Who knew sand could be so controversial? Sio Silica, a company that detractors derogatively refer to as “an Alberta Company”, has proposed a large project to extract high-grade silica sand in eastern Manitoba for the manufacturing of solar panels, among other potential uses. Alberta or not (we won’t get very far if our economy is…
There was good news in last week’s Federal budget. The economy grew again and the government pulled in a projected $9 billion more than they expected, and a cool $21 billion more than the year before. The bean counters are expecting an additional $6.6 billion on top of that unexpected windfall next year. Not too…
I applaud politicians who communicate with their constituents and explain their actions. Not all do. But Brian Pallister did and he should be recognized for it. His “LETTER TO ALL MANITOBANS” explained his sudden and puzzling abandonment of his carbon tax plan. Unfortunately, for me at least, it was a very unsatisfying explanation, and I…
After a tense few days, the small Belgian region of Wallonia finally agreed to sign on to the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), allowing Canada and the EU to ink the deal that was 7 years in the making. As with any trade agreement, there will be people who are worse off. Agreements are…
I apologize in advance if you were one of the few people who read my first post on this subject over a year ago, as this re-hashes much of what I said there. But I feel compelled to post about it again in light of a MyToba column wherein Spencer Fernando argues for holding a referendum…
By now most swing voters in Manitoba have made up their minds to vote for somebody other than the NDP, and are reviewing their options among the remaining parties. If there are any non-diehard NDPers that are still leaning towards voting for the incumbents, it may be because they buy the NDP’s message that we…
It wasn’t that long ago that everybody was criticizing Rana Bokhari and the Manitoba Liberal Party for a lack of substance in their platform. Rana’s performance was called “underwhelming” and specific policy ideas had been slow in coming. ‘Just wait’ Rana said to the skeptics, ‘the policies are on their way’. Well, true to her word,…
In an informal survey of voters sitting in my hotel room, all one of the respondents agreed that the economy was the biggest issue of the campaign. This is good news for Prime Minister Stephen Harper (to be called “Harper” henceforth, just as Justin Trudeau and Thomas Mulcair will be called by their last names).…
On April 30, the Manitoba provincial government will present its budget for the coming fiscal year. You can be sure that within the budget package the government will trumpet the tax savings that it has bestowed on Manitoba wage earners over the years. You can be equally sure that there will be no mention of…
The Government of Canada has not yet backed away from its plans to increase the Tax Free Savings Account contribution limit to $10,000-$11,000 from the current $5,500, and that has caused a bit of a stir. The foregone tax revenue will cost the federal and provincial governments billions of dollars a year, we are told,…
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