Business
Canada’s Jordan Peterson proposing alternative to “apocalyptic narrative” of the World Economic Forum

From Jordan B. Peterson
Recently, on the Joe Rogan Experience, I announced the establishment of a new international movement, open to the public, devoted to developing an invitational vision of the future, trying to collectively formulate the answer to six key questions. We invite all those who might be interested to contribute to the conversation. Our inaugural conference will take place in London, England Oct 31, Nov 1 and Nov 2, 2023. More details about the organization, public participation and the conference will be announced as soon as possible. Watch the full episode: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4GJZ…
Business
Hudsonās Bay Bid Raises Red Flags Over Foreign Influence

From the Frontier Centre for Public Policy
A billionaireās retail ambition might also serve Beijingās global influence strategy. Canada must look beyond the storefront
When B.C. billionaire Weihong Liu publicly declared interest in acquiring Hudsonās Bay stores, it wasnāt just a retail storyāit was a signal flare in an era where foreign investment increasingly doubles as geopolitical strategy.
The Hudsonās Bay Company, founded in 1670, remains an enduring symbol of Canadian heritage. While its commercial relevance has waned in recent years, its brand is deeply etched into the national identity. Thatās precisely why any potential acquisition, particularly by an investor with strong ties to the Peopleās Republic of China (PRC), deserves thoughtful, measured scrutiny.
Liu, a prominent figure in Vancouverās Chinese-Canadian business community, announced her interest in acquiring several Hudsonās Bay stores on Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu (RedNote), expressing a desire to āmake the Bay great again.ā Though revitalizing a Canadian retail icon may seem commendable, the timing and context of this bid suggest a broader strategic positioningāone that aligns with the Peopleās Republic of Chinaās increasingly nuanced approach to economic diplomacy, especially in countries like Canada that sit at the crossroads of American and Chinese spheres of influence.
This fits a familiar pattern. In recent years, weāve seen examples of Chinese corporate involvement in Canadian cultural and commercial institutions, such as Huaweiās past sponsorship of Hockey Night in Canada. Even as national security concerns were raised by allies and intelligence agencies, Huaweiās logo remained a visible presence during one of the countryās most cherished broadcasts. These engagements, though often framed as commercially justified, serve another purpose: to normalize Chinese brand and state-linked presence within the fabric of Canadian identity and daily life.
What we may be witnessing is part of a broader PRC strategy to deepen economic and cultural ties with Canada at a time when U.S.-China relations remain strained. As American tariffs on Canadian goodsāparticularly in aluminum, lumber and dairyāhave tested cross-border loyalties, Beijing has positioned itself as an alternative economic partner. Investments into cultural and heritage-linked assets like Hudsonās Bay could be seen as a symbolic extension of this effort to draw Canada further into its orbit of influence, subtly decoupling the country from the gravitational pull of its traditional allies.
From my perspective, as a professional with experience in threat finance, economic subversion and political leveraging, this does not necessarily imply nefarious intent in each case. However, it does demand a conscious awareness of how soft power is exercised through commercial influence, particularly by state-aligned actors. As I continue my research in international business law, I see how investment vehicles, trade deals and brand acquisitions can function as instruments of foreign policyātools for shaping narratives, building alliances and shifting influence over time.
Canada must neither overreact nor overlook these developments. Open markets and cultural exchange are vital to our prosperity and pluralism. But so too is the responsibility to preserve our sovereigntyānot only in the physical sense, but in the cultural and institutional dimensions that shape our national identity.
Strategic investment review processes, cultural asset protections and greater transparency around foreign corporate ownership can help strike this balance. We should be cautious not to allow historically Canadian institutions to become conduits, however unintentionally, for geopolitical leverage.
In a world where power is increasingly exercised through influence rather than force, safeguarding our heritage means understanding who is buyingāand why.
Scott McGregorĀ is the managing partner and CEO of Close Hold Intelligence Consulting.
Bjorn Lomborg
Net zeroās cost-benefit ratio is CRAZY high

From the Fraser Institute
The best academic estimates show thatĀ over the century, policies to achieve net zero would cost every person on Earth the equivalent of more than CAD $4,000 every year. Of course, most people in poor countries cannot afford anywhere near this. If the cost falls solely on the rich world, the price-tag adds up to almost $30,000 (CAD) per person, per year, over the century.
Canada hasĀ made a legal commitmentĀ to achieve ānet zeroā carbon emissions by 2050. Back in 2015, then-Prime Minister TrudeauĀ promisedĀ that climate action will ācreate jobs and economic growthā and the federal governmentĀ insistsĀ it will create a āstrong economy.ā The truth is that the net zero policy generates vast costs and very little benefitāand Canada would be better off changing direction.
Achieving net zero carbon emissions is far more daunting than politicians have ever admitted. Canada is nowhere near on track. AnnualĀ Canadian COā emissionsĀ have increased 20 per cent since 1990. In the time that Trudeau was prime minister, fossil fuel energy supply actuallyĀ increasedĀ over 11 per cent. Similarly, the share of fossil fuels in Canadaās total energy supply (not just electricity) increased from 75 per cent in 2015 to 77 per cent in 2023.
Over the same period, the switch from coal to gas, and a tiny 0.4 percentage point increase in the energy from solar and wind, has reduced annual COā emissions by less than three per cent. On that trend, getting to zero wonāt take 25 years as the Liberal government promised, but more than 160 years. One studyĀ showsĀ that the governmentās current plan which wonāt even reach net-zero will cost Canada a quarter of a million jobs, seven per cent lower GDP and wages on average $8,000 lower.
Globally, achieving net-zero will be even harder. Remember, Canada makes up about 1.5 per cent of global COā emissions, and while Canada is already rich with plenty of energy, the worldās poor want much more energy.
In order to achieve global net-zero by 2050, by 2030 we wouldĀ alreadyĀ need to achieve the equivalent of removing the combined emissions of China and the United States ā every year. This is in the realm of science fiction.
The painful Covid lockdowns of 2020 only reduced global emissions by about six per cent. To achieve net zero, the UNĀ points outĀ that we would need to have doubled those reductions in 2021, tripled them in 2022, quadrupled them in 2023, and so on. This year they would need to be sextupled, and by 2030 increased 11-fold. So far, the world hasnāt even managed toĀ startĀ reducing global carbon emissions, which last yearĀ hit a new record.
DataĀ from both the International Energy Agency and the US Energy Information Administration give added cause for skepticism. Both organizations foresee the world getting more energy from renewables: an increase from todayās 16 per cent to between one-quarter to one-third of all primary energy by 2050. But that is far from a transition. On an optimistically linear trend, this means weāre a century or two away from achieving 100 percent renewables.
Politicians like to blithely suggest the shift away from fossil fuels isnāt unprecedented, because in the past we transitioned from wood to coal, from coal to oil, and from oil to gas. The truth is, humanityĀ hasnāt made a real energy transition even once. Coal didnāt replace wood but mostly added to global energy, just like oil and gas have added further additional energy. As in the past, solar and wind are now mostly adding to our global energy output, rather than replacing fossil fuels.
Indeed, itās worth remembering that even after two centuries, humanityās transition away from wood is not over. More thanĀ two billionĀ mostly poor people still depend on wood for cooking and heating, and it still provides aboutĀ 5 per cent of global energy.
Like Canada, the world remains fossil fuel-based, as it delivers more than four-fifths of energy. Over the last half century, our dependence hasĀ declinedĀ only slightly from 87 per cent to 82 per cent, but in absolute terms we have increased our fossil fuel use by more than 150 per cent. On the trajectory since 1971, we will reach zero fossil fuel use someĀ nine centuriesĀ from now, and even the fastest period of recent decline from 2014 would see us taking over three centuries.
Global warming will create more problems than benefits, so achieving net-zero would see real benefits. Over the century, the average person would experience benefits worth $700 (CAD) each year.
But net zero policies will be much more expensive. The best academic estimates show thatĀ over the century, policies to achieve net zero would cost every person on Earth the equivalent of more than CAD $4,000 every year. Of course, most people in poor countries cannot afford anywhere near this. If the cost falls solely on the rich world, the price-tag adds up to almost $30,000 (CAD) per person, per year, over the century.
Every year over the 21st century, costs would vastly outweigh benefits, and global costs would exceed benefits by over CAD 32 trillion each year.
We would see much higher transport costs, higher electricity costs, higher heating and cooling costs and ā as businesses would also have to pay for all this ā drastic increases in the price of food and all other necessities. Just one example: net-zero targets would likely increase gas costs some two-to-four times even by 2030, costing consumersĀ up to $US52.6 trillion. All that makes it a policy that just doesnāt make senseāfor Canada and for the world.
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