since the altabaska oilsands are eroding and going down the river in leakage, isnt it our duty to clean them up and haul them away?

Baird has already cut this off at the knees by pointing out that the planning for these meetings all occurred under the previous liberal government while Dion was Environment Minister. John MacCallum was the point man and Dion claims he knew nothing about them. Guess that says more about Dion than the big bad Harper government. I don't think Baird will allow Dion any wiggle room. Sandra

And again, the complete ignorance of the people "breaking" this 'story' is shocking.

And yet, it is so very, very typical.

Another interesting question is why did Borat Dion know nothing about this (or claims to, at any rate) even though he was environment minister at the time? Some former Liberal minister is going to have to wear this. The Liberals were in government until February 5th.

Interesting point that have been missed by CBC the document that is available at USEA
World Proven Oil Reserves has the Government of Alberta's name on it not Government of Canada

I am SO tired of getting in touch with Vince Carlin, the CBC Ombudsman, who is an ex-alumnus of the CBC and the former head of Ryerson's Journalism Department, just BTW.

But I think I get it: In order to keep ol' Vince in business and to make work for some other employees' kids, the CBC purposely misrepresents and distorts news items.

That way, Mr. Carlin and his helpers will never be out of work...cash for life...which is such a nice thought for them, except that we're paying for it...for life...unless PMSH does something about this oversized, crashing-through-the-jungle-on-a-rampage, publicly funded broadcaster.

Please, Mr. Harper, HELP US!!

Don Cherry should be appointed President of the CBC. That should make the shreiking harpees swallow their tongues during lunch hour.

Peter Mansbridge? Set up a business with Warren Kinsella and you could spend quality time checking out each other's hairlines.

I get a laugh out of Partisan Lieberals who chide the CPC for grinding their axe on liberal corruption in government yet at the same time they take every opportunity to keep the old "secret agenda" and "alberta links to Harper" saws alive.

Gee, they're expanding oilsand operations...more demand, more expansion of the Alberta patch, pretty simple arithmatic.

I can see how Alberta profits would give some foamy mouthed subsidy addicted Quebec bolshevick a bad case of blue balls....but drop the secret Harper agenda crap until you've made public your own secret agenda.

I doubt very much that Dion didn't know about it. Either way, he can't get out of the responsibility, because if he didn't know about it, then why didn't he???
I happened across Jim Travers column in the Torono Star today...his first line: "OTTAWA - For most of us, ethics begins with doing what's right and telling the truth. For Stephen Harper, they often end in a conundrum."

You've got to be kidding. Would he ever write something like this about the liberals, or even himself???

Does Jim Travers really believe that he's in the category of people who do what's right, as in unbiased journalistic skills???

look at that big error in the Alberta Reserve report. projected alberta production of 4 thousand bbls per day not 4 million like it should be. conspiracy not to show the truth.!!!

critics say!!!

Kitchner Conservative the USEA would have it correct since natural resources are a provincial domain in Canada. Some people east of Saskatchewan are very good at forgetting that.

WL Mackenzie Redux:

Spot on, this would be known as "NEP Part Deux".

Or is that "NEP Part Dion"?

And of course don't forget that the "EVIL Harper" hails from the Calgary oilpatch notwithstanding him growing up in the GTA.

It's all a massive Alberta energy conspiracy.

This is the old tired "pit region against region" Liberal pre-election spin that has worked so wonderful for years; but won't anymore, because the 'unwashed masses' are on to them once again.

Someone should offer Stephan Dion a plate of camembert cheese and glass of wine as he watches the great Canadian energy basketball game.

Reminds me of one of my son's coaches t-shirts which stated:

"Swoosh, the last sound you hear before you come in second place."

Im just wondering about why the feds were even involved other than for an export permit.

Reminds me of a time about 15 years ago, I was officed in the same building as the federal department of energy. Rode up the elevator with Roland Priddle and some senior civil servant broad. She was ragging on about how energy developement in Canada shouldnt be determined by "a bunch of farmers elected in Alberta", Roland was stoic.

apparently democracy doesnt mean anything to senior federal civil servants either.

I had this posted on another thread but bring it up again.

I sent an e-mail to the CBC Ombudsman yesterday and in it I included a point that Peter Mansbridge is beginning to look like a fool as the news anchor as he sets up these poorly done reports.

I've always had a measure of respect for him as a journalist, but I'm beginning to feel sorry for him as his credibility takes a hit every time the CBC gets caught doing shoddy work (and it has been too frequent lately).

Peter Manbridge and the cbc are canada's answer to Dan Rather, Jason Blair and a few others known for their published phoney stories.

...don't know why everyone is getting in a huff...to the great whitewashed masses in Canada, this is breaking news.

Zombie Liberal voters can't think for themselves.

Sandra said: "the planning for these meetings all occurred under the previous liberal government while Dion was Environment Minister. John MacCallum was the point man and Dion claims he knew nothing about them. Guess that says more about Dion than the big bad Harper government."

Correct. I remember Martin coming to Alberta and visiting the oil sands and making a big public photo op out of the fact "HIS" government was working with Alberta to expand the Oil sands output/operations with investment and grants. ( those of us Albertans who are hip to Martin's Asia-Powercor business connections knew that the only reason Dithers would be happy to expand an Alberta oil patch project was if his Powercor pals in China got cut in for a piece of the action...and they did... with a big Liberal PMO sanctioned Chinese investment in Oilsands output)

When Martin sent Borat Dion out to Alberta to mine votes and give pre election Ottawa happy-face talks, and run down the Alberta separation party, he alluded to "HIS" governments commitment to expand the tarsands. Borat Dion was up to his neck in knowledge of Liberal expansion of the sands projects....now he tries a Sgt.(I know Nut-tink!...Nut-tink!!") Schultz act like aamartin did about the brown envelopes and untendered exorbidant contracts to his Carlisle Group handlers.

Ya sure Stephanie....and the check is in the mail and I promise to use a rubber!!

Hmmmmmm and this CBC hatchet job will make 3 patently false claims to link this alleged eco abomination to Harper. They have information to prove their statements are poorly researched and false....but they will run it anyway....I hope heads roll this time...and Dion wears a great big fresh steaming cow pie in his puss for lying about Liberal involvement in this.

I think this calls for a letter to the REAL CBC "ombudsman" ...Bev Oda and the Post ;-)

Have a look at Cherniak`s blog...he is trying to spin it. Typical Librano!

and of course the Brotherhood of Journalists will squelch this story being explored on any other MSM outlets.

After all there is honor among thieves & liars.

Where is the CTV expose ? Where is Jane "Reportorette Extraordinaire" Tabor with a breathless report on "Huge CBC Fraud scheme exposed by the Blogosphere"

Inquiring minds want to know . . . .

Right - Cherniak is having trouble recently, trying to deal with the Liberals. He's tied himself into knots.

He's trying to justify Dion's 'shadow cabinet', which he first denied was a 'shadow cabinet', and is now trying to justify Dion's including everyone and their great aunt in some form of authority - which actually means that no-one has any authority. Other than Dion.

With regard to the Gendron Report - he's trying to say that it's irrelevant to hold meetings (eg, the Liberals were the ones holding the meeting); what matters is what's put into action - and that's the Conservatives. But why would the Liberals, pure-hearted as they are, even bother to have a meeting unless for some result?

And second - what is wrong with increasing oil production?

By the way, with regard to CO2 emissions and/or 'global warming' - SCIENCE, the journal, has a few neat articles on the Paleocene- Eocene phase of global warming, which began about 55 millions years ago. Oh - there weren't any humans around then?

There's one article in Science Vol 314 Dec 8- which says that the causes of the warming and the production of CO2 are uncertain - and rejects the common 'methane hydrate from warming ice' or volcanic eruptions theme.

The Dec 22 issue outlines a 'heatbeat' model of climate change, based on orbital variations around the sun which affects the carbon cycle and glacial events. This cycle model is for a half million year set of statistics. Humans emerged about 100,000 years ago. And industrialism only about 200 years ago.

There's another in Vol 315, Jan 5 - about thermal adaptation - which discusses how biological systems adapt.

My point is not to inundate with specialist data but to suggest that the issue of climate change is complex. It is not linear (Humans Cause Climate Change)or reductionist (Humans/Climate Change). It is multifaceted, complex and we can't presume, in our arrogance, that we humans can control the universe. Or climate change.

Pollution? Most certainly we can do something, a great deal, about that. That includes cleaning up our lakes (Harper has new laws on that); cleaning up rivers, cleaning up emissions from cars, factories, on and on and on. We can do a great deal on that.

But carbon, methane and other emissions and their interactions are not something completely in our control.

We can do research on changing our reliance on fossil fuels to some other form of energy. We aren't going to be able to reduce our requirement for energy. In fact, our requirements, as the global population increases and as the mode of life moves from the rural to the urban, from the peasant to the city - our requirements for energy are going to drastically increase. Research takes time. Years and years and years.

We have to permit this and reject the 'hubris' of thinking that we can control everything, as Masters of the Machine. The universe isn't a machine.

I don't worry too much about Petie and his little program. Like me, no one watches it.

http://3w.bbm.ca/en/national_archive.html (replace the 3w) lists the top 30 television programs for each week in Canada. Petie made the list 15 times in 2006 by my count - all in the bottom half of the list.

Imagine that - 1530 chances (the week of August 7-13 is missing) and only 15 hits. CTV and Global outscore CBC every week. No contest. Especially in the news department. Canada doesn't like Petie.

CBC's Frosty the Snowman was one program that blew Petie right off the list - during the week of December 11 - 17, coming in at number 22. What a blow - beaten by a snowman, and an imaginary one at that. And Petie and The National thought they held the market rights to imaginary.

There are many weeks where CBC does not show up at all in the Top 30 - CTV and Global took them right out. And there are many other weeks when they are saved from total elimination only by a sports program - with Hockey Night in Canada leading that list.

Now don't you feel better about the CBC? I know - why are we paying $1.2 billion for something no one watches?

Now, now - feel sorry for Petie. Can you imagine what it must feel like to speak to the cameras knowing that you are all alone and only talking to television screens glued to another channel?

No one cares.

Life at CBC is sooooo lonely.

They ... meaning the MSM have already started the "were tired of hearing whos fault it is" so they can lambast Barid into owning this problem.

This is Dions mess and the Canadian people need to understand who made the freakin mess. Unreal.

Thanks Peter Mansbrige. You have just justified my reasoning never to watch CBC news ... All I have to do is take what I believe, turn it upside down and backwards and thats what the CBC will report.

'batb:
We got "in touch" with Vince the Ombudsman when we were peed off with Lawand and at least we got her out of sight!
Now we may still have her on the payroll but at least we aren't reminded of it on Don Newman's Political Views Show.

I’ve been following with interest the commentary at SDA and CBCWatch on Guy Gendrons documentary. I just wanted to make some facts known regarding the following quote from Mr. Gendron’s documentary:

“They discovered that as of the day following the election Steven Harper last January, the Canadian government agreed to multiply by five from here 2015 the extraction of the oil of bituminous sands.”

However when you look at the executive summary for the Oil Sands Expert Group Worshop held in Houston on January 24,25 2006 :
http://www.fossil.energy.gov/programs/oilgas/publications/oilgas_generalpubs/oilsands_spp_report.pdf

You will find that Mr. Harper had not in fact set up the meeting in the wee-hours after his election victory on January 23’rd 2006, but rather it was initiated by PM Martin in March 2005 as per this quote from page 4

“President Bush, Prime Minister Martin and President Fox officially announced the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North American (SPP) agreement in March 2005. The energy activities of the SPP encompass a trilateral effort among Mexico, the United States and Canada, to create a sustainable energy economy for North America. “

Furthermore with regard to the Canadian Government agreeing to multiplying production five-fold to 5 million barrels per day by 2015, the above noted executive summary actually states:

“It will be necessary to look at options and plan for a smooth transition towards bitumen production that could be as high as 5 million barrels per day as was envisioned by the Oil Sands Technology Roadmap.”

The Oil Sands Technology roadmap is available here and presumably predates the Hosuton workshop: http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/es/etb/cetc/combustion/cctrm/pdfs/ostrm_draft_agenda.pdf

The roadmap was developed by Federal government, Alberta government, research and industry representatives, including Natural Resources Canada, Alberta Research Council, National Centre for Upgrading Technology and Syncrude.

In this Canadian developed roadmap (page 4) you will see that the stated goal is “5 million barrels daily by 2030”, and this will be achieved through

• ‘GHG neutral’ industry in a competitive and cost effective environment
• Kick the natural gas habit - year 2030 NG use at or lower than year 2000 consumption

I wrote the Ombudsman, copying my MP, a few minutes ago. This is not fair and unbiased reporting by the taxpayer-supported CBC. It is my wish that the government either privatize the CBC, or dismantle it, if it is not going to be an unbiased service to ALL Canadians.

The clueless Citoyen Dion:

"Don't know, wasn't there, Dion says"
www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=254e12c6-b309-431f-91e0-43cc34291a7a

'Liberal leader Stephane Dion says he knew nothing about a plan to massively expand production in the Alberta oilsands to meet the demand in the U.S. even though discussions on speeding up the regulatory review process were launched by former prime minister Paul Martin when Mr. Dion was the environment minister.

The plan — made public by a joint committee of government experts from Natural Resources Canada and the U.S. Department of Energy who met in Houston, on Jan. 23-24, 2006, before Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Tory government was sworn in — encouraged decision-makers "to streamline the regulatory approval process," with a "one-stop-shop" for project proposals and facilitate a "fivefold" expansion of oil production in Alberta from one million to five million barrels a day.

The committee was set up under the Security and Prosperity Partnership between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico, which scheduled the talks months earlier.

"This meeting, if it took place, I wasn't aware [of it]. Certainly not," Mr. Dion said at a news conference. "It's for sure that there are always discussions with the Americans on a number of topics, but I didn't receive a specific plan to multiply the use of the oilsands by five, or by two or three. Never as minister of environment did [this type of recommendation] arrive on my desk...'

Mark
Ottawa

If the liberals where in power the story would have been... Martin gets USA off mideast oil, and gets them to invest in Canada. Liberal save the earth.

But now that it's the Conservatives in power(nevermind this ws set up by the libs, facts who needs them) there is some secret agenda. This is the same BS with Afghanistan. The media did not give a flying turkey about it intill Harper was elected. Now they have tried to turn it into Iraq to link Harper with Bush.

I'm just sick of our media so much. Everytime I see there arrogant faces on TV telling me how bad the Conservatives are I want to jump through the TV.

The whole problem could be that the CBC doesn't have fast enough computers to view the pdf file. I just tried to download the pdf at:
http://www.usea.org/OilShales/Ekelund.pdf
and was greeted by a blank screen. I glanced away for a while and saw a very slowly developing image which, after a minute or so, was a map of the oil sands region. And this is on a dual processor 1.7 GHz machine! Whoever came up with the PDF should look for work in some other area. Wouldn't surprise me if the CBC used this as an excuse to demand more funding.

"'Liberal leader Stephane Dion says he knew nothing about a plan to massively expand production in the Alberta oilsands to meet the demand in the U.S. even though discussions on speeding up the regulatory review process were launched by former prime minister Paul Martin when Mr. Dion was the environment minister."

So now I wonder if Citoyen Dion will still claim his infamous Project Green" would allow Canada to meet the Kyoto obligations (note: not emission reduction targets, just "obligations" = buying hot air credits).

What else didn't he know about ?? What else did Mr. Dithers NOT tell his Minister of the Environment about ??

More ammo for Minister Baird . . . "sure the Liberal environment plan was going to work. Ya, Un Huh, Right."

Does anyone doubt that the liberals are completely absorbed with winning the next election so they molest Alberta's economy?

I hope we can prevent anything like this from ever happening to the point of a violent revolt against these communist elitist pigs.

It happen all over the world ... why not here?

Franks Zappa said "It can't happen here" but he was tongue in cheek as any Zappa fan would know.

Here is a copy of my e-mail to Vince Carlin.

Dear Mr. Carlin,

Please provide me with the cost of the nine month investigation by Mr. Guy Gendron into a “secret” meeting held in Houston, Texas on January, 24/25 2006.

It may come as a surprise to this “Investigative Reporter” that the report on that meeting has been in the public domain for months. This is a perfect example of how my tax dollars are wasted to forward an agenda by the CBC to re-elect the Liebranos.

Incidentally, I would like to inform you that at the time of the planning and holding of this so called secret meeting that the Liebranos were still the government and I believe Mr. Dion was the Environment Minister.

This is another blatant example of how the CBC is deliberately misleading its viewers with false and fabricated stories.

Sincerely,

CBCpravda should be playing this with the ominous music in the background , usually reserved for anything to do with the USA.

and those little semi 3D pictures where they highlight certain people and bring them forward out the background, say a crowd of 10 and they move Harper and Bush out whilst increasing the strings section on the orchestra.

maybe add in the strings from the shower scene in "Psycho"

CBC...how does that song go?

"blinded by the light"

Wonder if Petey Mansbridge is starting to feel like he's preaching to empty pews? The Gospel according to CBC seems to be losing favor as a nightly habit.
Nothing's changing though, they're just hanging in, working on the next Liberal campaign, getting ready to dish the dirt, collecting their paychecks from all of us.
Wonder if they will report on the fact that Mr. Khan has been cleared of any wrong doing in his riding association's fund raising?

Reminds me of the sponsorship Scandle.
Golf Balls Chretien I did not know
Didders Martin I did not know
Now on this Issue
Dion I did not know
It appears that alot in the Lib party have a short memory or a memory mediacl problem.

Have you seen the photo of the woman/animal found in the jungle, after 19 years. That is what all the envirowackos is urging for all humans to live and look like.

Dion has so many committees etc now to give advice to him. Someone should inform him a camel was designed by a committee.

a little ot: the PM made announcements today on energy with 1.5 billion in spending, So where on the CBC.ca is it ?? Its in there forum not a news item. On CTV.ca where do you find this major annoucement, buried in the business section.
I suspect that these enviriomental announcements must be for the good as the MSM has buruied them.

It is important that we send complaints to Tony Burman, Editor in Chief, CBC News and to the CBC Ombudsman, Vince Carlin. I realize you will get no answer or a defensive response but we must keep the pressure up.

ET, it appears to me that you don’t believe that we should be taking any steps that are even remotely painful to combat climate change. But you said this morning "when you are dealing with an electorate caught in the grips of a religious fervour (the Kyoto Religion of global warming), and a government is dependent on that electorate, then, you have no choice but to cater to their whims"

By being "dependent on" do you mean "wanting votes from"? Like votes to stay in power? If Stéphane Dion chooses not to continue fighting over dual citizenship, you offer it as proof that he’ll do anything to gain power. Proof. Well, anyone with kids knows that you either choose your fights or exhaust yourself locking antlers on every trifling issue.

So, on this pesky matter of climate change, Stephen Harper has decided to pretend that he is a believer? How much is this charade going to cost Canadians? Is that okay with you?

Or would you rather argue that he really does believe?

bryanr

CBCpravda has it up now about
1.5 billion.

Since Borat Dions liberals claim its a rehash of their plan we can call it "Cultural Learnings of Alberta for the Glorious Benefit of Canuckistan"

crabgrass - I certainly hope that Harper doesn't believe that climate change is due primarily to anthropogenic (human) causes. That would be unscientific.

That he believes in climate change would be scientific - any even brief review of the planet since its BigBang origin shows that the climate changes. Constantly..from the precambrian, to cambrian through the paleozoic, mesozoic, and now, cenozoic. The climate is constantly changing; it cools; it warms. After all, 65 million years ago, Greenland was - green.

The issue is - what causes climate change. And scientists don't know the causes of either warming or cooling - whether it's solar forces, volcanic action, supernova, impact events; they know these occur; they aren't certain of the full effects, their relation etc.

But to consider that climate change is caused solely by man - that's ridiculous. And to consider that man can control climate change? That's even more ridiculous. How, out of curiousity, are you going to control the solar forces?

With Stephane Dion - yes, his agenda is only about power. He doesn't have a single policy that is not geared to a specific whim of an interest group. His dual citizenship is a problem, and he says he would do 'the right thing' not for the principle of it, but only to gain power. Why wouldn't he renounce his French citizenship because it was the right action?

There's no comparison with Harper's acknowledging a population trapped in a religious fervour, the Kyoto religion. What's the difference? He knows that Canada can't do anything to reduce global warming, so, he's not moving into endorsing sending our money overseas via Kyoto. He's going to deal with pollution (that's not warming), clean air, clean up the great lakes, alternate energy sources, ie, 'bit by bit' actions on pollution. You may think that cleaning up the great lakes is a charade, that research on alternate energy is a charade - but, that's your problem.

Since it's only taken forty years to get oilsands development up to a million bpd, and that's with a system that at one time promoted tradespeople, not liberal arts degrees, I would estimate that we should hit the five million bpd sometime around my one hundred and thirtieth birthday, providing industry moves at twice it's previous pace. Yup 2085 sounds about right. And here I thought I was going to get to retire sometime soon. Darn it all anyway.

Seeing how Martin and the Liberals set up these meetings,i think i'll go ask Cherniak what would have happened if the Liberal's had won the 2006 election.

Not that he'll post it>Being the loser he is when proven wrong with factual information he censors those posts.

Liz J., you're right. Public pressure put Christina Lawand where the sun don't shine, so I guess I'll have to write that letter, with a cc to Tony Burman. (Say, he hasn't been around for awhile, has he?)

'Thing is: Vince Carlin still owes me an explanation for a complaint I made in August. After 4 months, I finally heard a defence from the producer of the show about which I had some concerns, a defence which was, as I already knew it would be, totally unacceptable.

I wrote back to Mr. Carlin, as per the process to say the producer's reasoning was unacceptable, which means he has to look deeper into the issue and get back to me. I'm still waiting.

It's almost February...sometimes it's hard not to grit your teeth and say, "Dammit to Hell."

What everybody must understand about the CBC is that it is now in a fight for it's life ... because if Harper wins a majority government they believe he will transform the CBC into a PBS-style network ... which would mean an end to their Billion $$$ anal subsidy.

In the next election, CBC will blatantly and overtly attack the Conservatives because they really have nothing to lose. If the Dion Liberals even win a minority government, the CBC will be immune from criticism .. but if the Harper Conservatives win that will mean the end of the CBC as we know it.

The CBC will be promoting the Dion Liberals to a max from now to the next election .. and nobody can do anything about it because the CBC is an entity unto itself ... a Beast ...!

I just happy that so many people are waking up to the fraud that CBC continues to foist on the public....keep those cards and letters coming folks!
Really! :)

I read that 17 riding associations had been de-listed for not filing the proper reports. Most of them were liberal and green. Not one Conservative riding de-listed. Excuse was this need for reporting come in after the 1.75/vote come in, and was not needed before. Poor volunteers are learning how to fill out the paper work. Khan's report not made public yet and libs screaming. Even newman asked, does said report exist. Yes, it was written in arabic on a biodegradable napkin, and it evapaorated before translation. Now, libs are you satisfied. Notice how newman has started to interrupt most of his guests lately, before they can tell him the truth. Giggles and Craig are doing the same thing more often. If I was a conservative supporter I would refuse to appear on their shows with any other party hack.

Wow! I just watched the presentation at:

http://www.cbc.ca/mrl3/8752/vsu/wmv-hi/gendron-oilsands070117.wmv

I am sensitive to the charges of CBC bias. Although I rarely watch the station - frankly, the pedantic nature of the presentations generally force me to roll my eyes and get that “oh, for gawd’s sake” look on my face.

While interested in charges of bias, I've not always been completely convinced – I mean, we all have our biases, don't we? Sure, CBC maybe more than other Canadian broadcasters but hey, most of the news they push is discounted because of their reputation. Likewise, any other news source. We know their bias and discount the stories accordingly.

This, however, takes the cake. It is completely unfair. It is not a true presentation of the facts. It is just plain dishonest. It is the worst case of biased journalism I have ever seen.

PS - I also just sent this to Tony Burman.

The irony of this...CBC ratings will be up tonight while we wait on the edge of our seats for Petey to respond, or retract,fudge or fluff it up, or at least mention SDA...Any bets?
Does he work on Friday evenings???

Question... We're planning on having an anti-CBC demonstration in Calgary this spring. How many of you folks would be able to show up?

As a tax payer, I am sick and tired of paying for CBC television to be on the air.

Either they earn their own keep, of they should keep their opinions to themselve.

It is time for all of us in Canada to stand up and demand an end to state-sponsored proganda.

CBC will never mention SDA on air, good grief, the last thing they want is to make the Trawna Librano Zombies aware that there is another source of information and alternative viewpoints.

The premier of Sask learned that lesson well.

Hey Jan, I just checked that video you referred to and it looks good to me... but then again the video only played a few seconds before it crashed with a server not responding error! you think with a billion dollar budget they could get some real computers there.

Guys, here's a hint:

If you want to be taken seriously with the ombudsman or anyone outside the blogosphere, stop calling them Libranos, Liebranos, Lieberals, etc. It's fine to do it on here, but to do it in a letter to an editor or an ombudsman, you're exposing yourself as a partisan hack.

Alberta is already spreading the wealth

Any discussion of ‘redistributing’ the province’s petrodollars to correct fiscal imbalances is misguided
PRESTON MANNING AND FRED KERR

As the premiers and the federal government discuss fiscal imbalances and equalization, one hears increasing references to Alberta’s burgeoning petroleum revenues and suggestions that Ottawa should somehow involve itself in “redistributing” such revenues more equitably across the country.

In 1980 — the last time the federal government acted on such advice after the OPEC-engineered oil price hike — the results were politically and economically disastrous. Confiscatory taxes imposed on the industry in Canada almost killed the goose that was laying the golden egg. Oil-patch investment and jobs fled the country. Western alienation came within a hair of being transformed into full-blown western separatism.

And the Liberal government responsible for the so-called national energy program destroyed its electoral prospects in much of the West for more than two decades.

The Harper government obviously has no intention of repeating such mistakes. And there would be less misguided pressure for it to do so, if the public were to better understand the following facts:

1. Albertans’ per capita contribution to equalization is by far the highest in the country.

The federal government collects consumption, income and other taxes from individuals and corporations across Canada. Naturally, it collects more revenue in provinces whose economies are vigorous than it does in provinces whose economies are weak. Ottawa then redistributes significant revenues to the governments of less affluent provinces through the equalization program, to enable them to provide social services to their people roughly equivalent to those available in the rest of the country.

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty cites the $23-billion net federal fiscal contribution made by the people of Ontario, and argues that this is excessive. But, for 40 years (even when oil prices have been low), Albertans’ net federal fiscal contribution per person per year has been more than triple that of Ontarians.

Any suggestion that Albertans have not been contributing their fair share to equalization and should be contributing an even higher percentage is itself unfair.

2. The benefits of the current boom in the petroleum sector are already distributed far more broadly than most people think.

In 2006, $108-billion in revenue will flow into the petroleum sector in Canada as a result of record high oil prices.

The portion of this revenue that is most visible to the public — because it is most frequently mentioned by the media and the politicians — is the portion that flows into the coffers of the Alberta government. In 2006, this will amount to almost $20-billion — about $14-billion in royalties, $3-billion in taxes, and $3-billion from the sale of drilling rights.

But what about the other $88-billion? The Canadian petroleum industry will send about $5-billion to Ottawa in federal income taxes in 2006 and another $2-billion to $3-billion to the treasuries of other hydrocarbon-producing provinces such as British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. It will spend $11-billion on debt and equity financing charges, and another $23-billion on administrative and operating expenses.

And then there is the big ticket item — capital expenditures.

Conventional oil and gas wells start declining from the moment they come on stream. Typically, a new gas well’s production declines around 30 per cent in the first year. As a result, the industry must drill an ever-increasing number of wells just to keep production flat, let alone grow it. Oil-sands plants are even more capital intensive. This means that much of the capital generated by conventional and oil-sands production must be reinvested in further development. Thus, in 2006, the industry will commit more than $40-billion to capital expenditures — everything from rigs and mining equipment to chemicals and pipes — much of which is made outside Alberta, notably in Ontario.

Finally, there is the stream of dividends and distributions paid to investors in Canada’s petroleum sector — about $6-billion in 2006. The ownership of today’s industry is structured quite differently than it was in the 1980s — with many energy producers having organized themselves into royalty and income trusts. The majority of these are owned by individuals, mutual funds, and pension funds based in Central Canada. When the Liberal government mused about rejigging the tax rules for royalty and income trusts, it was no coincidence that the loudest and most immediate protests came not from Calgary but from Toronto.

And then there are the capital gains recently enjoyed by Canadian energy investors, most of whom live outside Alberta. The energy sector, which, during the Nortel glory days of the high-tech boom, represented less than 10 per cent of the TSX index, today represents about 30 per cent. That’s a lot of wealth generation for a large number of Canadians right across the country.

The bottom line? While $20-billion of the $108-billion generated by the petroleum industry in 2006 will end up in the hands of the Alberta government, the remaining $88-billion is much more broadly distributed than most media commentators, politicians and Canadians think.

3. The investment of $100-billion in the oil sands will generate more tax dollars for the federal government than the Alberta government, and almost as many person years of employment outside Alberta as within the province.

A recent study by the Canadian Energy Research Institute highlighted the following facts: Conventional oil production in Canada is declining, underscoring the importance of oil sands as a vital source of North American supplies. In 2004, Alberta’s oil sands were recognized by the International Energy Agency, for the first time, as part of global oil reserves. This established Canada’s reserves as second only to Saudi Arabia’s, justifying Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s assertion that Canada is becoming an energy superpower.

But oil-sands development requires massive capital investment before anyone sees a dime of revenue. Producers need to delineate ore bodies, build processing facilities, and buy trucks and loaders or inject steam to coax the gooey stuff out of the ground.

The need for massive capital investment creates opportunities for investors across Canada and around the world. And all this capital investment creates thousands of jobs, for which Alberta alone cannot hope to supply the labour. Trades people, engineers and labourers are flocking to Fort McMurray from across Canada, including a large contingent from Newfoundland. Most of those workers pay Canadian taxes.

Many send a portion of their oil wages home to Corner Brook, Barrie or Moncton.

The CERI study estimated the impacts of $100-billion invested in oil-sands development over a 20-year period through to 2020.

Even if oil prices were to level off at half their current level, this investment will lead to:

6.6-million person years of employment, 44 per cent of it outside of Alberta. Of the 1.7-million person years of employment generated in Canada outside of Alberta, 1 million would be in Ontario alone.

Federal government tax revenues of $51-billion, making Ottawa (not Alberta) the largest recipient of government revenues generated by oil-sands development.

An interesting future study would be to compare the national distribution of benefits, including tax revenues generated for the federal government, from the development of an oil-sands plant in Alberta versus a hydro-power project in Quebec or a nuclear-power plant in Ontario. And if such a study showed — as it would — that the benefits from the hydro and nuclear projects were much more narrowly distributed than those of the oil-sands project, would the political and business establishments of Ontario and Quebec support federal intervention in the name of equalization to ensure a more equitable distribution? Not likely.

The above facts concerning the current and future distribution of benefits from the development of Alberta’s petroleum resources are not widely known. They are rarely even mentioned, let alone taken into account, in the debate on how to correct fiscal imbalances and reform equalization. It is high time they were.

Preston Manning, a former federal leader of the Official Opposition, is president of the Manning Centre for Building Democracy and a senior fellow of the Fraser Institute. Fred Kerr is a Calgary-based commentator and former institutional stockbroker specializing in the energy sector.

Source; Globe & Mail.

Hey Everyone:

It's starting to look like CBC isn't going to air their special report after all. Instead, it's a special report about elephants...how sweet.

Why is it that, immediately after they get caught lying and spreading propaganda, they get Diana Swain to host?

In a way, I'm glad they backed down. But it still bugs me that they made this hit-and-run attack and got away with it. The intial story probably did some damage on its own. I bet right now they're thinking "half a smear is better than none at all."

Tax revolt anyone?

it isnt even that insular and old view cbc brass have 'forgotten', they have never known that the blogosphere bops all their manipulation lieberal propagandizings like those gophers at the county fair.

their entrenchism and symbiotic relationship with the turdeaucretienmartindion monstrosity is now quickly exposed 'as it happens' (pun intended).

the lieberal zombie electorata cannot face the horror of their pigeon status and therefore continue in a collective hysteria and denial.

These memory lapses,that Chretien,Martin Dion etc.seem to have(somewhat conveniently),remind me of an old disease.The dreaded "CRAFT" syndrome
Can't
Remember
A
Fu**'n
Thing

I have a radical idea. Canada is a net exporter of food, energy and minerals. The world in general benefits from the output of our economy. Does it not make sense that Canada should be a net recipient of these "carbon credits", as we have to use energy to survive this climate, which then produces benefits for the world....put that in your backpack, citoyen dion

Hey bryceman,
Does that special report about elephants conclude that Stephen Harper is killing all the elephants?

Here's a drinking game: watch the National and do a shot every time it's Harper's or Bush's fault.

You should see the butcher job on the French CBC. I would have put away a 40 pounder with this show. My French is bad but the message is clear. No wonder QC wants to sodomize AB with all the propoganda thats being fed. Absolutely disgusting!

You should see the butcher job on the French CBC. I would have put away a 40 pounder with this show. My French is bad but the message is clear. No wonder QC wants to sodomize AB with all the propoganda thats being fed. Absolutely disgusting!

I watched the SRC version this evening as well. Every time they talked about plans for expansion of oil sands production there was a low, ominous undertone of music. I have to admit I laughed. A real hatchet job.

CBC-Cluelessly Betraying Canada.

There is no place for state run TV in a democracy, especially one that makes no attempt to be fair and balanced.

The salaries of these dishonest, unethical, left wingnut, anti-American, anti-liberation assholes are paid by all Canadians but they have no compunction about presenting the views of only left wing Canadians.

I used to think that CBC should just die a slow death and not allow any new hires and just let everyone retire out of it. Now...I say put the ax to the whole lot of them. I hear there are some job openings in Fort Mac in the oil sands.

"I read that 17 riding associations had been de-listed for not filing the proper reports. Most of them were liberal and green. Not one Conservative riding de-listed"

Can you even imagine the headlines if the Conservatives had not filed proper reports!

Someone mentioned there is honor among thieves and liars, so true in the Liberal Party of Canada.
They steal the ideas of other parties, adopt them as their own and lie about everything else when the truth doesn't fit in with their wild vote baiting schemes which is most of the time.

One of those schemes called Adscam is still pooping out the scandal but not the money stolen from us.
It was an abracadabra under the table/left on the table brown bag exchange and disappearing act.
Wonder if Dear Jean still has his golf ball collection in case he has to testify again?
John Gomery deserves an Honor of Canada for putting up with the whole lot of them.

If ever there was a misnomer it's the application of "Honorable" to all members of Parliament across the board. Calling the Rat Finks in the Bloc "Honorable" is stretch. Where is there honor in wanting to break away from and break up Canada?? Some traditions are simply asinine.

So let me get this straight, correct me if I'm wrong: this outrageous cooked-up smear story by a radical Quebec wing of the CBC got spiked on Friday night - on English TV - but went ahead in Quebec?

So francophone viewers in Quebec watched a CBC special that clearly states the Conservatives, immediately after being elected, rushed down to Texas for a secret meeting with Americans to ramp up oil sands production and stifle environmental regulation?

This is truly a smoking gun, almost criminal, definitely outrageous. Quebec seats are critical to the Conservative party. This stinks and I hope we have not heard the last of this. This could be the one, the chink in the armour, the straw that broke the camel's back, I want to see an official investigation, a public inquiry, into this specific media incident.

WTF?
Why run it in Quebec ?
If it was deemed inaccurate or partisan in English Canada, why is it not partisan or inaccurate in Quebec?
I guess the CBC must now admit that it delivers partisan flawed inaccurate lies to part of our country?

I know, it is an outrage, I watched the news story clip posted earlier in this thread:

http://www.cbc.ca/mrl3/8752/vsu/wmv-hi/gendron-oilsands070117.wmv

It was blatantly deceptive, they ran video of Harper when talking about the meeting in Texas, when Harper hadn't even been sworn in yet. This is dishonest and an obvious partisan attack disguised as news. If CBC management spiked the "special report" in English but could not resist running it in French they potentially did some real harm to the Conservative party in Quebec. IF this is what happened last night on TV many heads must roll. Taxpayers must not fund this sort of thing, there's got to be something illegal about this.

ET, what do you think John Baird's trip to Vancouver was about? He called the damage there and the wacky weather across Canada a "wake up call". Is he sincere, or were the CPC wasting money? That had nothing to do with "cleaning up The Great Lakes" and "research on alternate energy". Would you not say there's been an obviously renewed vigour on the environmental issues since Oct 9 (Clean Air Act)? What new scientific data landed in Stephen Harper's lap to give rise to this focus? He's not governing by polls, right?

Many here (including me) has talked about how nice it would be if the CBC were shutdown. Is everyone here aware that you can file a montion with the CRTC to have the CBC's funding taken away?

The CRTC calls it an "intervention." It happens whenever a person or group files an objection with the CRTC regarding the funding or allowing of a broadcaster to continue running.

Last night, I had a long (nearly four hour)conversation with an old friend of mine who used to be rather closely involved in the CBC. He told me of an attempt in 1974 to "air out" the CBC. Many of the complaints of that day (i.e. reporting things as being about "what Canadians think" when it was really about what Torontonians thought) were strikingly similar to the complaints of today.

In an "intervention", you get to file a report, provide the evidence, and make an oral presentation to the board of the CRTC.

Now, the truth is...even if your evidence is overwhelming, you probably won't get anywhere. The CBC is such a "national institution" and the brass is just as tight-knit and controlling as you might imagine.

But, at least you can get the evidence on record. After a few years of this, you might actually get somewhere.

We need a poll asking this question,
Would you support the abolishment of the CBC as a national taxpayer funded special interest group.

bryceman, for the record's all it would be--not to say it's not worth doing. Remember, the CRTC's comprised of the same leftie elites as the CBC. They party, cottage, and golf together, if not share the same beds.

I know of people who've minutely documentd CBC abuse for nearly three decades. The CRTC gives the same kind of brush off the CBC does. Inequity? Lack of balance? Unfairness? Where? When? We see none of that.

I suggest keeping up the pressure anyway though, if only for the record, in case there should ever be anyone who'll do something about it: Conservative majority? (And maybe Vince, the CBC ombudstoady--he's EMPLOYED by the CBC!--and his bosses will be getting a little nervous that their shenanigans are attracting a lot of attention--public, at that--which, for a change, they can't control. 'Couldn't happen to a more deserving bunch.)

Also, write Bev Oda, Heritage Minister, who's responsible for the CBC. Copy correspondence to the PM's office. Maybe someday our efforts will be fruitful.

lookout:

I absolutely agree that (at least in the beginning) it would indeed only be for the record.

Yes, they are the same bunch of elitists. And, frankly, I would love to see the CRTC and the CBC taken out in the same swipe.

All I was suggesting is that change might actually come when it is made clear to these elitists that, as you say,"their shenanigans are attracting a lot of attention."

They have been able to push dissenters to the side before because there was never a mass mobilization. In the past, it was only a few insiders and maybe a handful of people with the interest and resources to find the fraud for themselves. The point is that their power came from the fact that they could rest comfortably in the knowledge that the stories of their corruption could never get out...because they contol the airwaves.

Today, however, because of the Internet, it is becoming obvious that the story is getting out. They pulled their little "exposé" last night because of that very fact. They're scared. They have never been so scared. Perhaps continuing to get the word out and filing real action by huge numbers will make it something that is not so easy for them to bury.

Times are changing and maybe action is not as futile as it was in previous years. That's all I was suggesting.

Amen, bryceman. We're definitely on the same page in the hymnal!

It feels good, doesn't it?

Here's what I've just sent off to Tony Burman at CBC:

"Good day, Mr. Burman

"As I sit here listening to, enjoying, and much appreciating 'Sound Advice', I'm sending along a post I made at a blog the other day:

'I listen to CBC 2: I usually like the music. The news is absurd and dangerously increases my blood pressure.

'On my way home from work [Thursday, January 18], the 6 o'clock news (sic) was a joke. There was no news--just views: all spun from the left, all anti-Harper (ditzy story about the Lib shadow cabinet) and anti-American, except for the nice Democrat, who loves Canadians, 'our best ally', who was slamming a Bushie for being mean to Arar. My head's spinning from all the contradictions here. Then there was a long, banal piece on Poles in Scotland. [There was also a piece on the dangerous situation for prostitutes in Vancouver and attempts--but none were given: I was waiting--to improve their lot. Also, when providing a sound bite, a police officer, quite inappropriately, I thought, used the word, "Jesus" as an expletive.] (If I weren't on a busy road, in a small car, very close to the radio, I'd have thrown something at it!)

'This is news? No, it's crap, paid for by all of us. Bloody, stupid CBC. It can't lose its phony status and funding too soon for me. (I can listen to music on other channels.)'

And I mean that. I finally cancelled my 30-year subscription to the Globe and Mail, which has skidded and come to a crashing halt far to the left of where it used to be. And it's a private corporation, while the CBC, using MY $$, has a MANDATE to be fair and balanced. Your record here, Mr. Burman, is reprehensible.

Over the past 25 years, I've regularly contacted--for the record only--the ombudsman, a CBC employee, no less: conflict of interest, perhaps?--and have, apparently, been mistaken precisely 100% of the time. What are the odds? (As I imagine you can see--but I don't take anything for granted re the CBC and the clear meaning of anything--I'm not a complete idiot.)

If you're offended by my strongly worded opinions here, I'm sorry. However, you should realize that the CBC has grossly abused my intelligence, integrity, and rights, as a citizen of Canada, for decades on end. No amount of presenting my case has made the slightest difference. Just imagine how that makes me feel. On a scale of 1 to 10, my respect for CBC news and public affairs programs is minus 5.

You have a serious problem here, Mr. Burman. I think you need to do something about it."

Can someone give me a link to the story of 17 ridings being delisted?

I'd like to post it on a few lib blogs who accused Khan of wrongdoing.

The French language CBC story (SRC) ran nationally, not just in Quebec. It was on the SRC newsmagazine show "zone libre". I watched it here in Calgary.

It was a hatchet job. There were some very interesting segments, particularly on the development of the oil sands, and it was very well produced. I have to say though, that there is no question it was heavily biased against Alberta, the CPC and the oil sands. The oil sands were referred to at length as an environmental "catastrophe".

Harper and the CPC were portrayed as fighting for the interests of the oil industry and the United States over those of Canada and the environment. A number of commentators were shown near the end stating that Canada is a cold country, and we should be saving the oil for our own needs. A Greenpeace activist in Montreal was featured prominently.

The twisting of timelines, facts and use of sound bites was very manipulative and completely misrepresented the recent history of oilsands development.

The use of low, menacing music whenever Americans and oilsands development were discussed was appalling. Imagine a documentary about a serial killer and you'll get the idea. It reminded me of a Simpsons episode where Homer says, "but they must be evil, listen to the music". Ironically, I guess SRC has decided to borrow techniques from the worst of shoddy, tabloid journalism from south of the border...

Can somebody explain to my why the CBC feels it is acceptable to run, nationally, different news programs or different versions of news programs depending on the language of presentation. If the CBC is our "National Public Broadcaster" with a mandate to "building shared national consciousness and identity", shouldn't all content that is aired nationally be presented in both French and English?

I could understand the discrepancy if the subject matter presented was considered to be strictly of interest to a local audience. Had the CBC only aired the program in Alberta, they might have a case for saying it was a local interest story. However, nobody could possible argue that a report about Alberta's oil sands was only of national interest to French speaking Canadians.

In this instance, I believe the CBC has failed in its mandate.

paulstuff: I read that in a column reporting on the hype re Khan riding. I have 2 wks of Lethbridge Heralds, waiting to go to recycle bin. If it wasn't there, it might have been mentioned in the G&M comments, or a Sun item. I will search for it. As you can imagine, it was well down near the bottom of the article. It shouldn't be too hard to find, we don't have many writers on our side.

Comments about using the CRTC to reign in the CBC are interesting.

In my experience with the CRTC, you have to have a mass movement of people to be listened to. Will someone start this process by creating an on-line forum for us to join and start the process of regulatory intervention against their next license renewal?

paulstuff: Go to Google, type in -delisted liberal ridings- There are 27 delisted according to elections canada in the first item that shows up. Boy, did that save me a lot of searching.

mary t...that is part of the reason for decline in 'print media'...but in the future what will we use to line the cages or start the woodstove?
back page of our small local last night said Khan was cleared by Elections Canada...is that any where in MSM?

vh-We will have to use all those fliers sent out by advertisers, but they are also probably going to be gone. Anyone see the stats for viewers for lmotp last week. Maybe manbridge drew more viewers, and that is not saying much.

Let's go with the Leftoid/Unionist chant..

Ho,ho, hey, hey, CBC will ruin your day!
Hey, hey, ho, ho, CBC has got to go!

Well, hey we gotta try!

Ain't it the truth? Khan gets cleared by Elections Canada and hardly a peep from the rotters in the MSM.
Never mind the Librano accusers and Dipper Pat Martin who are too busy eating crow to comment......so it's back to the environment, most urgent concern of the century for the Libs and Dippers, while their back room twits look for something else to pounce on.

Check out Stephanie's testimony at the Gomery Inquiry website, seems he know about as much as Sargeant Schultz from Hogan's Heroes.

Watch for fireworks when the govt reconvenes. MP Holland is all over the cbc saying how he is going to challenge the govt on everything. CBC is calling him the lone ratpack. Anyone know who the 24 libs are that are not running in next election. Dion, on giggles would not commit to naming Justin Trudeau as a candidate, said he should maybe try another riding and earn the nomination. Why is dion afraid of Justin.

I have it on good authority that, if the Liberals had won the last election, they had already prepared an NEPII ready to go.