who fly "home" every 2 weeks or homes for families.? Big difference.


    Kyle Woodman 
    Reply to @Ian Scott: No JDI partnered with the Village of Chipman to build a subdivision. Kent Homes. https://www.cicnews.com/2019/03/new-brunswick-village-builds-new-subdivision-to-house-influx-of-foreign-workers-0311974.html


    Kyle Woodman 
    Reply to @Dunstable Kolbe: It is a partnership with the village. Direct intervention in the housing market.


    David Amos
    Reply to @Layton Bennett: "You have been so, so badly misinformed."

    Methinks many would agree that you have been as well N'esy Pas?


























    Kyle Woodman
    Wartime Housing Limited. Stop having meetings and build some damn houses. If we nibble around the edges and spin our wheels nothing will happen.
    https://www.nfb.ca/film/wartime_housing/



    Ian Scott
    Reply to @Kyle Woodman: So who is the banker for those who build and hold the costs while waiting for the magic buyer who has a skilled job waiting in town.? What land is to be bought and serviced and at who's cost.? There is empty woods 15 minutes in any direction outside Fredericton but I do not see a housing boom in any community. If downtown then its apartments and there is no space and everyone whines if a building is greater than 15 stories. These are talking heads at the moment. City already has published land use plans and there are no 40 storey apartments or condos 


    Kyle Woodman
    Reply to @Ian Scott: Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation. The federal Government is already spending millions on "housing". The problem is there are no houses being built. https://www.erudit.org/en/journals/uhr/1986-v15-n1-uhr0856/1018892ar/


    David Amos 
    Reply to @Ian Scott: Methinks Fat Fred City is getting more than its share of new apartments and condos no matter the altitude the talking heads determine they should attain N'esy Pas?


    Ian Scott
    Reply to @Kyle Woodman: Its still debt . Wonderful debt to be piled on to current increasing federal debt curtesy of JT in a time of relative plenty. It has to be paid back or it consumes increasinginterest payments for decades.

























    Terry Tibbs
    Ha, ha!
    "the provincial government's ambitious new immigration targets hinge on the creation of tens of thousands of new affordable housing units."
    It certainly "hinges" on something. I'm of a mind, any "hinging" can be seen daily, coming out of the south end of a bull travelling north.
    We certainly won't mention the lack of healthcare, education for their children, or jobs paying a "living wage", now will we?



    David Amos 
    Reply to @Terry Tibbs: Well put for a fictional British car salesman from Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire

























    SarahRose Werner:
    Skilled immigrants "landing" in Canada are required to have funds to support themselves and their families while they look for work. In 1998 the required amount was $10,000 CAD per person, I don't know what it is now. After this money runs out, they're in the same boat as any other working New Brunswicker and face the same issues finding affordable housing. The real issue isn't retaining immigrants, it's a lack of affordable housing for *all* NB residents.


    David Amos  
    Reply to @SarahRose Werner: True


























    Brian Robertson
    If there was one iota of truth to that statement, there wouldn't be immigrants flocking to southern Ontario each and every year.
    Housing prices in New Brunswick are a fraction of the cost of those in and around the GTA.



    Anne Bérubé
    Reply to @Brian Robertson: And the large cities in Ontario are facing extreme problems with the costs of immigrants. Who do you think pay for those costs? Furthermore, even if housing prices in New Brunswick are a fraction of those in the GTA, most immigrants prefer the GTA.


    David Amos 
    Reply to @Anne Bérubé: True























    SarahRose Werner
    How about first we create "new affordable housing units" for the people who are already here and need such units? Let's not have a repeat of the refugee situation, where people here who'd been on the housing wait list for some time saw themselves bumped down in favour of the refugees.


    David Amos 
    Reply to @SarahRose Werner: Scroll down 

    Dunstable Kolbe
    Reply to @SarahRose Werner: You think it was bad in NB, in southern Ontario entire hotels were rented for months sometimes years to support them. What per cent age are working now? Does anyone know? The answer is no because they don’t want you to know most are not meaningfully employed or are only marginally employed. And taxpayers will fund it for decades to come.


    Anne Bérubé
    Reply to @Dunstable Kolbe: Exactly, all that information is really, really kept quiet by the federal liberals. But once in a while, we find out it is in the billions.


    David Amos 
    Reply to @Anne Bérubé: True




















     


    David Amos
    Methinks charity should begin at home N'esy Pas?


    Georges Saint Yves
    Reply to @David Amos: I agree but this won't happen. Canadians are now considered lower class citizens. We are only needed to pay for the lifestyle of the chosen people.


    David Amos
    Reply to @Georges Saint Yves: Methinks its been par for the course everywhere since peoplekind crawled out of the swamp to set up camp in a dog eat dog world N'esy Pas?























    Cuthbert Bracegirdle
    "moblilize the developers" LOL. So what New Brunswick needs is more foreign money laundering through off-shore tax havens and numbered companies. Don't you understand how our country works New Brunswick? What you need is more empty houses used as investment vehicles for people who will never live here, just like Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal.


    David Amos 
    Reply to @Cuthbert Bracegirdle: Methinks Fat Fred City is building lots of apartment spaces to satisfy Mr Leblanc and his foreign friends N'esy Pas?

























    Layton Bennett
    Stop double property taxing rental properties. Failure to do this, will all but guarantee failure to build the affordable housing we need in this province.


    Roy Nicholl
    Reply to @Layton Bennett:
    It's a nice slogan, but inaccurate.

    Property taxes paid on non owner-occupoed residential properties (such as small rental properties) are (1.1233/100) times greater than owner occupied residential properties. This discrepancy arises as a result of owner occupants being rebated the provincial portion of the property tax (1.1233/100).

    There are two equitable resolutions to this situation:
    1) extend the rebate of the provincial portion of the property tax to non owner-occupied residential properties; or
    2) remove the rebate presently extended to owner-occupants



    David Amos 
    Reply to @Roy Nicholl: Methinks whereas the owner can claim their rental property’s property tax, for the period that the property was available for rent, on form T776: Statement of Real Estate Rentals.they have no right to double dip and raise their rental rate as well N'esy Pas?


    Roy Nicholl 
    Reply to @David Amos:
    Any business can deduct operating costs from gross revenue, that is an entirely separate matter and does not amount to "double dipping".



    David Amos 
    Reply to @Roy Nicholl: Think again


    Roy Nicholl
    Reply to @David Amos:

    There is no need to "think again".

    By your implication and owner occupant would be more than "double dipping" since they presently receive a rebate on their property tax and, when they sell their property, are exempt from paying any capital gains.

    Again ... apples and oranges.



    David Amos  
    Reply to @Roy Nicholl: Methinks there is no need to argue the obvious N'esy Pas? 
     

    Roy Nicholl
    Reply to @David Amos:
    There was no argument from me, just addressing an erroneous statement.



    David Amos  

    Content disabled
    Reply to @Roy Nicholl: Methinks its not wise to call another a liar N'esy Pas?


    David Amos   
    Reply to @Roy Nicholl: Need I say I am not surprised by the fact that my reply was blocked? 
     

    Layton Bennett
    Reply to @Roy Nicholl: That's cute. We bought a house in Dieppe that had been a rental unit. Our tax bill dropped 88% from the year previous.


    Layton Bennett
    Reply to @Layton Bennett: On the same property.


    David Amos   
    Reply to @Layton Bennett: Go figure


    David Amos 

    Content disabled
    Reply to @David Amos: BINGO

















    Greg Miller
    No they will not come you're right but it's not because of housing. Show me any province in Canada where the housing is cheaper. They won't come (or won't stay) because of social connections available in other provinces and/or opportunities for employment, etc.


    Layton Bennett
    Reply to @Greg Miller: Our retention rate for immigrants is actually up and climbing.


    David Amos 
    Reply to @Layton Bennett: Because housing is cheap correct? 
     

    Layton Bennett
    Reply to @David Amos: No because immigrant communities are starting to take shape.


    David Amos  
    Reply to @Layton Bennett: Methinks many would agree that many immigrants are using New Brunswick as a ticket to Canada. Once they have a chance to move on to Ontario or Quebec or British Columbia or Alberta they do. Who could blame them? Birds of a feather flock together N'esy Pas?

    Greg Miller 
    Reply to @Layton Bennett: Up and climbing like what it was 1% and now it's 2%--how about some numbers?


















    Roland Stewart
    Government planning....put the wagon in front of the horse. PEI is facing the problem now, to many immigrants and not enough affordable housing.


    David Amos 
    Reply to @Roland Stewart: Methinks this is just more of the same old same old with government funded organization begging for more more more. I bet some old folks may recall the Bob Dylan tune about his pity for the poor immigrant who wished he would have stayed home N'esy Pas?






    Want more immigrants? Put more money into support system, Multicultural Council says

    The province hopes to attract up to 10,000 immigrants per year by 2027



    Elizabeth Fraser· CBC News· Posted: Feb 04, 2020 3:09 PM AT




    Last fall, Statistics Canada released estimates showing the number of New Brunswick residents hit a record 776,827 on July 1, a gain of 5,906 over the previous 12 months. (CBC)

    If New Brunswick wants to boost its population, the province needs to put more money into frontline settlement agencies, the New Brunswick Multicultural Council says.

    During his state of the province speech last week, Premier Blaine Higgs laid out a goal of attracting up to 10,000 newcomers a year by 2027.

    "You set a big goal and we need to build the right plans and make the necessary investments to achieve that goal," said Alex LeBlanc, executive director of the New Brunswick Multicultural Council.



    New Brunswick could likely reach its target of 7,500 immigrants before 2024. But there are a few things the province needs to accomplish first.

    "We're not ... out in left field on this,"

    LeBlanc said the province needs to invest in the frontline work, such as connecting immigrants to schools and finding suitable housing, jobs and neighbours.


    Alex LeBlanc, executive director of the Multicultural Council of New Brunswick, said more needs to be done to support newcomers once they arrive in the province. (Joe McDonald/CBC)

    The province invests about $5 million in settlement agencies and partners across the province now. But with an increase in immigration year over year, LeBlanc said it's not enough.

    "We're putting a lot of effort in recruiting people. And we have a responsibility when they come to give them the right support," he said.

    A population increase


    Last fall, Statistics Canada released estimates showing the number of New Brunswick residents hit a record 776,827 on July 1, a gain of 5,906 over the previous 12 months.



    It's the largest single-year population increase in New Brunswick since 1991 and a revival from the early 2000s when the province stopped growing entirely and began shrinking.
    "Year over year we're seeing a lot more people coming," he said.

    And it's up to immigration advocates to meet with the province to come up with a formula that ensures newcomers have access to the right services when they come.

    "They're not moving from Minto to Fredericton," said LeBlanc.

    "They're moving from halfway around the globe. And often arrive with very little in terms of belongings and connections." 


    New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs is aiming to grow New Brunswick's population to one million people by 2040. (Stephen MacGillivray/Canadian Press)

    There also needs to be more co-operation between the federal government and the province to make sure the immigration process is easier to navigate.

    LeBlanc said he's heard stories of international students filling out an  immigration form the wrong way and being forced to leave the country.

    'A pathway to permanence'

    Higgs has also floated the idea of trying to grow New Brunswick's population to one million people by 2040, an increase that he says would boost the province's gross domestic product by $15 billion and add 100,000 jobs.

    Right now there are about 3,800 international students in New Brunswick. And between 60 and 80 per cent of those students want to stay in the province.
    There are also about 1,500 temporary foreign workers in the province who want permanent residency and to make New Brunswick their home with their families.

    "As we think about, 'How do we reach that immigration target?' we need not look further than some of the newcomers that are already in our communities and are looking at a pathway to permanence."

    About the Author



    Elizabeth Fraser
    Reporter/Editor
    Elizabeth Fraser is a reporter/editor with CBC New Brunswick based in Fredericton. She's originally from Manitoba. Story tip? elizabeth.fraser@cbc.ca
    With files from Jacques Poitras





    78 Comments
    Commenting is now closed for this story.








    David Amos
    Methinks Higgy knows my opinion of the New Brunswick Multicultural Council and he knows I believe the last thing they need is more taxpayer funds N'esy Pas? 















    David Amos
    Methinks the "Powers That Be" in NB should study all these comments N'esy Pas? 















    David Amos
    Methinks Higgy should read all the comments then sharpen his pencil and figure out how much taxpayer funds would be saved if the NB Multicultural Council and Opportunity NB went the way of the Dodo Bird N'esy Pas?
















    Justin Gunther
    Finding suitable neighbors... That's a brave man right there. A brave man who understands that no matter how well intentioned multi-culturalism is, it reduces community trust, exacerbates pre-existing tensions, and increases crime. If you want to debate why exactly those things happen that's fine, but you can't deny that it happens literally every single time.


    Lou Bell 
    Reply to @Justin Gunther: Trump and American reh dn ecks come to mind


    Lou Bell 
    Reply to @Justin Gunther: Problem is , those committing the crimes are usually the self entitled who prefer the status quo.


    Justin Gunther 
    Reply to @Justin Gunther: If it is true that the current population is being pushed into the povery-homelessness class and the former low-wage earners are being replaced by incomers, then it's probably important to not forget the circumstances which are leading to that, which include but are not limited to an education system that appears to be falling apart, and a majority of parents who'd rather let their iPads do the parenting even though evidence is mounting that they are literally creating an Idiocracy scenario with their negligence.  

    David Amos
    Reply to @Lou Bell: Methinks you just stated quite a mouthful much to Higgy's chagrin N'esy Pas?


















    Paul Bourgoin
    Want more immigrants? New Brunswick residents with no Jobs don't believe it so. NB needs more Immigrants NO-NO but good paying jobs sharing with employers Profits!


    Marc Martin
    Reply to @Paul Bourgoin: Actually these *New Brunswick residents * don't want to work at those minimum salary jobs. We also need more immigrants to replace all those vacancies in the next few years.


    Lou Bell
    Reply to @Paul Bourgoin: Lots of jobs , just the NB'ers don't want those jobs . Perhaps you'd like to volunteer 


    David Amos
    Reply to @Paul Bourgoin: Methinks your friends should explain all the recent hiring in Chipman N'esy Pas?























    David Peters
    As long as there is a level playing field for everyone...which means getting rid of corporate welfare and special tax breaks.


    Mack Leigh
    Reply to @David Peters: Along with unrealistic , unretainable language requirements.. Bilingual where numbers warrant only.


    David Peters 
    Reply to @Mack Leigh:
    Anything the tilts the market in favor of this special interest group or that special interest group, including the workforce and business owners. Gov't regulation has developed to favor certain players. There is no justification for this, imo.



    David Amos
    Reply to @David Peters: Of course but it goes on and on and on and on




















    Brian Robertson
    We need economic expansion that provide jobs for our youth, so they can stay; not move to central Canada.
    More mouths to feed accomplishes nothing.



    Lou Bell 
    Reply to @Brian Robertson: It is getting better. Many in the past who went west to work had no more than high school and went to work in the oil fields or manufacturing. These days one needs more than that , be it Community College or University. There are high paying jobs here , you just need an education to get them. Only Freebees these days are the government backed patronage appointments , where the most educated and most qualified are overlooked for language .


    Paul Bourgoin
    Reply to @Lou Bell: One could use that one as an excuse!!


    Marc Martin 
    Reply to @Lou Bell: *Only Freebees these days are the government backed patronage appointments , where the most educated and most qualified are overlooked for language . * And you have seen that in all your years in Human Resources Canada right ?


    Lou Bell  
    Reply to @Marc Martin: Yup ! Only in NB , you know , the only bilingual province.


    David Amos
    Reply to @Brian Robertson: I Wholeheartedly Agree Sir























    David Amos

    Content disabled
    Methinks Higgy should read all the comments then sharpen his pencil and figure out how much taxpayer funds would be saved if the Multicultural Council and ONB went the way of the Dodo Bird N'esy Pas?





















    Buddy Best
    Here is the top 3 things this province needs in no random order. #1 Money #2 Money # 3 Money. We also need a 4th very important thing here. Politicians with enough guts to go after the money sitting off shore in You know whose billions they milked us for.


    Paul Bourgoin 
    Reply to @Buddy Best: It is a fact, that the only ones who are unaware but profiting of what you are saying, are those known as benefactors-investors!


    David Amos
    Reply to @Buddy Best: YUP























    Troy Murray
    Being the poorest province in Canada, It makes sense, put in money to attract immigrants who then move to the big cities.


    Paul Bourgoin 
    Reply to @Troy Murray: Only After POOR New Brunswick residents paid their way!


    David Amos 
    Reply to @Paul Bourgoin: Methinks many a true word is said in jest N'esy Pas?






















    Daryl Mary Douthwaite-Smith
    You only have to look around at immigrant families in the Atlantic Provinces to be aware these folks are starting businesses and creating jobs for LOCALS. The folks who come here are smart, educated and innovative. They wan to give back. And they do.
    The more people living in our province, the more people spending money here, paying taxes, and growing our province and its economy.



    Marc Martin
    Reply to @Daryl Mary Douthwaite-Smith: Exactly well said.


    David Amos 
    Reply to @Marc Martin: Yea Right






















    Cam Randal
    Why not train, house, and employ people born in the province?

    I am certain that everyone reading this story knows someone who attended college or university and was forced to leave the province in search of employment.

    If the province does not have enough decent paying jobs for locals, there is small chance of newcomers staying after obtaining PR status.

    This push for newcomers is really just adding more people in search of scarce resources in the province.



    Terry Tibbs
    Reply to @Cam Randal:
    You don't have to know anybody, look to our own families, 4 in mine, educated and gone. Nothing to stay for.



    Jim Cyr
    Reply to @Cam Randal: I can answer your question about why these funds aren’t directed to struggling locals, or to help young NBers to stay here: Because a judgement has been made by the Elite (almost all leftist, One-worlder types) that those people just do not matter. Not one bit. They do not count. In the value judgement of the Beautiful People (the Elite), the people who DO count are those from Sudan, Phillipines, Turkey, India, Venezuala, etc. etc. It’s as simple as that.


    Paul Bourgoin 
    Reply to @Terry Tibbs: This is a sad reality. We have Two sons born in New Brunswick living and earning out of their native province to survive!


    Marc Martin 
    Reply to @Cam Randal: *Why not train, house, and employ people born in the province?* What does this have to do with immigrants ?


    David Amos 
    Reply to @Marc Martin: Methinks your bosses in GNB should review who got the jobs in the Irving saw mill in Chipman then explain things to you real slow N'esy Pas?


























    Fred Brewer
    Historically we are just a brief layover, as most immigrants will depart for big cities like Montreal, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver. Why should we pay for housing and language education only to have them leave in a year or two?

    Meanwhile our unemployment rates are unacceptable. Let's get those who are currently here and currently underemployed or unemployed, onto the right track.



    Terry Tibbs
    Reply to @Fred Brewer:
    Fred: 90 days is the usual layover. They get here, get welfare, a drivers licence, and a health card............ then it's off to the bright lights.

    There is no shortage of employment here. The only shortage is employers who offer benefits and a "living wage".



    John Smith
    Reply to @Fred Brewer: why not give them some true wealth instead og finding low income rentals have a roster of housing that any immigrant coming in can do a rent to own let them put some skin in the game


    Jeff LeBlanc 
    Reply to @Fred Brewer: and how do you propose we do that?


    Buddy Best 
    Reply to @Jeff LeBlanc: Stop bringing in cheap labour to sequester the already unlivable wage pack. Most of these people coming here have contacts further west and steady income along with language and culture they can identify with. Who could blame them for seeking a better life. We have roots here. they don't.


    Paul Bourgoin 
    Reply to @Fred Brewer: One has to understand that NB is the poorest Province in Canada while being owned by the Richest Family in the world!


    Jeff LeBlanc
    Reply to @Buddy Best: you didn't answer my question. How do we get people employed and onto the right track like Fred suggested? Haven't seen a single person offer anything substantial to this conversation.


    David Amos
    Reply to @Fred Brewer: Cry me a river
























    Richard Riel
    Population has not grown but government administrations and pensions have increased, why do you think he wants more immigration.


    David Amos 
    Reply to @Richard Riel: Methinks you are not alone in wondering about that N'esy Pas?

























    Greg Miller
    Here's an idea how about more jobs, timely delivery of health care, improved educational standard and retention rates, improved housing standards and availability, a robust and growing economy, more........


    Terry Tibbs
    Reply to @Greg Miller:
    Haven't we been promised pretty much all of that in the past week by a guy who has empty pockets?
    That very same guy wants to attract and keep immigrants (and the pockets are still empty).



    John Smith 
    Reply to @Greg Miller: were not permitted to have jobs in nb cost too much carbon


    Terry Tibbs 
    Reply to @john smith:
    Just some jobs (but I would count on only after a consultation with the King of NB)



    Buddy Best
    Reply to @Greg Miller: How about we levy taxes the same for everyone including the Irvings?


    Buddy Best 
    Reply to @john smith: Do you have early departure tickets for that new earthly planet? Or were you invited?


    Paul Bourgoin
    Reply to @Greg Miller: Sounds like a DREAM PROVINCE which NEW BRUNSWICK isn't!


    David Amos
    Reply to @Buddy Best: Methinks you should know that it warms my heart to see someone else mention the Irving Clan N'esy Pas?



























    Terry Tibbs
    Well!!!!!!!!! There it is, in black and white Mr Higgs, if you wish to play the immigrant game (and keep them) you are going to have to cough up the big bucks. With the residents of NB pretty well tapped (taxed) out whose pocket will you be picking?


    Richard Riel
    Reply to @Terry Tibbs: Goverment administration are not tapped they get full pay and pensions from taxpayers for their lifestyle.


    Terry Tibbs
    Reply to @Richard Riel:
    Isn't Mr Higgs simply a wonder? ALL these announcements in the last week and no money to pay for them. Must be working towards an election? Even with a majority (that we would be foolish to give him) the money situation will not improve until corporate welfare stops and the flow of cash to Bermuda stops. I don't see him doing either of those 2 things, so the promises shall remain empty.



    Paul Bourgoin
    Reply to @Terry Tibbs: New Brunswick also has some who have DEEP- DEEP- DEEP pockets but they are welded shut and no pennies falling out but they are the first inline for government subsidies. They also have more Politicians in their pockets then New Brunswick residents have nickels in their POCKETS!


    David Amos
    Reply to @Terry Tibbs: What are you going to do about your indignation towards Higgy and his plans?





    https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/mosaiq-multicultural-festival-kicks-off-1.5218577



    Mosaïq Multicultural Festival kicks off in Moncton for a 15th year

    The Parade of Nations, described as a 'party walking down Main Street', will launch Saturday's events





    What started as a lawn party in front of Moncton's city hall has turned into a successful multicultural festival that's taken place annually for 15 years.

    The first Mosaïq Multicultural Festival was held in 2004. Organizers say the current two-day event allows newcomers to come together and learn about other cultures.

    "It's just a fantastic time to celebrate with our new Canadians," saidRobert Boghen, the community integration manager at the Multicultural Association of Greater Moncton, which organizes the festival.




    "The challenges that they face everyday is something to be noticed but for these few days, we take the time to step back and enjoy each other, enjoy the community, enjoy the hundreds of people who are involved in making this happen."


    The multicultural festival is hosted at Riverfront Park in downtown Moncton. (Mosaïq/Facebook )

    Frederick Hryszyn, the association's events coordinator, said it's also a time to raise awareness.

    "The fact that their culture is represented by an association or by a musician or just having their food present on the site can mean so much to a newcomer who finds themselves in a new place," Hryszyn said.

    "We all need that. We all need to feel like we belong and that's essentially the work that we do here. We're creating a space where everyone can feel like they have a community."

    The festival started Friday and will continue all day Saturday at Riverfront Park in downtown Moncton. The day will include a Parade of Nations, food vendors, exhibits and music that will represent many cultures.


    Information Morning - Moncton
    Moncton's Mosaiq Festival celebrates 15 years


    0:229:18



    What started as a party on the front lawn of Moncton City Hall has grown to a two-day festival that includes a parade, music and food at Riverfront Park. MAGMA's Frederick Hryszyn and Robert Boghen reflect on how the Mosaiq muticultural Festival has evolved. 9:18
    Hryszyn says the Parade of Nations is one of the most touching aspects of the festival.


    "To see all the different communities walk together says so much," he said.
    He described it as a "party walking down Main Street."

    "It's people celebrating who they are, their culture, their favourite sports team, their flags, their traditional dress and it's a way to open the Saturday festivities."
    Boghen said the festival has grown over the years and keeps getting better.

    "What started off with a few hundred people having a good time on Main Street has really grown into something magnificent, beautiful."
    With files from Information Morning Moncton






    Cost of Trans Mountain expansion soars to $12.6B

    $
    0
    0
    https://twitter.com/DavidRayAmos/with_replies





    Replying to @alllibertynews and 49 others

    Methinks it strange that CBC has been leaving the comment sections open for days on certain issues It appears they are fishing for lots of comments N'esy Pas?


    https://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.com/2020/02/cost-of-trans-mountain-expansion-soars.html







    https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/vassy-trans-mountain-pipeline-1.5455387



    Cost of Trans Mountain expansion soars to $12.6B

    Figure includes $1.1B already spent on construction by previous owner of the project, Kinder Morgan

     

    Vassy Kapelos, John Paul Tasker· CBC News· Posted: Feb 07, 2020 10:20 AM ET



    A truck loaded with pipe is unloaded at the Trans Mountain yard in Edson, Alta. (Terry Reith/CBC)

    Trans Mountain CEO Ian Anderson announced Friday that the cost of building the pipeline expansion has soared from an initial estimate of $7.4 billion to $12.6 billion.

    In a conference call with reporters, Anderson said increased material and labour costs are to blame for the cost overruns, along with years-long legal troubles and renewed Indigenous consultation efforts that also added to the final total.

    Despite the sizeable increase from the initial 2017 cost estimate, Anderson said the project will be profitable because much of its capacity has already been sold to major oil producers like Suncor and Cenvous on 20-year contracts. He said the project will generate $1.5 billion a year in cash flow when it's fully operational.


    While the project is owned by the federal government, Anderson said he's running the company as it were a private entity and the cost overruns would be incurred by any proponent building the expansion.

    Anderson said recent legal victories at the Supreme Court of Canada and the Federal Court of Appeal have given the project greater legal certainty.

    "I believe there's a path and that path is getting clearer each day," he said. "I'm confident the project itself remains very, very strongly economically viable.

    "There isn't anyone who could picture the journey we've been on to get this project started and what it will take to get it constructed."

    That $12.6 billion construction cost figure includes $1.1 billion already spent on construction by the previous owner of the project, Kinder Morgan, before Ottawa bought the project amid legal uncertainty.

    Ottawa already spent $4 billion to buy the line


    The construction cost is in addition to the more than $4 billion the federal government spent to purchase the existing pipeline and the expansion plans, and another $600 million Ottawa set aside for contingencies (called a reserve fund for "cost impacts"). Those sums bring the total cost of taxpayers' investment in Trans Mountain to more than $16 billion.


    The August 2018 Federal Court of Appeal ruling that quashed cabinet's approval of the project was source of cost overruns.

    As a result of that ruling, the government had to make a number of accommodations to Indigenous communities along the route and meet additional environmental standards — changes that added roughly $3 billion to the construction price tag.

    "The project that we're all working on building today is not the project we originally envisioned and introduced in 2012," Anderson said.

    Anderson said the project has more support from Indigenous communities than it did when it was first proposed. Fifty-eight Indigenous communities along the project's route have signed impact benefit agreements with the Crown corporation that cover financial incentives, job training, bursaries, pensions for Indigenous elders and funds for community infrastructure upgrades. These agreements will cost the proponent about $500 million.



    The current route of the Trans Mountain pipeline. The expansion would twin it.

    The company also is running fibre optic cable along the pipeline's route to detect spills or other safety issues — which means its also bringing internet connections to communities that don't already have access.

    Beyond Indigenous-related costs, Anderson said a new labour agreement with trade unions cost the project an additional $100 million a year, steel-related costs have spiked by $120 million, robust security along the route will cost an additional $190 million and state-of-the art spill-response technology will set the project back another $70 million. Financing the project will cost another $1 billion.
    The company estimates the expansion will be up and running by December of 2022.

    Finance Minister Bill Morneau said in media statement Friday that the project is still "commercially viable." He said Canada needs the expanded pipeline to get Alberta oil to lucrative markets in Asia where it can fetch prices closer to the going world rate.

    "We believe Canada should get a fair price for its resources. Currently, almost all of our energy exports go to the United States and producers often have to sell at a discounted price," Morneau said.


    Finance Minister Bill Morneau assures Canadians that despite cost overruns the Transmountain Expansion pipeline project is still a going concern. 0:36

    He said the project will employ 5,500 at the peak of construction and will provide tens of millions of dollars in economic support to Indigenous communities.

    During the federal election, the Liberals pledged to invest corporate tax revenue from the pipeline into cleaner sources of energy and projects that pull carbon out of the atmosphere — a promise Morneau reaffirmed Friday.

    "The Trans Mountain expansion project will be an important driver in Canada's transition to a cleaner economy. Every dollar the federal government earns — from the annual corporate tax revenue estimated at $500 million as well as any profit from an eventual sale — will be invested in clean energy projects that will power our homes, businesses and communities for generations to come," Morneau said.

    'Unacceptable'


    Opposition MPs weren't happy with the project's rising cost.

    "It didn't have to be this way. It's ridiculous. Not a single tax dollar should have been spent on the Trans Mountain expansion," said Conservative MP Shannon Stubbs, who called on the government to file monthly reports on the project's costs and progress.

    "Because they, as of their own fault, made Canadians the owners of the pipeline. So it's on them to tell Canadians exactly how it's going to be built, when it's going to be in service, how much it's going to cost and who is going to own it in the long run."


    Alberta Conservative MP Shannon Stubbs demands transparency on how the government is spending money on Transmountain Expansion pipeline. 0:36

    NDP MP Alexandre Boulerice said the price is "unacceptable" and the project should be scrapped.
    "It's a really bad investment because this is the kind of oil that has no future. So we are investing in something that in 10 years or 20 years will not run again," he said in an interview.

    "We're asking the Liberals to change their mind and to come to the earth and to invest that kind of money to create good jobs in renewable energy."

    The International Energy Agency projects demand for oil will increase each year until it plateaus in the mid-2030s.

    The federal government purchased the existing Trans Mountain pipeline for $4.5 billion in May of 2018, after the original proponent, Kinder Morgan, pulled out because of increased political and environmental opposition to the project.

    The expansion would twin the existing pipeline, which runs more than 1,000 kilometres between Edmonton and Burnaby, B.C. It would triple the amount of bitumen flowing through the pipeline to nearly 900,000 barrels a day.

    The project is also set to expand the terminal in B.C. and, as a result, tanker traffic is expected to increase by nearly seven-fold a month.

    According to the federal government, the pipeline and terminal would produce 400,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions a year, create 15,000 jobs during construction and generate about $47 billion in revenue for different levels of government over the first 20 years of its operation.

    About the Author

    Vassy Kapelos is the host of Power & Politics. Prior to working in Ottawa, she covered provincial politics in Alberta and Saskatchewan. 







    4233 Comments

    Now 8 hours later the tally is 4163 
    Commenting is now closed for this story.









    Zbiginew Zalewski
    Time for every Canadian the cares about there children's future to support the protesters across British Columbia have blocked trains, access to ports and some streets in support of hereditary chiefs of the Wet'suwet'en Nation in their bid to halt construction of a natural gas pipeline in their traditional territories in northern B.C.


    David Amos
    Reply to @Zbiginew Zalewski: Methinks you should free free to emulate my expressions on behalf of the Green Meanies et al I am kinda flattered. However sometime when you are bored you should at least read Statement 83 of my Statement of Claim against the Queen. (Federal Court File No. T-1557-15) Trust that the "Powers that Be" beginning with MacKay and his boss Harper have already argued it without much success. The fact that the Crown pulled Rule 55 on me should make any ethical soul laugh at their incompetence and desperation N'esy Pas?

    Rule 55 In special circumstances, in a proceeding, the Court may vary a rule or dispense with compliance with a rule. SOR/2004-283, s. 11 


    Zbiginew Zalewski 
    Reply to @David Amos:
    Methinks desperate people say desperate things N'esy Pas?
    David Amos  
    Reply to @Zbiginew Zalewski: You certainly do

    David Amos  

    Content disabled
    Reply to @Zbiginew Zalewski: True or False???

    https://www.scribd.com/doc/2718120/integrity-yea-right


    Zbiginew Zalewski 
    Reply to @David Amos:
    Youthinks


    David Amos
    Reply to @Zbiginew Zalewski: Methinks its too bad so sad you cannot read all my replies but you can always Google your name and mine in order to find my blog N'esy Pas? 
     

    Zbiginew Zalewski 
    Reply to @David Amos:
    Methinks its too bad so sad you cannot read all my comments and have the vision for an renewable energy future N'esy Pas?
























    Bern Klassen
    I agree the Govt bulldozed the pipeline through all the red tape for the sake of Canadas short term future....but why shouldnt Canada get its fair share from a world that is still oil dependent? If they dont get it from here theyll buy it somewhere else..Killing Canadas oil industry has 0 effect on carbon, besides, I dont see a lot of Canadians or protesters giving up their gas guzzlers!


    David Amos 
    Reply to @bern klassen: I agree





















    John Melnick
    Climate change is man made all right.

    By the monied of Davos who want to rule the world.



    David Amos 
    Reply to @John Melnick: Methinks many agree that Climate Change is caused by Mother Nature having her way with things and no amount of taxation that greedy people dream up is going to slow her down N'esy Pas?





















    John Melnick
    Here in farm country the cows follow the truck dropping off feed in the field.

    Same with Soros, he just puts the money on the table for "qualifying grants" and it's publish or perish. People have to eat; you don't need a carefully orchestrated conspiracy.

    Mitch Taylor and Judith Curry have integrity and turned their backs on his climate change manufacturing machine.



    David Amos 
    Reply to @John Melnick: Well put
























    John Melnick
    Read up on how the "97% of scientists agree" number was derived. And I mean read the original paper.

    If anyone thinks that it's thousands of scientists as claimed they are in for a rude shock.



    Zbiginew Zalewski 
    Reply to @John Melnick:
    Far better to believe in long-running disinformation campaigns of the fossil fuel industry .


    David Amos 
    Reply to @Zbiginew Zalewski: Methinks the only thing worth believing is the truth N'esy Pas?


    David Amos
    Content disabled
    Reply to @Zbiginew Zalewski: True or False???

    https://www.scribd.com/doc/2718120/integrity-yea-right


























    Zbiginew Zalewski
    Methinks a burning question for most of the world is why, exactly, do climate change deniers deny the so-strongly supported science. For most of us, between the incredible consilience of climate science, the multiply supported consensus of climate scientists, and the visible evidence of warming impacts such as cyclone severity and frequency, wildfires and drought, it’s difficult to understand how someone could remain skeptical. But it comes down to six overlapping elements: confirmation bias, tribal partisanship, ideology, and conspiracy ideation, all supported by the long-running disinformation campaigns of the fossil fuel industry .


    David Amos
    Content disabled 
    Reply to @Zbiginew Zalewski: Nighty Nighty don't let the bed bugs bite.

    Methinks you should free free to emulate my expressions on behalf of the Green Meanies et al I am kinda flattered. However sometime when you are bored you should at least read Statement 83 of my Statement of Claim against the Queen. (Federal Court File No. T-1557-15) Trust that the "Powers that Be" beginning with MacKay and his boss Harper have already argued it without much success. The fact that the Crown pulled Rule 55 on me should make any ethical soul laugh at their incompetence and desperation N'esy Pas?

     Rule 55 In special circumstances, in a proceeding, the Court may vary a rule or dispense with compliance with a rule. SOR/2004-283, s. 11  



    David Amos
    Reply to @Zbiginew Zalewski: Methinks desperate people say desperate things N'esy Pas?





























    Al ACrow
    Comments still open on such a divisive issue. Wow c.b.c , I’m actually impressed you are allowing the people who pay you to have an opinion on our broadcasting network. Thumbs up


    David Amos
    Reply to @Al ACrow: Methinks it strange that they have being doing that a lot lately with certain issues Its like they are fishing for lots of comment N'esy Pas? 
     
























    John Melnick
    As the proud owner of a spanky new pipeline, why didn't Canada get the Dino Award at this year's COP?

    Left wing image manipulation and hypocrisy? Tell me it ain't so!



    David Amos
    Reply to @John Melnick: Why lie to you now?


















    John Melnick 
    Right, the Tyee.

    There's a credible source right up there with The Walrus.



    David Amos
    Content disabled    
    Reply to @John Melnick:Consider this

    https://www.scribd.com/doc/265620671/Cross-Border-Txt



    David Amos
    Reply to @John Melnick: FYI I sent you quite a tip but you will have to read it elsewhere

























    John Melnick
    Sixty billion in subsidies in Canada alone?

    Links please to a credible site that breaks that down into the component parts, unique to the petroleum industry, that sum to that "interesting" conclusion.



    David Amos  
    Reply to @John Melnick: Good luck with that one

























    John Melnick
    This well schooled denier wishes to educate the economically illiterate Soros funded sandals and granola crowd.

    When the ICE car disappears from our roadways along with the transport trucks, ships, planes and trains how is crude oil going to be economically processed for the "... few items it can only provide"? Are we going to pave highways with the raw crude product, high value light ends and all, and change gold into lead?

    What would be the cost of a HV DC North American grid to knit together widely scattered generation sites into a reliable, high capacity grid to replace the energy deficit created by the exclusion of fossil fuels?



    David Amos   
    Reply to @John Melnick: Methinks somebody should explain to me real slow how the fossils are that deep underground Only then would I consider believing a scientist who is paid by the highest bidder N'esy Pas?




























    Zbiginew Zalewski
    Canada needs to stop subsidizing big oil with 60 billion a year and invest that money into renewable energy and become a world leader in
    R&D
    Storage methods
    Manufacturing
    Construction
    Monitering
    Repair
    Over the time renewable energy systems will require
    Maintenance
    Replacement
    Upgrades
    This repeating cycle will provide eternal employment, not like the short lived boom and bust cycle of fossil fuel
    A long distance HV DC distribution system needs to be built around Canada and North America. This tie all the different forms of renewable energy together and take care of the ever diminishing short term local zero renewable problem.

    Oil for burning needs to greatly diminished and be used more wisely in products, but a little oil will still be needed for the few items it can only provide.



    David Amos 
    Reply to @Zbiginew Zalewski: Methinks folks understand your agenda by now N'esy Pas?


























    James Robson
    It is far worse than this official admission. Robyn Allan, an independent economist and former CEO of the British Columbia Insurance Corporation, analysed the finances of the old existing TMX pipeline and discovered that it has been bleeding revenue-NOT earning revenue-since the Trudeau government bought it. Either because of incompetence or something else. She sent her study to Ottawa last October, with attached questions. There has been no reported response. All of this was detailed on the Tyee.ca in December 2019. There are layers to this onion as yet unseen.


    David Hrushowy
    Reply to @James Robson: There are many questions about the financial and legal structure of this great undertaking that no one either wants to discuss or ask questions of any of the important figures behind all this. The official story is that this is in the public interest, however defined, and that is a good enough business model.


    David Amos 
    Reply to @James Robson: Of that I have no doubt


    David Amos 
    Reply to @David Hrushowy: When was the last time you believed a politician?


    David Hrushowy
    Reply to @David Amos: The financial and legal structure of this enterprise will determine how much the tolls are for shipping from Alberta to Burnaby. One has to assume this will be like any other utility in Canada. Utilities usually use the standard approach definition:"Utility Weighted Average Cost of Capital
    Utilities typically have capital structure with debt and equity, usually between 40% to 60%. The cost of capital is a weighted average costs of all elements in the capital structure. The Cost of Equity compensates investors for placing their money in the utility"



    David Hrushowy
    Reply to @David Amos: "The Liberal government expects to get $500 million a year out of the expanded Trans Mountain pipeline and is promising to spend it all on cleaner sources of energy and projects that pull carbon out of the atmosphere".....". Rather, he said, it is a crucial piece of the puzzle of financing Canada’s transition to a clean energy economy." (National Post October 29, 2019). It is amazing that Bill Morneau can estimate revenues without knowing what the utility rates will be in fact without knowing what the debt equity structure (WACC) of this business.


    David Amos 
    Reply to @David Hrushowy: You are preaching to a preacher I am a whistle-blower about financial crimes practiced by governments Methinks you should Google Bill Morneau's and mine sometime N'esy Pas?


    David Hrushowy
    Reply to @David Amos: I have a few questions that you might be able to explain to us for our edification.
    Why were the loans financed by the Canada Account paying 4.7% interest when the normal risk-free interest rate on a 10 year Treasury Bond is currently like 1.46%?
    How and when is this project ever going to achieve a normal reasonable industry standard ROE of say 11%?


    David Amos
    Reply to @David Hrushowy: Methinks the question should be put to my political foe Frank McKenna a lawyer who is a well known friend of the Clintons and who is now the Deputy Chair of the TD Bank.

    However in a nutshell the answer to your question is simple Banksters contribute to all the political parties and in return they are paid back bigtime..

    Never forget that the mandate of the Bank of Canada created by R. B. Bennett has never been changed by any legislation even Trudeau the Elder and his cohorts. began to put us deeply in debt beginning in 1073 byway of constant borrowing from the banksters. Nobody can deny that Paul Hellyer who is now the 2nd oldest member of the Privy Council wrote a book about it called "Goodbye Canada" N'esy Pas?

























    Terence (WE) Harris
    So if doubling the TM pipeline will allow "Alberta oil get to tidewater" so it can be sold at higher prices to Asia, why is it the studies show that 90% ish of the oil in the existing TM pipeline goes currently and has gone in the past to California? How does this make sense?


    David Hrushowy
    Reply to @Terence (WE) Harris: The west coast refineries in California have the capability of refining heavy sour product form their local fields, South America and Mexican Maya oil by all accounts, as well as Alberta bitumen. California has its own carbon reduction program on low carbon fuels standards so what the future holds is anyone's guess.


    David Amos 
    Reply to @David Hrushowy: I agree


























    Zbiginew Zalewski
    Canada needs to stop subsidizing big oil with 60 billion a year and invest that money into renewable energy and become a world leader in R&D, storage methods, manufacturing, construction, repair, replacement, providing jobs forever as renewable expands requiring replacement and upgrades.
    Expand on HV DC technology to distribute it around Canada and North America.
    A little oil will still be needed for the few items it can only provide.



    James Robson 
    Reply to @Zbiginew Zalewski:
    You and everyone else need to read the February 6th, 2020 article by respected Cdn investigative journalist Andrew Nikiforuk, posted on the Tyee.ca. It is titled, "Wet'suwet'en Raids: Canada Chooses Colonialism Again". Not only does he deplore how government and RCMP are violating indigenous rights, but also deconstructs the costs of the mammoth Kitimat LNG and Coastal Gas Link Pipeline projects. Both are utterly unjustifiable in view of present badly suppressed global methane prices, despite our governments planning to establish give-away royalties, huge cash infusions and shaved-down corporate taxes. There is nothing like the supremacy of corporate welfare over the needs of Canada's millions of ordinary citizens.



    Marjorie Cormier
    Reply to @Zbiginew Zalewski: The biggest problem we have experienced in Ontario is the continual demolishment of anything green or transit friendly, once a new conservative government takes over....this needs to stop!!!


    David Amos 
    Reply to @Marjorie Cormier: Methinks Ontario's biggest problem is the same as elsewhere Its commonly known as "public corruption" and it matters not which political party has the mandate N'esy Pas?























    Zbiginew Zalewski
    A burning question for most of the world is why, exactly, do climate change deniers deny the so-strongly supported science. For most of us, between the incredible consilience of climate science, the multiply supported consensus of climate scientists, and the visible evidence of warming impacts such as cyclone severity and frequency, wildfires and drought, it’s difficult to understand how someone could remain skeptical. But it comes down to six overlapping elements: confirmation bias, tribal partisanship, ideology, and conspiracy ideation, all supported by the long-running disinformation campaigns of the fossil fuel industry.


    David Amos  
    Reply to @Zbiginew Zalewski: Methinks you don't understand people who disagree with your opinion If you were to Google my name and Fundy Royal Debate you could hear me explain my position on Climate Change on TV while running in the last election N'esy Pas?


























    Wally Brown
    Fight that every small community in Asia to have a road paved by the Alberta oil


    Zbiginew Zalewski:  
    Reply to @Wally Brown:
    You hate them that much, sad person you are



    Wally Brown
    Reply to @Zbiginew Zalewski:
    I want every community to have access to clean water, electricity is possible and a clean road
    All made it possible by oil from Alberta
    You hate them too much to deny that simple life



    Zbiginew Zalewski: 
    Reply to @Wally Brown:
    Even relatively “low” levels of common air pollution damage the lung functioning of children, according to a new study published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care.
    The study found that children living within 100 meters of a major highway had, on average, lung function around 6% lower than that of children living 400 or more meters away from major highways



    David Amos
    Reply to @Wally Brown: Yea Right Say Hey to Jason for me will ya?
























    Zbiginew Zalewski
    The burning of oil is so good for us
    The new report also reveals that when pregnant women are exposed to polluted air, they are more likely to give birth prematurely, and have small, low birth-weight children. Air pollution also impacts neurodevelopment and cognitive ability and can trigger asthma, and childhood cancer. Children who have been exposed to high levels of air pollution may be at greater risk for chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease later in life.

    “Polluted air is poisoning millions of children and ruining their lives,” says Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “This is inexcusable. Every child should be able to breathe clean air so they can grow and fulfil their full potential.”

    One reason why children are particularly vulnerable to the effects of air pollution is that they breathe more rapidly than adults and so absorb more pollutants



    Wally Brown 
    Reply to @Zbiginew Zalewski:
    if the pregnant woman has no road to get to a hospital, it's your fault that the baby will die



    Zbiginew Zalewski
    Reply to @Wally Brown:
    They have not needed one for thousands of years, but some how now they do so you can by an new pickup every year.



    Wally Brown
    Reply to @Zbiginew Zalewski:
    Just like this you send 1/2 of the world to the medieval times because you can



    Zbiginew Zalewski 
    Reply to @Wally Brown:
    Renewable Energy Growth To Outstrip Fossil Fuels
    Renewable energy consumption is set to grow over the next few years, and according to a new report from the Economist Intelligence Unit, said growth will outstrip growth in the fossil fuel industry.
    Despite this growth, non-fossil fuels are faced with political challenges that may hamper their ability to flourish.
    Renewables are a growing commodity that, to the surprise of nobody, is taking up a lot of the attention of utilities and energy companies the world over. Add to that the declining reliance upon fossil fuels such as coal and oil — be it for environmental reasons, or for fear of investing in an energy strategy which may very well end up stranded — and renewable energy is a sure fire win.



    David Amos 
    Reply to @Wally Brown: What kind of argument is that? Methinks it way past time for your nap N'esy Pas?



    David Amos 
    Reply to @Zbiginew Zalewski: Methinks you are wasting your precious time if you expect Wally to read what you write N'esy Pas?



















    Jackson Thomson
    Chinese oil demand just behind the US and they shifting hugely to EVs. So is Europe.
    Oil is finished. Money is flowing rapidly out of oil stocks.
    I seen this as an investor in the markets.



    Wally Brown 
    Reply to @Jackson Thomson:
    This is why they are buying OIL from ANY country wants to sell?
    Living in a dream world doesn't make it true
    BTW China is also building around 1000 new coal plants, and some 30-40 new nuclar rectors ,



    David Amos 
    Reply to @Jackson Thomson: BINGO


    David Amos 
    Reply to @Wally Brown: You are arguing apples and oranges as they say. Methinks this article is about the Canadian taxpayers having to pay more to build a pipeline than wealthy Yankee shareholders would have N'esy Pas?


    Pierre Dupuis 
    Reply to @David Amos:
    Nope
























    Wally Brown
    There are billions of KMs or the roads waiting to be paved by the heavy oil refinery residuals send from Alberta
    Billions of km paved by the Alberta oil in Asia.
    Millions of children saved because a car can get from a remote village to a hospital.
    Hundred of millions families that now have access to a larger community
    All because the bitumen\



    David Amos  
    Reply to @Wally Brown: Cry me a river

    Wally Brown
    Reply to @David Amos:
    We live on a small rock called earth
    If you don't want to see all the rock populations is not my problem, is yours



    David Amos 
    Reply to @Wally Brown: Methinks you should run for public office 7 times and sue the Queen then you may have the right to insult me N'esy Pas?


    Wally Brown
    Reply to @David Amos:
    N'esy Pas?
    Is that Frenchenglish?



    Wally Brown
    Reply to @David Amos:
    BTW Why would I sue the Queen
    I just ignore it like everybody else



    David Amos 
    Reply to @Wally Brown: Is that Frenchenglish?

    Chaic



    David Amos 
    Reply to @Wally Brown: Methinks you have trouble reading English anyway.

    FYI It was I who sued the British Queen not you Furthermore anyone can Google my name and Federal Court File NO T-1557 -15 in order to verify what I say is true in whatever language suits them be it Chiac or not N'esy Pas?





















    Jackson Thomson
    Industry experts, 2022 is the beginning in the decline of oil demand.
    With oil declining, why Canada is investing, lol! Oil industry has too much influence, $$$.
    This is why Saudi's were eager to get rid of Armaco.



    David Amos 
    Reply to @Jackson Thomson: Good question

    John Dunn
    Reply to @Jackson Thomson: "The latest forecasts predicting oil demand will peak in 2023 come from the Carbon Tracker Initiative, a London-based think tank funded by a host of anti-fossil fuel foundations seeking stricter climate policies." (Forbes.)


    John Dunn 
    Reply to @John Dunn: In general, projections are 2025-2030 and then a plateau for some time.
























    David Amos
    Surprise Surprise Surprise

















    Norm Dixon
    The project was estimated to cost $7B for a private company to build the pipe.

    Of course that doubles or triples for government to do the same job. When has government ever done something cheaper than the private sector?




    Bill Dixon
    Reply to @Tony Hill:

    Pipeline revenue is irrelevant; the only thing that matters for valuations is earnings. And there are almost none for this dog of a project.

    According to the latest financial reports of the Canada Development Investment Corp's financial reports for Trans Mountain, which the CDIC in managing as a federal government-owned company, for the nine months ended September 30, 2019 , Trans Mountain's financials are the following:

    - Total revenue = $467 million
    - Total expenses, excluding finance costs = $318 million
    - Total interest on loans = $157 million
    - The loss before income taxes = $5 million

    The only reason TM reported a profit was because of a $52 million deferred income tax recovery that returned $35 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2019, due to the reduction in the future Alberta corporate income taxes payable, because of Kenney's reduction of corporate income taxes.

    So, but for the changed corporate tax rate in Alberta, Trans Mountain is losing money.

    So when Morneau from the Liberals or Kenney from the Cons talks about the billions of dollars in tax revenues and the billions of dollars in profits that will be made after it's built and sold, is a giant con.

    All evidence points to the buyout of Trans Mountain and the shovelling of $4.7 billion to the shareholders of Kinder Morgan being a catastrophically bad decision that is going to cost and haunt Canadians for a long time. And then of course it's also going to make everything to do with achieving any real action on GHG emissions next to impossible.

    Clap. Clap. Clap.

    (slow-clap time...)

     
    David Amos
    Reply to @Norm Dixon: Never


    David Amos
    Reply to @Bill Dixon: Welcome to the circus























    Dale Verigan
    Don't complain about rising costs when you fight the project. Higher costs are a consequence of spending so much time in court. So basically the protests have made this project more expensive for every taxpayer.



    Bill Dixon
    Reply to @Dale Verigan: The rule of law is oh so inconvenient, when it comes to the profitability of the oil and gas industry.


    David Amos
    Reply to @Dale Verigan: Methinks there were many protests and lawsuits etc long before Trudeau the Younger opted to buy the pipe N'esy Pas?























    Andy Thomas
    Just another example of why the government has no business getting into a business



    Patrick Smyth
    Reply to @Aaron Morris:

    " is you loonies "

    At it again I see. Going to get nowhere with that language Aaron.... But maybe it makes you feel better about yourself to put others down so who am I to judge?



    David Amos
    Reply to @Andy Thomas: YUP























    Douglas Fowler
    Soaring costs thanks to environmentalists and the Trudeau Govt. 




    Show 5 older replies



    Eva Endren
    Reply to @Patrick Smyth: But it's okay for BC to continue building mega dams which inflict permanent damage to the environment and wildlife populations over a vast region, not to mention the impact these dams have on a river system that feeds into the Northern Watershed. I wonder how many moose, elk, deer and countless other animals will be left to drown in the rising waters of the reservoir on Site C? Over 12,500 moose alone were left to drown when the Bennett Dam was put into motion. And most of the damage has been inflicted on Alberta's river systems all the way to the NWT.. killing fish and driving out other species when silt took over the river beds. But THAT"S OKAY it seems because it will benefit BC's greed for power to expand their own industrial ambitions. Hypocritical much?


    David Amos
    Reply to @Douglas Fowler: Methinks that par for the course N'esy Pas? 





















    Jim Redmond
    I 100% blame Mr. Trudeau for the significant delays and the signficant cost increase.



    Jorge Goldstein
    Reply to @Jim Redmond: wow, instead of thanking Trudeau not letting the pipeline project since, you blame him for it? Remarkable


    David Amos
    Reply to @Jim Redmond: Methinks we already know your favourite political party N'esy Pas?


























    Fidel Kemper
    A private company was going to pay for this whole thing. Our PM Virtue Signals, signs tanker ban with 0 consultation. Forced to over pay for pipeline and now have to pay for bloated budget. Yup sounds like Liberal economics.



    Fidel Kemper
    Reply to @Dustin Carey: You right that was Northern gateway, and that decision made TMX the only viable pipe left and an easy Target for the antis and thus why it was tied up so long, you so outrageously clueless to not even understand that had ramifications on all pipe projects.


    David Amos
    Reply to @Fidel Kemper: Methinks many members of peoplekind noticed the obvious but ignored it for the benefit of their political party N'esy Pas?







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