Our favourite “wait – what?” moment this week came on Wednesday, when the B.C. government introduced a bill declaring that, hereafter, the first Wednesday of every March will officially be Red Tape Reduction Day.
Let that sink in a moment, and if it doesn’t make you go “wait – what?” then you may need your irony sensor recalibrated.
As a business paper, we’re all for reducing government waste, and the B.C. Liberals no doubt deserve some credit for trying to reduce bureaucracy.
But in their zeal to cut red tape, Liberal MLAs should probably be more careful about running around the Legislature with scissors.
The notion that any government would actually draft a bill – requiring a debate, a vote and Royal assent – in order to mark Red Tape Reduction Day each year is one of those things that makes one yearn for a “facepalm” button on Facebook.
I can just picture Chambers of Commerce members across B.C. on the first Wednesday of every March beginning their meetings with bowed heads as they solemnly reflect on the sacrifice government employees make each and every day in trying to find ways to put themselves out of work.
From now on, thanks to this new bill, every March, some poor drone in the government’s communications department will be obliged to gather some facts and figures on how much the government has cut red tape, invent a quote to be attributed to the minister of small business, send out a press release, tweet it out, and then reflect on the utter futility of his job, as he reaches for the scissors.
Shell CEO supports carbon pricing
Oscar Wilde wrote that a cynic was someone who knew the price of everything and the value of nothing. When it comes to carbon pricing, few seem to be as cynical as our prime minister, Stephen Harper.
Harper has, to date, resisted federal carbon pricing, especially in the form of carbon taxes. While it is easy for Harper to dismiss calls for a carbon tax from groups like the Pembina Institute, one has to wonder how he can continue to dismiss the views of people one would think are his allies.
They include Preston Manning – his one-time mentor and boss – and Mark Carney, the former Bank of Canada governor and current Governor of the Bank of England. On Thursday (September 29), Carney gave a speech where he talked about the imperative of dealing with climate change – warning of the risk it poses to industry, business and economies.
Carney talked about the need to invest in new technology to reduce carbon emissions, but did not specifically mention carbon prices.
But Ben van Beurden did.
Yes, the CEO of Royal Dutch Shell plc – one of the biggest oil companies in the world and a significant player in Canada’s oil sands and nascent LNG industries – thinks the world needs to put a price on carbon emissions.
The same day that Carney was warning about climate change, ABC aired an interview with van Beurden, who said: "Putting, in one form or another, a real, clear price on carbon that compels people to act with rational economic actions, I think is something that we need.”
He added that it didn’t matter whether it was a carbon tax or cap and trade. Given polling on the issue in Canada, one would think climate change would get more discussion in the current federal election campaign. It hasn’t.
The NDP’s platform on climate change proposes a national cap and trade system, while the Liberal Party’s plan is to leave it up to the province’s and territories to come up with a patchwork of taxes and cap and trade. In other words, it’s a dog's-breakfast plan.
The Conservative Party’s plan for climate change? Non-existent. There’s no plank for climate change or the environment. See for yourself.
One could argue that, with low oil prices hammering Alberta’s oil sands sector, now is not the time to be putting a price on carbon. But there’s a compelling argument that now is precisely the time to do it. Because in a world awash in cheap oil, we need to increase its value, and improving Canada’s reputation as an environmentally responsible oil producing nation could give Canada the edge it needs.
Like Wilde suggested, don’t just look at the price of something – look at the value of it.
There goes Varadero
According to a recent Reuters report, three major U.S. hotel chains – Marriott, Hilton and Carlson – have been holding talks with Cuban officials about potential hotel development there.
There goes Varadero.
If you haven’t been to Varadero, go soon, because once Hilton, Starbucks and McDonalds are done with it, this spectacular, quaint beach destination will probably end up looking like Vegas with a water view.
It’s inevitable, I suppose, that now that relations between the U.S. and Cuba are thawing, big American hotel chains will eventually transform Varadero into the next Cancun.
I’m glad I got to see Cuba before the Hilton revolution. I’ve been to Cuba three times, so I know how desperately it needs foreign direct investment to bring itself out of the 1950s and into the 21st century. It’s pure selfishness on my part to wish it could remain the way it is – frozen in time, underdeveloped and cheap to visit.
Every time I’ve been to Cuba I’ve seen potential new business opportunities, from agriculture and eco-tourism to life sciences and renewable energy.
American investment will transform this Island nation, frozen in the 1950s, so Canadians might as well take advantage of the edge they have there by getting into Cuba early.
Canadians have dominated Cuba’s tourism market for decades, and a handful of Canadian businesses have operated there quietly for years.
Sherritt International is the biggest Canadian player in Cuba. It provides much of Cuba’s power, and also operates a nickel mine and has oil and gas operations there. Scotiabank has a presence in Cuba, and is reportedly considering opening branches there.
Things are already starting to happen. I was shocked when I recently saw condos for sale in Cuba on cubahomeforsale.com.
I was shocked because real estate has been pretty much non-existent since the 1950s revolution that nationalized everything. Cubans could not buy or sell homes even to other Cubans. In 2011, a new law allowed Cubans to buy and sell homes – the beginning of a nascent real estate market.
One area that I think is ripe is eco-tourism. If I were kayaking or mountain biking outdoor adventure outfitter, I’d be in Cuba right now building a relationship with a Cuban partner, because the potential for eco-tourism in Cuba is huge.
