28 March 2007

 

exurbia's political dimensions



















York University geographer Gerald Walker examined how the migration of society's affluent from metropolitan Toronto to the adjacent rural countryside has transformed the GTA's rural-urban fringe, commonly described as the 905 area.

According to Walker, "as urbanites move in large numbers into the countryside, particularly adjacent to major urban centres, they transform the countryside, themselves, and the political context....[they] have taken action to make their vision of the countryside come true."(1)

According to Walker's research, newcomers to the countryside tend to be affluent with above average incomes and are better educated than most of those left behind in the cities. Exurbs are characteristically relatively close to the city, its work places, and its amenities. Exurbanites see the countryside as a desirable amenity; their vision of the countryside tends towards the nostalgic where the countryside reminds them of "the past, the simpler more natural social order of pioneers and country people." (1) Walker goes on to suggest that "the other side of the exurbanite mentality... is the view that the city is inherently evil....The city is a bad place, inhabited by bad people, where bad things happen." (1) ** It follows then that the countryside is "the best place to raise children...Countryside not only looks better, it smells and breathes better." (1)

However, once settled into country living, exurbanites discover the flaws and their idyll. For one thing, traditional farming has been replaced agricultural industrialization. "Part of the price of industrial agriculture is that it diminishes landscape amenity for exurbanites by farming more and more intensively." The result is a changed rural landscape with shrinking woodlots, abandoned farms and farm buildings, and increasing use of pesticides and fertilizers. As well,"developers are just around the corner, assembling land and putting up developments that seriously undermine the landscape character of the exurbanites' residential spaces." (1) ***

Exurbanites and farmers hold one common value: "property represented by real estate is at the base of their vision of a civilized society. The defense of property encapsulates and invigorates all of the other values." Thus, when the rural idyll outside the GTA was threatened by plans to site mega-wast dumps in the 905 area during 1991-1994, the two groups--farmers and exurbanites--joined forces to wage a political battle. Successfully...in the "1995 election, the governing party...took no seats in the 905 protion of the GTA...every seat was taken by the Progressive Conservatives." Rambling Rose always wondered why Toronto is sending its garbage across the border to Michigan and soon to a landfill site near St. Thomas. Energized by their victory in the waste-dump struggle, this energized political faction turned its energy to protect the Oak Ridges Moraine (cf. map above) as "the symbolic and affectionate representation of home." This time the governing Progressive Conservatives were successfully turfed from power and the incoming Liberal government obliged by passing the Oak Ridges Moraine Act in 2005.
That piece of legislation presaged the soon-to-follow Places to Grow Act 2006 which mandated growth was to take elsewhere in the province and not in the backyard of the exurbanites.
The draft version of Places to Grow Act contained one map that revealed clearly this government's intention to expand the 407 westward from Toronto via Guelph and straight through Waterloo Region. That super-highway expansion so welcomed by local politicians points like an arrow to the heart of Waterloo Region and its most valuable moraine (map). The moraine protects the Region's water supplies for its residents; however, the sand and gravel mix of the moraine represents solid gold for the aggregate and construction industries. Will this Region's resources be depleted to accommodate unsustainable growth --driven by political interests elsewhere in this province?

Our current Prime Minister who doth protest too much moved to secure the swing voters in the 905 catchment area by advancing monies to the Nature Conservancy of Canada to create a land trust within the Oak Ridges Morain this past month. Great photo op for our blue-eyed boy wonder sitting on the throne in Ottawa-- as the local rag's report featured a large photo of the Prime Minister in the woodlot -- Tory blue eyes and wardrobe accented by the green forest behind him. To further emphasize his stature, the photographer had taken shot upwards to exaggerate the man's height. What could be more archetypal than blue skies, blue waters, and green forests to the Canadian electorate? and more noble than to put monies there to protect our sacred spaces? The strategy worked as in last weekend's poll, the governing federal Conservatives had moved to 44% support in Ontario and key western provinces. How sincere the commitment to the environment? well, in this instance, the devil is in the details**** of a 409-page budget document that does not impose emission caps on the largest polluters in the country.

The coming election is of crucial importance to all Canadians as it will be staged when this particular hockey player expects to win a majority -- to be followed by a change to a fixed election system that would call for elections every four years according to the United States model. Do look south of the border to see how much can be done over the space of four years-- a budgetary surplus exhausted to pay for a war founded on lies that has destabilized an entire region at the other side of the globe. As voters we need more than 30-second sound bites and staged photo-ops to cast an informed ballot. Too much is at stake here!

Maps and photos: 1) adaptation of Walker map to show Niagara escarpment (blue), Oak Ridges Moraine (green), GTA-416 calling area (pink), and adjacent 905 calling area-- swing shift voters reside here; 2) photo copyright Sandamara Images 2004 of entrance to gated Wilmot Township estate; 3) Regional map showing Waterloo moraines: Waterloo moraine (green), Breslau moraine (orange) and Paris/Galt moraines (light orange); 4) photo copyright Sandamara Images 2004 of private estate adjacent to Speed River outside Guelph-- addition to original mill and lush green lawns bordering the river; 5) top photo--St Agatha country estate with room enough for horses for the children. Ah, lifestyles of the affluent!

**Note: that sentence describes common perceptions of Kitchener's downtown core held by many i.e. that the downtown is unsafe.
*** Walker's sentence effectively sums up the battle over designating the headwaters of Laurel Creek as an Environmentally Sensitive Landscape (ESL) currently under review by the OMB. Landowners who had purchased land anticipating development are arguing their 'inherent right to sell their land for development purposes'; they are opposed by exurbanites who want to stop development of these lands in order to preserve the natural landscape as it is.

****"Harper displayed a ...command of strategy in the political world as he took a rag-tag rump of
alienated western conservatives and built it into the governing party of Canada. He did it by merger, by
taking over the old Progressive Conservative party -- which was a spent force politically ....-- and by pandering to his core constituency on the right while simultaneously courting mainstream voters."

Sources: (1) Gerald Walker, "Urbanites Creating New Ruralities: Reflections on Social Action and Struggle in the Greater Toronto Area," The Great Lakes Geographer Vol 7 No 2, 2000; (2)? Geoffrey Stevens, "Harper a master strategist facing stiff challenges," The Record 12 Mar 07.

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# posted by ramblingrose @ 9:07 AM 0 Comments Links to this post

24 March 2007

 

exurbia


The term "exurb" was coined in the 1950's in "The Exurbanites" by A. C. Spectorsky, a social historian, to describe semirural areas far outside cities where wealthy people had country estates. (1)

Exurbs are communities located on the urban fringe that have at least 20 percent of their workers commuting to jobs in an urbanized area, exhibit low housing density, and have relatively high population growth. The typical exurban census tract has 14 acres of land per home, compared to 0.8 acres per home in the typical tract nationwide.** Residents of the "average" exurb are disproportionately white,middle-income, homeowners, and commuters. The search for more affordable new homes that are in limited supply elsewhere fuels growth in many metropolitan exurbs.(2)
"Today, the average big-city worker wastes
about 90 minutes on the daily two-way commute. That’s 7.5 hours a week or 375 hours over 50 weeks." (3)

Census 2006 by Statistics Canada put numbers on exurbia's rapid growth:

"Nationwide, the 11.1-per-cent growth rate posted in peripheral centres, those that surround the core cities of Canada's 33 metropolitan areas, more than doubled the national growth rate of 5.4 per cent, the Statistics Canada census figures indicate. The fastest-growing municipality was Milton, near Toronto, a classic exurb that posted 71.4-per-cent growth, with a population of 53,939 compared to 31,471 in 2001. By contrast, the average growth rate for metropolitan areas was 4.2 per cent and Toronto -- the nation's largest city -- grew only 0.9 per cent." (4)

"That urban form is not going to serve us very well in a carbon-constrained future.We're going to have less fossil fuels around. What fossil fuels we do have are going to be more expensive. So people who are living out in the suburbs are going to be stranded."--Stephen Hazell, Sierra Club of Canada.
"For every new low-density development of McMansions evenly spaced on 1-acre lots, water, utilities and other services must be extended, not to mention roads and highways. That means that, like a spider plant that over-reaches in search of sunlight, these “shoots” will also be the first to die off in a drought, be it of oil or water. To continue the metaphor, traditional dense cities are more like the hardy, compact cactus...In the rush to the suburbs and now to the exurbs, we’ve also paved over our best farmland. This is a long-term strategic  mistake, because without cheap oil as both energy and fertilizer, we’re not going to be importing Chilean salad greens; we won’t be able to reliably grow grain to feed cattle, so we won’t be eating much meat anymore either." (5)

** comments based on US census data per US Brookings Institute report; comparable trend here is the fragmentation of farms in Wilmot, Wellesley, and Woolwich Townships in rough vicinity of Weimar Road/Sunfish Lake where estate housing was once accommodated; Wilmot Township has since ended that practice; hence, purchase of an approx 83 acre farm by prominent Waterloo CEO to accommodate his family home-- what he can't use for residential needs can be rented to farmer and used as tax write off per federal income tax provisions.

Photos copyright Sandamara Images 2004, L to R: large gated estate near Maryhill and east of Kitchener-Waterloo urban area; estate house adjacent to Cox Creek in the bedroom community/village of Winterbourne, immediately outside K-W.

Sources: (1)Rick Lyman, "Living Large, by Design, in the Middle of Nowhere," New York Times 15 August 2005; (2)Alan Berube et al., Finding Exurbia (report), Brookings Institute website: http://www.brookings.edu/metro/pubs/20061017_exurbia.htm (3)http://www.future-trends.com/webworkstyles_balance.html;
(4)John Miner and Joe Belanger, Outlying areas show highest growth rate, London Free Press 14 Mar 07;
(5)http://www.kingmarketing.ca/weblogs/ajkandy/archives/2005/01/the_economics_o.html

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# posted by ramblingrose @ 9:55 AM 0 Comments Links to this post

22 March 2007

 

hard rock cafe musings


Today's Record carried two stories focussing on our growing demand for water.

The first report informed Kitchener residents to expect to pay an increase of 8% in water /sewer rates to help pay for replacement of aging pipes. Councillor Gazzola noted that means "rates have increased 49% in the past three years." (1)

The second story suggested there might be a river of water located 75 meters under the surface of Lake Ontario. The GRCA has received a $660,000 from the Ontario Geological Society to study the ancient waterway which runs under the Grand River watershed. (2)

It's hard to believe that a little more than a decade ago the Region could meet the demand for water entirely from the local groundwater supplies without any water restrictions.

Both stories deal with a more basic issue-- that of sustainable development and growth. Kitchener planning staff presented a report to Council re "Growth Management, Staging of Development and Public Engagement in Kitchener," referenced DTS-07-039.(3) Basically per Ontario Places to Grow Act of 2005 requires Region of Waterloo and its lower-tier municipalities to ensure that
1) by 2015, 40% of all new growth must be accommodated within existing built-up areas;
2) downtown Kitchener as a designated Urban Growth Centre must have minimum of 200 residents and jobs combined per hectare;
3) new "greenfield" development are to have minimum density of 50 residents and jobs per hectare.
Like it or not, this Region has been told it will have to grow in population-- all requiring land, water and sewer, roads, etc....

This blog's photo is of CBM Mcnally gravel pit in adjacent Puslinch Township & source of gravel for Highway 401 construction as well as adjacent municipal needs (Milton and Mississauga). Note the J M Schneider sign beside 401 (to right of the crane in photo). Once upon a time that highway sign was a marker that said "20 minutes and you'll be home again in Waterloo" on weekend trips back from Toronto. Twenty minutes now??? More about gravel pits in the posts to follow this one-- all dealing with a new word in RR's dictionary, "exurbia" and the subject of this week's mental ramblings.

And now, gentle reader, a note about blogging and this particular blog. Blogging is ideally suited for short rants or mental perambulations posted on a daily basis, but hardly the best medium for writing expository prose that requires a logical, linear progression -- as this string of posts exploring a counter-urbanization demographic shift requires.


Sources: (1) T. Pender, "Water, sewer rates jump another 8%," The Record 22 Mar 07; (2) G. Mercer, "Ancient, hidden river could slake our thirst," The Record 22 Mar 07; (3) go to City of Kitchener website and type report # into search this site box to locate the actual report.

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# posted by ramblingrose @ 10:06 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

21 March 2007

 

funding cultural heritage

This week's federal budget pledges the following:

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# posted by ramblingrose @ 5:06 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

10 March 2007

 

a sweet transformation







Gentle reader, you are invited to the opening celebrations of a new business locally as follows:

Where? The Sugar Factory & Gay Isber's Design Lab
286 Duke Street West, Kitchener, Ontario, N2H 3X8 Canada (One block west of the Via Train Station at the corner of Duke & Breithaupt)

When? Wednesday 14 March 2007 as follows: 4:00 pm Vittles will be served (Gay’s Award Winning Chilli & Ice Cold Beer + other goodies); 4:30pm Ribbon Cutting with Kitchener’s Mayor Carl Zehr; 5:00 - 10 pm Festivities continue throughout the Duke Street Art District /Fire Hall and also at the Behind the Red Door Art Gallery (1)

Why? as per story in yesterday's Globe and Mail:

"On a Tuesday this past June, Ms. Isber spotted a decommissioned 1920s hydro substation with a real estate
broker's sign on the wall and a car crashed into its big rollup doors. Three days later, and with assurances the
wreck had been carted away, she handed over a cheque for $265,000 to secure the "world headquarters" of Sugar
Beads Inc....Even though "they do it in Toronto all the time," her ideas fell on deaf ears at Kitchener City Hall. Thankfully, after seeing city officials multiple times — including a few where she suffered meltdowns because of all the red tape — she became "the first person in the Waterloo region" to create a live/work space....Six months later, Ms. Isber swung the Sugar Factory doors open to the public and helped define a new area — the Duke Street arts district — in the process. Her neighbours are the former Boehmer Box factory, which now houses an art gallery and studios, and the old 1913 fire hall, home to a studio and retail gallery..Thanks to Ms. Isber — who can now "check off the list" that she saved a building — there is as much energy coursing through her 1,500-square-foot "design lab" as in its former life." (2)

Sources: (1)http://www.gayisber.com/;
(2) Dave LeBlanc, Sweet renovation success, Globe and Mail 09 March 2007.

Photos copyright Sandamara Images 2006, the Duke Street arts cluster L to R: window, door, and side facade of the former transformer station; Duke Street firehall # 2; and the former Boehmer Box factory now home to several artists' studios.

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# posted by ramblingrose @ 8:47 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

08 March 2007

 

the national game











Photos copyright Sandamara Images 2006: front facades of Bank of Montreal and Bank of Nova Scotia bank buildings Brantford, ON. Photos chosen to highlight the puck that failed to score a goal for the Harper government this past week i.e. Bank of Nova Scotia (TSX:BNS) will not get rid of automated banking machine fees despite growing political calls for their elimination, chief executive officer Rick Waugh said yesterday as he announced a record first-quarter profit of more than $1 billion. (9)

In Full Circle: Death and Resurrection in Canadian Conservative Politics(2006), Bob Plamondon gives a brief introduction to Canadian Politics 101. While reading this chapter, RR had one of those aha-moments as in "ah, now I get it" and various performances on the national stage started to make sense. Shall we begin with Politics 101, lessone One?

Lesson One:

"An election is like a hockey game. It's not about who has the fastest skaters, the hardest shot, or even the toughest players. What matters most is which team puts the most pucks in the net. Similarly, it's not the smartest leader, best ideas, or most energetic team of candidates that matters.It's who gets the most votes. Politics is about beating your competition. Politics is about winning." (6)

In the run-up to the yet-as-undeclared-spring election, Mr. Harper has been very busy stickhandling a variety of issues that could influence national voting patterns. Jack Layton, leader of the NDP, had announced that he was going to push the banks for elimination of ABM fees; the current finance minister grabbed that puck and met with banking officials in Toronto to get rid of ABM fees. The best concession he could was that the banks would consider waiving those fees for students, the disabled, and seniors. That's one puck that didn't quite make into the net.

After Stephane Dion, leader of the Official Opposition, made a speech to the oil industry re Canada's responsibilities under the Kyoto protocol, Harper grabbed that puck and suddently became the greenest of green--conveniently abandoning his previous argument that meeting Kyoto targets would jeopardize the Canadian economy. Stephane Dion's wry comment to losing the puck to the Harper team? "Mr. Dion said he is perhaps the most influential opposition leader in history, arguing that Mr. Harper has shifted stance to mirror Mr. Dion's positions on issues such as climate change, and is now announcing "re-branded" versions of Liberal programs he cut a year ago." (1)

LessonTwo:

"In a country as geographically, linguistically, culturally, ethnically, philosophically, and economically diverse as Canada,....a party needs to build a coalition of interests to win." (6)

For now, the prime minister as politician is building his coalition of interests by promising money here, there and everywhere**: funding for environmental programs in Quebec and British Columbia, money for transportation in Ontario, and money for agriculture in the prairie provinces....at a dizzying speed. Rather nice to have so much money in the federal kitty to spend. If the federal budget is running a surplus now, it is thanks to the stringent deficit-cutting measures put into place during the Liberal tenure-- a small detail not worth mentioning.

Ontario has been promised "$1.5 billion from Ottawa to ease gridlock, improve air quality and ease its addition to coal-fired power" even as Mr. Harper admitted, "If that has political benefits, so be it.'' (2) Why spend so much on Ontario? "Ontario ...has...the largest number of swing ridings[i.e.20 of 25 seats] capable of changing parties from one election to the next....It is in Ontario, particularly in regions like Waterloo, London, and the 905 (the telephone area code surrounding Toronto), where volatile constituencies most vulnerable to the Conservatives are located." (3)

Team players who pulled off the transportation funding included the provincial Liberal government (facing a fixed October 2007 election date) as well as federal political players: "The groundwork was laid by the two finance ministers -- Jim Flaherty (federal) and Greg Sorbara (Ontario).the subway extension will terminate at the doorstep to Sorbara's riding (Vaughan-King-Aurora), while the Highway 407 extension will go through Flaherty's riding
(Whitby-Oshawa)...The transit projects and the promise he extracted from the province for extension of Highways 404 and 407 will help his party in the 905 area code seats the Conservatives hope to win." (4)

Lesson Three:

"Another way to guarantee defeat would be to divide a coalition of common interests. ... a common voting block that is split into two parties, with each earning 20% of the vote will win [no seats]....cf. When western conservatives established the Reform party, they split the conservative vote with the PC's ensuring successive Liberal victories." (6)

"In one year, Mr. Harper has proved to be a politician with a cunning streak, who solidifies his own strength
by highlighting the divisions of his opponents....He doesn't mind getting 38 per cent of public-opinion
support or 40 per cent of public-opinion support if he can get the other guys on the other side dividing up
the 60 or 62 per cent,” Mr. Gregg said. “He's quite happy to have the big chunk of the smaller pie.” (5)

One Globe and Mail reader commented:  "Stephen Harper is a tactician of the first order, he is 'playing the game' as you citizens of Canada wanted it to be, a spectator sport like in a big ole' hockey rink."

Winner takes all? Harper gets the big house with servants rentfree and use of a government airplane to take his son to a hockey game in Toronto for father and son night on the town ** ? and the losers in all of this? for note, in the game that is being played only one team wins, the other loses. For example: "In the nation's capital, Prime Minister Stephen Harper is getting off scot-free on the issue, even though Indian land claims (which are at the heart of the Caledonia dispute) are constitutionally a federal responsibility.During an appearance in Niagara Falls last week, Harper did not mention the Caledonia dispute in his speech, nor did he stick around for media questions afterward. A CH-TV reporter accused Harper of "ducking out the back door'' to avoid questions on Caledonia and other issues." (7)

The only conclusion the thoughtful voter can come to is that there are not enough votes to be had in Caledonia or on an aboriginal reserve? ** and note this, all of the promised funding comes with an expiry date of 20 March 2007 as if the opposition parties do not support the announced 2007 budget, there won't be any of our money to spend on our various needs nationally. Who is being bullied here? the opposition politicians? the Canadian public?

"I wish our leaders would grow up
and get about serving the best interests of our country
instead of their own political ambitions." (8)


Sources: (1)CAMPBELL CLARK, "Dion says he won't stoop to conquer," The Globe and Mail 10 March 07; (2)Ontario gets $1B for transit, hydro The Record 7 Mar 07; (3)Barry Kay, Ontario the key to Harper's majority dream, The Record 7 Mar 07; (4) Ian Urquhart, "Political necessity makes Harper and McGuinty pals," The Record 7 Mar 07; (5)Brian Laghi, Stephen Harper's beaux stratagems, The Globe and Mail, 10 March 07; Bob Plamondon,
Full Circle: Death and Resurrection in Canadian Conservative Politics(2006); (7)Ian Urquhart McGuinty sweats, while Ottawa dodges native issue The Record 25 Oct 06; (8) Terry Groves, Dion bullied Mps, letter to editor, The Record 7 Mar 07; (9)BILLION-DOLLAR QUARTER The Record 7 Mar 07.

Note: ** Department of Defence is trying to collect the cost of the flight to Toronto (a personal trip) from the Prime Minister's Office. Apologies as did not copy the link.

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# posted by ramblingrose @ 3:17 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

03 March 2007

 

the perfect storm?

Of late, Rambling Rose has been pondering Ontario's gas shortage as a result of two fires -- or so we have been led to believe. Today's Globe and Mail provides some background (1):

The most recent fire at Nanticocke: "When they[i.e. Haldmimand fire department] arrived at 8:38, it was clear that Imperial's in-house emergency response team, led by Dave Otterman, the refinery's full-time fire chief, was well on its way to bringing the fire to heel. "We just went in and assisted them and got the job done," Chief Robinson said.

The fire had ignited, outdoors and at ground level, in a pump at the base of a vacuum tower, part of the refinery's crude-oil processing unit. It took three hours for Imperial's fire team and their Haldimand County colleagues to put the fire out with water and chemical foam."With the exception of the smoke, which may have led you to believe there was a problem on the property, there certainly wasn't a lot of panic and stir within the property itself..."

Gas prices are up at the pumps. Next impact to be felt in Ontario and elsewhere? " David Bradley, president of the Ontario Trucking Association, grew increasingly concerned that fuel shortages could slow deliveries. Noting that trucks deliver 90 per cent of consumer products and foodstuffs and handle 75 per cent of trade with the United States, he worried about an economic spillover as company stockpiles ran short and truck stops had to close." ====> higher prices for food within the next month?

Why the skepticism for Rambling Rose? RR has been remembering her time in Alberta's Rainbow oil fields. One specific memory stands out. In her final week there, the two top managers of Elf-Aquitaine had approached her to offer their thanks for the work she had done for their children and wish her well in Ontario. When she asked the top manager of the oil plant there if she could have a tour of the oil plant, the response was,"No, too risky as safety is primary concern." There was no reason to doubt the man's integrity. Canada's oil workers are the best in the world & it was the men from Alberta who were successfully put out the oil fires in Kuwait after the first US led war against Iraq in the early 1990's. Do use the link to read the entire excellent G& M report while still available online?

Source: ANTHONY REINHART AND NORVAL SCOTT, "Oil refiners hit by 'the perfect storm'," Globe and Mail, 3 March 03. Available at this link:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070303.GAS03/TPStory/National/?&pageRequested=all&print=true

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# posted by ramblingrose @ 11:43 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
 

the polluter pays principle

 Per House of Commons natural resources committee, the federal government should cancel the"accelerated capital cost allowance” tax break given to the Alberta oil-sands industry, estimated to be worth $1.4 billion annually. Why? Although the rapid expansion of the oil sands provides an enormous economic and strategic advantage to Canada (and $123 billion in revenues for provincial, federal and local government), important environmental, economic and social issues have yet to be addressed. Greenhouse gas emissions from oil sands activities are of increasing concern. As one witness from the Pembina Institute put it, Canada risks becoming known 'not as an energy superpower but as a superpolluter'.

Available for download from the Pembina website ( www.pembina.org) are two documents: "Fair Share, Green Share" and "Speaking Notes--[Pembina] Presentation to House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance. Herewith, some points to ponder(2) (3):

  1. "Given the profits of oil sands company – Imperial Oil** $2.6 billion in 2006, Shell Canada $2 billion – these companies do not need the help of the tax payer. Clearly profits are good, it is why individuals invest – but you and I no longer need to add to those profits with our tax dollars. Especially since a growing number of shareholders are not Canadian. In other words, Canadian taxpayers are subsidizing profits for shareholders outside of Canada."
  2. The Fair Share, Green Share proposal would require each of the main heavy industry sectors in
    Canada - oil and gas, electricity generation, and energy-consuming industries like manufacturing - to cut their net greenhouse gas pollution back to 6 per cent below their 1990 emission levels. This is the same target that Canada as a whole is obligated to meet under the Kyoto Protocol. [This proposal is affordable]:
    * Even in the emissions-intensive, rapidly growing oil sands sector, meeting the target would cost on the order of a dollar per barrel - a very manageable cost that's just a small fraction of the level of fluctuation seen almost daily in the market price of oil.
    * For coal-fired electricity generation, meeting the target would cost on the order of one cent per kilowatt-hour.
    This cost would fall as government-funded investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency come onstream.
  3. The Fair Share, Green Share proposal recommends four compliance options--one of which includes payments to be made to an independent Greenhouse Gas Reduction Trust cf p 3 of the proposal document.
  4. Heavy industry [i.e. electricity generation, upstream oil and gas, energy-consuming industries] accounts for close to half of Canada's emissions and would contribute close to half the reductions need to meet the target i.e. 2008-12 Kyoto compliance period.
  5. Oil sands sector production 1,200,000 barrels per day in 2006 to grow to 2,000,000 barrels per day. Canada has the second largest proven reserves of oil in the world, second only to Saudi Aurabia. The oil sands is not only the fastest growing industry in Canada, but also the fastest growing source of greenhouse gas pollution. Any subsidy to the oil sands is a subsidy to the production of pollution.
  6. The cost to comply with Kyoto targets? a) upstream oil and gas between $US 0.58 and $US 1.16 per barrel; b)Ontario's coal-fired generators between $0.63 and 1.26 cents per kwh. To support Pembina's recommendations e-mail your federal MP's. To find your MP by postal code, use this link:

    http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/about/people/house/PostalCode.asp?Source=SM

**owned by Mobil-Exxon cf previous blogs for 2006 profits, highest ever.


(1) Sources: (1) Oil-sands tax breaks should end, report says," The Record 3 Mar 07; (2) M. Bramley, Fair Share, Green Share: A Proposal For Regulating Greenhouse Gases From Canadian Industry Submission to the House of Commons Legislative Committee on Bill C-30, February 20, 2007
http://www.pembina.org/pdf/publications/FairShareGreenShare.pdf;
(3) Amy Taylor, speaking notes available here: http://www.pembina.org/pdf/publications/FinanceCommittee_speech_Feb2707.pdf
http://www.pembina.org/pdf/publications/FairShareGreenShare.pdf

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# posted by ramblingrose @ 10:23 AM 0 Comments Links to this post

01 March 2007

 

delay, defer, deny?


The Haldimand Grand of 1784 promised a tract of land bordering the Grand River from its headwaters to its mouth to the Six Nations measuring six miles on either side of the river. In 1789, Augustus Jones set out to survey this grant starting from environs of present-day Hamilton @ 45 degree angle north west.
By the time he had surveyed the still existing Baseline Road in neighbouring Wellington Township as far as present-day Fergus, he was instructed to stop searching for the headwaters of the Grand and to complete the survey back to the river's mouth at Lake Erie. Photos copyright Sandamara Images 2004 bottom L to R clockwise: Keldon sourcewaters of the Grand just south of Dundalk, stop sign indicates end of Jones' baseline survey, Baseline Road beside Swan Creek in Wellington Twp, and swampy source of the Grand River in Amaranth Township. The Grand River has no fewer than three different sources in the swampy Dundalk highlands.

"Absolutely there is political will on behalf of the federal government to see this dispute come to an end," said Deirdra McCracken, adding it takes time to resolve a 200-year-old land claim. (1) ===> 200 years not enough time? ..."If the negotiations don't pick up, MacNaughton said Six Nations protesters will consider occupying other sites around the Grand River." (1)..."Since 1980, the elected Six Nations has advanced 29 claims related to properties in the Haldimand tract. Just one claim was resolved in 1985. That settlement saw the federal government add 108 hectares to the Six Nations reserve. Frustrated by the slow pace, Six Nations sued the federal and provincial governments in 1995. The lawsuit was suspended in 2004, after court action proved costly and no faster." (2)

& this Historical footnote: "Chartered in 1832, The Grand River Navigation Company...was primarily financed by Six Nations funds, unbeknownst to the Indians themselves (Hill, 1971, pp. 31-40)**. During the financially troubled tenure of the company, the Six Nations sustained the greatest loss of all shareholders."

** search KPL catalogue either by author "Hill" or by subject "Grand River Navigation Company" for some interesting background reading on this particular issue.
Sources: (1) More standoffs along Grand?" The Record 1 Mar 07; (2) Jeff Outhit, "Who owns the Grand River?" The Record 23 September 2006; (3) U of W research study, The Grand as a Canadian Heritage River.

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# posted by ramblingrose @ 2:32 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

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