25 Comments
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HS's avatar

Re bill C-59: turnabout is fair play. It is just as valid to include the wind, solar and geothermal industries under the energy producers category and require them to prove that their choice of renewable energy actually provides the benefits they say they do at a cost that is fair to the consumers of their product and with the same 24-7-365 reliability as conventional energy sources. Moreover, they need to be upfront about the associated environmental costs, like those for example associated with the mining and processing of the metals and materials needed to construct solar and wind farms and the impacts on farmland, rangeland and wildlife habitat. That goes for the environmental organizations that push for this technology to the exclusion of the hydrocarbon-based systems upon which viable economies are based, and it could similarly apply to governments that imply there is only one solution to a problem that is by no means universally accepted by all experts. The science is definitely not settled.

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George Skinner's avatar

Since the government failed to specify what an “internationally recognized methodology” is, I’d love to see Canadian energy companies team up with international counterparts to define their own standard.

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B–'s avatar

Electric cars still drive on roads of bitumen.

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Doug's avatar

Two comments:

-C59 seems to focus on business claims. Why doesn't it include claims made by NGOs?

-don't existing securities regulations and common law precident already push companies towards accurate information disclosure?

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Ruth B.'s avatar

It’s so true that the extraction & processing of cobalt, graphite, lithium, and nickel have a huge negative impact on the environment, not to mention the dreaded carbon emission footprint of that industry. Why is everyone so quiet about it?

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NotoriousSceptic's avatar

Because the ideology of the enviro-fanatics requires the silence. Facts and empirical observations are not allowed. This is a direct parallel to the Spanish Inquisitions, and most unholy it was. This electro-enviro type of artificially created mass hysteria with time will also prove as most unholy.

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Gregory Murray's avatar

WRT Parlimentarians actively working for foreign powers against Canada. Until I know the names of those involved I will consider them all suspect from the Leaders to the backbenchers.

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Eric Shields's avatar

The 3 you mention as potential Liberal leaders gave me the shudders. Carney is a Ignatieff in waiting, Freeland is a Trudeau clone, Anand is much too associted with Ontario. I think the dark horse could be Dominic Leblanc. Effortlessly bilingual, TV friendly, has Liberal blood in his veins and has a lifetime understanding of the levers you need to pull to get things done.

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NotoriousSceptic's avatar

None of those 3. A real harmless circus clown is most preferable, as contrast to the destructive clown we have now.

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NotoriousSceptic's avatar

The Unsmoke ad makes me want to go buy and smoke a pack of cigarettes or hand-rollies from a packet of real tobacco. I am a past smoker so I know what I am talking about.

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Dean's avatar

But at least Jen sounds soothingly convincing versus Matts’ attempt

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NotoriousSceptic's avatar

Funny, and true.

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Tony I's avatar

Nenshi's policy mind is a myth. He says what will get him liked, and that's bad for governmenting well.

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George Skinner's avatar

I think the anger you’re referring to is a product of frustration. That frustration is itself a product of the COVID pandemic. People lost a couple of years: lives and careers kind of went on hold, and now there’s been a rapid shift and sense of dislocation due to the shock of inflation, higher interest rates, and a collapse of the whole frothy tech and gig economy.

Progressivism and progressive technocracy reached an insufferable crescendo around 2020, facilitated by support for COVID mitigation measures and too many people stuck at home with nothing to divert themselves from political arguments. This fueled a populist backlash, and the progressives and the populists are like Communists and Brownshirts battling it out in social media instead of the streets of Weimar Germany.

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Claire's avatar

My favourite podcast each week but I have 2 gripes: a lot of both G&G talking at the same time as well as dead air, and it should be ad-free for paying subscribers

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Line Editor's avatar

Just fyi, we have just one feed for the verbal podcast, and it's a completely free product. We actually don't know how to separate a paid sub vs. non paid sub podcast feed, but this is something we are looking into. In the meantime, paid ads are the only way we can recoup costs on the audio and visual podcast, which cost a lot more to produce in addition to our time.

By comparison, written content for the Substack that is put behind the paywall (which increasingly is what G&G write) is only available to paids. As is access to our comment section. JG

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B–'s avatar

I think that might be due to the internet cutting in and out. It’s annoying, but I am not sure what they can do.

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Bree L Cropper's avatar

Glad to hear greater focus on BC is upcoming!

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Toni Serofin's avatar

Hey folks. I listened to Friday’s podcast on Spotify. There was a delay in the last segment that had you constantly talking over each other. PS. I appreciate the addition of a BC reporter to your team. We’re just as nuts as the rest of the country over here. PPS. Jen, do lots of research before moving to an island with no hospital and only ferry, private boat and float plane access.

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john's avatar

One of your earlier columns has me thinking about SOGR, like all the time. I live in a city too, fortunately not droughty Calgary nor poopy Vancouver, but it does make me wonder how MY city is dealing with SOGR.

This is an election year, so I guess I get to ask the mayoral and city council candidates. Lucky them!

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John Matthew IV's avatar

My travels have given me an unexpected layover in Calgary. There were extra hand santitaion stations at the airport. I was surprised that I was given a bottle of water for breakfast instead of just a glass. I was not THAT thirsty. I will soon leave but I hope this city solves its water issues.

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CoolPro's avatar

Off topic, but didn't know where else to post it so that as many Line Readers as possible get to read it. Not BS or a joke, but rather a serious discussion in the paper below.

Relevant, I think, because politicians, their staff, and in fact, most folks have been making use of ChatGPT and similar programs in their work. Even journalists use it, I'm told by a reliable source who shall remain anonymous.

"ChatGPT is bullshit"

Published June 2024

Ethics and Information Technology Article:

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10676-024-09775-5

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Line Editor's avatar

AI is overrated. JG

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CoolPro's avatar

And apparently somewhat unreliable for those who can't/don't/won't proofread.

From the paper:

ChatGPT makes factual errors = 'hallucinations' 🤔

Glad I learned to read, write, read some more, write some more, and (eventually) think critically about what I read and write.

Plus, having someone you trust proofread the 💩 you write is always advisable.

I believe they were once called 'editors'.

Most writers hate them.

Necessary evil...?

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raymond's avatar

Okay, for every union, there's an incentive to go all out until the very last moment *cough TTC*

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