Author: Dennis

Lipstick On The Pig

Gradually Then Suddenly It's Probably Nothing Media New Governor 13 Comments

Inquiring minds want to know: what’s in it for court water carriers who engage in mindless cheerleading for the government of the day? It’s like the scene in The Holy Grail where the armless knight declares, “‘Tis but a scratch!”

Luckily, economists say there is more to a recession than just two quarters of negative growth — namely the 3 Ds — depth, duration and dispersion.

This decline is not even close on depth — amounting to just 0.6 per cent annualized over the two quarters, “barely a scratch in GDP terms,” said Robert Kavcic, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets in a note.

 

Small Victories

Canada’s Bolsheviks Chief Big Screen TV We Are All Treaty People 20 Comments

I’d rather that the Supreme Court ruled that aboriginal title doesn’t apply to government land either, since the acceptance of that precedent has already saddled taxpayers with billions of dollars in undeserved payouts, but at least someone finally drew a line in the sand.

The Supreme Court of Canada has upheld a ruling that Aboriginal title cannot be declared over private land, in a decision the federal government says will have an impact on the Cowichan Tribes case in British Columbia.

 

Falling On Deaf Ears

Canada’s Bolsheviks Gradually Then Suddenly It's Probably Nothing New Governor 14 Comments

It’s not just the federal government that isn’t that interested in Balsillie’s advice. Most provincial governments couldn’t care less either.

Balsillie said those who thrive in today’s economy own and control intangible assets such as data, AI and IP, and the U.S. has “turbocharged their capture,” but Canada’s economic game plan has stayed stuck in the decades-old “tangible production economy era,” while the new assets of the new economy require different strategies.

What’s In A Name?

Canada’s Bolsheviks We Are All Treaty People 26 Comments

Changing place names isn’t cheap, and it’s not made any better when the new names are often jibberish. But all levels of government in Canada seem to be happy to accept this new millstone around their necks.

The replacement of Powell River is already occurring, piece by piece and without public consultation. Powell River General Hospital was renamed in 2022, followed by the school board, both replacing “Powell River” with the name “qathet,” which means “working together.” Furthermore, the regional Vancouver Island University satellite campus was renamed to “tiwšɛmawtxʷ,” meaning “house of learning,” to eliminate references to Israel Powell, a controversial colonial official.

Don’t Let The Door Hit You…

Cancelled Embrace Hollywood Frankly, My Dear Media The Tolerant Left 30 Comments

As someone who could never stand Stephen Colbert’s overtly partisan, sanctimonious political cheerleading for more than a couple of seconds, I don’t think that any new void is being created by his departure; there was nothing but a void to begin with.

Among those sorry to see Colbert go is astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, a frequent guest. Johnny Carson used to book scientists, but Tyson notes wryly that not many TV hosts do these days.

Brehm saw Colbert make himself into a sort of moral authority and lean into the social justice camp of progressive Catholics: “He is playing up that moral quality by standing up for American moral values like freedom of speech, freedom of expression, and he’s doing it with a Catholic jargon, with Catholic language.”

Cry Me A River

Embrace Hollywood Frankly, My Dear 25 Comments

I assume his political and cultural views are pretty similar to his old man’s, so I’m surprised he didn’t cancel the US tour out of spite. I had no idea he even had musical talent in the first place, and even if I did I doubt I’d be rushing to get show tickets.

Kiefer Sutherland is the latest artist to be struck down by the so-called ‘Blue Dot Fever,’ cancelling his upcoming U.S. tour over poor ticket sales.

Sutherland has been playing shows overseas in support of his new album, Grey, and posting videos documenting his experience to social media.

Empty Piggy Banks

entitlement generation Gradually Then Suddenly It's Probably Nothing 14 Comments

Here’s something these folks need to ponder: over 40 years of falling interest rates, often hovering near zero, have made defined benefit pension plans nearly impossible to maintain. The go-to “solution” is to get that magical entity known as “others” to make up any shortfall. But those “others” are growing tired of handing over their capital to be consumed.

Fed into the performance-based formula, those figures have meant former Queen’s employee Gordon Crawley has received no increases since he retired in November 2021. Meanwhile, the consumer price index (CPI) has risen by more than 16 per cent over that time frame, according to Bank of Canada data.

He says it’s been difficult, especially knowing he won’t get any additional payments to top up his pension and help deal with inflation until the fund’s returns have made up for lost ground.

The Carbon Racket

Climate Cult New Governor 18 Comments

A real conservative would have pointed out the absurdity of essentially having to pay protection money to get a pipeline built. It’s a dead loss for every Canadian, not a victory.

At least, that’s how much Alberta taxpayers could be asked to pay in order to prop up Smith’s new memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Ottawa that, among other things, promises to ratchet up carbon taxes to $130 per tonne by 2040. Under Friday’s agreement, Alberta and the feds promised to spend up to $1.2 billion toward that end, splitting the cost equally between both parties.

 

Circling The Drain

Gradually Then Suddenly It's Probably Nothing nannystate New Governor 11 Comments

The first thing a business run by sane people would do when faced with torrents of red ink would be to identify the sectors with the highest costs and highest losses and cut them loose. But when you’re Canada Post, for some reason you do exactly the opposite.

“For now, people who already receive their mail via rural mailboxes will see no change,” the statement said. “These addresses are not part of the initial announcement targeting the four million addresses that still receive home delivery and will eventually be converted to community mailboxes.”

 

Ransom Demands

Canada’s Bolsheviks Chief Big Screen TV We Are All Treaty People 12 Comments

I’m aware of the arguments that colonialists stole land from indigenous folks, but I didn’t know that they deserve some form of reparations for the ocean winds that we are apparently stealing as well. Can anyone make this make sense?

“We’ve seen a lot of positive momentum in advancing economic reconciliation in renewable energy projects as well as other sectors,” congress co-chair Bob Gloade, chief of the Millbrook First Nation in Nova Scotia, said in a statement.

“However, there is a lot of work left to be done. There needs to be committed focus on integration between Indigenous and non-Indigenous businesses in the offshore wind energy sector.”

Stranded Assets

Canada’s Bolsheviks Insufferable Twits New Governor 16 Comments

Ownership without the right to sell an asset means that you aren’t actually the owner of that asset; you’re a serf.

There’s a case to indefinitely keep the Trans Mountain pipeline in government hands, possibly alongside Indigenous partners, say the leaders of its operator and financial overseer.

“It has incredible value,” said Wademan. “There’s absolutely a case to be a long term holder … I personally would love to see it owned by Canadians.”

The Sinking Blowhard

Canada’s Bolsheviks Cronies 17 Comments

I’ve got a better idea as to how the Ontario Tories can regain their lead: get Dougie to resign. If he still wants a career in politics, he can run federally for the Liberals. Somehow I doubt they’d want him.

Now Ontarians have both a prime minister who speaks like a Conservative (sometimes) but spends like a Liberal, and a premier who speaks like a Conservative (until recently) and also spends like a Liberal. What can Doug Ford do to reverse his drop in the polls? Maybe he could try talking — and more importantly, spending and governing — like a real Conservative.

Going Bust?

Gradually Then Suddenly It's Probably Nothing There Goes The Narrative 16 Comments

About 10 years ago I visited Monette Farms and I was intrigued by their aggressive business model. But now that a lot of their debt has to be refinanced at much higher interest rates, their creditors are knocking at the door. I can’t help but think that they’re not alone.

…company founder Darrel Monette put land up for sale to generate cash. His largest creditor, a syndicate of lenders led by Scotiabank, worked with him time and again to try to keep the Saskatchewan-based farm afloat.

It didn’t work.

Monette didn’t sell enough land, and the syndicate loan, originally $950 million with $830 million outstanding, came due April 15. Monette owes about $905 million in secured debt, and the nearly 500,000-acre operation faces massive restructuring if it hopes to survive.

 

Borrow Some More, Daddy!

Drain The Swamp Gradually Then Suddenly It's Probably Nothing 6 Comments

Judging by the headline, you’d think that the United States was the only country facing this problem. It would be difficult, in fact, to find a nation that isn’t looking down the barrel of the same gun. Aside from Milei in Argentina, it would be just as difficult to find a government willing to turn down the spending taps in any meaningful way.

As of Tuesday, government debt held by the public is about $31.27 trillion, according to the US Treasury. Meanwhile, the US nominal gross domestic product (GDP) from April 1, 2025, to March 31, 2026, was an estimated $31.22 trillion, according to new Commerce Department data released Thursday.

Circling The Drain

entitlement generation Gradually Then Suddenly Great Moments In Socialism It's Probably Nothing 16 Comments

Two notable takeaways from Newfoundland’s recent budget: this is a record breaking deficit figure from an allegedly conservative government, and health care now eats up nearly half of all spending. We’ll be well on the way to two thirds before long and that will be the case for every province.

The budget forecasts a deficit of $688.5 million and a $20.8 billion net debt by the end of the 2026-27 fiscal year.

The province will spend $5.4 billion on health care — 42 per cent of its entire expenses — including more than $47 million to create 200 new long-term care beds.

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