Alberta--The Details

Lennox not up to their reputation and much worse!

2012-01-23T15:27:00.000-08:00

Lennox put out a Furnace model XC13 024 230 01 with a faulty computer board in it.

When they discovered this, instead of offering a recall like most manufactures do, they wait until your furnace isn't working and sell you a new, revamped computer board for 500.00.

If you are looking for a new furnace I would suggest you look elsewhere!

Alberta Heritage Savings and Trust fund - deliquent!

2012-01-23T14:56:00.000-08:00

The Alberta Heritage and Trust Fund has been under financial attack by the ruling Conservatives for more than a dozen years!

In this time more than 160 billion dollars has been taken out of the fund, put into the Governments General Operating funds where it has been used like a petty cash account to pay everyday expenses! They have admitted to only 90 billion dollars to date but the draw continues ongoing.

This represents 160,000 loss for every man woman and child in the province of Alberta! Broke? Now, you know why!

Many of the politicians who started the maximum draw down have left the Conservative party and are now running for the Wild Rose Party; most as officers of the party. Alberta can look for nothing better if they are allowed to succeed.

Recently, they have been busted for stealing Alberta Government and municipal pension funds in their trust. This is a new deal for them, they have been doing it for just a couple of years taking from the accounts held by AIMCO. This theft is for 10 to 12 billion dollars (10 or 12 thousands of dollars for every man woman and child in the province).

AIMCo have posted a 8 billion dollar loss this year alone. This, at a time when other pension funds in Canada have appreciated by .5 %. The Alberta Government is their only real customer.

One has to wonder where the RCMP are. AIMCO is not Government and holds no other protection from prosecution so far as I know.

If Albertans do not vote in this coming election and settle on a party outside of the Conservative club, we will have absolutely nothing left!

In the interest of our jobs and industry, I will be supporting the Liberal Party of Alberta often referred to as Red Conservatives.

Flaherty joines Alberta's efforts in Pension Theft!

2012-01-06T21:33:00.000-08:00

This simply makes Flaherty culpable with Alberta in Pension Theft! Earlier this week Alberta was busted for stealing Alberta's public pensions in their trust.

We so very much need police investigation and intervention! I will make inquiries along those lines.

Now, a week later Flaherty is putting out fire controls, trying to make it possible for the Alberta Conservatives to weasel their way out of their shame. The idea is right out of his hat, surprising absolutely every one!

It's not going to work! People will not allow you to paint over the crime! In any case, Alberta does not have the 10 billion dollars or more that it needs to replenish the pensions pilfered.

Alberta Pensions at Risk!

2011-12-17T16:26:00.000-08:00

This post is made up of 3 sections:
(1): An introduction to the financial piracy; a standard practice.

(2)(Italics): The Governments response to the knowledge of the post and their immediate defense proving beyond doubt exactly what they are up to.

(3)The summary; actual post as to the mechanics, how and why and the results.
*****************************************************************

(1)

The Alberta Conservatives are stealing your pensions just like they stole the Heritage Trust Fund.

The Trust fund has been sacked to the tune of 120-130 billion dollars (they have admitted to only 90 billion dollars which is 10 to 15 complete provincial budgets paid for out of that account!

Monies are being transferred out of the fund into the General Operating Expense account where it is used to pay bills there-by allowing the Government to artificially reduce royalties which were to due from the resource people.

They have successfully reduced these royalties to below 5% Canadian dollars where as both BC, Saskatchewan and the east coast are sitting at 20% US dollars! The last election held a promise of royalty increases. Under the gloss of mathematical tables it actually reduced our royalty by changing the money taken from US to Canadian $ a loss of 18% at the time. The people in this province are actually paying the companies to take the oil from the province!

The Alberta Conservatives are running and have been running this province off the good will of Churches, Food Banks, the Heritage Trust Fund and Pensions.

It will be much worse in the future leaving Albertans the laughing stock of the Conservative world!
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(2)
I sent Alison Redford an email with an outline of what I was about to post asking if she had any comments. This prompted a call by them for an immediate meeting of the Treasury Board; invited guests only.

Liepert explained to reporters “It is a small group, but covered all sections of the province.”

All of Alberta watched that dog and pony show on TV! Directly after that, every conservative news outlet in the country gave a less than enthused PS to their news commentary about the big increases in Alberta’s oil outputs which, is a lie.

Immediately Finance Minister Jim Flaherty rushed out to disarm the situation by telling the world he has been considering making this type of robbery legal.
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(3)
The Conservatives are totally immune from investigation no matter how criminal they are! This is a fact, not some cooked up imagination thing; take it to the bank!

There is no fix for this unless you get rid of these guys! With recent "expert articles" in the eastern press we may be able to involve law enforcement from other provinces in this.

The draw down is on all Government Controlled pensions including Civil and Municipal Pensions which are under their control. These pensions will pay only a small fraction of what they promised you!

Pensions are the silent partner in Alberta’s P3 projects and are particularly hard hit! Invested in the ridiculous CCS program; Hendey drive; schools across the province and hospitals newly constructed. The money is supplied at bargain rates; below market values which, is drastically shorting the pensions and is a conflict of interest in any court.

On top of this, many millions of dollars are being paid to the management of AIMCo, out of the same pension funds.

Simultaneously to this post going up AIMCo. which had a 70 billion dollar in Alberta pension Funds reported a 7 billion (10%) loss for last year! They have only 1 customer, the Alberta Government. I know my own pension funds took at hit of 1%

Monies are being transferred out of the fund into the General Operating Expense account where it is used to pay bills there-by allowing the Government to artificially reduce royalties which were to be paid by the resource people. They have successfully reduced these royalties to below 5% Canadian dollars where as both BC, Saskatchewan and the east coast are sitting at 20% US dollars! The people in this province are actually paying the companies to take the oil from the province!

They have absolutely no intentions of paying back the Heritage Trust fund and they don't have any intentions of paying back the monies taken from the pension funds. Indeed; these monies may well be lost and they don't have the 8 to 12 billion dollars they have heisted.

The way they did the drain on the Heritage fund was to peg growth at 4% saying that is rich enough for the Alberta population. They took everything above 4% and put it into general revenues. AIMCo, beyond making the process easier, keeps the pension figures away from the Government workers claiming it is separate.

The news on the Heritage Fund didn't break until it was nearly all gone. We have an advantage this time! They are only 3 years into it!

It is not enough municipalities complain to this Government. It is enough however that you get some lawyers on side and see what you can salvage. Get the Unions involved, now!

The Alberta Teachers Pension fund is robbed regularly and the Teachers Association holds the Government's feet to the fire before each election demanding they top up their pension. I would love to know what kind of rates the Government is paying them to keep them coming back for more. It must be considered a royal investment return; all paid for out of public pensions.

The Wild Rose Party will not offer you any different. They are very much on side with these actions and they continue to promise you they will supply more of the same. They are made up of Conservative executives who want the golden ring for themselves. Time is now for important decisions.

I will be supporting the Liberal Party of Alberta in the coming elections.

R.C.M.P shackled in dealings with the Alberta Government

2011-12-14T14:15:00.000-08:00

Why is it the Conservatives can steal 120 billion dollars from the Heritage Trust Fund without a challenge from the police force?

Why is it the Conservatives can steal more billions from insurance programs held in their trust and invite no examination from the R.C.M.P?

What was the big delay and apprehension in signing the R.C.M.P to another term as Alberta's police force and why was the Conservatives intent in putting in a provincial police force regardless of costs if the RCMP did not come into line?

These and some of the other outrages as in closed bidding and the obvious insider route to granting bids prompted my investigation which has been ongoing over years. Here is the startling results:

The R.C.M.P, if they wanted to be Alberta's Police force had to agree there would be no investigations into the Alberta Government unless they had permission from the Alberta Attorney General first gave them permission to do so.

If they had not done so we would have had a private police force of the Conservatives' personal gangsters and enforcers to make life miserable for any that disagree with them.

We have a new R.C.M.P director in Ottawa now. It is time to write him and see what he can do about cleaning up this obscenity. that has cost Alberta hundreds of billions of dollars!

Alberta Fianace - Heading for disaster big time!

2011-11-04T09:09:00.000-07:00

The Conservatives, through short sightedness and abject miss management has forced this province into a position of being at least, flat broke and at the outside near bankrupt.

During the great, high flying times they had drawn more than 90 billion from the Heritage trust (Arms Length ? AIMCo) Production remains flat meaning little new revenue while expenditures sky-rocket. Recent news broadcasts and releases tout more production but the fine print shows the increases are in foreign holdings.

Make work programs for the resource people costing 9 billion a year or more. Oil companies pulling a million profit or more for non producing wells while workers get 1 week in 3 employment. Not enough for any trickle down luck to take place. If these kids manage to get enough coin it goes for new rims for their favorite truck.

For those of you who think they will not face a heavy load of taxation after the next election; the Government is still short near a billion dollars for new power lines! That coin will come as a new tax measure plus the coin for day to day operations and corporate subsidies.

Much of this loose gold goes to the executive professionals who get full pay, most of whom are foreign educated because of the Conservatives attack on the people of Alberta forcing kids into trade schools rather than leave a University choice. The Conservatives found early on it was cheaper to put their kids though trades schools and employ professions from foreign sources.

Reports of high school students still leaving school to get into the artificial, non existent Alberta boom I find very disquieting.

The Conservatives reduced royalty to 5% Canadian before the crunch! This is not enough money to call it a break even deal! Now, they have no place to move!

Facing an election in the near future and dwindling profits they are trying desperately at taxpayer expense to generate a picture, no matter how false or how costly of a rollicking provincial economy and, it simply is not true.

Probably, "Arms Length" public service pensions administered by AIMCo are being invested in CCS, P3 financing and like programs so they don't show up as a debt. If they treat them like the Heritage fund they will be paid 4% for their "investment" This would be one reason why this Government is pushing so hard on a CCS program rift with misdirection and lies. They have already invested so the WRP grab for attention of saying "stopping CCS" would bring a whole new set of problems.

A Pension Fund was invested in Alberta Conservative projects would show on the pension side of the books as an investment and it would not show as part of the debt on the Government side. If it is treated like the Heritage fund there is no intention of repaying but will hold appreciation very low to push profits onto the projects.

You can see why this Government fought so hard against a Federal Securities commission! If you or I tried anything like this we would be in court!

Strapped for cash they tried Bond funds which didn't fly; industry doesn't trust them; knows better. But it is possible AIMCo bought up a bunch of the bonds and tacked them into their portfolios.

Arms Length with this Government means they can direct the funds which ever way they want, investing in whatever doubtful project they want and the "arms length" comes into effect barring the public from a look at the accounts and investment strategy.

Get rid of these suckers while you still can! And, the WRP is on side with all this stuff so you won't find an improvement there. If anything it will be much worse.

http://canadianimmigrant.ca/news-and-views/foreign-trained-engineers-could-fill-gaps-in-alberta-energy-sector/

2011-11-02T10:04:00.000-07:00

This is the result of the Conservatives ongoing plan to put Alberta talent into trade jobs and import the Engineers and Physicians from abroad.

A dozen years ago the Conservatives took advise they could not support "big business" in the province because of the lack of talent (volume) graduating from Alberta Universities.

They made the decision to freeze university funding at the 1986 levels (where they still are) putting enrollment out of reach of all but the wealthiest families in the province. This plan was totally cemented when Ontario did away with their Senior Matriculation program graduating 2 years of students into 1 year. Because of the lack of space in Ontario Universities many of the excess students found a university in Alberta and paid foreign enrollment fees.

The universities being short funded by the Province had to go after this more lucrative business and the infamous bell curve shot upwards into the high 90s and made room for the brightest from anywhere in the world and Albertans were directed by default into trade schools. Of these, some advertised University courses but, when completed they could not be rolled over to universities. Another year was required at the university for the entrance.

More money was poured into the trade schools like NAIT and SAIT to teach industry designed programs for the resource industry.

The result was Albertans lost their choice as to whether they wanted a higher education or not. They were efficiently channeled into the trade schools and Alberta embarked on a world wide program to attract foreign professions to the Alberta fold.

Much the same thing is happening now, for different reasons. The Conservatives have pushed their Job Job glitz to anyone who would listen. The World Crunch came and is still with us. Make work programs were created to cover them through a new election which is imminent.

Under this program, companies are encouraged to drill wells. They are reporting profits of a million dollars a hole whether or not the holes produce oil. Before the profit is taken, any number of people are hired but some only get 1 week work out of every 3 weeks. Hardly enough cash in the system to promote any trickle down effect!

The Conservatives have advertised aboard for workers to make the province appear that it is short of people. Thousands have arrived from Texas and other oil states in the US to fill some of these positions and they too are taking short hours. Because of loose tax collections they take home a larger pay than do the Canadian people.

The Conservative dream once again. About 8 or 9 billion dollars a year going to the resource industry from taxpayer coffers and being taken up for a larger part by foreign workers while companies take home a million dollars for administration.

Edmonton-based Association of Professional Engineers, Geologists, and Geophysicists of Alberta (APEGGA) is working with engineering bodies in Asian countries, Latin America and elsewhere to try to establish international mobility agreements that will smooth the way for engineers from countries there to qualify more easily to obtain certification in Alberta.

It has long had such an agreement with the United Kingdom. APEGGA is the body responsible for licensing all engineers in the province and for providing ongoing training, as well as working with government, industry and educators to promote the profession.
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-APEGA LOOKS FOR FOREIGN PROFESSIONALS! -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As the Alberta economy shifts into semi-boom mode again, thanks to accelerated oilsands development and unconventional oil and gas expansion, there will have to be more engineers to design the plants and the infrastructure needed to accommodate that growth-and that worries executives with the provincial association that represents engineers.

In that regard, APEGGA has worked with the American Engineering Association, which has an examination it requires foreign-trained engineers to take to work in the United States. APEGGA also has a mentoring program, by which it matches newly arrived foreign-trained engineers with other foreign-trained engineers who have worked in Canada for a number of years.

The association has multi-pronged strategy for dealing with the impending shortage.

One aspect of that strategy is convincing the federal government to allow more foreign-trained engineers to emigrate to Canada. The government has a reasonably aggressive temporary foreign worker program, aimed mostly at filling unskilled worker positions and some trades positions, but APEGGA doesn´t believe its program to allow in permanent trained immigrants is adequate.

It also wants to see the Alberta government bump up funding for engineer training at the University of Alberta and the University of Calgary, the two post-secondary institutions in Alberta that train engineers.
Read the complete story here
For tips in seeking work as an internationally trained engineer, click here

Heartland Power Lines receive Go Ahead!

2011-11-02T09:26:00.000-07:00

The city will grow in that direction at some point, Ifthere is a power supply already in place, growth will be that much moreattractive. That is a plus but the when or whenever comes into play, thecharm is gone.

People get much less exposure to radiation when the towers are aboveground! The magnitisim we speak of here cannot be insulated! It is the distance your bottom is from the wires that you should consider whenyou gauge relative safety.

It really pees me off when I see powerlines across a field one year and go back the next and see apartments andhouses adjacent to them in the same field. Give it another coupleyears and the new residents are saying "move the power lines". Public ignorance on the subject is immense!

The new up graders are a farce! Alberta is trading royalty for upgradersonly because papers like the Sun made such a big deal out of them. We get.48 cents a barrel royalty on bitumen. All the profits from the upgraderstay with the upgrader the taxpayer pays for it all and the Conservatives brag because we get some taxes on profit; the Conservative dream machine.

Finally, if the new lines are designed for DC current, they can move up to 20%more electricity than the same AC line. That is 20% more in the pocket ofproducers (Edmonton) and the taxpayer picks up the bill.

Liepert reminds us Nuclear is still in the mix. He would be speaking of1000 Mw mini nuclear generators which will export to the US on those samelines.

Canada Health Care very inexpensive when compared to the US system

2011-08-05T10:41:00.000-07:00

The Canadian health-care system may be plagued by countless stories of lengthy wait times and crowded emergency rooms, but a new study shows the amount of time and money spent on administrative duties is a fraction of that required by the U.S. system.

The study from the University of Toronto and New York's Cornell University says U.S. doctors pay an average of nearly $83,000 each for administrative costs associated with insurance documents. In Canada, for doctors based in Ontario that cost is significantly less at just over $22,200.

In addition, nurses, medical assistants and other hospital staff in the U.S. dedicate nearly 21 hours per week to filing insurance papers and other duties required to push insurance claims through. For the same duties in Ontario, just 2.5 hours are spent each week.

The findings of the study, published in the August edition of the journal Health Affairs, show that the "single payer" health-insurance system in Canada is largely responsible for the difference between countries.
It said the need for many U.S. patients to carry coverage from multiple insurance providers leads to the more demanding time commitments to file the appropriate documents.
Dr. Dante Morra, the study's lead author, said the time savings felt in Canada go back to help the people who need it most.

"When we look at health care in Canada . . . there's a lot of areas for improvement, but at the end of the day, sometimes we have to sit back and realize there is good access to care for Canadians," said Morra, a Toronto doctor.
"There are a lot of benefits to the way we have structured our system and one of those benefits is this almost nonexistent cost associated with dealing with payment. That time is directly invested into caring for patients."

http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/index.html

2011-07-18T14:34:00.000-07:00

The Calgary Herald, a Conservative News paper, will not allow views or comments which offer in depth or alternate views from the published article.

Some of their Journalists have a spouse working at high stations in the petroleum industry.

Because of these policies, the Calgary Herald relegates its self into the ranks of rags and the people who subscribe to the paper as their sole source of information, leave themselves short.

For this reason the Alberta Conservatives post their "breaking news" in this paper.

With an election around the corner, they do not want their shallow optimism tarnished. The most rampant example of this is when a release is made concerning employment and it is done in such a way to make it sound imminent where in truth the number quoted in the articles cover a 5 to 15 year window.

Also when references are made to the Governments "make work program" for the oil patch. This is an opportunity they took at the time of the downturn and dropped our royalty to 5% Canadian dollars. The announced it was in effect for 6 years.

What they do not say is at the end of six years and possibly before the royalty will be dropping to zero.

It's not make work, it is a Conservative policy.

Alberta told to quit selling the farm!

2011-05-06T12:17:00.000-07:00

The hand picked Conservative panel is setting the stage for Zero royalty!

Our present royalty on oil and gas is down to 5% and taken in Canadian Dollars.
Our tar sands revenue is about 10% now except for the builds and rebuilds which are still at 1%

The Conservatives have capped the Heritage Trust Fund appreciation at 4%. When the fund was probably bringing in 20% at the height of the "good times" anything in excess of the 4% was drawn off and used in General Revenues.

To date they have siphoned off more than 70 billion dollars from the fund for general operating expenses!

That is 11 years of provincial operations have come from the Heritage Trust fund, not the oil industry!

As far as diversifying the economy goes; these guys are simply not interested in doing that. They consciously through away the Alberta Advantage with the open market electrical scam which cost the Alberta Taxpayer 6 billion dollars for power lines.

They curtailed a whole generation of kids opportunities by directing them to trade schools rather than University!

They have crushed other industry to provide labor for the oil industry which, is listed as only #60 in Alberta's list of employers.

Now, fully subscribed to the Conservative indirect taxation program, the cities can charge pretty much what ever they want for electricity, gas and water as the province continues to cut payments and support to communities. The result is the highest priced power in North America! And, its going up as more line charges are added to our bills to cover new construction of power lines.

ATCO some time ago said it was dropping pipeline constructions as they only pay10% on the Government's cost plus schemes whereas Power lines pay 15% on the same cost plus, not audited program.

Ted Morton and the Federal Conservatives are on a course to turn Canada Pension Modifications over to the provinces. This means the province can treat your pensions the same way they treated the Heritage Trust Fund. We have been told in advance to curb our expectations. Wow!

The Wild Rose Party are offering no more than the Alberta Conservative and their trained monkey committees.

We are being totally ripped off by the Conservatives! What will it take for Albertans to get interested in the vote on one hand and look at something other than Conservative to lead their futures.

The most important Vote in Canada's Life!

2011-04-26T09:46:00.000-07:00

Get it right folks; there is no going back!

Layton who put forward reasonable, thinking plans that reflect what people want or Harper, who tells the world he will change Canada so that we will not recognize it? Or perhaps Iggy who has bought into Harper's program hook line and sinker?

Harper had ample time to make adjustments to the Canada Pension Plan to"enhance" it. And he did nothing; waiting to get elected again!

Prior to this Ted Morton in Alberta wanted to pull a new version of the CPP under a provincial plan.

Both ends against the middle; stall the CPP modification until re elected then go with the Morton plan.

The Heritage Trust fund is capped at 4% profit and more than 70 billion dollars (15 years operating capital) has been pulled from the Heritage trust fund and used in general revenues. Do you want you pension to go that route?

The Conservatives on the other hand have dredged up lying figures on the cost of health care on one hand Health Care Lies not 30% of 100% but 30% of 10%

If Harper, May and Iggy get their way the average home in Canada will face150.00 to 400.00 per month medical premiums for partial coverage from private firms.

If Harper and Iggy get their way, NAFTA will be opened and bulk water export will be put under NAFTA which will drive the price of you water bill to heights you could not dream of! We cannot charge the Americans more for water under NAFTA than we are paying.

And, if you live in Alberta you can be sure the water pipelines will go the way It is time for Canadians to look at what matters to them and put their vote in that box; do away with the superstition.

Canada Health Care- What are Legitimate Costs?

2011-04-19T11:54:00.000-07:00

Iggy said he would Convene a First Ministers meet within 60 days of being elected. The First Ministers is ruled by the 5 western and territorial leaders all Conservative.

I say no First Ministers meet until after provincial elections! See:PNWER
http://albertathedetails.blogspot.com/2011/03/conservativerepublican-alliance-pnwer.html

Iggy is onto if not part of the Conservative scheme of privatization as was his sidekick Martin as shown in his last election!

The Canada Health Act does not allow US citizens to come to Canada for medical or surgical repair and Physicians in Canada so want that business. (Who can blame them). Alberta is selling our medical services to the insurers as being better and cheaper than the US. No duplicity here.

American Physicians are looking to Canada's single pay system as being a utopia. Why would we trash our system?

If we come to a basic debate on health care it needs to be public with public access available to the costs in a uniform fashion.

First, rules have to be set down on what can be charged to health care in Canada!

Are junkets to Sweden okay to charge to health care? Are 600.00 plate dinners for 40 people okay to be paid by health care?

Can a Government use health care money to build new hospitals (think Grande Prairie) and turn it over to a private company for 1 cent on a dollar of value and still leave the original cost attributed to health care?

Are Multi Million dollar contract pay outs to US management companies (Capital Health) allowed to be charged to health care? For that matter, should the management company be a health care charge? If so, why not all charges for it be in its own account so we can actually see what health care is costing us; exclude that amount when determining the actual costs.

Is multi million dollars terminations of health care officials a legitimate charge to health care where the Government has decided to change horses?

Alberta (and BC) are driving up their health care costs to get the highest possible charges in there to make their case for privatization easier.

This being the case our overhaul of what goes into Health Care charges should contain agreement for a audit over the past 4 years of health care and take out all those things not agreed to taken out of the costs. Then we can see what our health care charges are.

Laws governing Blue Cross and other private health care providers are needed if we go down that street.

Providers should not be able to cut us off the plan when we hit a major cost. (This is the experience of Blue Cross and others in the US)

Health care providers should have to accept our medical coverage from employer funded health care. (Now, Blue Cross will not accept your experience in a company funded blue cross program. You have to start new with them; less coverage and more expensive, a rip off!

A system of charges, across the board has to be Governed. As it is, the Physicians charge what they want; The Insurers pay what they want and, you are stuck for the difference with no recourse. Remember, universal health care can mean universal nothing is covered to a level of opulence. Think here of your dental coverage. Lose your employment and you and your family don't have any. Seniors don't have any.

I don't trust either Harper or Ignatieff in a First Minister Meeting now; nothing until provincial elections are fought.

Our health care costs us 10.6% of the all encompassing GDP and the US system costs them close to 18% of their GDP and it is leaving 60 million Americans without any coverage and as the Republicans cut Medicaid down there many more millions will be at risk.

The World Health Organization places Canada at 30th in the world and the US at 37th there is room for improvement. The World Health Organization also says that costs are driven up dramatically when countries try to juggle multi payer systems.

Health Care Platform by Conservatives is a lie!

2011-04-08T11:31:00.000-07:00

Conservatives are saying our health care is going to hell in a basket; Canadian Republicans working to install a multi payer system in Canada; the same system that is bankrupting the US!

The US the republicans are trying to eradicate Medicaid! They say " Government has no place in Health Care any place!"

The Conservatives are rushing bogus numbers onto us; scare tactics and it appears Iggy is going along with it.

76.4 % of people who go to hospital are under the age of 65!

Babies under 1 year were the most common.

The average age of hospitalized patients was 39.5 years with half of those being under the age of 36 years. These are not baby boomers!

Only 10.7% are 65 years or older and if this increases 30% , we are not talking 30% of 100%; but 30% of 10.7% that is the scare tactic!

Some 16.4% of the elderly admitted to hospital died as compared to 3.3% of other patients.

Over half of the patients admitted to Intensive Care were younger patients who had more done to them and stayed in ICU longer, the most expensive hospital service. (Life style ailments) I see the latter as being the place to cut health care costs if you feel you must!

Canada single health care payer costs us 10.4% of our GDP. Accepting the Conservatives numbers of a 30% increase, this will move Canadian costs up to 13.9% of GDP while the US Costs them near 18% now and leaves 60 million souls without any coverage!

Health care is divided along party lines; it has nothing to do with cost and effect!

If you never felt you had a reason to vote before, you sure have now! Wild Rose will not offer you any differently than the rest of the Conservatives.

Alberta Politics; Layton is looking pretty good!

2011-03-30T08:59:00.000-07:00

At the moment, Jack Layton - in my opinion is making some sense with his proposals on putting a limit on credit card interest rates, and to provide tax relief and incentives for small business, while raising tax rates on large corporations. He says our business tax rates would always be competitive with those in the US though. Since USA has the highest corporate/business taxes in the world, I guess Canada would have the second highest under a Layton Government.

I think Iggy's proposal on student aid is neither here nor there, but having watched him extensively on TV so far, I think he comes across rather well.

Harper seems completely disinterested from what I have seen of him so far. Continuing this kind of performance I think could put the Conservatives in considerable trouble. Does he have a death wish?

With regard to the televised debates I can't see how the networks can exclude Ms May, with the Green party having more than 5% support nation wide, therefore recieving taxpayer funding, and running candidates across the` country. That's not democracy! And again, Harper is` out of step with the other leaders on this issue.

Interesting announcement from Global TV this morning regarding the leaders' debate` in the next Alberta` provincial election. To participate, a party must have at least 30 seats in the legislature. Thus, only the Conservatives will participate. As they currently have no leader, Global has decided that the debate will consist of Ron Liepert and Gene Zwodzeski debating health care.

By the way, why is it that coalition governments abound and seem to work in a large number of western democracies? to me, these kinds of governments seem to work fairly well and are certainly more inclusive and balanced. Why would a coalition government in Canada be the end of civilization as we know it?

Jack Layton is looking awfully good!!!

The NDP are the only party guarding water sovereignty!

2011-03-22T16:05:00.000-07:00

Thank you for taking the time to share your concerns over Canada's water sovereignty. Happy World Water Day!

Please know that my party and myself share these concerns. In fact, our interest to protect Canada's water resources dates back to Canada's early involvement with the North American Free Trade Agreement.

First and foremost, New Democrats believe that the access to clean water is not a privilege but a human right for all Canadians and people worldwide. We are dismayed that the Conservative government decided against a recent United Nations resolution to recognize access to water and sanitation as basic human rights.

Our vision for Canada includes a commitment to protecting our supplies of fresh water by excluding it from all international trade agreements, privatization and deregulation (http://www.ndp.ca/vision/environment).

Water is our most precious natural resource, but it belongs to both all of us and none of us-it is not a commercial commodity. We have been told repeatedly that our water resources would be protected in trade deals.

However, neither Conservative nor Liberal governments have added water to the list of goods to be exempt from NAFTA. This omission has left a loophole that could eventually cause us to lose control over our own water resources.

We have consistently called for the development of a robust National Water Policy. Such a policy is urgently needed to address important water-related issues facing all of us today - including the roughly 1,700 boiled water advisories affecting Canadians and the negative environmental impact of water use in the tar sands development. While the Harper government committed to a clean water strategy in the past, it has yet to produce one.

Please know that I share your concerns about the NAFTA record-setting $130 million payoff by the Harper Government to Abitibi Bowater. New Democrats have been working to hold the Harper government to account regarding its gross mishandling of this case.

As you may know, NDP International Trade Critic Peter Julian put forth a motion to the International Trade Committee to start hearings into the Abitibi Bowater deal and into the impact of this settlement on future decisions taken in the public interest.

In 2007, when Parliament voted 134 to 108 in favour of preventing bulk water exports, the motion came about from a push by the New Democrats to hold hearings on the impact of the so-called Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP) because SPP negotiations have revived troubling questions over access to Canadian water. Our party worked tirelessly to stop the SPP, which, under the Liberal Martin government, removed Canadian sovereignty of many our natural resources, of which water was a hotly debated issue.

You may also be interested to learn that federal NDP councillors, representing regions and groups from across Canada, have adopted the following resolution on trade agreements:

"BE IT RESOLVED THAT the NDP continue advocating the renegotiation of NAFTA to remove Chapter 11, which enables foreign investors to directly sue governments over public policies.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the NDP advocate amending trade deals to ensure that labour rights are subject to an enforcement mechanism at least as strong as investor rights.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the NDP call for the application of countervailing import tariffs equal to the cost advantage gained by a foreign producer through violations of labour rights and/or environmental standards." (NDP Federal Council Motion-adopted Oct. 2,

2010)

Again, thank you for writing. I appreciate knowing of your interest to have effective measures in place that will preserve and protect our water for future generations. Please know that we will continue to press this important issue.

All the best,

Jack Layton, MP (Toronto-Danforth)

Leader, Canada's New Democrats

Devon, Alberta - The best place to live and raise a family!

2011-03-22T09:11:00.000-07:00

Hi John,

There are 3 charges for natural gas shown on your bill. Fees are broken down as follows:

1. $24 per month is the basic monthly fee

2. $1.36 per Gigajoule is the distribution fee

These first two are charged by the Town of Devon and they include everything involved in delivering natural gas through the distribution system to the home, repairs and emergency response, everything except the cost of gas itself.

3. The third charge is the cost of natural gas itself, which varies monthly. January's price was $4.13. This is price the Town of Devon pays for its natural gas. The $4.13 includes delivery to the outskirts of Devon. Here are the rates so far this year: Jan $4.13, Feb $4.43, March $3.73, the March rate (right now) is below $4.00 per GJ.

Residential homes in Devon pay about $210 less per year for natural gas than other Towns and Cities in the region.

More information:

Devon purchases its natural gas large volumes through Gas Alberta who manage a gas portfolio and purchase gas on behalf of some 79 small gas utilities like Devon’s across the Province. Devon is able to take advantage of purchasing gas in huge volumes. On an average year the Town of Devon consumes some 400,000 Gigajoules (GJ) but as a shareholder Gas Alberta, Devon benefits from the purchasing power of approximately 25,000,000 GJ per year. The result is a cost of natural gas that is typically at par or cheaper than the big utility companies like ATCO & Alta Gas.

The Town of Devon provides the lowest cost of natural gas of the Towns and cities in the region for a typical residential home. The average cost to heat a typical residential home in the region is $1,310 per year. The cost to heat that same residential home for a year in Devon is $1,100. The bottom line is that Devon’s natural gas rates overall, including all charges and fees, are the cheapest in the region by about $210 per year.

Why is the cost less in Devon?

· Other companies charge more for their monthly fees, Devon’s is $24 per month, others are $26 or more per month.

· Bigger companies charge more for their distribution rates, Devon’s is $1.36, others start at $1.46 or more

· Devon benefits from the large purchasing power where the cost Devon pays for its gas is usually at par or cheaper than the big utility companies.

· Other companies may add extra fees added to the bill like delivery costs or rate riders.

Hope I did not bore you with too much information but Devon’s utility rates are very favorable in the region and thought I would give you a more complete response in case you had other questions. Any questions give me a call.

Regards,

ROD FRASER, CET

Director

Public Works and Land Services

Town of Devon

The Conservative/Republican Alliance -PNWER

2011-03-21T12:59:00.000-07:00

This organization, chartered in the US where they do not have to divulge anything under Canadian Law is the tool that Harper will use to "Change Canada so that even the Liberals will not recognize it" and by extension nor will any of us.

BC were up in arms saying no, this is not the case; we are Liberals. Yet, Mr. Harper took the time to thank Gordon Campbell for his help in pushing the Conservative envelope forward.

The mission statement for the group is "Leverage regional influence in Ottawa and Washington D.C."

Harper's recent moves to lay off any number of Federal Employees is the setup for the total privatization of many Federal Departments and/or the licensing aspects of those same departments.

Take a look at the roster for this group and you will see at a glance just how Harper plans on changing Canada and, most of us won't like it.

If Harper gets in again we are in for a totally mean and lean Republican Government.

PNWER FOUNDATION

The articles of ratification were passed in 1991 by similar statutes in the four states of Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington. Alaska passed these same articles by action of its legislative council. British Columbia adopted them by ministerial action, and Alberta passed them by government resolution. Amendments were passed in 1994, adding the governors and premiers, and updating other positions of the statutes.

Direct Link : http://www.pnwer.org/AboutUs/Leadership.aspx

Direct to Supporters: http://www.pnwer.org/Supporters/CurrentSupporters.aspx

Mission Statement and Goals: http://www.pnwer.org/AboutUs/Background.aspx

Alberta
George Groeneveld, MLA
Hon. Rob Renner
David Coutts, MLA (Ret.)

British Columbia
Hon. Barry Penner
John van Dongen, MLA

Saskatchewan
Michael Chisholm, MLA

British Columbia
Premier Gordon Campbell
John van Dongen, MLA

Yukon
Premier Dennis Fentie
Glen Hart, MLA
Hon. Jim Kenyon
Steve Nordick, MLA

Northwest Territories
Premier Floyd Roland
Hon. Bob McLeod
David Ramsay, MLA

Saskatchewan
Premier Brad Wall
Michael Chisholm, MLA
Hon. Bill Boyd
Dustin Duncan, MLA
Lyle Stewart, MLA

Private sector Partners/Sponsors

· Agrium

· AltaLink

· BC Hydro

· BP

· Canadian Natural (CNRL)

· Capital Power

· ConocoPhilips

· Denali - The Alaska Gas Pipeline

· Enbridge

· Enmax

· ExxonMobil

· Fleishman-Hillard

· IHS - Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA)

· Lilly

· Marathon

· Meyers Norris Penny LLP (MNP)

· Microsoft

· Nexen

· NOVA Chemicals

· PEMCO

· Premera Blue Cross blue shield of Alaska

· Puget Sound Energy (PSE)

· Safeway

· SAP

· Sea Breeze Power Corporation

· Shell

· Spectra Energy

· Teck

· TransAlta

· TransCanada

· United Way of King County

Other Government Partners

· Alberta Livestock and Meat Agency (ALMA)

· Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) part of the USDA

· Argonne National Laboratory

· Consulate General Canada-Seattle

· Flathead County Montana Office of Emergency Management

· Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC)

· Idaho National Laboratories (INL)

· King County Office of Emergency Management

· Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

· US Department of Energy

· US Department of Homeland Security

· Washington Economic Development Commission

· Washington State Department of Commerce

· Washington State Fusion Center

Statutory Member Jurisdictions

· Government of the Northwest Territories

· Province of Alberta

· Province of British Columbia

· Province of Saskatchewan

· State of Alaska

· State of Idaho

· State of Montana

· State of Oregon

· State of Washington

· The Yukon Territory

Partner Non-Profit/Associations/Foundations.

· American Chamber of Commerce in Canada - Western Chapter

· Applied Science Technologists and Technicians of British Columbia (ASTTBC)

· Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists Alberta (APEGGA)

· Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Saskatchewan (APEGS)

· Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers

· Cascadia Center for Regional Development

· Institute of Health Economics

· Northwest & Canada Cruise Association

· Northwest Food Processors Association (NWFPA)

· Northwest Power and Conservation Council

· Pacific NorthWest Border Health Alliance

· Professional Engineers and Geoscientists British Columbia (APEGBC)

· Washington State Public Utilities Districts Association

Harper moves to curtail free speach and reduce criticism

2011-03-06T10:19:00.000-08:00

The CBC is the most popular public forum available to Canadians. It has been an outlet for much information not otherwise available to the public.

Harper's crew recently claimed the CBC continually lies which, is simply a lie in itself. The CBC has maintained the highest standards, unlike the Conservative Governments.

Stephen Harper is planning to cut CBC funding.
Only a massive outcry can stop him.
Earlier this week, the government tabled its spending plan for the coming year in Parliament. Included in the fine print is a reduction to the CBC’s grant. Unless we convince Stephen Harper to change his plan, the CBC will lose $16 million ($42 million in purchasing power after inflation is taken into account) starting next month!

For our public broadcaster, a reduction of this magnitude might seem manageable, but it is yet another cut in a series that, taken together, is having devastating consequences obvious to every listener and viewer.

Thankfully, there is an opportunity in the next two weeks to stop this cut.
Just a few weeks from now - on March 22nd - the Harper government will table its Budget. It’s his chance to change course. We’ve got only a matter of days to persuade Harper that it is not in his political interest to cut CBC funding.

Please send a message to Stephen Harper right now and share this campaign with your friends.

Harper’s plan to cut CBC funding is entirely consistent with recent comments from senior members of Harper’s government that betray their hostile agenda for public broadcasting in Canada. You will recall that Harper’s confidante, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney recently proclaimed that “the CBC lies all the time”.

While his senior Minister was trashing the CBC, Harper’s office developed talking points that take sinister doublespeak to new levels, claiming that his government has invested record amounts in the CBC, more than any previous government.

This statement is false! Here are the facts.

The spending plan that would cut CBC’s funding can be changed by the federal Budget on March 22nd.

It’s our opportunity and we must seize it to protect public broadcasting.

While we cannot hope to make Harper love the CBC, we must make sure he understands that every time he tries to trash our public broadcaster, voters will strongly object and punish his party at the first opportunity.

Please send your message now and share the campaign with your friends. If we act together we can succeed!

We have prepared a short message, but it will be much more effective if you take a few moments to personalize it, adding your own comments.

Make an effort to protect your futures, sign in and sign up!

Alberta Budget plunges us deep into the red.

2011-02-26T13:30:00.000-08:00

The Alberta Budget has brought more to light than just fun the Conservatives are having with your dollar!

Earlier this year, the oil royalty was dropped to 5% Canadian dollar which leaves this Government in a deficit position, not enough money to operate on.

This is simply an in house crisis they manufactured by which they can win on two levels.
Firstly, force the envelope of the Conservative agenda forward and secondly and most important put them in a position to promise us yet again they will increase the oil royalty which, just isn't going to happen.

This little trick to get them elected again is costing the Alberta Treasury several billions of dollars to date and probably another 10 billion dollars by the time they call an election and run out their new promises.

The last election they rolled out a “new royalty regime” complete with pie in the sky, meaningless numbers that Albertans seemed to have ate up still in the mindset this Government would not do them any harm.

In truth, the new regime did nothing more than further reduce our take on royalty (by 18% at the time) when they switched the funds taken to Canadian Dollars away from the American world standard.

Albertans have to get their head around the lies and misdirection put out by this Government in the past and realize that literally any of the opposition parties running would look after the industry in this province just fine.

My own choice would be the Liberals as they have been mapping the finances for years and know how to put in the fixes and will protect our programs.

The Wild Rose Party still see their role as being the same flavor of Conservatives you have in there now but even harder, more brutal they have no plans other than forcing the Conservative envelope forward, doing away with all the “Evil Social programs”.

They too have targeted the Health Care as being subject to a ways and means test before the Alberta Government pays anything. Alberta has a security net they will use that says if you make more than 24,000 a year you will get no health care assistance from the province. This will be the equivalent of the American Medicaid.

In the Conservative philosophy, Government has no business in Health Care at any level; funding foremost.

From the Budget Coverage:

Wildrose Alliance Leader Danielle Smith, who doesn’t have a seat in the legislature, said the government is full of spending addicts.

“They’re practically vaporizing our savings accounts,” she said. “You can’t just keep on hoping that revenue increases are going to bail you out of this problem.”

She said that once the dwindling Sustainability Fund is gone, the government will be forced to implement deep spending cuts or tax increases.

Raising the royalty to that of BC or Saskatchewan which is 17% US$ is just like the present Government; it’s not going to happen!

NDP Leader Brian Mason said the government doesn’t have a spending problem, it has a revenue problem.

“I think they’ve given tremendous gifts to their friends in the oil and gas industry, letting them take most of the value of the resources that belong to the people of this province,” he said. “They have continued to charge the lowest royalties in the world.

“Here again we have this government giving massive billion-dollar gifts to its corporate friends and nickel and diming ordinary people. The priorities are wrong.

He is right on the money; a very accurate statement.

Liberal Leader Dr. David Swann said the government has failed to make the difficult decisions that were necessary.

“This looks like a pre-election budget to me,” he said. “They’ve made no tough decisions.

“This Conservative government continues to act as if its playing with an endless supply of Monopoly money. This is not a game.”

Perhaps he is out of the game but; his comments are totally off the mark probably did not want to offend the oil companies.

Alberta Party MLA Dave Taylor said the province should be focused on creating an aggressive, long-term saving strategy.

“We need to get in the saving habit ... and we are most assuredly not there right now,” he said.

This statement is the biggest nothing say of the day! Mindless under the circumstance but careful not to shake the Conservative vote.

The $15.8 billion Heritage Savings Trust Fund — which is separate from the Sustainability Fund — is expected to earn $970 million in interest this fiscal year. The province plans to transfer $631 million of that interest to the general revenue fund, where it will be used to pay for programs and services. The remaining $339 million will be left in the fund for “inflation-proofing.”

This trust fund was not to have been touched but left to grow and compound its interests to the benefit of Albertans. This Government has pulled more than 70 billions of dollars from the Trust Fund, used it in General operating. Any surplus that showed up at the end of the year because of this influx of taxpayer cash was called “Windfall” and attributed to the Resource companies.

If Albertans would get out and vote rather than sit on their arse thinking they are outnumbered, it would remove Conservatives from the political map! 22% of registered voters put them into office with a huge majority.

Your vote would have done so much to eliminate the cuts.

And finally; get over Trudeau and the NEP. It was agreed on by Alberta as a means to increase Canadian Ownership and, it worked! The Conservatives managed to turn the whole economic downturn of the day into the fault of the NEP which was an outright lie!

Full story here:

Alberta's shoddy echonomics.

2011-02-19T10:59:00.000-08:00

The one great thing that Conservative Governments fail at consistently and constantly is stability. Their Government is always surrounded by chaos!

In the 90s the Alberta Conservatives accounting practices moved business out of the province rather than into it. The "New Up-grader" seems to be one of these scams on a newer, grander scale.

Point in detail. A company in Calgary built it's business on heat exchangers. He was a customer of mine for several years. I called him up one day and got a recorded announcement the shop was closed and if one had a project to call the number given.

I was able to contact the owner finally; in Minneapolis! He explained in detail why he closed his shop of 150 employees and opened up again in the US.

The tale:
Over the years he had built a business in the oil patch and the tar sands. His complaint however was the business structure. When the economy was down like it is now, or there was a looming election like there is now, the Tar Sands companies would put out bids on expansion projects.

The announcement would create a ripple effect in the economy as bids were sent out for various components of the phantom expansion. Companies, like my customer spent a lot of coin working the speculation trail pumping out research and quotes on phantom projects.

Meanwhile, his shop sat idle. To keep his shop busy he took on projects in Minneapolis building heat exchangers for air conditioning units. It too built into a nice business for him but the costs of shipping the air conditioners to the States was overhead he could not afford. The Air Conditioner business far outreached the output of the northern heat exchanger business.

He told me "If Alberta wants me to quote on something they can write to my Air Conditioning shop in Minneapolis. I refuse to keep a shop staff of more than 100 people on payroll while the Government fleeces my pocket with phony quotations. The same "new projects" are quoted every time the economy takes a dip.

His shop now closed and his business fully established in Minneapolis he remains a common tale of Conservative mis-management.

This brings me to the next post, on the "New Up-grader"

Alberta must endure still another Insurance Rip Off!

2011-02-14T10:36:00.000-08:00

I have been advised my home insurance package is up 150.00 above last years prices and this is low by Alberta Standards. Alberta has 1.3 million households.

This "minimum" increase gives Insurance Companies an additional $195,000,000 per year and with their track record, it will continue indefinitely. At 10 years it is a windfall profit of 2 billion dollars!

Alberta--The Details; a new development.

2011-02-08T10:24:00.000-08:00

A new development in the world of Alberta--The Details and Cyberclark!

I have received 2 anonymous emails from separate Hotmail accounts that have said pretty much the same thing. I will continue the battle knowing the hits on this blog are followed closely, not just from Canada and the individual parties but, from all around the world. Without the check marks on the individual blogs, I know the word is getting out there.

"Your on line support has dropped to nothing" alluding to recent posts asking NDP's Jack Layton and the Liberal's Michael Ignatieff to provide us with details on exactly what they agreed with the Conservatives on and why.

We know Ignatieff threw away the Liberal Red book and has since tried to replace it with his personality which, isn't flying.

We know Jack Layton is riding the fence on issues such as Health Care and Bulk Water exports.

It is up to the party members to hold their feet to the fire!

We know Harper has said he will change Canada so even the Liberals (and by default, the rest of us) will not recognize it. Using the party of 5 Western Conservative Governments to hijack parliament, they will do just that!

A vote for Conservatives anywhere in Canada at this point in time is simply irresponsible!

The Conservatives put through legislation unchallenged by the NDP or the Libs that put the issue of Bulk Water export into the hands of the Provinces. This is really sad because it makes no distinction between the surface water and our water aquifers which, Alberta is set to export.

Peoples all over the planet are fighting to protect their ground water from export; not so this crew!

It is plain that neither the NDP or the Liberals can live with any level of accountability.

We are so in for a rough ride!

Canada-Unlimited Internet pricing packages.

2011-02-01T13:21:00.000-08:00

Still another Conservative Rip Off!

Conservatives:- On the course of sedition? You decide.

2011-01-18T13:47:00.000-08:00

Sedition refers to overthrowing a Government. Stephen Harper in a recent CBC interview said "I will change Canada so even the Liberals will not recognize it!" and as a long time Conservative I can tell you for many years, the Conservatives have said “Soon we will become another state when we join the US” Perhaps, now is the time?

The Governments taking part in dismantling Canada.

Lead by the Alberta Conservatives followed by:
BC Liberals (Conservative)
Gov’t of NWT (Conservative)
Gov’t of Yukon (Conservative)
Saskatchewan Conservatives
And supported by Steven Harper and Gilles Duceppe

Stephen Harper on a CBC TV interview stated “I will change the country so even the Liberals won’t recognize it!”

Gilles Duceppe has told his people that separation for Quebec in the bag after the coming election, if he gets in.

Michael Ignatieff has thrown away the well worn Liberal Red Book without telling the followers. I don’t think anyone knows what he stands for as nothing has come forward to replace it. And, that breaks my heart. He as supported Conservatives constantly, one has to wonder if he is just another door into US statehood.

5 Western Premiers have agreed to cooperate on achieving the Conservative long term goals. With Quebec on side you can be pretty sure Harper’s musings (threats) will come true.

Taking his lead from Alberta, Harper has moved our corporate taxes down to 15%. This compares to 35% in the US. Money missing is going to come from social programs for operating funds! It is you and I that are taking the hit!

Here are some Conservative goals unattainable until this point in time.
Do away with the Canada Pension Plan and install private insurance companies in its place at a major cost to the benefactors.

Do away with Canadian Health Care and move to a US system entirely. For those that cannot afford medical insurance and make less than 20,000 dollars a year, Government help (US equivalent Medicaid) will be available but only after you have sold your house and liquidated your belongings.

Let’s consider the fall out if they get elected again. All the Conservative dreams will come true; there will be nothing to stop them!

Health Care will be totally American style. Alberta is still flying with the Ways and means tests for financial assistances. They set the poverty line at 24,000 per year after one has liquidated all their assets. (This brings the DNR tag to the back of their chair if they happen to be in a home).

They will adopt this coverage as the Alberta Medicaid and everyone else can buy insurance. This is the same idea the Wild Rose Party Supports.

Both Harper and the WRP have said they want universal Health care but they are not saying it comes with harsh conditions!
You decide if long term plans and organizations like this are sedition or not!

Canada Pension plan and Old Age Security will see an overhaul for the worst.

Ted Morton has made it clear he does not want to strengthen the CPP. His alternative is private insurance companies picking up the plan, as they are doing now with the addendum that companies can make and remit insurance deductions from employees to the private insurance company.

The Federal Conservatives agree with this and are supporting it.

The Western Conservatives including the Wild Rose Party agree Equalization payments should be done away with. I have to guess this is in anticipation of a Quebec split.

No doubt there are promises between the groups of 5 for mutual support, essentially cutting out the east. Harper and his crew are supportive of this.

Now; for some more speculation. One doesn’t have to drop a hammer to know it is going to fall!

Quebec Separates with the support of the Western Premiers.

Key!
The constitution is re opened so any number of changes can be made. Changes will include protection for the Crown to enforce hard core bio ID and literally anything else they want; nothing to stop them now and probably include changes to limit individual rights while strengthening corporate rights.The point is, once it is opened anything can be changed!

Indian Affairs, a long time target of the Conservatives will be no more. Money in that fund will be transferred to the Natives using a private company to sort out who gets what.

If history holds true, this same money will be frittered away within 2 years and the private mix will assure the fund is drained. Overhead you know.

Workers Compensation, fully integrated with the public health care system will be changed to the US system where WCB is a law, not an organization, which tells companies what coverage they need to provide.

Companies who provide corporate health care coverage often are the same companies which cover the WCB requirements. The US has long been complaining about the Canadian WCB system as being a subsidy; it will be among the first to go, across Canada.

The CBC will be done away with. There is no place for the CBC in a Conservative world; it will probably be the first casualty!

If Canadians do not come together to unseat the Western Premiers all will be lost!

There is no party running that will not do its best to look after industry in a competitive world. The Conservative world of Corporate Welfare is killing us as individuals. The Green Party is nearly as right wing as the WRP so, don't hang your hopes there.

Remember; it was the people who did not bother to vote that put the Conservatives in power from one end of the country to the other and now, you are on the brink of loosing your country!

Canada is under seige from within!

2010-12-27T11:51:00.000-08:00

Under the Canadian Constitution it will take 6 province plus a 2/3 majority plebiscite to separate from Canada! At risk to Canadians is their CPP, Old Age Security and Health Care. Quebec risks their Equalization payments the latter at the heart of the Wild Rose Party.

This is the crew who are pushing you towards a US health care system and God only knows what else. Separation under their formula is not out of the question.

Let's start of the list with Quebec who have not come forward as members.

Then, add this club.

The Canadian Members are:

Alberta
Premier Ed Stelmach
Alana DeLong, MLA
Kyle Fawcett, MLA
Hon. Mel Knight
Richard Marz, MLA
Len Mitzel, MLA

British Columbia
Premier Gordon Campbell
Hon. Naomi Yamamoto
John van Dongen, MLA
Joh Rustad, MLA
Guy Gentnew, MLA

Northwest Territories
Premier Floyd Roland
Hon. Bob McLeod
David Ramsay, MLA

Saskatchewan
Premier Brad Wall
Michael Chisholm, MLA
Hon. Bill Boyd
Dustin Duncan, MLA

Yukon
Premier Dennis Fentie
Glen Hart, MLA
Hon. Jim Keyon
Steve Nordick, MLA

There, you have your 6 supporting province majority. Now, pick any issue and blow it out of proportion and, one can withdraw from Canada (I would bet Alberta ahead of Quebec!) and/or opt out of any Federal Program such as Canada Health Act, Canada Pension Plan, Social Security, navigable waterways and grain and water exports.

The Federal Liberals have Mr. Ignatieff as a Leader and this man is far more American than he is Canadian and has done absolutely nothing to distinguish himself differently. I suspect he would, like Harper, support anything this crew came up with although in power with the present formula he would not have a choice.

Canadians have to opt for a massive political change as in eradicate the Federal and Provincial Conservatives in order to disarm this crew who are leading us into political chaos through secret agreements drawn up in the US (Portland), never to see the light of day in Canada.

On a lighter note, Saskatchewan's Michael Chisholm picture looks not unlike a deer caught in the headlights.

Here are some back links supporting this:

http://www.disabled-world.com/news/seniors/senior-health-care.php

http://albertathedetails.blogspot.com/2010/12/alberta-health-care-less-expensive-than.html

http://albertathedetails.blogspot.com/2010/12/conservatives-all-over-world-privitize.html

Alberta Conservativs Pushing US style system.

2010-12-23T07:25:00.000-08:00

Looking south for health-care lessons: Gov'ts study Oregon plan; critics call it two-tiered

Edmonton Journal
Thu Nov 16 2000
Page: A17
Section: Insight
Byline: Shawn Ohler
Dateline: Edmonton
Source: The Edmonton Journal
Series: HEALTH CARE: What's the prognosis?

In poll after poll, Canadians rate health care as their top concern. It has become a hot election issue as politicians bicker over who betrayed medicare. But alarmed health-care experts are looking beyond the politics to ask some tough questions: Is our ailing health-care system doomed? Can it be cured? What are the best solutions? Journal reporter Shawn Ohler tackles those questions in an eight-day series.

The Series

NOV. 12: How sick is medicare? Canadian health care is imperilled by an aging population and exploding costs.

NOV. 13: Future health-care models. From Bill 11 to controversial national studies -- a look at what's being done to shape medicare's future.

NOV. 14: Behind the times. Is Canada a Third-World nation when it comes to state-of-the-art medical technology?

NOV. 15: Options and obstacles. Champions of alternative medicine face massive government roadblocks.

TODAY: Looking south for lessons. Oregon may have something to teach cost-conscious Canadians about public health care.

FRIDAY: The doctor deficit. The keys to solving Canada's growing physician shortage.

SATURDAY: Tracking `spare parts.' Can a novel new database end the suffering of patients who need replacement knees and hips?

SUNDAY: Radical remedies. User fees, medical savings accounts and medicare taxes are among the aggressive prescriptions for health care's ills. Political parties, too, are pitching cures.

- - -

It has the same population as Alberta, a river-bound city the size of Edmonton and a revolutionary health-care system that may have something to teach Canadian health hawks desperate for ways to contain costs.

It's Oregon, the Pacific Northwest state whose ground-breaking Oregon Health Plan continues to draw international notice -- including some from Alberta Health Minister Gary Mar -- seven years after it was introduced. (Insert: While this was being printed, Capital Health was drawing up their list of services to be taken off Alberta Health care. Conservative dogma had already decided a person should sell their homes to pay for medical treatment before the Government chipped in)

As Canadian politicians, doctors and health-care experts tread carefully around the explosive political ramifications of limiting publicly funded medical services, Oregon has already done it.

``We wanted to identify those services which are effective and beneficial to society as a whole, so we did it,'' said Hersh Crawford, the program's director.

In the early '90s, Oregon faced some of the same pressures that now imperil Canada's medicare system -- an aging population, exploding drug costs and expensive advances in medical technology.

The state of 3.2 million was having problems funding its Medicaid program, which makes state-funded medical coverage available to all Oregonians living below the poverty line.

Oregon responded by compiling a list of ``diagnosis-treatment pairs'' that link medical conditions with their appropriate remedies. About 350,000 Oregonians who are enrolled in the public plan -- the majority of whom can't afford private health insurance -- are treated for 574 priority pairs, and the bill goes to the state.

For example, the state plan covers bone-marrow transplants for leukemia, cancer surgery, and therapy for insulin-dependent diabetics, but not minor head injuries, doctor visits for the common cold, or fractured ribs.

Since implementing its plan, Oregon boasts its ranks of uninsured have dropped to 10 per cent from 14 per cent, and more than one million Oregonians have gained access to health care.

Meanwhile, the priority list -- drafted by a state-appointed commission and meticulously costed out by actuaries -- has kept costs manageable.

``I think we've shown it is possible to provide good health care for people without covering a sprained wrist or a simple cold,'' Crawford said.

``We knew we needed reform but we didn't want to dump a whole lot more money into the system, because we assumed that would be inflationary and costs would just go up.''

But the plan has generated controversy about its perceived failure to control those medical costs while providing fair access to technology advancements.

This spring, Oregon teen Brandy Stroeder, a plan member, was denied a potentially life-saving lung-and-liver transplant because it's not on the priority list. The rarely attempted simultaneous transplant was deemed too experimental and, at $250,000, too costly.

``I think if you're going to have a medical plan, as soon as the medical technology advances, so should your plan,'' said Stroeder, before firing a shot at Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber, a Democrat who drafted the plan in the early '90s.

``I guess Kitzhaber thinks he knows what he's doing. I just hope that later on down the road one of his relatives doesn't need a double transplant.''

The 18-year-old Stroeder, who has cystic fibrosis, is trying to raise the money privately to pay for the operation. Without it, she'll likely die before her 20th birthday.

``I cough a lot during the day. It's like running a marathon and then trying to walk. From my liver disease, I feel really bloated, like I've just eaten a big turkey dinner.

``But I'm not going to spend the rest of my days being mad at the Oregon Health Plan people. They're not worth my time. We'll try to work it out.''

Other critics of the plan say Stroeder's case, while sad, isn't indicative of the plan's failures. Even the state's richest private health-insurance companies likely wouldn't cover the rare double transplant either.

The critics say the plan's real failure is the same general failure of the American system, in that it creates different levels of care and access for the rich and poor.

``When it comes down to a list that says, `OK, this is the baseline but anybody who wants more care has to pay out of pocket' -- that's dangerous,'' said Ellen Pinney, who heads an Oregon consumer advocates' group. ``It's two-tiered medicine, the same thing folks in Canada have done their darndest to guard against.''

Pinney said Canadians shouldn't rush to emulate Oregon's plan. ``It's the reverse. Canada -- the single-payer, publicly administered system -- that's what we should be emulating.''

Still, the Oregon plan appears attractive to Canadian governments looking for innovative ways to sustain the country's most cherished social program.

Mar, Alberta's health minister said it warrants a closer look.

``We have to be open-minded to the experiences of all jurisdictions and look at innovations in the delivery of health care,'' Mar said.

``Some say a user fee should be put in. You go to the doctor, it costs you $10. Others have said you should take some things off the list like they do in Oregon. We're not planning on a user fee, but those kinds of other solutions should be raised. It may lead to something that's a constructive change and palatable to the public.''

Illustration:
• Photo: AP / Brandy Stroeder, right, of McMinnville, Ore., with her mother, Karen, at Doernbecher Children's Hospital in Portland.

Edition: Final
Story Type: Special Report; Series
Note: HEALTH CARE: What's the prognosis?
Length: 1064 words
Idnumber: 200011160123

Alberta Health Care Less expensive than the US version!

2010-12-22T13:28:00.000-08:00

Data

The authors’ main data set used is The Joint Canada/U.S. Survey of Health (JCUSH). Collected between the fall of 2002 and spring of 2003, this data set includes 3,505 Canadian and 5,183 American individuals.

Basic Statistics

	U.S.	Canada
Life Expectancy (Male)	74.8	77.4
Life Expectancy (Female)	80.1	82.4
Infant Mortality/1000 live births	6.8	5.3
Obesity Rate (Male)	31.1	17.0
Obesity Rate (Female)	32.2	19.0
HC spending as % of GDP (2005)	16.0%	10.4%

We can readily see that the U.S. has worse life expectancy, infant mortality rates, and obesity rates that Canada, yet pays more for these relatively poorer outcomes. Canada is clearly better…right?

Alberta Health Care – Some not so apparent facts

2010-12-19T13:27:00.000-08:00

Alberta’s hospitals have in the past been owned by the Members of the Board of that hospital, not the Government.

Recent changes to the Health Authority did more than moving the Health Care from Capital Health to the more aggressive Regional Health Authorities! When this transition was done, the title for the hospitals moved away from the boards and directly onto the new Authorities! It makes it possible for the Health Authorities to sell all or any part of the Alberta holdings to the private sector without the approval of the Assembly!

The plans for privatizing health care and moving us to a US style system have been in play for many years. It is not a new thing! To the contrary, it has been the Conservative's plan going back 40 years and they are now in the position of completing it!

Even when rolling in cash, the Conservatives continued to short Health Care and it was always their first choice to cut when times got a bit skinny. Shorting money closes beds and curtails services.

You may recall the last Government being sued a few times because of this shorting and manipulation of services?

This has left this Government more vulnerable that it was in the past so they wrote “The crown cannot be held responsible for anything that goes wrong under this act” into the new legislation which also opened the door for foreign and private companies to sell health insurance into Alberta.

The Alberta Blue Cross is one of these private companies and, they have doubled their staff in the last 3 years in anticipation of insuring Albertans in the private system.

The Capital Health Authority authored a document that gave a list of which services to delist on the Alberta Health Care. This list adopted the Oregon “Services not Covered” list and it was made even leaner and meaner because the US Oregon system was seen as to frivolous.

Some of this is in effect already. Seniors prescriptions are being co-pay to a greater extent as time goes on, soon to be eliminated if these guys are elected again.

I mention the seniors prescription predicament and the erosion of Government support because that is exactly what is going to happen to your Alberta Health Care Coverage!

First Private practice funded by the Government. Next limit the amount of coverage by the Government and finally, do away with Government health insurance. All the structure is in place to do exactly this, right now!

The Conservatives, trying to spin this out are trying to create a aura of being our friends when they started the MS study. Many things they are talking about, MS study and combined pensions with the Federal Government comes to mind for the most immediate part of the charade.

None of these things will come to pass until after the next election and I predict they will be swept under the carpet and the private system and private insurance will come into full effect!

The Wild Rose Party is also pushing the same private system. This party was born in the circles of the Southern Mormon community and this community remains the core of the group. These fundamentalists were born and raised with an umbilical to Salt Lake City, abstinence, tithing and the private health insured system. In this regard their leadership is simply a shill for a similar political agenda.

This month’s publication of Vanity Fair has an article about the Taliban fundamentalists. It goes onto explain the Taliban cannot win the current contest because they continue to tell people what they are against and do not tell them what they are for but, they will still be around a long time.

I was born in Cardston.

Wild Rose Party Fanitics show their colors!

2010-12-05T12:50:00.000-08:00

Daniel Smith, the mouth piece for this crew of Southern Mormans has declared the state funded health care system is the fault of today's health care predicaments.

She does not bother to say that under that system if you have no job you have to health care!

She does not say that Seniors in the US are frightened out of their lives by their Medicaid being underfunded and, they have no other means.

She does not say there is presently 55 million, soon to be 70 million Americans that are without any kind of health care coverage at all and are unable to obtain even the most rudimentary care and medications.

Obama's Health Care Reforms were defeated by the Daniel Smiths of the south. Why any one in their right minds would entertain voting for this bunch of extremes is beyond me!

Alberta Health Care - Conservatives all over the world privitize health care!

2010-12-03T13:01:00.000-08:00

Dr. Terri Jackson, a professor in the University of Alberta’s faculty of medicine and dentistry who has a doctoral degree in health policy writes in her extensive letter, how conservative governments around the world “break trust with the electorate by using their powers illegally.”
Some governments do so by starving the health system of funds, making public care so inadequate the public reluctantly turns to private health care for services.

This is what the Alberta Conservatives have done with programs over the years. Blowing up hospitals is one way to short services.

As a PS, this is an example of the system The Conservatives are putting us into!

Stelmach recently said "There is no hidden agenda" meaning there is sufficient publicity around their intent to privatize health care that it is no longer a secret.

Alberta wants a total US system installed before next election!

2010-11-23T14:03:00.000-08:00

Stelmach's ire is in a different direction than ours. He wants to get health care totally onto the US system before an election is called.

Indisputable facts:
Capital health Authority made a list of what is to be take off Alberta Health Care coverage. This was patterned after the Oregon non insured list but made even leaner and meaner.

Blue Cross has increased their presence in Alberta by more than doubling their staff. We are now a virgin market for Health care insurance.

The Minister of Health recently told us that Stephen Duckett had other uses.

Stephen Duckett was accredited with installing US Health Care Insurance Companies into Australia. He left there before they could lynch him.

Australia tells us not to go down this road as once these same Health Care Insurance Companies are installed, you can't get rid of them because of the huge buy backs involved.

The boomer crisis is BS!

Most of the health care costs are directed to the young 18 to 40 years who go into hospital for the expensive operations and longer stays. Most of these are due to life style.

The Democrat health care reforms were killed in the US by the Health Insurance Industry who, have more money than the US Government! They are hard at work in Canada all selling health insurance in Canada.

Alberta enacted legislation to allow these people to sell health insurance and they promptly opened up Canadian Health Insurance companies to look after the lucrative business.

Alberta Conservatives: A Government run on lies and deception.

2010-11-23T12:19:00.000-08:00

For starters, the Alberta Sustainability Fund was a 100% PR program. At best it is an index of borrowed money. In reality it was a plan to draw on AIM collateral to borrow or siphon money out of.

You can understand why Alberta fought so hard against a Federal Securities Regulator!

Much of Alberta Pensions under direct or indirect control of the Conservatives are riding in this!

The Conservatives used this jargon to convince Albertans they had a plan! We all know better now.

We are paying hundreds of Millions on Centrifuge operations in Mildred Lake and our conventional oil royalty is down to 5% Canadian$. (Compare that to 30% US of our neighbors)

They want us to fork out a billion for a pipeline to the coast to supply India with oil. You will not Stelmach did not ask, he said he was going to do it so, dig in.

And finally, the outright lie of us making money on the CCS 2.4 billion dollar lie.
It has been flushed out that the CCS is being paid by taxpayer who gets stuck with 100% of that bill. However they will proceed and you will pay!

Our royalty take is the lowest in the world's history! If there is a chance there will be money made it will be used to further reduce royalty. It is a no win system under the Conservatives.

The Wild Rose Party offers no different except for their push to stop balance of payments; making Quebec the villain in their campaign.

In truth, the Conservatives are the only thing that is putting this province at risk!

If you are still stuck on Conservative, you are doomed!

Alberta Health Care:- A lot to consider.

2010-11-18T15:07:00.000-08:00

Privatized COD type Health Care has long been the holy grail of the Conservative Party. They are dug in to put Alberta on a US system, like it or not. And, the Alberta Conservatives are no exception; they consider themselves to own the province outright. They are the ordained.

Dentistry is totally funded out of your personal incomes 100%! This makes up most of the 30% Albertans pay out of pocket for health care. This is the type of system the Alberta Conservatives are looking for in general medicine.

Obama's efforts to put in a public health care system was defeated by the Health Care Insurance lobby which, has more money than does the US Government. Americans were subjected to scare tactics involving Socialist Canada amount cameos by people who generally, did not have a clue what they were saying.

Ask yourselves; If I loose my job will my family still have dental coverage? The asnwer will be overwhelmingly "NO"!

This brings me to the latest figures by the World Health Organization; totally honest and respectable.

Some figures from their reports:
There are presently 50 million Americans without health care coverage. Some of these are because they have lost their jobs while most, didn't get coverage with employment in the first place.

Interesting Facts:
In the year 2002 and 2003, Canada had 77 cases of preventable deaths recorded in Medicine where as the US had 110 such cases.

How long can you expect to live? In Canada, to 72 years on average and in the US only to 70 years. Speaks volumes for their health care.

On health care ranking in the world: Canada is ranked at #30 while the US is Ranked at # 37. Why would you want to go there?

Other interesting things are in the report. We pay far less per capata on our public health care system than the US does on its COD system.

Here is a repost of some stats from Alberta's system:

The Capital Health Authority made a list of services to be dropped from Alberta Health care. This list was patterned after the Oregon Health Care coverage and then, made leaner and meaner.
This Government is still following that list! Putting lipstick on this pig isn’t going to make it better!

Here are some Health care stats to consider:

The average Albertan like myself has paid health care premiums for over 45 years and most of us have never used it, We still pay 30% out of pocket for services not covered by health care, while the younger generation that are statistically bigger users of hospitals are paying nothing toward their possible future health care.

I cheerfully pay premiums knowing that it is the younger generation that are big users of expensive treatments.

Every Albertan admitted to an institution is accurately documented.

-Alberta is chronologically the youngest province in Canada.

-Of all Albertans admitted to hospital, 76.4% were under the age of 65.

-Babies under a year were the most common.

-The average age of hospitalized patients was 39.5 years with half of those being under the age of 36 years. These are not baby boomers.

-Only 10.7% are 65 years or older.

-Some 16.4% of the elderly admitted to hospital died as compared to 3.3% of other patients.

-Over half of the patients admitted to Intensive Care were younger patients who had more done to them and stayed in ICU longer, the most expensive hospital service.

If you people choose to elect a Conservative Government again, you deserve what you are going to get!

Alberta commercialized water; hold outs for more bucks!

2010-11-15T09:11:00.000-08:00

Since the moratorium was put in place, the town has been working "urgently and diligently" to try to find an appropriate water licence to purchase for transfer, Berzins noted. However, the town's search has been stymied because current water licence holders are uncertain about the future value and security of their licences, he said.

Water for Sale: Southern Alberta.

2010-11-12T10:15:00.000-08:00

Recent news release has the Western Irrigation District selling 1.23 million cubic meters of water to Wheatland County. Both Wheatland County and WID will not comment on pricing so, people in Alberta should be very concerned.

This is still another step forward in water as a commodity; for profit sales!

Alberta Bill 24 and Carbon Capture:- The tip of the problem!

2010-11-07T10:50:00.000-08:00

Alberta recently introduced Bill 24 saying Alberta Taxpayer would accept Liability for Carbon Capture.

This is the tip of the problem!

Alberta has earmarked 2 billion dollars to this program implying we, the taxpayer would received at some point 20 billion dollars in royalty from the old oil harvested with the Carbon Dioxide put down hole.

Even more recently the Government has put in a very low royalty rate for this segment of the industry and it is locked in for 5 years! Under this same program oil companies do not have to produce oil to receive payment from the Alberta Government! This will be the subject of still another post.

We are now getting 5% Canadian dollars on this "old" oil. There is no chance of us making any money on this at all! Quite the contrary; what the article is telling us is that the Alberta Taxpayer is on hooks for every cent of the Carbon Capture scheme and, we receive nothing back!

Further: This Government on one part with much fan fair says they are going to accept liability on CCS.

When reading bill 24, I see where they have written in a provision that the Government cannot be sued for anything on CCS.

They have effectively given industry a free hand on what they do and, left us holding the bag for what goes wrong!

Carling Brewiers Water Allotment 31 million gallons:- Now sold, ready for sale!

2010-11-07T10:26:00.000-08:00

Document 00035122-00-00 to CALGARY/PROCESSING/CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY - F15793 is held by Canadian Pacific Railway Company, under the provisions of the Water Resources Act. This licence is currently issued as of May. 04, 1983 and does not expire.(31 million gallons annually)

Consolidated Approval Attached    Document 00035122-00-01 CALGARY/PROCESSING/CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY - F15793 is held by Canadian Pacific Railway Company, under the provisions of the Water Resources Act. This licence is currently issued as of Apr. 26, 1999 and does not expire.

Consolidated Approval Attached    Document 00035122-00-02 CALGARY/PROCESSING/CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY - F15793 is held by Canadian Pacific Railway Company, under the provisions of the Water Resources Act. This licence is currently issued as of May. 28, 1999 and does not expire.

Consolidated Approval Attached    Document 00035123-00-00 CALGARY/PROCESSING/880682 ALBERTA LTD - F15793 is held by 880682 Alberta Ltd., under the provisions of the Water Resources Act. This licence is currently issued as of May. 04, 1983 and does not expire.

    Document 00035123-00-01 CALGARY/PROCESSING/880682 ALBERTA LTD - F15793 is held by 880682 Alberta Ltd., under the provisions of the Water Resources Act. This licence is currently issued as of Apr. 26, 1999 and does not expire.

Consolidated Approval Attached    Document 00035123-00-02 CALGARY/PROCESSING/880682 ALBERTA LTD - F15793 is held by 880682 Alberta Ltd., under the provisions of the Water Resources Act. This licence is currently issued as of Jul. 21, 1999 and does not expire.

Consolidated Approval Attached    Document 00035123-00-03 CALGARY/PROCESSING/880682 ALBERTA LTD - F15793 is held by 880682 Alberta Ltd., under the provisions of the Water Resources Act. This licence is currently issued as of Aug. 09, 2000 and does not expire.

Consolidated Approval Attached    Document 00032643-00-00 CANADA MALTING CO LTD, WR, 18690 is held by Canada Malting Co. Limited, under the provisions of the Water Resources Act. This licence is currently issued as of Feb. 23, 1995 and does not expire.

Consolidated Approval Attached    Document 00032644-00-00 CANADA MALTING CO LTD, WR, 18690 is held by Canada Malting Co. Limited, under the provisions of the Water Resources Act. This licence is currently issued as of Feb. 02, 1983 and does not expire.

Calgary Malting:- Alberta's private water empires ready for export!

2010-11-07T09:40:00.000-08:00

Document 00035121-00-00 CALGARY/PROCESSING/880682 ALBERTA LTD - F15793-1 is held by 880682 Alberta Ltd., under the provisions of the Water Resources Act. This licence is currently issued as of May. 04, 1983 and does not expire.

Consolidated Approval Attached   Document 00035121-00-01 CALGARY/PROCESSING/880682 ALBERTA LTD - F15793-1 is held by 880682 Alberta Ltd., under the provisions of the Water Resources Act. This licence is currently issued as of Apr. 26, 1999 and does not expire.

   Document 00035121-00-02 CALGARY/PROCESSING/880682 ALBERTA LTD - F15793-1 is held by 880682 Alberta Ltd., under the provisions of the Water Resources Act. This licence is currently issued as of Jul. 21, 1999 and does not expire.

Consolidated Approval Attached   Document 00035121-00-03 CALGARY/PROCESSING/880682 ALBERTA LTD - F15793-1 is held by 880682 Alberta Ltd., under the provisions of the Water Resources Act. This licence is currently issued as of Aug. 09, 2000 and does not expire.

Consolidated Approval Attached   Document 00032643-00-00 CANADA MALTING CO LTD, WR, 18690 is held by Canada Malting Co. Limited, under the provisions of the Water Resources Act. This licence is currently issued as of Feb. 23, 1995 and does not expire.

Province to forgo $3 billion in royalties: report

2010-10-01T11:58:00.000-07:00

There is a huge test going on at Syncrude's Mildred Lake, the largest of the settling ponds. One big puddle out of 100,000 or more puddles to be worked before the century is out.

This clean up test is made up of the largest centrifuges in Alberta. They are hooked to giant conveyor belts which collect and drop the residue into separate bins to be annualized.

This is an exercise to gauge the technology with a view to putting it into a larger scale operation. If a good cleanup is devised it will take 50 years or more for it to be competed, if it ever is.

This is totally paid for by the Alberta Government, the taxpayer. Multi millions of dollars (billions) of which Syncrude pays zilch. Now consider the billions in new roads to new production sites and new power lines to new production sites paid for by the taxpayer, you will have no doubt that we are being hooped by this Government.

When you couple things like this with the Governments new 5% Canadian dollar royalty rate on Conventional oil it will be apparent we are paying the resource companies to take it from the province!

By comparison, Saskatchewan and BC both collect 30% US dollars in royalty.

If you want to change any of this you will have to vote something other than conservative and WRP!

Michael Ignatieff has betrayed the rank and file Liberals!

2010-09-06T12:00:00.000-07:00

The Federal Liberals' Mr. Michael Ignatieff has betrayed the rank and file Liberals by endorsing Bulk Water Exports to the US under a NAFTA agreement; contrary to Liberals Policy.

He is known to have spent much of his time in the US and is very Pro US in his thinking, pandering to the US while deceiving his Canadian voter base.

Pundits place Mr. Ignatieff as being a professional lecturer in politic with absolutely no experience under foot. This leaves him very prone to gaffs and water may well be the biggest of them all

Canada Bulk Water Export: NDP strongly opposed.

2010-09-01T20:40:00.001-07:00

Dear John,

Thank you for taking the time to write. Canada's New Democrats share your concerns and have consistently opposed bulk water exports of this precious natural resource. In fact, our interest to protect Canada’s water resources date back to Canada’s early involvement with the North American Free Trade Agreement.

First and foremost, New Democrats believe that the access to clean water is not a privilege but a human right for all Canadians and people world-wide. Unfortunately the Conservative government refused to support a recent United Nations resolution to recognize access to water and sanitation as basic human rights.

Our vision for Canada includes a commitment to protecting our supplies of fresh water by excluding it from all international trade agreements, privatization and deregulation. That`s why New Democrats want to ensure that NAFTA excludes water and bulk water exports from its scope. Water is our most precious natural resource, but it belongs to both all of us and none of us— it is not a commercial commodity. We have been told repeatedly that our water resources would be protected in trade deals. However, neither Conservative nor Liberal governments have added water to the list of goods to be exempt from NAFTA. This omission has left a loophole which could eventually cause us to lose control over our own water resources.

We have consistently called on successive Liberal and Conservative governments to develop a robust National Water Policy. Such a policy is urgently needed to address important water-related issues facing all of us today-- including the roughly 1,700 boiled water advisories affecting Canadians and the negative environmental impact of water use in the tar sands development. While the Harper government committed to a clean water strategy in the past, it has yet to produce one.

As you may know in the 2007 spring session, Parliament voted 134 to 108 in favour of a motion to prevent bulk water exports. The motion came about from a push by the New Democrats to have hearings on the impact of the so-called Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP) because SPP negotiations have revived troubling questions over access to Canadian water. For more information on the SPP.

Again, thank you for writing. Again, I appreciate knowing of your interest to have effective measures in place that will preserve and protect our water for future generations. Please know that we will continue to press this important issue.

All the best,

Jack Layton, MP (Toronto-Danforth)

Leader, Canada's New Democrats

Canada Bulk Water Exports to US and abroad is imminent!

2010-08-29T11:24:00.000-07:00

From June 16-2010:British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell joined his counterparts from Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Northwest Territories, Yukon and Nunavut for the two-day conference at the Pan Pacific Hotel.

Followed by: Lawrence Cannon – Min of Foreign Affairs – Trans boundary Waters Protection Act – May 13, 2010
“The new act strengthens existing protections by bringing waters within federal jurisdiction under a more comprehensive prohibition against bulk water removals. Rivers and streams that cross international borders will now receive the same protection already in place for waters, such as the Great Lakes, that straddle them.

The Act gives the federal government new powers of inspection and enforcement and introduces tough new penalties for violations, including fines of up to $6 million for corporate violations. The bill offers unprecedented federal protection against bulk water exports while respecting provincial constitutional jurisdiction.”

Bill C-26 – Summary of the bill can be found here.

There were two news items in Alberta. Drumheller Alberta and Okotoks Alberta purchased water allotments. The first was from an unnamed party (insider) the other was from an Oil Company. The latter, cost Okotoks over a million dollars for rights to some 230,000 cubic meters of water annually.

Water allotments have never been sold in the past. The oil companies, towns and cities received them free of charge as did the unnamed insider. Bolstered by the Alberta Government the towns had to pay up.

This adds many dollars to the resource and forces the price of water utilities up in the extreme!. When it comes time to export, they will tell Albertans the cost is the same. Edmonton now has the highest water prices in the world (National Geographic April 2010).

Following the long standing Conservative dream of including water into NAFTA and changing bulk water to a commodity is fore front in their plans. The Conservative Association of Canada went before the Privy Council to argue that Water bulk export was included in NAFTA and were told it was not! They said they would wait for a better day.

With Conservative Governments in across the map now seems like a good time to go for the gold!

If we export water under NAFTA rules (which are inherently unfair and biased towards the US), we must give the Americans first chance at the water and we cannot charge the Americans more money than we are now paying.

More details on NAFTA and Water:-

The higher they push the prices on Canadian water to Canadians, the higher the exporters can charge for the water going to the US! This is simply price fixing on a grand scale! Under the new scheme, when it comes time to export, people will be paying more money for water than those people in California who are the targeted export market. Costs of the necessary pipelines to export will be added to Canadian water bills.

This is Harper’s dream! . The Canada Environment are running TV is carrying subtle advertisements in fill in spots saying “our water is our finest resource and it must be shared.” This is a north American movement which has been kept away from the eyes of the public.

From the North:
GNWT seeks agreements with provinces to protect water. Yellowknife, N.W.T. - The NWT has developed a strategy to manage the territory's waters, but protecting rivers and lakes at home can't be done without the cooperation of neighbors from the South. Keep in mind the Alberta Pipeline would accommodate a steady flow from the Great Slave Lake!

On the east coast quote:
“Fortunately, there is some hope that the wisdom of water sales may eventually triumph over emotionalism. Last spring the McCurdy Group, a Newfoundland company looking for permission to tanker 13 billion gallons a year from pristine Gisbourne Lake, received an unexpected endorsement from Newfoundland's Liberal Premier Roger Grimes. Mr. Grimes has promised to use the money the government gets from the deal to underwrite university tuition in Canada's poorest province. A better plan would be to auction the rights and use the proceeds for much-needed tax cuts. (A striking difference between the Conservatives and the Liberals)

The above rhetoric is not true; bulk export of water from Lakes is not legal!

More on the subject here and here.

The McCurdy Group is still waiting for an official go-ahead but thanks to Canadian law, the federal government can't stop the province from granting the permit. "We don't want to sell water in bulk," says Mr. Chretien, "But at the same time, we have to realize that we don't have absolute control of the water. We have control of navigable waters, but we don't have control of other types of water that are under the provincial jurisdiction." Ontario and British Columbia have already said "no" to companies that want to sell water by tanker but if Newfoundland has success in water marketing that might change.”

And in Calgary a quote from the Green Party (Still another Fuzzy named right wing party; this one trying to find an agenda.

* The case for selling Canadian water is being presented more forcefully in the media by SPP proponents, journalists, business strategists and investors seeking profits in this potentially lucrative market.

* Massive NAFTA Super-Corridors, complete with plans for water pipelines, are in the works.

* Bulk water exports were the focus of meetings of the North American Future 2025
Project. According to documents leaked by a Washington-based think tank, SPP meetings in Calgary on April 28, 2007 were to discuss "water consumption, water transfers and artificial diversions of bulk water" with the aim of "maximizing the policy impact.”

An Item from California; Pipelines.
Our challenge is to not only conserve more and clean up the polluted water we have, but also to transfer large amounts of water from areas that enjoy surplus resources, such as Russia, Canada, Alaska and northern Europe, to areas that face long-term scarcity, like California.

Ocean shipping, already the medium for more than 90 percent of international trade, is a logical solution.
And the nail in the coffin from Alberta:
First consider the Peace River is a navigable water legislation changes would have to take place; that is Harper's job.

In the ‘80s the Alberta Government commissioned a fully engineered pipeline by Weatherford on moving water from the Peace River into Southern Alberta, using it to irrigate the pipeline corridor and export huge amounts into the American northern states.

This plan calls for an immense pipe line capable of moving two-thirds of the Peace River Flow through the pipe along with the assurances it will not harm the wild life. This same plan calls for 8 lift stations to move the water; each of them using the electrical power of a small city.

Further, this project was approved, only shelved, until the weather gets dry enough and the public can see the light or, the political opportunity arrives, such as now.

All this ties in with the new dam being proposed on the Peace announced by BC’s Gordon Campbell who at every opportunity is telling the world he is going to usher in a new way of looking after our water resource.

Between the existing dam on the Peace River and the New Dam on the Peace River proposed by Gordon Campbell there will be created a large lake, sufficient to act as a sump to draw down the amount of water this pipeline is capable of, all year around. If there is a shift away from the Conservatives or it comes to Canadian’s attention they are charged exploitative charges on their water service the whole scenario can change.

The only way to break this up is to vote the various participants out of office!

Alberta Oil "Investment"

2010-07-20T14:05:00.000-07:00

There is a good discussion on oil at

One segment brought out a cold fact that its the Alberta Taxpayer who pays for building the Tar Sands and oil factories around the province, not the oil companies! Yet they refer to their "giant investment"

Start up of these projects is bankrolled by the oil companies in as much as a finance company may help you buy your car.

It is however, the Alberta taxpayer who pays for the project by accepting only 1% royalty payments on sales.

Example:
If the royalty is 16% (which is high for today's dealings) 1% goes to the province as a royalty while the other 15% is retained by the oil company to apply against the cost of the start up. These costs would include finance charges, transportation, wages contractors; everything.

When the project is fully paid for, the oil company is to pay 16%

While I may agree with the formula I do not agree with the application. Auditor General Fred Dunn chided the Government for not having enough staff in the department which is responsible for auditing the oil companies. This is a deliberate short staff by the Government.

In other words the oil companies, unaudited are free to charge what ever they think is right against the Alberta taxpayer!

While Saskatchewan are still at 30% US royalty, BC is still at 30% US royalty and Alberta Languishes at below 16% considering we only get 48 cents per bbl of crude which goes to the up graders.

This Government is in the oil business; not the business of looking after the electorate.

There is only 1 way to change this and that is to Vote and Vote something other than Conservatives.. The Wild rose party will give you more of the same; there is no help for us there.

Water export on the agenda for all Provinces!

2010-07-11T18:53:00.000-07:00

We have conservatives in power from shore to shore; the flood gates are about to open and your cost of living is to make a dramatic increase.

Danny Williams is asking for permits to ship bulk water from a pristine lake in PEI to the US. Harper is thinking about it.

On June 16the the Western Premiers met in Vancouver. Their agenda primary was environment, energy and the economy. Campbell also said "There will also be a focus on water and how to manage and conserve what Campbell called a "critical component of all activities" in Canada.

Read more: Western premiers meet in B.C.

After this meeting BC announced building a new dam on the Peace River.

It is my thought that BC is going to build the dam, Alberta is going to build the pipeline and Saskatchewan, and the NWT are going to split the profits.

If this goes through it means Alberta will further reduce the oil royalty close to zero and Albertans will be paying 30 to 50 times more for their water based on California prices.

Remember the higher they can push your water utility prices the more the exporters can collect from the US.

Alberta Oil Roytalty is theatre; not fact!

2010-07-09T08:53:00.000-07:00

Liepert is at it again!

He is muddling facts to suit his purpose trying to legitimatize the phony oil royalty sheet published in order to get them elected last time. Lies compounding lies.

The "new regime" they published at the last election showed impossible royalty to be charged 2 years after the election. These turkeys are not in the business of increasing royalty!

This same .PDF shows the huge increases. It starts out the oil sands royalty goes to 25% (our original deal) when oil gets to 55.00 per barrel Canadian. This same publication reduced our take from USD to Can$. However, our present rate and rate at the time of this publication was less than 19% as was bounced by AG Fred Dunn.

The same sheet increments royalty by about 1% for every 10 dollars Can increase in the price of oil. When oil gets up to 90 dollars we get 38.00 per barrel.

Liepert scrapped this when it started to come in effect. Now, we are back to the old royalty of less than 16% less the addition of a new Alberta Make Work Program that was announced as being a redraft of the published oil regime but in reality has nothing to do with it at all!

What this new "tweak" does is give away a huge amount of Alberta revenue. The Journal ran a story about 2 weeks ago where a company was drilling to 2700 feet and made a million dollars profit with the subsidy of the new regime. They did not have to produce anything to collect this. Their intention as outlined in the article was to continue drilling wells for profit.

Nothing will change until you get rid of the Conservatives! Wild Rose is simply another right wing charade being run by Dinning's crew to keep the fire at Stelmach's feet.

If you want anything left of this province at all, turf them all out!

Alberta setting up for water export- it is going to cost you.

2010-07-06T20:27:00.000-07:00

Full discussion; it's bad!
Like most things this Government does, it moves coin from the pockets of the citizens into the pocket of corporations and nothing comes back to us.

Recently there were two news items. Drumheller Alberta and Okotoks Alberta purchased water allotments. The first was from an unnamed party (insider so no money figures were given) the other was from an Oil Company. The latter cost Okotoks over a million dollars for rights to some 230,000 cubic meters of water annually.

If we ever get a new, non conservative party into power we can put some of these crooks in Jail!

Water allotments have never been sold until now. The oil companies received them free of charge as did the unnamed insider. Why then the sale?

Bolstered by the Alberta Government the towns had to pay up. This adds many dollars to the resource and forces the price of water utilities way up. When it comes time to export, they will tell Albertans the cost is the same. Edmonton now has the highest water prices in the world (National Geographic April 2010). Soon enough the rest of Alberta will join the ranks of most expensive in the world.

The more they can charge you and get away with it, the more they can get for the export water.

Following the long standing Conservative dream of including water into NAFTA and changing bulk water to a commodity is fore front in their plans.

If we export water under NAFTA rules, we must give the Americans first chance at the water and we cannot charge the Americans more money than we are now paying. When it comes time to export, people in Alberta will be paying the much more money than those people in California who are the targeted export market.

They are effectively fixing prices at your expense. (My US readers will pick up on this one!)

Meanwhile TV is carrying subtle advertisements by the Conservative version Environment Canada in fill in spots saying our water is our finest resource and it must be shared.

All this ties in with the new dam being built on the Peace by BC. There is no chance that last meeting between BC and Saskatchewan, the Yukon and Albert was about oil. The other guys don't have heritage trust funds to prop up a lower royalty rate. It was about water!

I can see BC saying they will build the dam if Alberta builds the pipelines to move it.

I have been fighting this crew for our water for years here is a letter to Taylor on January 9, 2004 which is as valid today as it was then.

Quote:
January 9-2004

The Honorable Dr. Lorne Taylor,
Minister of Environment,
Government of Alberta.

Your recent comments quoted in the ‘Journal indicate you are about to move people to the water, rather than water to the people.

I have cause to wonder if this is just “chewing gum for the mind”!

The Alberta Government is presently involved in moving potable water from the St. Mary’s irrigation system in southern Alberta by pipe line into Montana. This, going against the wishes of local ranchers and stakeholders! The water is being used for water in a recreation area in Montana as well as for drinking.

What is the name of the Minister who put this project into place?

Who paid for the materials in the pipeline?

What is the diameter of the line?

Where are the lift stations and who pays for them?

What is the annual quantity of water exported from this drought area?

Why is this not considered illegal?

Does the Alberta Government bill for the charges directly or has this been turned over to a private company to operate at their convenience? If so, what is the name and address of this company?

In the ‘80s the Alberta Government commissioned a study by Weatherford on moving water from the Peace River into Southern Alberta, using it to irrigate the pipeline corridor and export huge amounts into the American northern states.

This plan calls for an immense pipe line capable of moving two-thirds of the Peace River Flow through the pipe along with the assurances it will not harm the wild life. This same plan calls for 8 lift stations to move the water; each of them using the electrical power of a small city.

Further, this plan was approved, only shelved, until the weather gets dry enough and the public can see the light. It is my understanding this project has been given recent notice and review. How far along is this plan?

Lastly the CBC documentary we corresponded about. Your Senior Hydrologist confirmed there would be no saline discharges at the “pristine” Alberta location shown in that documentary so it would be impossible to get the Montana situation at that site. It ignores the fact that Montana situations exist in other parts of Alberta and BC. The CBC documentary was grossly misleading to say the least and, I know they are capable of better. So, the question comes. Did the Alberta Government subsidize or otherwise pay the CBC to produce that program?

Dig in folks; if they get away with this it will be rough!

Adobe Acrobat 9 is a virus in every sence of the word

2010-07-03T19:53:00.000-07:00

For those of you who consider your computer private; Adobe Acrobat 9 is in many ways a virus! Out of your control it does serious damage to your operating system.

I use Microsoft 2007 for a functional software platform.

Adobe Acrobat 9 hung up my machine. No DVD. No Email. No nothing until did a reboot to install the latest version.

Then; I found my outlook express did not work because this POS changed my preferences somehow resulting in outlook not opening.

The only thing to do is reinstall programs/

I say to you if you have an opportunity (such as it is) to install Adobe; DON'T!

Alberta Heritage Trust Fund ripped of by 370 Billions of dollars.

2010-06-24T14:21:00.000-07:00

The Conservatives have been drawing down the Heritage Trust fund to limit it to 4% appreciation. The moneys taken from the fund have been added to the provincial General Revenues and spent out of this slush fund.

This, coupled with the downloading of expenses to the cities and towns and allowing the cities to charge whatever they want for power, means Alberta is the highest taxed state in North America if not the world!

balance73
1:43 PM on June 19, 2010

Here's what might have been...

$97.9 billion- If the government had allowed the Heritage Fund to reinvest its profits, rather than using them to cut the deficit, pay off its debt and otherwise help with general government expenses

$57.2 billion- If the government had diverted a mere 1% of revenue to the fund starting in 1987, and had allowed profits to be reinvested

$164.5 billion - If the government had never taken a penny from the fund, and had continued to seed it with 30% of resource revenues from 1982 onward

$55.6 billion - If the government had kept adding 15% of resource revenues per year after 1987

$65.8 billion - If the government had treated the Heritage Fund like an endowment, letting the fund reinvest its profits and drawing out a fixed amount every year-say 4.5% of assets-and topping up the fund to account for inflation (as it eventually started to do in 2005), with no further royalty contributions after 1987 (figures as of march 2008 - Globe and Mail)

Resource companies get water free then sell it to communities.

2010-06-14T08:14:00.000-07:00

Alberta Environment
10th Floor, Petroleum Plaza South Tower
9915 - 108 Street
Edmonton, Alberta
Canada T5K 2G8
June 14,2010

Attention Mr. Rob Renner, Minister.

Dear Minister;

How is it possible an energy company can sell water they have received free as an operational allotment, to Cities and towns and by extension, anyone else?

The Western Wheel on June 10th reports CanEra Resources has agreed to transfer over 200,000 cubic meters of water to the Town of Okotoks of unused allotment.

You tell us time and again, this is an Alberta resource owned by the people of Alberta and yet, we have to buy it from resource companies?

There was a second news item in which the Town (Drumheller?) was not allowed to divulge who they got the water from or, what they paid for it. Why do you not publish who you have given water to for the purpose of resale?

This is patently wrong! Receive water permits using fresh water for drilling is bad enough but receiving cash for water they asked which was beyond their needs is something else again.

John Clark.

The US border police running high on paranoia are dangerous.

2010-06-03T11:20:00.000-07:00

If you have a chance to travel to the US or someplace else; choose the someplace else!

This is what we are moving towards in Alberta under the Conservative banner.

Alberta Royalty: Cash for crooks

2010-06-01T11:12:00.000-07:00

Additional up-graders and plants are announced. This promises more revenue for more production coming into Alberta coffers. As revenues increase there will be further reductions in royalty and huge theater productions to sell it to the public.

Higher production means lower cash is required to maintain the status-quo. Being Conservative they are ploughing money into lower royalty; stuffing cash into the gas industry and have invented a big story to make it all seem reasonable. The taxpayer will never see any part of these profits under this Government!

We have had the lowest royalty in the world to this point and it did nothing for the exploration!

The price of gas is way down! The gas companies are looking for money to make up lost revenue. Alberta taxpayer is going to give it to them.

The Province is still spending at 1989 levels. This means Alberta has not put any more money into the coffers from previous increases.

As productions from various plants increase royalty will fall and there will be no additional funds pumped into Alberta coffers. That is the history and the intent of this Government.

Any extra money into the Government comes from income taxes and user fees; not from the resource industry.

They are robbing this province blind and voters just won't get their heads around that fact!

Any party elected is going to support the resource industry but there will also be a good chance to bring on additional industry under a different party.

The Wild Rose Party are even more right wing that the Stelmach crew. In their simplistic world Obama is a socialist and snakes at a service to prove your Christianity just makes good sense.

I will be supporting the Liberals as being my choice for a reasonable business driven party.

Alberta privitzed Health care; Funding for crooks and charletons.

2010-05-25T14:51:00.000-07:00

Comment on the Journal blog is worth more than the story!

Llano wrote:

Networc Health = Health Resource Centre was deadheaded by Doc Stephen Miller who used to be head of orthopedic sugary at the FootHills Hospital.

Dr Stephen Miller owned Columbia Health which was the W.C.B. Dumping Ground to help injured workers to become better. You will see a tie into the PC Party if you go back and look at the staff and whom worked for Columbia Health. This then became Life Mark Health which is Canada wide, and a dumping ground for W.C.B. now it has become Networc Health is also Canada wide and established down in the USA.

Now Networc Health also has "third party" doctors which in reality are paid by W.C.B.

Now if you look into the relationship between Alberta Health, WCB, and Networc Health you will see an ugly group of people that provide services to down play injured workers injury's.

You will see in all the Bone Wards across Alberta there are deep dark secrets that lye in the Bone graves which are not even recognizable as human rights are trampled day in and day out. NOW,THAT'S THE STORY THAT NEEDS TO BE UN DUG and then you will see why the government ran from networc health.

Smart Meters - Too smart for our present politic.

2010-05-22T09:24:00.000-07:00

Smart meters are only a part of the "new" designs. They send and receive information back to the supplier on an hourly duration or, less. New "smart" electrical appliance can identify information on your use and include that information back to the supplier.

Now, the supplier has a comprehensive list of your waking hours; sleeping hours night time meanderings. Whether you are at home or not at home. In the more modern house, what you took out of your fridge and what you put into your fridge.

This is marketing gold and you can be very sure the suppliers will be selling this information to marketing people for data mining.

I say, no more smart meter talk until we see legislation in place that will seriously curtail how information collected can be used. Protection of privacy before smart meters!

Alberta sends taxpayer dollars to Korea while Albertans go hungry.

2010-05-16T12:09:00.000-07:00

The headlines read: Imperial snubs Alberta workers

250M job goes to South Korea -- and it looks like more will follow

Several billion more!

All of the resource projects are treated cost-plus under this Government. The companies finance the projects and Alberta Taxpayer refunds them every last nickle plus interest on their investment!.

When a project starts to produce oil, they pay Alberta only 1% royalty until the project is totally paid for.

Holidays, overseas flights and get-away are all reimbursed in this manner. The Auditor General pointed out there is not enough staff to audit what is actually billed as project costs. Clearly; a rip off!

When the project is fully paid for by Alberta Taxpayers, the resource company starts paying the going rate on the product. Today that is less than 19% Canadian dollars less any agreement discounts for up-graders.

When the books are balanced, you will find that the Taxpayer is paying for the up-graders and there is no return for this large outlay of cash except perhaps for some income tax if the workers don't happen to be American.

For you Albertans that think the Conservative is the only way to vote because of some phobia or cult rendering I say to you, think again and find a new religion.

Oil Dispersents and oil spills

2010-05-14T08:54:00.000-07:00

I sailed the Mackenzie River for years on the Tugs, as a supercargo; a purser. 90% of what we did had to do with the safe transport and handling of bulk oil and fuel products.

A major supplier of oil to the NWT is the Norman Wells Refinery from which we lifted many thousands of tons of various oil grades including Bunker C.

At the end of a shipping season, the refinery would drain its pipelines into the Mackenzie from which point it would float downstream into the delta through the bird sanctuaries to the coast.

I have followed a couple of these "flushes" down river and there was no sign of dead fish or tarred birds.

Then, there was a bunker spill in a place called Bar C aka Tununik. Being close to an ESSO camp all the boys toys came out and I had a chance to play with all of them. Slick-Lickers similar to what you see on TV today had a good but limited success in containment.

Straw and peat moss (Use a carbon base material to filter or soak up a carbon base spill) was the most effective and also the most manual labor. Garden rakes proved to be the most useful tool in collecting the mix into bags to be hauled away.

Oil spills in running water such as ditches can be contained with the use of straw. Put a straw bale below the offending spill and the oil will be stopped by the straw bail allowing only clear water to pass.

And now to the dispersant:

Still in Bar C, dispersant was added to the water/oil mixtures. Gone from sight; gone from mind.

I must say at this point there was no indication of dead fish of any kind while working with the mechanical clean up apparatus.

However after the dispersant applications dead fish littered the banks from Bar C to the Arctic ocean.

I am of the opinion after working in this, that dispersant is far more harmful than the oil and at the same time, the damages from the oil is grossly over blown!

Alberta Wild Rose Party cripples into the media.

2010-05-12T12:07:00.000-07:00

In this press release Danielle Smith to do what, I am not sure. It does however point out her positions on a lot of things which you should be very concerned about. Her figures are good and items such as the Oilsands Development benefits all Canadians (and Americans) is true.

She is saying however that Albertans should expect no more than a job and the income tax revenues that come from this development. At no point does she suggest we should get away from the lowest royalty prices in the world which causes every Albertan to contribute to the oil companies, not the other way around.

She is quick to recognize the cap and trade program is not in Canada or Alberta's favor and would bring about a major economic shock to Canada and Alberta. I go a step further by saying if it is implemented in a big way it will result in the next "bubble" to burst in economies as most the carbon dioxide is returned to the surface with the the scarfed oil. How many times are you going to pay to put it down a hole??

The WRP corner stone of doing away with the Balance of payments is unchanged but the english has softened. She likens Quebec to Greece which is legitimate and the outright inequities of the balance of payments plan is properly challenged.

She is saying our schools, universities and health care are all suffering because of the balance of payments which is really out on a right wing limb.

As the Alberta Liberals pointed out our spending has not changed since 1986. The doom and gloom scenarios by the Conservatives are nothing less than spin doctoring. Smith is picking up on this and doing some spinning on her own pointing us to hate the Feds again.

I can almost hear Jim Dinning and the Oil Companies whispering in her ear "Danielle, if you can rip off the balance of payments and put them into still further reduced royalty, we will buy you elections for your lifetime"

Alberta shell game pumps more money into private clinics.

2010-05-04T09:19:00.000-07:00

Was this not the hospital that received a 6 million dollar upgrade in the weeks preceding the sale to a private concern??

Was this not the hospital that was sold for pennies on the dollar of assessed value to a private concern??

Why was the giveaway not sufficient to guarantee a business or is this just a ploy to further ramp up the charges for private health care!

Why the shortfall? Was it because the title of the hospital was flipped several times ensuring profit for insiders as was the case with our power lines?

There is absolutely no accountability from this Government on the money they spend to push their prioritization agenda!

Being stuck on a Conservative vote is being stuck on dumb!

Alberta cuts in services still another farce - spending hasn't changed since 1989!

2010-05-03T21:21:00.000-07:00

The Conservatives in Alberta continue to layer lie upon lie in order to promote and maintain their doom and gloom scenarios in support of their program cuts and privatization plans.

The results are shorted services and cash props for private sector operations.

Alberta rejected a national plan on pension reform

2010-04-23T14:41:00.000-07:00

Ted Morton, our American finance Minister has done a flip flop on pension improvements opting instead for an Alberta Pension; rejecting all other formats.

An Alberta Pension would go the way of the Heritage Trust fund, itself being a pension in kind.

The Conservatives decided that a 5% profit on investments in the fund was all that was needed to show the fund improve. During our last race to prosperity, this crew took all profits from investments above 5% and dropped them into the infamous "General Revenues" along with money from bottles that weren't returned and all other revenues.

When challenged on bastardizing this investment they explained the money being put in General Revenues helped pay for goods and services in Alberta so, we we are winning where in fact, the money from the Heritage Trust was included in the surpluses of the day and the end result was a further reduction of the royalty on resources.

If Alberta is allowed to make go their own way and create an Alberta pension fund to augment everyone's income in old age you can bet it too will be pegged at a maximum profit well below the performance capability and, any real profits siphoned off to operate the day to day expenses of the province.

This province being stuck on voting Conservative is the best example of being stuck on Dumb there is!

Alberta; Conservative or Fascist?

2010-04-16T22:22:00.001-07:00

The behind the scenes corruption in the province of Alberta is fascist in its nature. Since Ralph Klein became premier, Albertans have lost complete control of entire sectors, including water rights.

KEEP IN MIND, as mayor of Calgary, Klein sold (for pennies) the water rights to huge underground aquifers that run beneath the city and must be used at some point in time to furnish the city with their water.. The buyer? A favorite soft drink company!

Alberta's water is privitzed; insiders clean up!

2010-04-14T08:23:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Conservatives privatized water schemes! Cardinal, when he was minister re drew the water allotments along the St. Mary's aquifer and other tracks.

He sold grazing lands on the east side of the Rocky Mountains where all our water aquifers start. Repeated inquiries to the Government asking if water rights went with the land sales brought no response.

In their schemes. A person had to be on the water border before you could vote about what to do. No more stake holders set one lot back!

Now we are paying the highest prices in the world for water (National Geographic) and the coin is going into private pockets.

This is just bad!

Conservatives moving for further isolation of the Province- Then?

2010-04-14T08:19:00.001-07:00

The Conservative Association of Canada and the Fraser Institute have long treasured the idea of doing away with the Canada Pension Plan! Morton is staking out that position.

He would start by further isolating Alberta and the West from Eastern Canada by doing away with the Balance of payments and putting in a Western Canada Co-Operative insurance plan probably headed up by Mazanknowsky's friends at the "Power Group"

After such a fund would be put in place and people obliged to put their coin in, you would find that the Province of Alberta would be the biggest investment at the lowest rates. It would go the way of the Heritage Trust where they said "that is enough profit, pull it out and put it into General Revenues"

Their Bond sales are a bust; They won't go along with Federal Financial oversight and rules. Why would anyone but a crazy person invest their coin with this crew???

Alberta oil comes at a price to Albertans.

2010-04-12T16:05:00.000-07:00

Our royalty take is the lowest in the world and, falling.

Our Hospitals, Universities; Education in General is short funded pushing still more unemployment figures up.

Our Infrastructure is short funded after being pushed behind for years. Highway 19 is still killing people!

Normally provincial services have been down loaded onto cities and municipalities for the purpose of further reducing royalties. With these downloads came more unemployment.

Cities and municipalities were given the ownership and control of all the utilities. Power, Water Heat all owned by the cities or the municipalities who are also given license to charge what ever they want for those services.

We end up with the highest prices in the world for our water (New National Geographic who brought you the ducks) and the highest power prices in north America.

For those of you who voted Conservative and for those of you who decided it was not worth your time to vote; Give your head a shake!

Under this Government we have priced ourselves out of every industry other than natural resource and you are paying for that industry in your every day expenses! They are not paying you!

Your high school curriculum has been watered down to suit trade schools leaving your kids short should they want a University Education. That is, if you are prepared to second mortgage your home to pay for the latter.

How I wish Albertans' would realize that the different flavors of extreme conservatives are doing nothing for them at all while robbing this province blind of its natural resource.

Alberta working towards being a thrid world country!

2010-04-11T16:38:00.000-07:00

Alberta royalty scheme is a sham ; Excellent article breaking it all out!

2010-04-03T12:39:00.000-07:00

In an expected about-face, the Alberta government effectively reversed the widely supported royalty increases that came into effect last year. According to Energy Minister Ron Liepert, it had "nothing to do with industry running the province" but "everything to do with what constituents have been telling MLAs across this province."

Except that, according to an Environics poll, a majority of Albertans -- including two-thirds of Tory supporters -- opposed this latest gift to the oilpatch.

Defending his government's undemocratic policy choice, Premier Ed Stelmach said it was "all about doing what's right."

One would hope there was compelling evidence pushing the government in that direction.

Unfortunately, that evidence has not been shown.

Ever since Stelmach's Tory government adopted a watered-down version of the Royalty Review Panel's modest proposals in 2007, Albertans have been told our province is too expensive and that billions of dollars in energy investment are fleeing to our neighbors.

Answering these tortured cries, the Tories established a committee of bureaucrats and representatives from the energy and investment industries to examine the situation.

This "competitiveness committee" recently submitted its final report and the Stelmach government accepted its recommendations, announcing royalty cuts on March 11.

However, a careful reading of the government's report, the competitiveness study and supporting documents reveals no real evidence supporting recommendations predetermined by energy and investment executives.

Perhaps the most curious aspect of the whole process is that the review took place before industry statistics for 2009 had been compiled.

One would assume it would be fairly difficult to examine the impact of royalties introduced in 2009 before those numbers are available.

They tried to argue Alberta is too expensive on other grounds, but those attempts leave a great deal to be desired.

Take, for example, the cost of an oil or gas well.

In the Stelmach government's Energizing Investment report, claims were made that Alberta had higher costs than the United States; however, the technical study on which their report was based concluded the opposite.

Buried nearly a hundred pages deep in the technical report appendices is the conclusion: the lower technical complexity of Alberta's wells make them 26 per cent cheaper than those in the U.S.

And though government skirts the issue, the competitiveness study further concedes that Alberta enjoys cost advantages when compared with British Columbia and Saskatchewan because of the size of our industry and our more established and extensive infrastructure.

So, it turns out, Alberta is cheaper. What about the fleeing investment we've heard so much about?

Though the competitiveness committee report claims that "oil and gas investment was reported to be flowing out of Alberta" after 2007's new royalty framework, this claim too was contradicted by the committee's own technical analysis.

The oil industry and their friends have been attributing the decline in Alberta drilling and rig activity to royalty changes, but according to the technical report, that decline began before the royalty reforms.

The report states: "this explanation is complicated as such change (royalty reform) did not come about until 2007, after activity had already begun to decline."

Instead, it suggests a more convincing explanation: " ... the recent change in activity patterns has to do with shale gas activity, including the associated impact on prices."

As for the royalty rates, everything the competitiveness committee and the government's Energizing Investment have to say is tainted by the fact that their comparisons ignore billions of dollars' worth of incentive programs put in place since royalties increased -- also a major flaw in Jack Mintz's recent University of Calgary report on royalties.

So if the Tories' royalty cuts can't be explained by public opinion and can't be justified by their own economic analysis, why did they do it?

According to Canada West Foundation president Roger Gibbons, "It will shore up support with the oilpatch," which had been shifting its support to the Wildrose Alliance Party since the Tories implemented higher royalties.

"That is not insignificant in terms of financial and organizational support.

"That doesn't necessarily carry a lot of votes, but it's important."

As Energy Minister Liepert put it, "If we can turn around that very influential negative view by the leadership in the oil and gas industry to one of acceptance and co-operation and moving forward, it's going to make a big difference for me politically."

Trading Albertans' natural wealth for an extended stay in office might seem worthwhile to a few politicians, but Albertans should ask themselves whether it is in our best interests to continue to allow them to do so.

Regan Boychuk is a research associate with the Parkland Institute
© Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal

Quotes from Auditor General Fred Dunn

2010-03-26T10:18:00.000-07:00

edmontonjournal.comOctober 2, 2009

Alberta Auditor General Fred Dunn releases his semi-annual report on Oct, 2, 2009, in Edmonton. Highlights include a second look at how the province hands out compensation packages.

This is Dunn's last report before he retires.

Photograph by: Greg Southam, Edmonton Journal

Here is a roundup of Alberta Auditor-General Fred Dunn’s comments as he delivered his final report:

On food safety and the lack of inspections and enforcement:

“I have a high regard for our colleagues and fellow citizens in Calgary. They are entrepreneurial and they are adventuresome. They’re very forward thinking, but dining out should not be a risk-taking venture.”

“To have your inspectors to go in and continuously find the same problems over and over again and nothing gets escalated in a report -- that’s a waste of time. It’s a threat to health … if you want to make it effective, enforce it.”
“If you have irresponsible and risk-taking entrepreneurs out there, let the public know.”

On cost overruns for health projects such as Calgary’s new southeast hospital and Edmonton’s Mazankowski Heart Institute:

“Our conclusion was (Alberta Health Services) does not have effective and efficient financial management systems to approve, monitor and report on capital projects.... Obviously without timely and accurate information, AHS may not be appropriately monitoring and controlling capital projects, resulting in cost overruns and missed deadlines.”

On supplemental retirement plans:

“The supplemental retirement plans were like holding a rattlesnake in your hand. If you don’t control this, it will come back to hurt you. And those things have become very expensive.”

By the end of the 2008-09 fiscal year, AHS’s total supplementary retirement plan obligation was $28 million; four of 11 plans are not funded, so there is no money set aside to cover a roughly $20 million obligation.

On “gold plated” severance packages for top health executives:

“I believe in many cases the compensation committees were either ill-prepared, ill-advised or had not possibly spent the sufficient due diligence to realize the consequence of what they were signing onto....

“There were some payments that were made, we’ll call them friendly parting gifts.”

On creating Alberta Health Services:

“The regional health authorities, they really believed they were autonomous.”
Dunn said it took too long to restructure the boards, which he called “regional fiefdoms.”

“If there was a fallacy within the restructuring, they didn’t do it fast enough,” he said. “The interim management team was there too long before the permanent one.”

On efforts to get contract information from the University of Calgary:

“When we did the CEO selection evaluation and compensation, they were the last ones to give us the contract, they did it very reluctantly, and I’ll be blunt, they sent me the wrong contract. ... If you’re going to deceive an officer of the legislature, I believe that’s tantamount to deceiving the legislature, and I believe that’s obviously inappropriate. ...They offended me.”

On why he is retiring:
“I wish I could have longer sleeps at night. I wake up far too often at 2.30 a.m. ...
“I’ll be blunt. At times I felt very frustrated and somewhat disappointed. And at times I felt rather angry. And I thought it times, when you get to that point, it’s time to leave.”

— Compiled by Trish Audette and Darcy Henton

Alberta's royalty scheme is a sham!

2010-03-23T16:01:00.000-07:00

At the fear of repetition:
The Conservatives came up with still another not so elaborate lie to get elected in the last election. Fairness for everyone was the mantra.

The published a glossy PDF which outlined very high, impossible royalty figures that were supposed to be Alberta's future.

During the last election when the document was published I put up on the blog that the regime held nothing for Alberta Taxpayers. The blog isn't a main stream news paper so, it went unheeded.

When asked for his view of royalty by the media, Kevin Taft threw his apron over his face and ran for the wings. A great opportunity lost.

When the Conservatives recently announced changes to the farce they call a regime I bounced them on this blog and across the world as being the liars they are.

Now, Ron Liepert is running around the country giving dog and pony shows about reducing royalty rates. He is saying there will be still more changes.

Here is the trick:
As the price of oil ropes in these impossible figures they put up in that election document, Liepert goes out for positive press saying he is reducing royalties.

The point of all this is as it was before. There was never any intention of doing anything but reduce royalty. They hammered this home when they changed Alberta's take from US dollars to Canadian dollars in that same document.

Who's fault is all this??

It is my mind the fault lies directly with those people who did not bother to vote. They were in sufficient numbers they could have beat the Conservatives as in no contest.

A critique of Alberta's screwed up health care system.

2010-03-18T09:29:00.001-07:00

Dear Gene, Premier Stelmach, and Members of the Legislative Assembly,
As a tax payer and a voter I wish to address Health Care Issues, have some questions I would like answered, some information and some opinions on the following concerns:

In the Edmonton Journal, there was an article Public Versus Private. I am in complete support of the public system NOT private delivery of public services. The votes of my friends and family will hinge on this.

1) Why was the special funding for bone and joint surgery at the Grande Prairie hospital not renewed?

2) Why did Edmonton residents have to drive to Westlock and St. Paul to get knee surgery done and drive home very sick for three hours one way in one situation after anaesthetic because the main earner in the family had to work the next day and couldn’t take the day off?

3) Why does it take three to four weeks to get fasting blood work done at Dynalife, a private for profit publicly funded laboratory, thus delaying surgical procedures and doctor’s visits while siphoning huge money out of our province each year?
One woman has to go from central Edmonton to St Albert. Her wait is 4 weeks. She doesn’t drive.
The system we had before was superior to this and the money stayed here.

4) Many of us paid into the public system for over 40 years with health care premiums and taxes without ever using any of it, knowing that others before us were using that system we were paying for and did not once resent it. It wouldn’t have mattered that my end of life expense to the public was only one day, I was happy with that. It was pride in my Canadian Values as a health care professional. But I also had the security of knowing that in the very last year of my life if I needed “in and out of hospital care”, it would be there for me not a sense of entitlement but rightfully earned.

Why aren’t the younger generation paying premiums and taxes that reflect ones income like we did? Will they be exempt from aging and illness in their later years? Believe me, it isn’t our generation that has a feeling of entitlement. We cared for our citizens when we didn’t need it.

5) Why are we adopting an Australian model when it is fraught with problems costing an extra $3billion of tax payer’s money? The research was done by two CEO’s from three Canadian hospitals complete with references.

6) As a tax payers and voters, do we get to see the “hidden cost” that AHS states are there in a public system?

7) What kind of protection will patients have in the event of a Cardiac arrest in a private facility? Are we going to plug up our hospitals with the easy cases leaving the difficult ones to wait for a surgeon, or a space as has been happening?

8) Who is going to insure standards of practice?
Right now, I know of 7 private for profit home care agencies, each having their own rules that the coordinator can’t have access to as it appears to be secretive. Staff brought in from other countries are low paid and are cherry picking the 15 minute jobs working for two or three agencies. I would be happy to send you the information from front line workers.

9) How could activity based funding “create a level the playing field” stated by Hughes and ensure the same discipline in both systems? when the private does 100 easy surgeries compared to those in the public hospital which are much more complex requiring more care and stay in hospital?
The numbers cannot reflect equal activity.

10) Incentives to provide “superior quality” for hospitals and physicians is undermining their professional capabilities. Perhaps we need to go back to having managers who are nursing and medical people not those who tell staff that they “have to tow the corporate line” or lose their job as some have.

11) One patient needed surgery for a problem that would have put him back to work the next day-“IF HE PAID FOR IT”. He has to wait 6 months to get it done in the public system. WHY? Don’t we want people working?

12) Who will develop policies and standards? The glossy 2020 Vision is of little help.

In closing, if Mr Hughes thinks Albertans are indifferent as to whether surgery is done in a private or public facility, I would disagree with him. Albertans don’t want to be pushed to the side by queue jumpers and have the system cost more than can be provided by the public facility.

I am tired of being told we are burdening the next generation. Please make those stats publicly available. Many of us would to be given credit for the 45 years of financial contribution to the health care system that we hadn’t used. Hopefully, I won’t use a penny but will drop dead on my porch with a margarita in my hand.
I await your genuine reply. Please feel free to forward this to your colleagues.

Sincerely.,
Darlene - Alberta Health Care Professional.

Encana acknowldges royalty scam and suggests on par with other provinces.

2010-03-17T21:32:00.000-07:00

Alberta would have received a bigger chunk of EnCana Corp.' s 2010 budget if it harmonized royalties with British Columbia, CEO Randy Eresman said Tuesday.

And Canada would gain even more if its royalty policies were harmonized with the United States, he added, speaking at the company's investor day presentation -- the first since splitting with Cenovus Energy late last year.
Although Eresman said he's generally pleased with the Alberta government's royalty overhaul, he said the province still lags B.C. and states such as Texas in terms of its competitiveness.

Alberta Balanace of Payments agreement.

2010-03-17T16:04:00.000-07:00

It has come to my attention from a concerned Alberta employee that the Alberta Conservatives have been working with the Yukon, British Columbia and Saskatchewan to plan a way to get out of balance of payments.

The Balance of Payments is what makes Canada a country! Our trade limitations between provinces are greater in some cases than our limitations with the USA. These limitations are being removed slowly but surely which I think is a good thing.

If we do away with the Balance of Payments it doesn't take much of an imagination to figure out the effected provinces (all) would be looking for new alliance with the US as a better advantage than other provinces in Canada.

Ted Morton, an American citizen has no problems with this nor does the Wild Rose Party who are headquartered in southern Alberta, next to the US border and have the support of the Oil companies who would like nothing better.

There is a chance in a true royalty review to shift billions of dollars out of the oil companies into Alberta's treasury a thought that is totally abhorrent to a politically Conservative mind.

Alberta to trash balance of payments-Canada Beware!

2010-03-15T10:46:00.000-07:00

There has been broad coverage this week about Ted Morton's assessment of losses due to fine tuning the so called royalty regime. He is saying hundreds of millions of dollars will be lost.

The royalty regime he refers to is a farce; an election document; a lie that put them into office. The AG bounced them after two years pointing out they were far from achieving their stated targets of 19% royalty.

Then came the crisis. The minister said the new regime would not be applied any time soon.

The change in the phantom scale hits to top end; where we won't see the price of oil for many years to come! It would have nothing to do with our profit and loss picture if it were real. With our royalty take being half of either BC or Saskatchewan, we are surly going broke but it has nothing to do with the BS regime.

What Morton has done is positioned himself to press for the abolition of the balance of payments formula which has been long standing and agreed to by all the provinces. This in my view is the fabric of Canada.

Ted Morton, a US citizen was co author of the Alberta Firewall with the members of the Wild Rose Party of which doing away with the balance of payments was a keystone.

Any savings that came from such a plan would go directly to reducing oil royalty further. It would do nothing for the quality of life in Alberta.

We can nothing short of treading them as traitors but we can do something about the Federal end of things and shut down Stephen Harper bringing to an end Norton's and the Wild Rose ambitions.

Oil Investment funds - pay attention!

2010-03-12T16:57:00.000-08:00

Alberta has resisted the overtures of the Fed to have a Federal Security Commission in Alberta. The fiasco of oil royalty is just one reason why they want a closed club.

People investing in the oil industry will take much of their leads from Government releases.

What happens to your investment when the Government lies publicly about those same investments?

Examples:
To get elected they put out a nonsense sheet about oil royalty that would have you believe the oil companies were going to loose their shirts. That was the public information. In private, they never applied any of the royalty figures; it was business as usual. If you sold your stock based on the public information; you got hooped.

It goes on and on. Their public positions have nothing to do with the reality of what they are doing in relation to the oil companies. Likewise their adventures into stock. For what purpose? Where does the money go? How is it accounted for? What are your returns based on.

My guess would be the money taken on bonds is dumped into General Revenues to be used along with everything else. You would get the guaranteed interest but, would you invest if you knew you were investing in a slush fund?

Alberta cuts oil and gas royalities

2010-03-12T13:51:00.000-08:00

This announcement is a farce! Alberta never, ever initiated the "new royalty regime". That was an
empty document;a lie to get them elected last time. This is really no different than them working with the oil companies to propel the NEP farce!

2 years after the election the AG in Alberta bounced the Government because they had failed to reach their targeted 19% royalty. After that time the minster stated publicly there would be no new rates put in, in the foreseeable future and the AG had no right to look into royalties.

The oil companies are picking up the brass and the drums now to lend credibility to an election bungle saying
they may stay, things will improve and other spin doctoring. This is a grand theater, nothing more.

The mentioned reductions take place in the scale where Alberta has never ever received any cash! In writing of the reduced number of rigs they fail to mention most rigs are into directional drilling now. 1/10th of the rigs are required to do the same job!

Run after a taxi and you save more money than when you chase a bus!

We still collect less than 1/2 of what BC or Saskatchewan does! What is there to cut? We are presently paying them to take the stuff out of the province and the Wild Rose Party, financed by the same oil companies promise more of the same.

The Conservatives do not think this province is entitled to anything more than a lease on the land and income taxes, on par with the US Republicans.

This rip off isn't going to change any time soon unless Albertans step away from the Conservative vote or, those people who though their vote would not mean anything will step up to the plate and vote.

The royalty announcement isn't even chewing gum for the mind! It is not just cheap theater; It is perpetrating blatant lies.

Alberta new royalty regime is a farce!

2010-03-11T16:31:00.000-08:00

Alberta has produced a document about their new oil regime and competitiveness that is a Public Relations show with very little relative fact in it.

For instance; number of drilling rigs in Alberta is down. They do not take any time explaining that omnidirectional drilling techniques is what is in now and one rig can drill as many holes as a dozen rigs of just a few years ago.

Also Alberta does not have the oil shale play that BC and Saskatchewan does.

A year after the last oil regime was announced with all the big numbers in it, the Auditor general pointed out to the Government they had not come any where close to their targets of 19%.

That same document changed our take from US dollars to Canadian dollars.
Take into consideration the 48 cents per barrel we get for crude in payment in lieu of cash and you will quickly determine we collect less that 1/2 of what either BC or Saskatchewan take in.

The maximum royalty rate will be reduced from • the current levels of 50 percent to 40 percent for conventional oil and to 36 percent for natural gas, effective January 1, 2011.

They have not collected so much as 1 cent at these royalty rates!

The point of this exercise is to try to put some level of credibility to the BS they peddled to get elected last time!.

They say that 1 person is 7 is directly or indirectly employed in the oil and gas industry. That is saying that 14 percent can expect good or marginal returns for incomes and the other 86 percent of the population is either unemployed or marginally employed!

This crew has been lying through their teeth since day one and they are not about to change.

Alberta's health care to be totally privitized!

2010-03-11T16:13:00.000-08:00

We heard of the Federal budget today; transfers for health care are going to be reduced.

This will give the provinces a one liner to tell every one the devil feds did it where in truth they are working in concert.

Brain dead Albertans continue to vote Conservative regardless of how much or how often they are lied to tricked or beaten.

The door is now open for not just Alberta, but all provinces to claim privatization is the only way to go sighting reduced funding as being the culprit.

I can only hope that some of you reading these articles by this time will have realized that your vote will make a difference!

Alberta Privitzation About Conservative dogma, Not Money, Not service.

2010-03-04T18:30:00.001-08:00

The average voter like myself has paid health care premiums for over 45 years and most of us have

never used it, We still pay 30% out of pocket for services not covered by health care, while the

younger generation that are statistically bigger users of hospitals are paying nothing toward their

possible future health care.

I would cheerfully pay premiums like we did knowing that it is the younger generation that are big

users of expensive treatments. Their research is in contrast to research done by Australian

economist Ian McCauley, Australian journalist Jan Li, Donna Wilson from the U of A, and Ontario

Ceo’s, Murray Martin and Cliff Nordal “ A Visit Down Under” as well as research done by Harvard.

For example, every Albertan admitted to an institution is accurately documented. That is fact.

Alberta is chronologically the youngest province in Canada.

Of all Albertans admitted to hospital, 76.4% were under the age of 65.

Babies under a year were the most common.

The average age of hospitalized patients was 39.5 years with half of those being under the age of

36 years. These are not baby boomers.

Only 10.7% are 65 years or older and 16.4% of the elderly admitted to hospital died as compared to

3.3% of other patients.

Over half of the patients admitted to Intensive Care were younger patients who had more done to

them and stayed in ICU longer, the most expensive hospital service.

These stats were checked three times for accuracy.

Please remind me that it was not the economists with their know it all who put our world into a

recession.

Submitted by Darlene a former health care professional.

Alberta least competitive energy hub: economist

2010-02-25T13:21:00.000-08:00

A new report by prominent economist Jack Mintz concludes.

Jack Mintz used to be Mr. CD Howe and Council of Business Executives stand up. Like always he is a stand up spin doctor for the Conservative causes. Hardly a study and even less educational.

The new oil regime this article refers to was a document produced to get the conservatives elected again. It served no other purpose other than reducing our take from US dollars down to Canadian dollars.

A year after it was published Alberta's Auditor General pointed out to the Government they were far below the 19% royalty they had targeted.

Take from this, the payment in kind for bitumen which returns to Alberta 48 cents per bbl.

Bottom line is Alberta is taking far less than 50% of what either BC or Saskatchewan is collecting at their 30% USD royalty.

On the tar sands, the full cost of the project is paid by a reduced royalty take. Albertans in effect pay all the start up costs. This is done by us receiving only 1% royalty paid until the project is totally cleared off the books!

When you consider the items like inflation, Water and increased cost of our power lines you will quickly determine we are actually paying these companies to take to oil from the province.

The Conservatives are of a mind that wages and income tax is all the right we have to any revenue from the resources. All other monies go back to the corporation, and then some. Until Albertans decide they want more than wages from this industry there is little hope for difference.

Get rid of these suckers!

Alberta Universities take funding cuts to promote Conservative Agenda! Albertans relegated to second class citizenship.

2010-02-18T20:28:00.000-08:00

Alberta Universities take funding cuts to promote Conservive Agenda! Albertans relegated to second class citizenship.

The news is alive with funding cuts to our universities. I have left it for you to pick your own links.

These cuts represent the very softest targets for the Torys. Mostpeople at the universities vote for parties other than Conservative (Ichoose to think because they are enlightened) so cutting them to thepoint of putting them out of business is the best idea Morton couldcome up with according to Tory insiders. Universities are a softtarget-no vote losses there.

There is more!

About 10 years ago now, the Conservatives paid big bucks to get theopinions of experts regarding the expansion of industry in Alberta. They were told that Alberta could not support larger industries becausewe did not have the educated population that is needed to build thesesame industries. We were not graduating enough Doctors and Engineersto grow!

Those years passed and the Conservatives found it is cheaper and easierto higher the professionals from Namibia, China and the Philippiansthan it was to educate our own.

You will recall when the latest boom started Alberta kids wereencouraged to leave school to work as labour in the construction andoil fields. This Government thinks that is a great plan to continue with!

Now, those jobs are gone, the same kids are back home with theirparents looking for work; any kind of work and the Conservatives arecutting funding to the universities in the event that any of these kidsmanaged to get there.

Why any one in this province would consider voting Conservative isbeyond me. Why anyone in this province would go to an even moreextreme group, the Wild Rose Part is also beyond me.

And for those of you who though it was not worth while for you to vote,perhaps you will think again the next time you have a chance.

Alberta Universities take funding cuts to promote Conservive Agenda! Albertans relegated to second class citizenship.

2010-02-18T15:32:00.000-08:00

The news is alive with funding cuts to our universities. I have left it for you to pick your own links.

These cuts represent the very softest targets for the Torys. Most people at the universities vote for parties other than Conservative (I choose to think because they are enlightened) so cutting them to the point of putting them out of business is the best idea Morton could come up with according to Tory insiders. Universities are a soft target-no vote losses there.

There is more!

About 10 years ago now, the Conservatives paid big bucks to get the opinions of experts regarding the expansion of industry in Alberta. They were told that Alberta could not support larger industries because we did not have the educated population that is needed to build these same industries. We were not graduating enough Doctors and Engineers to grow!

Those years passed and the Conservatives found it is cheaper and easier to higher the professionals from Namibia, China and the Philippians than it was to educate our own.

You will recall when the latest boom started Alberta kids were encouraged to leave school to work as labour in the construction and oil fields.

Now, those jobs are gone, the same kids are back home with their parents looking for work; any kind of work and the Conservatives are cutting funding to the universities in the event that any of these kids managed to get there.

Why any one in this province would consider voting Conservative is beyond me. Why anyone in this province would go to an even more extreme group, the Wild Rose Part is also beyond me.

And for those of you who though it was not worth while for you to vote, perhaps you will think again the next time you have a chance.

Gratz (GM)-A really excellent fabricating business in Alberta!

2010-01-19T14:06:00.000-08:00

I had the occasion to get a part made for my table saw and after a few false starts one company referred me to Gratz Manufacturing.

They treated me like a million dollar account. My little project was taken into the shop; manufactured and returned to me in record time. It was no less that perfect!

Don't beat yourself to death nor cut your hands all to pieces. Drop in and see the pros at Gratz it will be a pleasant surprise and, say hello from me.

Gratz Manufacturing Inc

Address:	16142-114 Ave Edmonton, AB, T5M 2Z5
Phone:	780-484-0380
Fax:	780-484-7207

Alberta New Cabinet sworn in.

2010-01-15T22:04:00.000-08:00

Canada should pay attention to this one!

Ted Morton was co-author(With other members of the WRP) of the infamous "Alberta Firewall" some of the highlights are do away with making balance of payments-Alberta pays too much; Opt out of the Canada Pension Fund as an Alberta Fund would invest (as in finance) Alberta only.

In the WRP and Ted Mortons world, any money spent on any kind of welfare progarms are a waste. We can expect this group to be the first hit.

Even our new health minister has said off the mark that he really isn't in charge, Finance minister is.

This means the Government will cut any number of goods and services to cities and communities. This in turn will force theses cities and communities to increase the costs of electricity, water and sewage to make up the losses.

All this while Alberta fosters the lowest resource royalty in the world. Our basis is now down to 19% less payment in kind in bitumen on which we get 48 cents per barrel. We get more money on bottle returns!

Saskatchewan and BC both collect 30% US dollars. As you can see we are less than 1/2 of our neighbors. Alberta is the Conservative dream! If you let Harper run away with the Federal end you are in for much of the same!

Alberta Cabinet Shuffle

2010-01-14T08:45:00.000-08:00

On the surface these changes appear to be a shuffle rather than a change but putting Ted Morton in finance will mean harsh changes and hard hits for Alberta and Canada. These changes mean the very worse for Albertans as right wing parties compete for the extreme.

Ted Morton was co author of the Alberta Firewall Documents. Others on this list are founders of the Wild Rose Party of Alberta.

This leaves me to consider the WRP as a child of the Ruling Conservatives and probablay finaced by Conservative Stelmach dissenters.

The Alberta Firewall is all the name implies. Provincial Police and no RCMP. Balance of payments cut drastically or done away with. Withdraw from the CPP and start an Alberta Pension plan. Do away with the Canada Health Act and totally privatize Alberta's health care (Turn it into an industry rather than a welfare pot)The list goes on but of the same tone.

The new health minister explains off the mark he has nothing to do with the health care it is in the hands of the finance minister.

There is nothing in this lineup that will do anything to royalty but reduce it and, we are all ready paying the oil companies to take the resource out of the province!

Alberta is at 19% Can Dollar. Except for bitumen taken in kind where we receive 48 cents a barrel Canadian, less than you would get on a bottle return.

Both BC and Saskatchewan are at 30% US dollars.

When you figure on the advanced electricity and utility charges we are indeed paying for the resource to be taken from the province. We end up with nothing!

For you who voted Conservative; you deserve this! For those of you who didn't bother to vote; you deserve this.

For the rest of us it is a beating we won't recover from!

Nuclear Power - the best choice for environmentalists.

2009-12-30T09:15:00.000-08:00

This full article balances the pros, cons and politics of electrical power generation.It is a worthwhile read if you are a discerning individual but if you are one of the shrills who will let no reason enter your mind, this article won't help you.

Alberta Power Exports may soon be no more!

2009-12-25T20:24:00.001-08:00

The US is backing 18 billion dollars in loans to build new nuclear power plants in the US. Through a program of lies and deceit this Government is managing to miss the boat on the coveted power exports to the US.

They are fumbling the chance for much needed nuclear generation in Alberta and have alienated the population by their plans to have Alberta Consumers pay for all the power lines used to export power.

While they are chasing their tails the US is bringing on more Generation.

Just a few years ago, the US published they were going to need 70,000 MW of new generation by the year 2020. Recently they have said there is about 50,000 MW of generation built or being built leaving only 20,000 MW of power to be acquired.

Alberta's grid is about 13,000 MW; and idea of size for comparison while Saskatchwan is at about 2900 MW

Ontario and Quebec are ramping up their Generation, Nuclear and otherwise to meet this prefect market.

New power lines are being built between Lethbridge and Montana. This will join the grid to push power into California, the big market place.

Alberta, because of really bad management is going to miss this market.

Some of you may laugh but that simply means we will be importing US nuclear generated power into Alberta to light our homes at double what you are paying now!

Power and Water rates are a form of indirect taxation.

2009-12-16T10:27:00.000-08:00

Power and water rates now in the hands of the cities and towns are simply a form of taxation. Need more cash? No more mill rate arguments; simply add it to the water or power bill.

What is lacking is the provincial controls and the public input. What is certain however is if you hold those same cities and towns Mayors and councils responsible at the ballet box, you can still have some controls.

The idea of indirect taxation through utilities is a good one. Costs of running the municipalities will be borne by the renters and users in general rather than a specific group of businesses. That is fine as far as it goes. This province however has given them an open cheque book to write and spend what they see fit.

Edmonton has recently found millions for the police force. I'm waiting for the hammer to fall on the utilities which will probably be used to make it up.

Devon has announced some big, costly improvements in that town after taking a 25% increase in water charges.

It seems we have taken more than one step back from process!

Alberta Electricity's old boys club.

2009-12-16T10:07:00.000-08:00

This Government is blatant in their manipulations to throw huge profit to their old boys club.

ENMAX wanted to build a new gas fired generation plant at Calgary to supply Calgary, Southern Alberta and export surplus to Montana and thence by grid to California. The Montana to Lethbridge lines are being built now.

ENMAX endorsed what we all have been saying, the new power lines are not needed for Alberta demands.

The Government has put the kill on the ENMAX project while opening the door to further generation in the north the more recent attention being given to Bruce Power and their Peace River plan.

This is not a new game for these guys; they are in reality not unlike a one trick dog.

About a dozen years ago now, Fording Coal were going to build a power plant at Brooks Alberta. They planned to a hook up with Langdon and were going to supply the power lines to Southern Alberta.

They were faced with a large environmental protest which was backed by the Alberta Conservative Government. Mean while TransAlta made a huge stand to discredit the need for such a build and the plant plan was defeated.

Back to the present and we have Trans Alta front and center against ENMAX . Same actions different plant.

ATCO's Peter Laugheed at one point said that ATCO were getting out of building pipelines because they only paid cost plus 10% where as power lines paid cost plus 15%, a better deal.

The Government wants to include generation in the north to allow the tar sands to export their surplus power to the US. Bruce Power do not market their power, they only build and run the plants.

The bottom line is Multi Billions of taxpayer dollars are going to be directed to the old boys club gain and, there is nothing we can do about it.

Even so called old school conservatives must be shaking their heads now.

http://www.calgaryherald.com/

2009-12-08T17:16:00.000-08:00

The Calgary Herald remains tightly controlled, to the point of being worthless as a news source!

Articles of policy proposals are seldom left open to comment, regardless of how bizarre or confrontational those same articles are.

When a Conservative ploy is so obviously a ploy and they try to run with it the public will call it what it is. Crap for a number of reasons.

This is where the next level of control comes in. When most of the comments are critical of the story the Herald puts up the first half dozen tame comments then, hold all the rest until some time after the story is closed. Then, a person will have to hit a tab to see "all" the comments that were withheld earlier or on the previous day.

As a Conservative rag this same paper will often cut the article and republish it under a new link in order to separate the story from adverse comment.

As a newspaper the Calgary Herald is a low a piece of information as is out there. It is not in most cases worth opening the page of it.

High Finance a History and your future!

2009-11-15T12:01:00.000-08:00

Interviews with Jane D'Arista an Economist and Author of great merit. It is not often I put forward reading or authors but Real News have these Interviews posted and they are truly exciting.

MUST WATCH is an appropriate heading for this series. We could use some changes in Canada too!

Art Show! Super!

2009-11-09T15:09:00.000-08:00

ART SHOW!!!!
NATALIA’S GALLERY

Hello friends

I have been invited to place 20-30 paintings at the

GREY NUN’S HOSPITAL
3015-62st, Edmonton
Lower level by the auditorium.

OCTOBER 8, 2009 to January 31, 2010

I hope you will drop by when you are in the area.

Because of my deep concern for

Public health care, seniors, agriculture, & education, a percentage all sales will be donated to support Dr Swann, leader of the official opposition, And his Liberal leadership.

DARLENE NATALIA KONDUC