Monday, December 27, 2010

Canada is under seige from within!

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

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Alberta Conservativs Pushing US style system.

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

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Alberta Health Care Less expensive than the US version!

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?

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Alberta Health Care – Some not so apparent facts

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.

Sunday, December 05, 2010

Wild Rose Party Fanitics show their colors!

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!

Friday, December 03, 2010

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

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.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Alberta wants a total US system installed before next election!

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.

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!


Thursday, November 18, 2010

Alberta Health Care:- A lot to consider.

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!


















Monday, November 15, 2010

Friday, November 12, 2010

Water for Sale: Southern Alberta.

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!




Sunday, November 07, 2010

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

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!

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!

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.



Friday, October 01, 2010

Province to forgo $3 billion in royalties: report

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.
At the time of this edit, Alberta royalty on provincial resources is now zero!  Billions given up every year because of party politic.

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

Monday, September 06, 2010

Michael Ignatieff has betrayed the rank and file Liberals!

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

Wednesday, September 01, 2010

Canada Bulk Water Export: NDP strongly opposed.

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

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Canada Bulk Water Exports to US and abroad is imminent!

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!

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Alberta Oil "Investment"

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.

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Water export on the agenda for all Provinces!

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.

Friday, July 09, 2010

Alberta Oil Roytalty is theatre; not fact!

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!

Tuesday, July 06, 2010

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

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!

Thursday, June 24, 2010

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

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)

Monday, June 14, 2010

Resource companies get water free then sell it to communities.

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.

Thursday, June 03, 2010

The US border police running high on paranoia are dangerous.

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.

Tuesday, June 01, 2010

Alberta Royalty: Cash for crooks

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.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Alberta privitzed Health care; Funding for crooks and charletons.


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. 

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Smart Meters - Too smart for our present politic.

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!

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Alberta sends taxpayer dollars to Korea while Albertans go hungry.

 The headlines read: Imperial snubs Alberta workers

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

Friday, May 14, 2010

Oil Dispersents and oil spills

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!  















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