One could begin by asking how many of the companies in the Calgary oil patch have foreign investors and foriegn board members. One could then trace the funding of the ethical oil promoters back to these companies.
In any case, the attempt to position the bitumen sands (to choose a technically correct and more neutral term than oil sands or tar sands) as somehow ethical is fascinating. Ethical compare to what? The political regimes in other oil producing countries is the trick being played. But shouldn't the comparison be with other energy sources?
Are the ethical oil supporters willing to extend this model to other areas? Should we be selling natural resources to countries that are not ethical by their defnition? Should we be buying from them? If Canada is willing to go down this path there are a lot of trading relationships that need to be evaluated.
Surely the point of a carbon tax is to (i) encourage a shift in economic activity towards forms that are less damaging to the enironment and (ii) to have economic actors carry realistic costs so that markets can work efficiently. There should be no exemptions, certainly not for agriculture or cement. The trend of the past few decades has been for companies to privatize profits while socializing costs and losses.
I am a bit surprised by the tone of the comments. While it is true that Canadian banks have been more conservatively regulated and managed than those south of the border it is a fair question to ask if their net effect is wealth concentration or wealth distribution. I doubt that anyone on either side of the issue knows the answer to this. And it is reasonable to put money into institutions that invest in local communities. Perhaps banks should be required to disclose what portion of their deposits, borrowings and fees come from each community and where they are deployed. Then people could make decisions about where they wanted to deposit their money. --- The occasional claim that the people in the Occupy movement are all unemployed or poor doesn't ring true. The Occupy movement is a diverse group. People who ignore this will get it wrong.
I am a bit surprised by the tone of the comments. While it is true that Canadian banks have been more conservatively regulated and managed than those south of the border it is a fair question to ask if their net effect is wealth concentration or wealth distribution. I doubt that anyone on either side of the issue knows the answer to this. And it is reasonable to put money into institutions that invest in local communities. Perhaps banks should be required to disclose what portion of their deposits, borrowings and fees come from each community and where they are deployed. Then people could make decisions about where they wanted to deposit their money. --- The occasional claim that the people in the Occupy movement are all unemployed or poor doesn't ring true. The Occupy movement is a diverse group. People who ignore this will get it wrong.
I am surprised that @Protests knows so much about people who may participate in a protest that has not yet happened. Maybe these are people who are concerned about their society and believe that a corporate driven agenda is leading to a healthy or wealthy society. There are many ways we work to contribute to society. Protesting can be one of them. And there are lots of jobs that people do and get paid for that are destructive.
The funding model looks pretty wacky but a street car on that route could make sense. It would tie together places that are not well connected today. And neighbourhoods don't need to remain dead. They change. Not sure you've thought this one through (but then I know I haven't thought it through)
The cost of housing in Vancouver means I cannot draw the kinds of people to this city that I need to build businesses here. My son cannot afford to raise a family in the city let alone hope to buy a home. This is a critical issue for the city and its future. I don't pretend to understand the interlocking factors that have led us to this impasse, but we had better find ways to address it.
As a resident of Kits, I strongly support the spread of social services and various forms of social housing to all parts of the city. I would also like to see rezoning that blends light manufacturing and more different forms of workspace throughout the city as well. And more local recycling and waste processing. Concentration or services for the poor and dispossessed in one location has proven to be a bad design decision.
Our long-term prosperity depends on finding ways to deal with the cost of housing in Vancouver. I don't know the answer to this, and doubt that anyone knows THE answer. We need to experiment with and test many answers and we need to start doing this now.
I was on the walking tour, which was a fantastic experience. I learned a great deal about a city I thought I knew.
UBC whatever has deteriorated into a joke over the past decade. It is not even a third rate bookstore. UBC Press is not much better. To see what a good academic press can be look at MIT Press. And to see how a real bookstore can contribute to an academic and innovation community check out the MIT Press bookstore in Cambridge MA. Vancouver desperately needs some centres of intellectual depth and interaction, and some of these should be bookstores. I think it is too late for UBC, it has fallen too low and lost any real relevance to its community. But somewhere in Vancouver we need some bookstores that anchor communities. This probably requires a new model for what a bookstore is, how it is owned and the services it provides. A good design thinking challenge.
Probably a good choice for stability, but I hope Jack Layton is able to return. If he is not it will be interesting to see how the NDP evolves through a leadership campaign and if they can become a credible governing party. Let's hope so. We need real alternatives. Jack Layton has taken the NDP a long way, but there is a long way to go.
Ken Lawson, I think what you meant to say is that "you are not convinced that the majority agress with the plan". Seems like a good issue for the November election. If the NPA is opposed to the plan then they should campaign on that and put forward their own proposals. I would love to know what Ms. Anton's proposals are on green issues. I know she is a supporter of large developments like the casino, other than that it is not clear to me what she stands for.
I am a bit surprised by the tone of the comments. While it is true that Canadian banks have been more conservatively regulated and managed than those south of the border it is a fair question to ask if their net effect is wealth concentration or wealth distribution. I doubt that anyone on either side of the issue knows the answer to this. And it is reasonable to put money into institutions that invest in local communities. Perhaps banks should be required to disclose what portion of their deposits, borrowings and fees come from each community and where they are deployed. Then people could make decisions about where they wanted to deposit their money. --- The occasional claim that the people in the Occupy movement are all unemployed or poor doesn't ring true. The Occupy movement is a diverse group. People who ignore this will get it wrong.
I am a bit surprised by the tone of the comments. While it is true that Canadian banks have been more conservatively regulated and managed than those south of the border it is a fair question to ask if their net effect is wealth concentration or wealth distribution. I doubt that anyone on either side of the issue knows the answer to this. And it is reasonable to put money into institutions that invest in local communities. Perhaps banks should be required to disclose what portion of their deposits, borrowings and fees come from each community and where they are deployed. Then people could make decisions about where they wanted to deposit their money. --- The occasional claim that the people in the Occupy movement are all unemployed or poor doesn't ring true. The Occupy movement is a diverse group. People who ignore this will get it wrong.
I am surprised that @Protests knows so much about people who may participate in a protest that has not yet happened. Maybe these are people who are concerned about their society and believe that a corporate driven agenda is leading to a healthy or wealthy society. There are many ways we work to contribute to society. Protesting can be one of them. And there are lots of jobs that people do and get paid for that are destructive.
The funding model looks pretty wacky but a street car on that route could make sense. It would tie together places that are not well connected today. And neighbourhoods don't need to remain dead. They change. Not sure you've thought this one through (but then I know I haven't thought it through)
The cost of housing in Vancouver means I cannot draw the kinds of people to this city that I need to build businesses here. My son cannot afford to raise a family in the city let alone hope to buy a home. This is a critical issue for the city and its future. I don't pretend to understand the interlocking factors that have led us to this impasse, but we had better find ways to address it.
As a resident of Kits, I strongly support the spread of social services and various forms of social housing to all parts of the city. I would also like to see rezoning that blends light manufacturing and more different forms of workspace throughout the city as well. And more local recycling and waste processing. Concentration or services for the poor and dispossessed in one location has proven to be a bad design decision.
Our long-term prosperity depends on finding ways to deal with the cost of housing in Vancouver. I don't know the answer to this, and doubt that anyone knows THE answer. We need to experiment with and test many answers and we need to start doing this now.
I was on the walking tour, which was a fantastic experience. I learned a great deal about a city I thought I knew.
UBC whatever has deteriorated into a joke over the past decade. It is not even a third rate bookstore. UBC Press is not much better. To see what a good academic press can be look at MIT Press. And to see how a real bookstore can contribute to an academic and innovation community check out the MIT Press bookstore in Cambridge MA. Vancouver desperately needs some centres of intellectual depth and interaction, and some of these should be bookstores. I think it is too late for UBC, it has fallen too low and lost any real relevance to its community. But somewhere in Vancouver we need some bookstores that anchor communities. This probably requires a new model for what a bookstore is, how it is owned and the services it provides. A good design thinking challenge.
Probably a good choice for stability, but I hope Jack Layton is able to return. If he is not it will be interesting to see how the NDP evolves through a leadership campaign and if they can become a credible governing party. Let's hope so. We need real alternatives. Jack Layton has taken the NDP a long way, but there is a long way to go.
Ken Lawson, I think what you meant to say is that "you are not convinced that the majority agress with the plan". Seems like a good issue for the November election. If the NPA is opposed to the plan then they should campaign on that and put forward their own proposals. I would love to know what Ms. Anton's proposals are on green issues. I know she is a supporter of large developments like the casino, other than that it is not clear to me what she stands for.