Opinion
When the going gets tough, the tough get praying….
Amidst the turbulence of our present medical situation in the world, fear and panic is the easy way out.
We, in Alberta, are blessed with a Premier who has stood up for the common man. He has never advocated tough measures nor walking lockstep with our Prime Minister and Dr. Tam. Dr. Hinshaw has maintained a calm response in the face of public pressure.
People of all stripes have an opinion on the origins, prevention and cure for Covid 19.
We can talk about this until the end of 2020, but when the going gets tough, the tough get praying. Petra, a popular Christian rock group, wrote a song called “Get on your knees and fight like a man.”
It is now time to fight like men and women who believe in God and His power to change the world. The only way we, as human beings can change the world is to stand up the bullies, to those who would force their will on us when we do not and will never agree.
Our provincial leaders are now in that place.
Earlier tonight, November 22, I received a whats app message that stated the following:
A friend whos sister- in -law is a neighbor of Jason Kenny just texted me tonight – she said he is asking for prayer tonight and tomorrow. He is feeling intense pressure to bow to the feds to shut Alberta down.
They are also urging people to send him a quick email….telling them they’re praying for him and stand with him for no further lockdowns. Share with others
Now is the time to fight on our knees for OUR province and country.
We do not want a lockdown like Manitoba or Toronto.
There is NO blood running in the streets, patients are not waiting outside hospitals with covid/flu symptoms and nor are schools shut down with no teachers or students. Stores till have staff and our economy is still alive, for now.
This is NO emergency. But it could be if a lockdown is imposed.
PRAY like your life depends on it, because it does.
If the federal government defies the constitution and forces a lockdown, PRAY still that God will heal and protect as he has promised.
Part of a church? Organize a prayer night or get together with your friends. This is the time to act.
If you do not believe in God…pray to your god, send good thoughts and an email supporting NO lockdown if you feel that is right.
There are no atheists in foxholes. I believe that this is a crucial time in Alberta history.
Be part of the victory over Ottawa and help us protect democracy in our province.
Economy
With no will for political union, Canada should consider economic union with the U.S.
From the Fraser Institute
According to an announcement on Friday by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, President Dondald Trump will implement a 25 per cent tariff on Canada and Mexico (and a 10 per cent tariff on China) beginning Saturday, Feb. 1.
Over the last few weeks, Canadian policymakers have been rather naïve in responding to Trump’s tariffs threats. They seem not to have figured out what Trump really wants (although perhaps no one knows what he really wants). But the Canadian side has focused on retaliatory measures, lobbying to ensure certain industries are exempt, and an advertising campaign to get consumers to prefer Canadian products—a “Made in Canada” preference.
It’s also been proposed that by lowering trade barriers between provinces, the Canadian economy can offset a trade war with the United States. But this raises the question—why hasn’t this already been done if it leads to such great benefit?
It’s clear that Canadians don’t want to be part of the U.S. However, given Canada’s dependency on the U.S. economy, Canada’s lagging productivity, the inefficiency of separate currencies, and the effect of changes in the Canadian-U.S. exchange rate on prices in Canada, it’s surprising that some kind of economic union with the U.S. is not being considered or even discussed. Or at least it does not appear to be something that politicians north of the border consider.
The post-war European enterprise can serve as a model for how Canada might approach the U.S. In Europe, the Germans remain German, the French remain French and the Dutch remain Dutch. This, despite the fact that the European enterprise has gone well beyond that of economic union. The Maastricht Treaty (1992) created the European Union (EU) by combining the three European Communities—the European Atomic Energy Community, the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community—into a single entity. While it set the stage for a single currency (the Euro), the Treaty was seen as a first step toward an eventual political union. While the EU has taken large steps toward political union, the enterprise is not going as well as envisioned. The United Kingdom left the EU principally because it did not want to take orders from Brussels. The U.K. was interested in an economic union, but not political union.
The lesson for Canada is clear—we do not want political union, but should be open to economic union with the U.S. This would essentially mean two things. First, eliminating the border with respect to trade in goods and services, and free movement of investment capital. Whether this would include labour would need to be addressed, although economists would argue that, from an efficiency point of view, it should. As a blueprint, one might begin with what’s referred to in Europe as the Schengen Area, which is a group of EU countries that have eliminated all internal border controls and established common entry and exist requirements. This would require that the effective border protects both Canada and the U.S. simultaneously—the northern U.S. border moves to the Pacific, Arctic and Atlantic oceans. If a person qualifies to come to Canada, they automatically qualify to come into the U.S. and vice versa.
Second, monetary union under those circumstances makes a lot of sense. It would be simple to implement. For example, we might say that one Canadian dollar is on par with one U.S. dollar, or that it’s equal to US0.85 or 0.90. The exact value is less important as wages and other costs will adjust with increases in Canadian productivity that will then lead to increases in wages.
Finally, Trump insists that Canada commit 2 per cent of its GDP to defence. I would argue that, given a willingness to negotiate an economic union, and a commitment to increase defence spending to meet the 2 per cent target by 2030, would be sufficient to remove the Trumpian tariffs.
By agreeing to negotiate an economic union, Canada may convince the Trump administration to remove the tariffs. If an economic union were a threat to Canada’s viability, to our Dominion, then we do not deserve to be Canadian. I would venture that our national identity vis-à-vis the U.S. is strong enough to survive an economic union.
Cornelis “Kees” van Kooten
Alberta
Alberta government should rely on dividends—not ‘political will’—to grow Heritage Fund
From the Fraser Institute
By Tegan Hill
The Smith government on Wednesday released its plan to grow Alberta’s Heritage Fund to at least $250 billion over the next 25 years, mainly by reinvesting all investment returns back into the fund. But even Smith recognizes her plan will “take political will over a long period of time.” Of course, political will is subjective and can change from government to government. If Smith wants to establish a sustainable plan to grow the Heritage Fund, it should pay dividends to Albertans.
First, some quick history. When the Alberta government created the Heritage Fund in 1976, it established a rule that the government must deposit 30 per cent of resource revenue (including oil and gas royalties) into the fund annually. That quickly fell to 15 per cent by 1982/83, and after an oil price collapse the government eliminated the requirement in 1986/87. Since then, governments have routinely failed to make deposits into the fund, the fund’s value (after accounting for inflation) has eroded over time, and governments have spent nearly all of the fund’s earnings. Consequently, this fiscal year the fund will be worth less than $26 billion.
In other words, political will hasn’t been a successful strategy in growing the Heritage Fund.
Which brings us back to dividends. Here’s where Alberta can learn from Alaska. Alaska’s resource revenue savings fund (the Permanent Fund) was also created in 1976, but is now worth about US$80 billion (roughly CA$115 billion). What does the Alaska government do differently?
While various rules contribute to the fund’s success, the dividend rule is arguably the most critical. The Alaskan government pays a share of the fund’s earnings to Alaskan citizens via a dividend each year. Crucially, this gives citizens an ownership share in the fund. And therein lies the political will for governments to responsibly grow and maintain the fund. Any government that tried to use the fund for irresponsible purposes (e.g. raid the fund to spend money elsewhere) would likely face the wrath of Alaskan voters, given their understandable attachment to the dividend cheques.
Indeed, while the Alaskan government can reduce or eliminate the annual dividend, it has consistently allocated funds to the dividend for more than 40 years, even though this reduces the amount of money available for government spending. Overall, the fund has paid out more than US$30 billion to Alaskan citizens via dividends. Last year, each Alaskan received US$1,702.
According to its plan released on Wednesday, the Smith government will rely on “political will” to grow the Heritage Fund. But that’s not a recipe for success. Instead, the Smith government should learn from Alaska’s success and start paying dividends to Albertans who will provide the political pressure necessary to grow the fund over the long term.
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