Thanks for Nothing Oilers

Enjoy your summer - I will enjoy not going to any play-off games.

Theatre Of The Absurd « Unambiguously Ambidextrous

Theatre Of The Absurd « Unambiguously Ambidextrous: "No, trouble is what went looking for Mr.Knight in the form of the men who thought they could wander onto his farm and take advantage of him. Rather than take it lying down, or perhaps realizing the futility of calling the police in a remote area, he made to protect himself. This was nothing more than an act of self-defence. A personal and direct threat to your safety is not the only form of self-defence in this world. If someone aims to rob you of your possessions, your assets that provide you your livelihood, they are attacking the means with which you provide for yourself, and this is in turn an attack on your person."

The Oilers game stunk so...Dave Rutherford on the Brian Knight situation

Well a waste of a hockey game tonight has got me really pissed off.

An audio archive from earlier today. About 9 minutes into the clip, Rutherford's show begins & dedicates the opening segment & open line after the first commercial break to the story. Click the title. The first half hour is dedicated to this story - the second half is dedicated to another mess, the CAW & Ken Lewenza. At about 54 minutes there is more on the incident.

Needless to say he is going to have some serious legal bills coming up. here is the information for a defence fund.

http://www.brianknightlegalfund.com/

Farmer charged for chasing, shooting thief

Farmer charged for chasing, shooting thief: "Police have charged an Alberta farmer who they say shot a suspected thief, then called friends and family to help hunt for the wounded man.
Brian Russell Knight, 38, who lives on a rural property in Tees, northeast of Red Deer, faces seven charges including assault, criminal negligence causing bodily harm and discharging a firearm, RCMP said on Friday."

HNIC March 28

While watching Hockey Night in Canada last night, I couldn't help but notice a few strange comments form the commentators. After the news of the CBC taking an axe to most of it's Canadian made prime time line-up last week, the hockey guys were trying to convince me to watch them.

I'm not going to watch "Being Erica" or "Wild Roses" because Marc Crawford say that he does (BULLSHIT) or "Little Mosque on the Prairie" because Greg Millan thinks it's hillarious. If these shows are quality shows they will be picked up by unsubsidized production companies & put on irrelevent cable stations like the rest of the quality canadian content on TV. I don't care what these people think of these shows, it's bad enough getting their editorial comments on a hockey game.

Value Added Industries in Alberta

Amidst the global economic meltdown, the words spoken on that October afternoon ring true today. Some of the harshest critics to the movement are now going into damage control. Gil McGowan, head of the Alberta Federation of Labour, a person who on the day of the rally suggested that the rally was organized by employers, not the people who were in danger of losing their jobs is now warning about job loss.

How ironic that one of the people who was for a bigger piece of the royalty pie is now crying the blues when jobs are being lost due to these ridiculous royalties. March 25th he was in the Calgary Herald stating the government needs to fix this problem. With members of his unions losing jobs rapidly he is now calling for the government to create a crown coporation to upgrade bitumen. The Alberta Government decided a long time go that they didn't want to be in the oil & gas business - they just want to collect money from them.

The Province could have stepped in when BA Energy was having credit problems & filed for bankruptcy protection. Or when Nova Chemiacls was in a similiar position. Instead our government speaks of "value added" but does not want an active part of the investment.

The Government of Alberta has already dropped the ball on getting back value added services to our oil & gas industry, instead letting a group from the United Arab Emirates step in & take another chunk of our industry. Believe it or not Nova chemicals used to be a crown coportation, we could have got it back for next to nothing.

Launch of Grassroots Oilworkers of Alberta

To follow up on the Townhall meeting of the Wildrose Alliance in Edmonton March 25 2009, today the launch of an activist group representing oil & gas service workers in Alberta.

Grassroots Oilworkers was an idea thought up by another oil & gas service provider in Calgary Derrick Jacobsen. His company Quattro Energy Services provides swabbing, snubbing, coil tubing & flush-by services. As a small business owner, he knew what the effects of a new royalty regime in the province of Alberta would have on his business. With the help of some other concerned service providers he organized the rally at the Alberta Legislature October 17th 2007.

The ones who suffer from the fallout will be us, the service companies, entrepreneurs, employees, families. The rest of Alberta is going to suffer if they implement the royalty report in its state - Derrick Jacobsen, Oct 17, 2007

CBC takes the axe to radio & TV broadcasting

CBC cuts hit news, drama, sports, radio: "Changes on Radio One include:
Cancellations of The Inside Track, Outfront and The Point.
Reduction of regional noon-hour programs to one hour.
Reductions in drama.
Changes on Radio 2 include:
Cancellations of In the Key of Charles and the weekend edition of The Signal.
Reductions in live music production and recordings.
More consolidations with Radio 3.
On CBC-TV, investigative programs such as The Fifth Estate and Marketplace will have reduced budgets, though it's not yet known whether that will mean fewer episodes.
Canadians can also expect to see more repeats of many prime-time programs, with shorter seasons ordered for ones including:
The Border.
This Hour Has 22 Minutes.
Being Erica.
Little Mosque on the Prairie.
The CBC will also reduce spending on new children's programming and cancel the Living programs produced in each region.
In CBC Sports, there will be reductions or cutbacks in coverage of:
International figure skating.
CONCACAF Champions League soccer.
World aquatics.
World athletics.
Skiing.
The CBC will also drop its Blue Jays baseball telecasts."

- Canada's own Bernie Madoff

Notice from the Office of the Secretary - In the matter of the Securities Act R.S.O. 1990, c. S.5, as amended - And - In the matter of Oversea Chinese Fund Limited Partnership, Weizhen Tang and Associates Inc., Weizhen Tang Corp. and Weizhen Tang: "Weizhen Tang and Associates Inc., Weizhen Tang Corp. and Weizhen Tang"

The Canadian Press: Massive government stimulus will cause problems in future, TD economist tells MPs

The Canadian Press:: "The world is going to have to pay a price in future years for current massive government spending that's meant to end the current deep recession, TD Bank's chief economist Don Drummond says."

Building the Foundation for a change in Provincial Politics

A town hall meeting was held last night in Edmonton for the Wildrose Alliance of Alberta. Featured at the event was party leader Paul Hinman who spoke about the platform for the party & the state of the Alberta economy, as well as the need to start building a party to challenge the Alberta Conservatives.

One of the reasons I started following the party was the mess that Ed Stelmach created with his "our fair share" campaign. Industry & the Alberta Alliance were against this. A rally was held at the Alberta legislature October 17th 2007. While being criticized by the likes of the Alberta Federation of Labour leading up to & after the event as being organized by big oil . Gil McGowan, president of the AFL had this to say about the event.

This is clearly a rally that's been organized by employers, not rank-and-file oilfield workers

I wonder what he thinks now that the jobs have evaporated. PSAC suggests that up to 20,000 jobs have been lost just within their membership alone. It is nice to see that the party hasn't forgotten the royalty debacle.

Mr Hinman also rolled out some hot topic issues including health care, deficit spending, as well as some support for University students fighting with tuition costs.

All in all I think optimism & support for the party is starting to grow with events that have happened in the past few months. Albertans are starting to want fiscal conservatism in these trying times for the province, something the current government isn't going to offer.

As the party is not represented in the Alberta Legislature, I would really like to see them take a more active role in trying to recruit younger party members or supporters. Social networks such as Facebook, Twitter or YouTube could really bring the message across to the younger demographic. Another suggestion would be for Mr Hinman to start blogging opinions as a way to remain in opposition of the government. With a majority government, the Conservatives basically have no opposition. The Liberals & New Democrats in Alberta are much the same now. I feel that having a presence on the Internet from the leader may swing some Conservatives over to our side.

First Day of Spring...

Wow, Spring is here again. Everyone should be in a fantastic mood! The Oilers dominate the Colorado Avalanche last night winning 8-1 & the TSX has been up the past 8 days. Hey the good news about the TSX is that it is up about 3% this year...hahaha.

Normally the first day of Spring in the Alberta Oil Patch means an upcoming time off due to road bans. This year has been a holiday all winter drilling season. January 1st 2009 brought in the new royalty regime that Ed Stelmach wanted after becoming premier of Alberta. You can argue about the timing or need for this royalty plan. Banking sector meltdown, loss of equity, low commodity pricing, as well as unfavorable new royalties in Alberta have caused much grief this Winter in Alberta.

Unemployment was at 7.7% in Alberta. As Dave Yager, CEO & lobbyist of The Alberta Oil & Gas service sector mentioned in his monthly column in the Calgary Herald February 1 2009.

Small oil and gas firms and workers suffering: "This year's total jobs losses in the oil industry and the myriad of businesses that support it will rival or exceed those in Ontario manufacturing.

Drilling and well servicing has tanked. The direct job losses easily exceed 20,000 compared to 2006. This doesn't include any indirect support businesses like motels, restaurants and industrial supplies that keep Alberta's economic engine running. The Petroleum Service Association of Canada recently predicted a further reduction in drilling in 2009 to only 13,500 wells, about half of 2005 levels and the lowest since 1999. Total job losses will rise further this summer.

The biggest job killer is the oilsands collapse. Everyone bragged about a $100 billion backlog of new plants and upgraders. Three-quarters of those planned expansions have been postponed or cancelled. Some are in receivership. The layoffs of hundreds -- possibly thousands -- of design and construction engineers has been underway for months. Exact figures are impossible to gather.

Gil McGowan of the Alberta Federation of Labour figures that of the 160,000 construction workers in Alberta, 50,000 have been on-site on oilsands projects. He says Statistics Canada reported a 16,000 construction-worker decline in Alberta in December alone. A large portion can be attributed to the completion of CNRL Horizon and Opti-Nexen Long Lake and no new projects to go to. Suncor's sudden suspension of Firebag Phase 3 and the Voyageur up-grader in January added thousands more.

What's infuriating about the continued devastation of the oil industry's workforce is that it was never mentioned in the budget, the pre-budget lobbying or last week's media coverage. At the federal level, nobody is sticking up for the oilpatch even though it is a proven job and wealth creator"

More Good news this morning from the Stelmach government. The Alberta government has scrapped the Natural Gas Rebate program that many residents have enjoyed the last 6 years. Although the prices have been too low this season for the rebates to kick in, it does not look very good when you are scapping a policy that nobody even needed this year.

More good news watching BNN this morning, it appears that the Repossession industry is booming in Alberta.

Calgary Sun - - Recession means business for 'repo man' in Alberta: "Travis Piercuy, owner and manager of Prairie Bailiff Services, has seen an increase in business between 65% and 70% and he says the picture doesn't look promising for Albertans who can't make payments.
'I don't think we've bottomed out yet,' said Piercuy, a Calgary-based civil enforcement bailiff.
'It seems to get busier and busier in my end of it and I don't think we're heading the other way yet, unfortunately"

Needless to say, as a service provider in the Industry here in Alberta some Grassroots plans are being set in motion. Details will follow or join the Facebook Group Grassroots Oil Workers of Alberta.

State of the CBC: Tear it all down

State of the CBC: Tear it all down: "For a long time the CBC has justified its huge annual federal gift because it sees itself as the vehicle through which Canadians tell one another their stories. If this pompous self-image were ever true (and I'm doubtful), it cannot possibly be true now with only one in 12 Canadians actually watching.
CBC TV no longer carries the two most distinctly Canadian sports events of the year -- the Grey Cup and the Brier -- and the world has not ended, the country's identity has not eroded. Its hockey coverage, arts programming and original drama and comedy could all be picked up by cable and digital services and no one would notice."

NHL Season Ticket Prices

Well in the middle of the "Great Recession" it seems that the marketing departments in some Sunbelt cities are getting really creative trying to fill seats. Athough in some markets the prices are increasing next season as well. In some ways it sucks that there is such a demand for tickets in Edmonton, nobody gets worried about increasing prices when there is a waiting list in Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto, Montreal & Vancouver.

NBA, NHL budgets stressed by flat ticket revenue outlook: "In the NHL, 13 teams plan to offer the same season-ticket prices they did for 2008-09; two clubs, the Tampa Bay Lightning and Dallas Stars, plan to reduce season-ticket prices for next season; and three clubs, the Buffalo Sabres, Toronto Maple Leafs and Washington Capitals, plan to increase prices.

Ten clubs haven’t made a decision yet.

Two clubs, the Edmonton Oilers and Pittsburgh Penguins, did not respond to
repeated calls and e-mails seeking comment."

NHL is risking a widespread exodus if it keeps raising prices - NHL - ESPN: "The Los Angeles Kings raised prices roughly 5 to 16 percent. Colorado's prices went up roughly $3 per ticket; for example, a corner loge seat went from $91 to $94. A similar seat costs about 15 percent less at Columbus, but Blue Jackets fans are up in arms over an increase. Calgary gets into triple figures for everything in the lower bowl, but significantly discounts season tickets. Vancouver's prices are going up 7.5 percent, after going up 12 percent the year before. Anaheim announced that its increase was 6.6 percent on season tickets, 7.2 percent for single games. Carolina has eminently 'reasonable' prices, especially for a recent Stanley Cup champion -- a lower-level seat at the prime south end of the arena is $55 for season-ticket holders and about $70 on a one-night basis -- but the Hurricanes' prices have gone up roughly 20 percent since 2003-04."

Anaheim Ducks - News: Ducks Announce Price Freeze for 2009-10 - 02/23/2009: "The Ducks announced today that the club has frozen all ticket prices for the 2009-10 NHL season. Season and individual game tickets, along with half season, mini plan and group tickets are all frozen. All food and beverage prices along with parking charges will also remain flat."

Boston Bruins - News: B's 2009-10 Season Ticket Renewal Info - 02/06/2009: "The Boston Bruins announced today that current Season Ticket Holders will be able to renew their Season Tickets for the 2009-2010 NHL season beginning the week of February 16. During this process, 99% of the seats for Bruins games will remain at the same price, or will be lower than the published Season Ticket prices for this season."

2009-2010 BUFFALO SABRES SEASON TICKET RENEWALS: "First some background information. The Sabres must keep pace with league wide revenue to qualify for the NHL Revenue sharing program and to continue to fund a quality on-ice product. Since Tom Golisano has purchased the team, the Sabres have increased its annual player spending from $28 million in 2006 to our current year’s spending of $53 million. To keep pace with this growth, we must increase season ticket pricing next year across the board by 5%. Although this is a modest increase we are very mindful of the tough economic times we all face."

Carolina Hurricanes - News: Canes Offer Three-Year Price Freeze on Season Tickets - 02/18/2009: "RALEIGH, NC—Kyle Prairie, Director of Ticket Sales for the National Hockey League’s Carolina Hurricanes, today announced the team’s 2009 playoff and 2009-10 season ticket offerings. The plans are highlighted by an opportunity for season-ticket holders to freeze their season ticket rates at the current prices through the 2011-12 season."

Dallas Stars - Tickets: Renewal Has Its Benefits - 02/27/2009: "The best news – Season Seat Holders that take advantage of the renewal by March 18th will have their prices frozen for next season, with a few areas in the Lower Bowl seeing a price reduction.

Season Seat Holders that renew their seats for the 2009-10 season by MARCH 18 will see:

A Price Freeze: Season Seat Holders will lock in their 2009-10 season seats at their 2008-09 price.

Free Food & Beverage: Season Seat Holders will receive Free Food & Beverage credit for next season ($250 per Lower Level Seat/$100 per Upper level Seat). Also good on Stars merchandise at the arena Team Store.

Pay for Playoffs Later: These Season Seat Holders will not pay for Playoff Games until the Stars’ 2009 Playoffs are over."

Panthers offer free tickets if they miss playoffs: "The Panthers, long the NHL's most generous franchise when it comes to handing out free tickets, are tying their latest giveaway to their performance. Anyone who buys four tickets from now through the end of the regular season will get tickets to four games next season if the Panthers do not make the playoffs.

The promotion is called the Panthers Promise Plan. If the Panthers do make the playoffs, those buying tickets will get priority for playoff tickets."

Minnesota Wild - News: Wild to freeze season ticket prices for 2009-10 - 02/04/2009: "SAINT PAUL/MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- The National Hockey League’s (NHL) Minnesota Wild announced today that the team will not raise season ticket prices for the 2009-10 season and the 2009 Stanley Cup playoffs. 2009-10 season ticket prices for current Wild season ticket holders will range from $18.00 to $86.00, the same as the 2008-09 season. 2009 Stanley Cup playoff ticket prices will also remain the same as last postseason for current Wild season ticket holders."

Nashville Predators - News: Preds Begin Season Ticket Campaign - 03/05/2009: "The Nashville Predators announced today a new season-ticket campaign, highlighted by an exciting opportunity for new and current season ticketholders to freeze their season-ticket rates at the 2008-09 season ticket prices for two years through the 2010-11 season."

Blues To Freeze Prices For Season-Ticket Holders Before April 10: "Blues To Freeze Prices For Season-Ticket Holders Before April 10 Blues Fans Who Put Down 10% By April 10 Can Keep '08-09 Season-Ticket Prices. Blues season-ticket holders who renew by April 10 and put down at least 10% will be able to freeze the price of their '08-09 tickets for next season."

Tampa Bay Lightning - News: Lightning Begin Season Ticket Renewal Campaign - 02/26/2009: "TAMPA BAY - The Tampa Bay Lightning will begin mailing out season ticket renewals tomorrow for the 2009-10 campaign, the club announced today. Season ticket prices are decreasing for nearly 90% of the St. Pete Times Forum seats, most from 8 to 12%. On average, season ticket prices are decreasing by 10%. A reclassification of some terrace level seats means their season ticket price will decline by up to 80% to just $239.00 for the season."

Ford Canada makes pitch for incentives over bailout

globeandmail.com: Ford Canada makes pitch for incentives over bailout: "OTTAWA -- Canada's depressed auto sector needs a massive stimulus program to nurse it back to health, including a $350-million effort to encourage owners to trade in old cars for new ones, the chief executive of Ford Motor Co. of Canada Ltd., said yesterday."

"He (David Mondragon) urged the government to introduce a "scrappage" program that would provide consumers with a $3,500 payment when they trade in a vehicle at least 11 years old and buy a new one. About 35 per cent of Canadian vehicles on the road are at least 11 years old, he said, and estimated the program could result in the sale of 100,000 new cars and light trucks."

"Ford's unionized workers in the United States yesterday ratified a deal aimed at cutting costs there, and the Canadian division will soon enter bargaining with the Canadian Auto Workers union in an effort to hammer out a deal similar to the one reached with GM Canada on the weekend. "

"CAW president Ken Lewenza told MPs last night that the GM agreement will ensure that its Canadian operations have higher productivity than U.S.-based plants, and continue to attract their share of investment to Canada. "

"On an active worker cost-per [unit] basis, Canadian workers are cheaper. That's a fact," Mr. Lewenza said. "We are convinced we maintained our Canadian advantage against those we compete with in the industrial world - Germany, Japan and the United States."

The CAW acknowledged, however, that the cost of supporting retirees drives up costs for Detroit-based companies."

As a side note, one of my employees is from around Toronto. Word has it that pensioners from GM recieve around $4000/month. HOLY SHIT!!! That is alot of money when you should have a house paid for, no dependants at home, & should have minimal expenses. No wonder "cottage country" is the dream for everyone in Ontario...

The Canadian Press: GM-CAW cost-cutting deal doesn't go deep enough, analysts say

The Canadian Press: GM-CAW cost-cutting deal doesn't go deep enough, analysts say:

"The deal would extend the current contract for an additional year to September 2012, and preserves the current average assembly-worker base pay of about $34 an hour.

It would eliminate a $1,700 annual 'special bonus,' and reduce paid time off by 40 hours a year while maintaining vacation entitlements which range up to six weeks a year for high-seniority workers.

It also would introduce payments by members toward their health benefits - $30 monthly per family for workers and $15 a month for pensioners. Lewenza said it also would trim by 35 per cent company contributions to union-provided programs such as child care and wellness programs.

The national union chief calls all this a 'major sacrifice.'"

Awfully Big of you CAW...

The Canadian Auto Workers Union has come up with their plan to help out the Floundering auto industry in Canada.

http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/598763

Average wages and benefits currently total about $69 an hour per GM worker.

The deal would extend the current three-year contract by a year to September 2012 and freeze wages and quarterly cost-of-living allowance for almost the entire term.

Production technicians now earn about $34 an hour in wages.

Furthermore, workers would lose one more week of special holidays a year and a $1,700 annual bonus. The company will divert that money to pay for retiree health care costs.

Workers and retirees under 65 would pay a $360-a-year premium for health care for the first time plus contribute more for benefits such as dental services under the deal.

More than 30,000 retirees and surviving spouses would also face a freeze in monthly pensions and cost-of-living protection. Those older than 65 would have to pay a $180 annual premium for health care plus contribute more for long-term care and other benefits.

"That was difficult for us," said Lewenza. "The sacrifices are painful."

Note that the deal is contingent on the Canadian & Ontario governments giving money to these failing companies. Pretty big of you Ken Lewenza, don't you think that your work force is part of the problem here?

According to CAW data, workers at GM, Ford and Chrysler cost their
respectiveemployers about $77 an hour. This figure includes employer-paid
benefits likehealth and dental insurance, the company’s contribution to a
pension fund, andthe payroll taxes it assumes when it hires workers. By
contrast, assuming an80-cent loonie, their counterparts at transplant car mills
in the U.S. come inat a much cheaper $61.25 an hour. The biggest contributor to
the disparity islegacy costs, i.e. payments and benefits doled out to former
workers. These add$10 an hour to the overall labour costs at unionized plants,
while bettervacation and other wage-related benefits at union shops makes up the
rest of the difference.

http://blog.macleans.ca/2008/12/18/auto-workers-make-a-lot-of-money%E2%80%94but-not-that-much/

These guys are some of the highest paid people in all of Canada. Quite a difference from the ways out West here. People in the West make most of their money on Overtime, Struggle for time off - unpaid mostly, and don't have company funded pensions. I don't want my tax dollars going to a bunch of 40 hour a week factory workers.

Compact Fluorecent Bulbs - not so green?

A physics professor @ the University of Manitoba did a study on the efficiency of these widely popular bulbs. His results are somewhat surprising, considering the fact there is a big campaign to replace the 'old school' incandescent bulbs.

I have seen the ads for "Project Porchlight" on the boards during Edmonton Oilers games, it turns out this project is a campaign to change out incadescent bulbs to the CFL bulbs. The project is sponsored by government at various levels, hydro companies accross Canada & NE USA, as well as natural gas producing powerhouse Encana. So why would utility & a giant natural gas producer want you to change out your inefficient bulbs? To use more electricity & natural gas!

Questions are being raised about whether so-called energy saving light bulbs might cause cold-weather Canadians to burn more energy to heat their homes than if they were to use regular light bulbs.

CBC News has found that in some cases compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs) can have the adverse effect of increasing greenhouse gas emissions, depending on how consumers heat their homes.

Physics professor Peter Blunden at the University of Manitoba said CFL bulbs are certainly more energy efficient than older incandescent bulbs But in cold-weather climates such as Canada's, Blunden said older incandescent bulbs do more than just light our homes. During the long winter months, they also generate heat. The new CFL bulbs on the other hand produce minimal heat so the loss has to be made up by fossil-fuel burning gas, oil or wood to heat your home.

“To some extent, the case [in favour of CFL bulbs] has been oversold” because of the offset in higher heating costs, he said. In fact, a recent report by BC Hydro estimates new lighting regulations will increase annual greenhouse gas emissions in British Columbia by 45,000 tonnes annually as consumers use more energy to heat their homes after switching to more energy efficient — but cooler — lighting. "The replacement of inefficient lights with efficient lights that produce less waste heat will lead to increased fossil fuel use for non-electric space heating," says the report, part of a submission BC Hydro made to the B.C. Utilities Commission last month.

Another study, by the Canadian Centre for Housing Technology, also concluded that actual dollar savings by using CFLs depend on the climate in which a home is located. In Canada, in winter, "the reduction in the lighting energy use was almost offset by the increase in the space-heating energy use," the study said. But Canadians, depending on where they live and the severity of the winter, may still benefit from using CFL lighting, despite the higher cost of the new bulbs and the additional heat energy consumed, said the CCHT study, conducted in 2008. Some proponents of the CFL bulbs claim the new bulbs use only about 25 per cent of the energy of old incandescent bulbs. "In Winnipeg you are going to lose a significant amount of those savings," said Blunden.

Indeed, when everything is factored in, Blunden says the real energy saving for Winnipeggers using CFL bulbs is probably closer to 17 per cent. Blunden said energy saving results will vary across the country, depending on how consumers heat their homes. If you live in Newfoundland, for example, where many people use expensive heating oil “it might even cost you money" to use the new, cooler, efficient, CFL bulbs for lighting, Blunden suggested.

"If your advertising campaign says you’re going to save money, then you’ve kind of shot yourself in the foot,” he said, noting CFL bulbs were originally designed for use in warmer climates.

Province unveils royalty changes

Nice 180 Stelmach...

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20090304.RALBERTA04/TPStory/Business

On Tuesday, Knight declined to look back as the government altered course on royalties for the third time to aid the ailing energy sector.

In April 2008, the province gave producers chasing deep oil and gas reserves a$1.2-billion holiday for five years; in November 2008 it handed the sector a $1.8-billion respite over five years to help spur drilling.

Now -- exactly one year to the day Stelmach won an overwhelming election majority -- the province offered three new incentives worth $1.5 billion that will last until the end of March 2010

However, NDP Leader Brian Mason said he opposes any"corporate
welfare" for big oil companies.

Surprise - Surprise.

Here is what my investment firm Canaccord had to say on the subject:

On March 3, the Government of Alberta announced a new three-point incentive program designed to encourage increased activity and investment in the province's conventional oil and gas sectors. The government believed it was necessary to create an incentive program as it forecasts oil and gas activity to decline by over 27% in 2009. Premier Ed Stelmach stated the incentive program is intended to "encourage new investment and help keep Albertans at work." This latest announcement from the Alberta government is now the third iteration of proposed relief programs in the aftermath of the New Royalty Framework originally outlined in October 2007. The measures introduced have added further administrative complexity. In addition, given challenging project economics and restricted access to capital in the current business environment, an unintended consequence is that potential savings from this stimulus program may not be reinvested into the industry and may be used for other means, such as debt repayment. While this is an admirable action, we believe it is too little, too late. Compared with overall forecast industry spending, the potential royalty savings are insignificant, in our opinion. The proposed program is expected to cost the government approximately $1.5 billion, in aggregate, which amounts to 3.8% of total estimated 2009 Alberta revenues. The senior producers dictate the majority of oil and gas spending in the province, not the small and mid- size companies, which are the focus of this stimulus plan. While there will be a beneficial impact on a company-by-company basis, as we note below, available financial resources for re-investment are generally much less for the smaller producers.

Bank of Canada Lending Rate

Canadian Bank Profits are up in a recession. Bank of Canada lending rate drops to 0.005%, something stinks doesn't it?

• Prime lending rate is 3% at most banks today

So while I am swimming in debt, the banks are making 900% on my loans at the minimum. I don't think that is what the Bank of Canada's idea of freeing up credit meant. My 35K line of credit TD is charging me 5% on my balance. My business line at Candian Western Bank is currently 5% as well.

It should come as no surprise when Canadian Banks are announcing profits still - look at what you owe to the banks.