I agree with the points about the Major Projects Office being a work-around that primarily reveals how broken the baseline is. But I think it has another even more concerning fault: it entrenches political favor as the chief criterion for what economic activity is permitted to take place in Canada.
There has always been political meddling in project approvals. I remember Sheila Copps abusing the federal EA process to hold up the Red Hill Creek expressway in Hamilton. But it was done in the shadows, covered in a mist of shame. Politicians would indignantly insist that there was no political input whatsoever into how long the process took.
No longer. Bestowing political favor on this project but not that one isn't a grubby exception discussed in whispers; it's the proud signature initiative of the Prime Minister of Canada. Carney is so Euro-fancy that it's easy to fail to recognize that this is banana republic stuff.
And why are we declaring (in the politicians' sole, arbitrary discretion) that this copper mine and not that one is in the "national interest" and can therefore get built actually, not just theoretically? Are we prioritizing some scarce resource here? Why can't we approve ALL the mines that are fit to approve? We don't prioritize which businesses are permitted to start, what patents will be granted, or which restaurants may have liquor licenses this year. Comply with the rules and go. But for a "major project", you'd better impress the Big Man.
I have lived in Ne York City, and the surrounding suburbs for 20 years. With the passage of time, memorials on 9/11 have changed. This year though, the vibe was much… less? Then in prior years. I hadn’t noticed it until you mentioned it, but now that you have it’s really obvious. It passed with very little comment, whether from conversations with friends and coworkers, or comments on my neighborhood Facebook groups. It really is much leas noted this year.
Good podcast. Bleak AF, but that is where we are now.
Warren Kinsella said that America ended at Sandy Hook. For me, he was right. If all those dead children didn't wake people up, I doubt anything will. This was growing for years and its been hand-in-hand with technology. Everyone has a tv studio in their pocket. Everyone is half past angry and well on the way to something worse, I fear.
Humans created the ultimate communications tool that everyone and their dog has globally - a smart phone. Irony is that in 2025, human beings don't really talk that much any longer and instead, thumb type. People's minds have been rewired by the technology and the algorithms point us in the direction of countless places to lose one's @#$%.
The pandemic pushed everyone and everything well beyond the tipping point.
High speed rail... In 2009 California started building a line connecting San Francisco to Los Angeles. It was originally supposed to be completed by 2020 at a cost 0f $33 billion. So far, there is no clear completion date, the cost will be at least $100 billion, and there is no service, not even between intermediate points.
Granted, the California fiasco was caused in large part by all the processes needed to assemble land and so on. But what makes us think that Canadian regulatory processes are any better, what with social acceptability and environmental impacts?
Even if Canada does manage to build high speed rail, it will come on line much too late to help with the problems faced by our economy. And even if it were to come on line within a year (hah!), would this help diversify our exports? Would it provide significant new jobs? Would it increase the productivity of Canadian businesses? Would it attract significant foreign direct investment? I very much doubt any of these would happen.
Still, the announcement makes me optimistic. Perhaps Carney knows all this, and is counting on a lengthy planning process as an excuse not to actually start building anything. The announcements will happen. Environmental friendliness would be signalled. A nostalgia for the good old days of useful passenger rail would warm our hearts. All with a minimum of actual expenditure. Or such is my hope.
Interesting 9-11 comment. I went to the memorial in NYC in 2017 and then again in 2024. The first time it felt like a memorial. The second time it felt like a museum. I chalked it up to the passage of time. The technology is now ancient. The images are grainy. I feel like I watched something move from reality to history.
Sure, political violence on both sides, because neither has a monopoly on the mentally ill rejects who commit these acts. But what is lopsided is the reactions from prominent people ranging from bullshyte equivocations, to "I don't condone violence buuuuuut ;)", to outright celebration - we saw the same thing with Charlie Hebdo, with October 7th, with the Trump attempt, now with Kirk... Again, not just random anons but prominent people who feel comfortable doing it proudly under their own names, because they clearly exist in an environment where that is the default position.
I listened to this pod on the train from Toronto to Ottawa. I travel there often and prefer the train but it is always, always late. If you have to be somewhere at a specific time, you either after to budget in a few hours for delay or go another way. But it is stress free and with -- mostly reliable -- Wifi, you can be productive while you travel.
I agree with the points about the Major Projects Office being a work-around that primarily reveals how broken the baseline is. But I think it has another even more concerning fault: it entrenches political favor as the chief criterion for what economic activity is permitted to take place in Canada.
There has always been political meddling in project approvals. I remember Sheila Copps abusing the federal EA process to hold up the Red Hill Creek expressway in Hamilton. But it was done in the shadows, covered in a mist of shame. Politicians would indignantly insist that there was no political input whatsoever into how long the process took.
No longer. Bestowing political favor on this project but not that one isn't a grubby exception discussed in whispers; it's the proud signature initiative of the Prime Minister of Canada. Carney is so Euro-fancy that it's easy to fail to recognize that this is banana republic stuff.
And why are we declaring (in the politicians' sole, arbitrary discretion) that this copper mine and not that one is in the "national interest" and can therefore get built actually, not just theoretically? Are we prioritizing some scarce resource here? Why can't we approve ALL the mines that are fit to approve? We don't prioritize which businesses are permitted to start, what patents will be granted, or which restaurants may have liquor licenses this year. Comply with the rules and go. But for a "major project", you'd better impress the Big Man.
Perhaps Matt might have some thoughts about this for next week's podcast: "A Mississauga father says he was forced to personally track down the driver who fled after striking his 13-year-old son — frustrated by what he describes as a slow police investigation...a left-turning Toyota Sienna struck the boy head-on, tossing him several feet into the air before he fell in the middle of the crosswalk." https://www.ctvnews.ca/toronto/local/peel/article/mississauga-father-says-he-tracked-down-driver-who-left-scene-after-hitting-his-13-year-old-son-near-school/
I have lived in Ne York City, and the surrounding suburbs for 20 years. With the passage of time, memorials on 9/11 have changed. This year though, the vibe was much… less? Then in prior years. I hadn’t noticed it until you mentioned it, but now that you have it’s really obvious. It passed with very little comment, whether from conversations with friends and coworkers, or comments on my neighborhood Facebook groups. It really is much leas noted this year.
I don't know what's up. I have a theory or two, but they're really just guesses. But man. Yeah. Palpable shift this year.
I think we can't discount that a generational shift has occurred since 9-11 - fueled in large part by social media and smartphones.
Good podcast. Bleak AF, but that is where we are now.
Warren Kinsella said that America ended at Sandy Hook. For me, he was right. If all those dead children didn't wake people up, I doubt anything will. This was growing for years and its been hand-in-hand with technology. Everyone has a tv studio in their pocket. Everyone is half past angry and well on the way to something worse, I fear.
Humans created the ultimate communications tool that everyone and their dog has globally - a smart phone. Irony is that in 2025, human beings don't really talk that much any longer and instead, thumb type. People's minds have been rewired by the technology and the algorithms point us in the direction of countless places to lose one's @#$%.
The pandemic pushed everyone and everything well beyond the tipping point.
High speed rail... In 2009 California started building a line connecting San Francisco to Los Angeles. It was originally supposed to be completed by 2020 at a cost 0f $33 billion. So far, there is no clear completion date, the cost will be at least $100 billion, and there is no service, not even between intermediate points.
Granted, the California fiasco was caused in large part by all the processes needed to assemble land and so on. But what makes us think that Canadian regulatory processes are any better, what with social acceptability and environmental impacts?
Even if Canada does manage to build high speed rail, it will come on line much too late to help with the problems faced by our economy. And even if it were to come on line within a year (hah!), would this help diversify our exports? Would it provide significant new jobs? Would it increase the productivity of Canadian businesses? Would it attract significant foreign direct investment? I very much doubt any of these would happen.
Still, the announcement makes me optimistic. Perhaps Carney knows all this, and is counting on a lengthy planning process as an excuse not to actually start building anything. The announcements will happen. Environmental friendliness would be signalled. A nostalgia for the good old days of useful passenger rail would warm our hearts. All with a minimum of actual expenditure. Or such is my hope.
Interesting 9-11 comment. I went to the memorial in NYC in 2017 and then again in 2024. The first time it felt like a memorial. The second time it felt like a museum. I chalked it up to the passage of time. The technology is now ancient. The images are grainy. I feel like I watched something move from reality to history.
Sure, political violence on both sides, because neither has a monopoly on the mentally ill rejects who commit these acts. But what is lopsided is the reactions from prominent people ranging from bullshyte equivocations, to "I don't condone violence buuuuuut ;)", to outright celebration - we saw the same thing with Charlie Hebdo, with October 7th, with the Trump attempt, now with Kirk... Again, not just random anons but prominent people who feel comfortable doing it proudly under their own names, because they clearly exist in an environment where that is the default position.
I listened to this pod on the train from Toronto to Ottawa. I travel there often and prefer the train but it is always, always late. If you have to be somewhere at a specific time, you either after to budget in a few hours for delay or go another way. But it is stress free and with -- mostly reliable -- Wifi, you can be productive while you travel.