Hooray, I’m first!!

Just finished shoveling the driveway once more and for the second time this evening! Man, the snow sure was coming down. I wonder how much will fall overnight?

I wasn’t sure if I should even bother to shovel because only a few weeks ago People#1 was saying something about global warming, with water definitely running in the streets by now. But things don’t appear to be melting and it sure does feel like winter, even though winter isn’t officially here until tomorrow.

Looks like it’s going to be a “White Christmas”, the best kind! With that being said and with this being the last Friday Free For All before Christmas, I’ll take this opportunity to wish one and all a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

I also just finished the the driveway for a second time–fortunately the snow is lite. I would like to wish all a merry Xmas,especially the staff of opinion 250, who give us current events–this is in contrast to the Citizen where we get yesterdays news tomorrow!

Merry Xmas to all, and to all a good nite.

HoHoHo …..

==================================
I have not shoveled my driveway yet.

I have the use of a co-op community shovel once a week to shovel the driveway, so it takes a long time to get a round tuit.

I try to keep in sync with the City plowing of our street so I do not do double duty. ;-

I was thinking about the snow load on the roof. We have had a lot of snow early in the season and it might become an issue later on in the year. It might be best to take it down early with a roof rake while its still light.

My thinking is I wonder if a guy could build a sort of heated roof contraption plumed in through the living room fireplace? Maybe piping though the underside of a metal roof tile that carries antifreeze… like how they heat homes with thermal heat from the ground… and an open close valve so it only heats on warm days above freezing when the fire is stoked up good and hot.

My brother in law had his shop roof collapse in 2010/2011… lots of roofs collapsed that winter. In the Hart I am surprised we don’t hear more about roof collapse occurrences, but no doubt they are out there just waiting to happen.

A power engineer could probably design one that could tap into the community heat system downtown to keep canopies free of ice without a lot of loss of thermal heat… considering one would only be heating the canopy and not the ground as well.

Would be great to have a system that goes together like lego that could be done affordably when redoing the roof….

Disappointed, but not surprised in the Energy review board decision to approve Northern Gateway. We all knew it was a farce process anyways, no different than Christy Clark’s five (unmeasurable) conditions.

My hope is that the Supreme Court will follow their own precedence with respects to native rights. I suspect this will be the case; and then we will have FIPA use its foreign tribunals to over ride the Canadian Supreme Court, and Harper will use the international trade and investment treaty as his out politically… claiming the punitive penalties through FIPA imposed by China are too great for the country to ignore, and with a FIPA settlement in the tens of Billions it will make it more ‘economical’ for Canada to guarantee the full cost of a spill, rather than cancel the project for adverse environmental impacts.

If so, as I have suspected all along, this will lead to not only a showdown between the federal government and native rights, but also a showdown between the Canadian constitution and the supremacy of trade and investment agreements over the constitutional courts of Canada. It could become a direct confrontation between Canada and the new globalist order that is trying to assert its power over that of national sovereignty. Harpers ‘enlightened sovereignty’ legacy is full speed ahead.

Time Will Tell

Have no fear PG, your roads will be plowed eventually. There are still streets in Calgary that have not been cleared, and those are nearly impassable. Only the bus route in my area has been done, but only once though.
There is big snow build up on major routes here that is still a concern.

((( Posted by: Eagleone on December 20 2013 4:43 AM
I was thinking about the snow load on the roof. We have had a lot of snow early in the season and it might become an issue later on in the year. It might be best to take it down early with a roof rake while its still light.)))

((Most)) trusses on the hart are rated for 50 lb per square foot. Cut out a square and weigh it.

Seasons greetings everyone for those who don’t celebrate Christmas and a Merry Christmas to those that do!

So I guess that is the debate! To shovel off the roof or not! I’ve only ever shovelled off my roof once in 30 years. I was careful and still found little chunks of shingle on my lawn in the spring. I have never done it since but I made sure my house insurance covered snow load damage. You can do more damage than good!

So I wonder how far BC will take the Pipeline fight? 51st state maybe?

51st state? Yikes! that’s a bit extreme.
We bought an apartment this summer and now I don’t have to shovel a driveway. Instead, I’ll pop downstairs for a dip in the swimming pool and a quick sauna before work. :)
Best of the season and safe driving, everyone.

Once again I’ve seen people driving who have only turned on their wipers and rolled down the window as their snow removal on their vehicles. Take the extra 5 minutes to properly clear off the snow so that you can see me (and buses!)!!

Merry Christmas Opinion 250 Staff and Commenters

Guess now that Canada’s prostitution laws have been struck down, Harper will be free to sell himself to the lowest bidder without fear of legal reprisal.

The pipeline dilemma.

We can choose to accept the risk of a major oil spill. Over hundreds of years it is probably a near certainty that it will happen, and only a question of when.

Or we can choose a reduced quality of life and reduced social services.

Anyone who pretends its an easy decision is either narrow minded or dim. For informed people its a tough choice. Would I prefer my daughter be virtually guaranteed a lower standard of living? Or would I prefer that we risk Beautiful BC?

I wont pretend I care about anyone who rails against modern society on one hand and then has there other hand out for modern societies money.

wowww lotta snow… LUV driving in the snow… If ONLY people will learn HOW o drive in the winter, it might be more enjoyable for the rest of us..

Merry Christmas to you all. Best of the Season and I hope that you all get to spend some quality time with family and friends. Lets not forget those less fortunate than us. Reach out at this time of year to those in need. It’s the present you give yourself.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/pipeline-safety-incident-rate-doubled-in-past-decade-1.2251771

Facepalm!

Krusty said;
“51st state? Yikes! that’s a bit extreme.”

That was the threat from WAC Bennett during the Columbia river treaty to leave Canada with the Yukon. The Feds listened!

So happy we don’t live by this!

http://fukushimaupdate.com/

51 US sailors suffering from a variety of cancers since helping out at Fukashima in 2011.

With this pipeline going through and making more money for Alberta, I guess all our amis in Qeeebec can whistle a happier tune knowing Alberta will have more money for more enhanced transfer payments to that province. Win win for Alberta and Qeebec. Sale a vee as they say.

After I finish my cornflakes I have to get my snow blower busy on my driveway to rid myself of all that global warming on it.

I shoveled my roof last weekend.
I figured being as it was warming up and we had slush and ice forming, soon to be followed by a snowfall and freezing period, that it would be the proactive thing to do.

Now I don’t need to be concerned about it over the holidays.

Just because we are opposed to a project, does not imply that our economic future is hindered or at risk. There will always be some grand scheme to rape our resources and sell it to a foreign buyer. If it were not for resources, it would be for agricultural products, or manufactured products. That is how international trade works. We have something they want, they have something we want.

I liked Stephen Hume’s headline in this morning’s Vancouver Sun: :NEB’s Northern Gateway approval is Act II in the Theatre of the Absurd.”
How true.

I am reposting this here from another thread since the topic of an oil pipeline though BC has also come up here.

—————————–
Let us say we have the smarts, as a country, to increase the value we add in Canada to products we sell to the world right now and new products we can develop, so that the return on investment to Canada is greater than the return on investment from oil, why would we not want to do that?

Because it is the low hanging fruit, is about all I can think.

If we do not discipline ourselves, as several other well-off countries have done, to access some of the higher hanging fruit that takes more discipline, but has greater and more sustainable rewards, then we will be following the unsustainable path to self sufficiency and we will, one day, become a country that has to hold its hand out for support from those countries that have managed to add considerable value to their resources found between the ears of most humans.

We don’t manufacture much, because China, India and other such countries have taken that role. Our labour (and benefit) costs are too high to make it worthwhile.

If you have ideas how it can work, develop a business plan, start a business, hire some employees and make it happen rather than waiting for ‘someone else’ to do it.

Thanks to the city for plowing as I type this…sure made the walk back from school more pleasant! Merry Christmas to all, happy new year!

“We don’t manufacture much, because China, India and other such countries have taken that role. Our labour (and benefit) costs are too high to make it worthwhile”

Actually they have been given that role. What do you think all the trips to China and other asian countries by our govt’s and our business people tag alongs, are all about?

Merry Christmas to all those that celebrate our festive season.

Had 10 cm of snow here in Abby and its now starting to rain. Roads a bit slushy but still safe to drive. Not as safe down in the big apple . Appears they were a bit slow in snow control and have had some accidents.

Most of all my wish is that there is a change at City Hall for the residents of PG. Good luck for the coming year.
Cheers

JB: you have hit the nail on the head. We have given away our manufacturing ability through a higher standard of living than the rest of the world.

Unions were once critical for worker safety and fair conditions. They have been so successful with their work, that Canada can no longer compete in manufacturing.

Good job looking after workers in the short term.

JB wrote: “We don’t manufacture much, because China, India and other such countries have taken that role. Our labour (and benefit) costs are too high to make it worthwhile.”

What a defeatist attitude!!!

China and India primarily manufacture cheap chit that sells in WalMart.

Right from the start I would say, forget it. We are very capable of starting to compete with those countries that manufacture expensive chit. Start with the bulk of western European countries.

We are competitive in some of those areas.

The longer we wait to re-tool this country to reduce (not abolish) the amount of dependence on un-improved raw materials, the worse it will be to catch up. Re-tooling a country takes decades, not months.

JB wrote: “Our labour (and benefit) costs are too high to make it worthwhile”

Tell that to the lumber and pulp industry that re-tooled over the past 2 decades and even before that to a slower extent and can stay in the black with selling product for considerably less than they received a decade ago. It might not be the rosiest picture, but the countries sawmills and pulpmills are still operating and selling more to other countries since they discovered that they cannot rely on the USA.

It is time that sank in and play our cards with that premise in all our export activities.

The strange thing is, we have a conservative government in power that promotes free enterprise and competition and they seem to be the last who are able to understand that notion and put policies in place which will make Canada more competitive, not by lowering the standard of living with lower wages and fewer jobs, but by raising the capacity to build top of the line products as well as services so that we can keep the wages we are used to by giving away our beaver pelts for glass beads.

gus: “What a defeatist attitude!!!”

Not really. I’m just someone who has observed a lot of people who can identify and detail problems, but have few solutions.

Maybe we can start to change when people learn to be more adaptable. The recent outcry over the Postal Service is a good example.

“China and India primarily manufacture cheap chit that sells in WalMart.”

What about electronics? It’s not all about dollar store items, although that is certainly one component.

The consumer market has spoken loud and clear in that they would rather pay $100 for a table manufactured in China rather than $500 for one made here.

Social Democracies across the globe have large, profitable, manufacturing industries. Some of these countries even import their feedstock or commodities and then turn around and sell the finished product, all the while paying great wages with benefits and vacation allowances.. Please stop with the attack on Canadian wages and lifestyle. It’s BS. The party’s of this country lack the political will to demand we maximize the value we could receive from our resources. Wake up folks, we’re selling our children’s wealth for bottom dollar.

“The strange thing is, we have a conservative government in power that promotes free enterprise and competition and they seem to be the last who are able to understand that notion and put policies in place which will make Canada more competitive,”

I don’t think that the Harper crowd are true free market conservatives. They lean toward crony capitalism. Also, they aren’t keen on science, which is a major driver of innovation.

Gus. So the lumber sector is more competitive at making 2×4’s. How is that value added? Don’t see many furniture manufacturers in Canada. Hell, we can’t even compete at making ketchup. The economic reality seems to allude you. I totally get what you would like to see, we all would. But people don’t invest money on what should be, it invests on what “it is”.

I know you expect the government to spear head your utopia, but the country and world are dealing with the wreckage of government forward thinking. Look at Ontario, a case study in this flaw. Mcguinty was going to develop a world class alternative energy power house. Thousands of green jobs. The result…exploding power prices rendering their diminished manufacturing sector even less competitive and huge job losses.

would you put up a billions to build high end electric cars in Canada?

“What about electronics?”

===================================

You mean like Panasonic, Sony, Samsung, LG, Siemens, Phillips, General Electric or Apple?

Last time I checked, those corporations are Japanese, Japanese, South Korean, South Korean, German, Dutch, American and American.

You may have lots of stuff in your house that was “made in China”, but how much of that came from a company founded, developed and headquartered in China?

It’s one thing to use China as part of the manufacturing chain, but you can bet that the brain trust and control for all of those companies is sitting somewhere else and that the wealth generated by those companies eventually filters back to the “home land” in some way shape of form.

You can also bet that loads and loads of high paying jobs are associated with those companies in the “home land”. Jobs in marketing, product design, R&D, engineering, finance, etc.

Generally speaking, Canada doesn’t have the foresight to build a multi-national conglomerate. We’d prefer to just open our doors and let others setup an operating division here so that we can pretend we’re in the game.

NMG what about nortel? Blackberry? Once world leaders. All they needed was you and your vision on the board.

When you walk through an industrial plant you will notice manufacturing equipment from Sweden, Finland, Germany, and several Asian countries. These companies use this equipment in their homeland facilities, besides exporting to other countries. Technical and production automation, consultation and innovation also come from these countries. They have a high standard of living, yet continue to be innovators. They invest in learning and believe in themselves. Despite their high wages and comfortable lifestyle.

30 yrs ago, if you walked through a large industrial plant, much of the equipment would be Canadian made and designed.

When are they going to start making some chip truck drivers start wearing a “L” placard on the back on the truck. Beige one putting his chains on a corner half way up Peden Hill. Smarter one, but not by much, putting his on in the decel lane to Mohawk instead of the area provided.

I think Billposer has it right and I think this has been the problem in Canada since confederation. Canada has always been willing to sell out our resources for a fast buck and in only rare cases, we’ve spent the time, money, and human capital to develop profitable and sustainable manufacturing at the tertiary level (i.e. more than just 2X4’s). Even when we did get it off the drawing board, how many times has it been sunk by outside forces (Avro, DeLorean, etc.)? Yet, it can be done. Look at the audio industry where companies like Oracle, Paradigm, PSB, Mirage, Energy, Totem, Bryston, Sim Audio, and several others are world-renowned and highly successful.

Anyone know how the Nissan Leaf is performing?

JB writes: “The consumer market has spoken loud and clear in that they would rather pay $100 for a table manufactured in China rather than $500 for one made here.”

Boy do you have blinders on!!!!

You are looking at the Canadian and US consumer market only. Why do you restrict the market to 30 or so million who love cheap chit?

For starters, go for the 30 million in China that have enough money to buy $1,000 coffee tables.

Make the maple leaf on a product a sought after symbol on products and services which are excellent rather than mediocre.

I totally agree that generally, other than lumber and some similar products, we cannot compete with cheap goods or services.

Dow7500 wrote: “Gus. So the lumber sector is more competitive at making 2×4’s. How is that value added?”

Did I write anywhere that it is value added? It is value added over logs. But it might actually be better to chip more of the trees and make pulp out of it.

The other thing, of course, is that we do not even make paper products in PG and very little in BC.
————————————-

I would not put any significant amount of money into any unproven or emerging technology to bring it to the manufacturing level until the final product is being purchased in the end user market.

HOWEVER, I would put money into research to improve the manufacturing, maintenance and marketability of such products.

In other words, we cannot sit back and watch other countries taking that initiative AND risk, and expect to make a fortune by buying the patents or licenses.

The best we can hope for in that case is that they set up a plant in Canada to serve our market.

“NMG what about nortel? Blackberry? Once world leaders. All they needed was you and your vision on the board”

===================================

What is your point? That Canadian business, like any in the world, can fail or fall upon hard times? I don’t think this is news to anyone . . .

“Look at the audio industry where companies like Oracle, Paradigm, PSB, Mirage, Energy, Totem, Bryston, Sim Audio, and several others are world-renowned and highly successful”

I think this is a GREAT example. It’s also worth noting that many of these companies were assisted through the National Research Council.

http://www.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/eng/achievements/index.html

I think we need more innovators in Canadian industry and less “we can’t possibly compete” types.

So here’s irony for you. Yesterday I went to PK to help out with ski patrol – but first, the girl who died was not out of bounds, she was off to the side of a run in the trees – I talked to the fellow who recovered her, and it was just a tragic accident.

But my main beef. So, I volunteered yesterday to do first aid for injured people, and got caught in that snowfall on the way home – whiteout conditions. So, I’m cautious – doing about 80ish most of the way, pulling over and letting anyone who caught up to me to pass – when safe to do so. I get to the Salmon Valley Hill, a guy comes right up behind me, follows too close, then passes on the downhill – even though there’s a passing lane 2 km ahead, then just as he get’s in front of me, pulls in, puts me in a complete blinding whiteout, and I fortunately manage go stay on the road.

The irony – his truck had a Mobile Treatment Centre unit in the back. So, a guy who does first aid for a living, almost kills a guy who did first aid for free, because 80 km in blinding snow conditions wasn’t fast enough and 2 km was too long to wait.

I’ve learned my lesson – I’ll take the PK bus from now on. It only takes one idiot to ruin your life.

An interesting notion promoted by economic researchers at MIT and Harvard. The notion of economic complexity. The index is based on the types of goods a country produces for export. The higher up on the scale the more the products reflect knowledge input as well as uniqueness of product. In other words, few other countries produce similar goods.

Generally speaking (which means not true in all cases), the higher up on the index, the more versatile the country is and the more resilient it is over the long term. It is an alternate view of how to measure countries against each other than simple GDP $ measurement.

http://atlas.media.mit.edu/rankings/country

Here are the rankings for those who do not like to click through ….. Can you find Canada?

The last number is the economic complexity indicator.

It is just for goods. I suspect we do better with services.

1Japan2.366
2Germany2.013
3Switzerland1.971
4Sweden1.891
5Austria1.836
6Finland1.743
7Singapore1.673
8Czech Republic1.651
9United Kingdom1.584
10Slovenia1.543
11France1.493
12Korea, Rep.1.492
13United States1.467
14Hungary1.450
15Slovak Republic1.393
16Italy1.321
17Denmark1.278
18Ireland1.246
19Israel1.173
20Mexico1.156
21Belarus1.124
22Belgium1.092
23Netherlands1.049
24Hong Kong1.028
25Poland1.026
26Croatia0.991
27Romania0.935
28Spain0.934
29China0.892
30Panama0.829
31Thailand0.814
32Estonia0.788
33Norway0.783
34Malaysia0.760
35Portugal0.688
36Lithuania0.676
37Serbia0.635
38Bosnia and Herzegovina0.587
39Latvia0.584
40Bulgaria0.579
41Canada0.566
42Ukraine0.550
43Turkey0.419
44Lebanon0.386
45Russia0.314
46Jordan0.306
47Tunisia0.274
48New Zealand0.269
49Costa Rica0.257
50Moldova0.244

NMG wrote: I think we need more innovators in Canadian industry and less “we can’t possibly compete” types.”

Which brings up the example I have referenced before of the fellow who did solar cell research at Waterloo University with Canadian dollars but could not find investors to set up a plant here.

Germany made him an offer to build a plant, and he took it and they built it.

My small Canadian Caps RRSP portfolio is made up of advanced Canuck companies such as this. The portfolio had an annual rate of return for 2013 of 29% …. not shabby.

We can do it!!!

http://www.nordion.com/our_company/about_Nordion.asp

solutions Gus?

If you’re interested in the economic complexity measure that gus mentioned, there’s a whole book you can download from the same site: http://atlas.media.mit.edu/book/
One part explains the theory, the other part contains the country-by-country information.

Solutions? ….

Just like snow removal. Get you head out of the snow and realize that we are not the experts at removing snow economically and effectively in PG and find those people who are, talk to them, observe them, and copy them.

It is the old adage: Adopt, Adapt, Develop.

That means if there is someone else who has invented a way of moving from A to B and it works for you, then adopt the system.

If it does not quite work for you, then adapt it to you situation.

If there is no one who has figured out how to move from A to B yet, then invent it and develop it yourself.

I would go for either 1 or 2 to start with.

Look how winners do it. Forget about the losers.

Another company and product that people do not think about …. headquartered in Montreal.

http://www.5nplus.com/index.php/en

BTW, I used to have an investment in a Canadian resources portfolio … that took a nosedive over a 10 year period and got rid of it over time.

So what do you invest in DOW7500 and how successful have you been?

Gus, I hope the ghosts don’t scare you on Christmas Eve.

Well this is interesting:

http://www.neb-one.gc.ca/clf-nsi/rpblctn/ctsndrgltn/mmrndmndrstndng/fshrscnscnd2013_12_16-eng.html

Per the link:

The NEB and DFO have entered into a MOU regarding fish and fish habitat. Through this MOU, the NEB will now be responsible for assessing potential impacts to fisheries from proposed NEB regulated pipeline and power line applications.

Applications submitted to the NEB shall be reviewed under the Fisheries Protection Provisions of the Fisheries Act to determine if impacts shall occur, and if an authorization will be required under the Fisheries Act. The NEB shall also become responsible to determine if proposed projects will impact aquatic species at risk and require permitting under the Species at Risk Act. If the NEB determines than an authorization or permit will be required, DFO shall be notified and will be responsible for issuing the authorization or permit.

So we sell all the coal we can. We export gas and oil and want to sell much more. But for our own use we are charged a carbon tax! Just how idiotic is that. Oh silly me those in government know the carbon tax is based on politicized science not real observiable science. It is about the tax and only the tax not the facts.

http://www.nordion.com/our_company/about_Nordion.asp

===================================

Hey gus, that company is just a little ways down the road from me. There are lots of those “can do” companies down in that area. Its actually a great example of what a tech cluster within a city can look like.

Carbon tax, export tax, excise tax, sales tax, public transit tax …. a tax is a tax is a tax.

I think we need to put a whopping tax on outdated light bulb technology.

CT has a wonderful selection of LED lightbulbs which are dimmable, warm or cold spectrum, etc. but hellishly expensive.

The same thing can be gotten on the web for 20 to 30% of the price and no tax in some cases, just shipping costs which also go away if you buy a reasonable volume.

Gus, I’m cash if you care. As for your small cap fund, you can’t be serious. You had a good year, great. Look back at small cap returns and they suck. We had a private equity/small cap incubator program called labor sponsored funds. Working opportunity fund was one. There were tax credits at the provincial and federal level. When put into an rrsp, you were in for 30 cents on the dollar. Ask anyone who got sucked into them how that worked out. WOF had one home run out of a pile of losers. 8 year hold and zero liquidity in between. The tax credits cost the treasury plenty. good concept, crap results. Reinforces my point, you can’t push the rope on innovation.

I know i’ll catch hell but the Harper government has it right. Lower taxes and let the market sort it out. R & d tax credits turned out to be totally abused with no net result. sounded good, results sucked.

The list is long and poor of government programs trying to move Canada into a leader of innovation. Stop flogging the dead horse. You want innovation? stop doing the same sh;t that has never worked.

There you go, NMG. I thought you would look it up. Did not expect it to be that close. Most of those companies are in the west end I guess.

The Canadarm was designed and, I believe, manufactures in Smith Falls. I think there is a knowledge pool around there that knows how a business plan for something like that gets put together.

Corel was born in Ottawa as well. But it has seen better days. Many of those kind of industries have short lives, but people regroup and form new products and services.

It is the way it works these days. I suppose that it makes it that much easier to actually start up a business instead of having to go against large conglomerates. Small, lean and mean is beautiful. But one needs to have a competitive and can do attitude, otherwise you are defeated from the start.

I have also recounted on here before that one of the directions PG’s IPG should be looking at seriously is the pharmaceutical industry. Like many businesses, it has cells all over the world which feed components into an assembly area, similar to car and aircraft manufacturing.

Becoming a part of such an industrial cluster would make a lot of sense with the airport facility we have here. Most of those components are light and relatively expensive by weight so that shipping costs are minor against the total value.

We need someone who really understands the industry and has the needed connections to put a deal together.

IPG really does not have the kind of people that I think can even begin to do a preliminary search to find a dealmaker like that.

We should really find someone in the forest industry who can do that. At least we have a background in that.

Christmas eve is the time for the Christkind to come. No ghosts. Just happy memories.

Hope all those gas stations in PG get a clump of coal in their stocking sticking it to us at Xmas with the 118. price of gas Six cents more then Costco. They just done get it……

Yes, the entrepreneurial spirt is very important. Canadians also tend to be more risk averse that others, so that can hinder investment. This is one reason why some of our promising start-ups leave. They just can’t find the capital here. We’ll subsidize their education and we’ll help get them up and running, but we often won’t invest in them to get them to the next level. As such, we lose out and others gain.

That clustering of like minded businesses is so important. It can help develop that culture of “can do” and even though they are competitors, they can also learn from each other and feed off of each other. This leads to a stronger industry as a whole and more opportunity.

If there is one area in the country that should be a leader in advancing our forestry based economy and taking it into the future, it should be the PG area. The history is there, there are people with industry know how, the potential for research is there with UNBC and the WIC, etc. Will it ever blossom into something? Who knows. Are there enough people willing to look beyond traditional products? Who knows. Are the big players even interested in expanding beyond their core businesses? Who knows.

None of this stuff is without risk, but I think it was Wayne Gretzky who said you miss 100% of the shots that you don’t take. There isn’t a large company in the world that started off with absolute assurances that they were going to succeed. It’s starts with ideas and creating an environment where those ideas can blossom into something meaningful.

I read a lot of comments about Canada’s inability to maximize value added to our natural resources. I also read Bill Poser’s, NMG’s and gus’s comments about the need to increase secondary industry, industrial / economic complexity and agree with all.

One one here mentions “human resources” arguably the most important resource of all… “people”!

Here is an excerpt of a recent study about the ratio of post secondary graduates per capita, and more importantly the areas in which they graduate that supports secondary industry, and innovation of a country’s industry and economies.

“Canada’s relatively low proportion of graduates emerging from science, math, computer science, and engineering disciplines is cause for concern. Canada gets a “C” grade and ranks 12th out of 16 countries. In 2010, Canada ranked 9th. Only 21 per cent of Canada’s university graduates in 2010 were from science, math, computer science, or engineering disciplines. In Finland, 32 per cent of all university graduates were from these disciplines. Although we don’t include emerging economies in our peer group of countries, Canada needs to keep abreast of new global competitors like China and India, which are producing these kinds of graduates at an ever-increasing rate.”

http://www.conferenceboard.ca/hcp/details/education/graduates-science-math-computer-science-engineerin.aspx

We are heading away from science, math, computer science and engineering disciplines, probably because of a Leadership that values none of those qualities, and focuses on the creation of hard “back muscle” resource extraction jobs, as opposed to encouraging the growth of secondary industry and creation of innovative jobs that require the use of “muscle between the ears”!

*No* one here mentions…

The education system in general is a liberal arts monolith and has only itself to blame. A lot less costly than trying to support the sciences and engineering.

Govsux nailed it.

pl, what bs. Our society doesn’t value high end disciplines but backs back muscle mules?
What a stunned position to take?

You do realize there is and will be an extreme trade shortage right? There has and always will be a push for engineers and there like as well, right? Trying to turn this into some political issue continues to expose your trollness.

I said our Leadership, not our society…. do you not know the difference between these two?

Ya, I get it, Harper hates engineers but loves pipe fitters. I get it now.

Well, I’ve had a bad day according to gus. First I was a defeatist, then I had my blinders on. Hopefully tomorrow will be better. ;-)

Good posts by the way.

Happy Holidays / Merry Christmas to the staff at 250, keep up with the quality news reporting in the new year!