SLN

The Sup Court of Canada precedents on TransMountain are promising, but if it takes four or five years to get a ruling on a new project, well, obv that will be long after the October referendum.

A sadly necessary reminder from the NYT's Canada bureau chief: Mark Carney is not God.

I remember hearing once that one reason Lougheed didn't want the provincial wealth fund from resource royalties ever to get too big was because if it got big enough, the feds might notice and just take it. If true, he may have been on to something.

You can’t say we’re in the strongest fiscal position in the G7… and in the same breath announce a $25 billion government-backed investment fund to jumpstart growth. Those two things point in very different directions.

Chuck makes a great case for Western independence.

So the government is going to borrow $25 billion to create a fund to encourage Canadians to loan the government more money? Did Carney just create the first "wealth fund" that doesn't actually have any money? Just seems to me like a debt-fuelled corporate slush fund.

This costs taxpayers even more 👇

@KellyDeRidderMP Name names! Screenshot texts, emails. Please.

Canadians elected a Liberal minority, not a majority and trying to build one is a power grab. I won't be crossing the floor. I won't betray the people who put their trust in me.

Mark Carney's @MarkJCarney Old Soccer Dad Buddy Cashes In: $2.54 Billion in Taxpayer Cash Flows to Telesat @telesat CEO Goldberg thedaily.ca/carneys-old-so… The Universal Broadband Fund is a $3,225,000,000 program launched by the Government of Canada to provide high speed internet access of at least 50 megabits per second download and 10 megabits per second upload to households in rural, remote, and Indigenous communities where private investment lacks a strong business case. The fund forms a key part of the broader Connectivity Strategy aiming for 98 percent national coverage by the end of 2026 and full coverage by 2030. As of July 2024 the funded projects had reached 264,000 households representing 33 percent of the 800,000 household target set for March 2027 with only 22 percent of targeted Indigenous households served to date. Telesat stands as the largest single beneficiary through substantial government backing for its Lightspeed low Earth orbit satellite constellation project intended to serve remote and Arctic regions. The Government of Canada provided a $2.14 billion loan to Telesat Lightspeed while the Government of Quebec contributed a $400 million loan for a combined total of $2.54 billion in public financing. This support includes government warrants for equity stakes and earlier capacity agreements such as a $600 million arrangement to secure satellite capacity for internet service providers. Telesat uses these funds for satellites, launches, ground stations, and related infrastructure with commercial service expected in the late 2027 to early 2028 timeframe following delays. Partnerships include Northwestel for projects in Nunavut and other northern areas where Telesat capacity helps deliver service to thousands of households. Other major corporate recipients include Xplore which received awards such as $63 million in Alberta for serving over 8,800 households and $70 million in Newfoundland and Labrador for nearly 29,000 households. Bell Canada secured funding including $23.8 million in Newfoundland and Labrador along with significant Ontario fiber projects. Telus obtained $65.5 million for northern Alberta projects serving over 2,500 households. Rogers received support for Ontario fiber builds reaching tens of thousands of households. Additional recipients encompass Bragg Communications known as Eastlink, Cogeco, smaller internet service providers, municipalities such as Yellowhead County and Clearwater County in Alberta, and Indigenous groups including various First Nations and cooperatives. Hundreds of projects nationwide involve fiber, fixed wireless, and satellite elements with funding disbursed as grants, contributions, or reimbursements after project milestones and audits. Daniel S. Goldberg serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of Telesat since 2006. His compensation includes an annual base salary of approximately $1.466 million along with substantial incentives and equity awards. In 2021 his total package reached values exceeding $64 million heavily weighted toward stock awards initially valued at over $53 million with independent valuations suggesting even higher figures up to $87 million. These equity holdings tie his personal financial outcomes to company performance bolstered by the public funding and project advancements. Mark H. Rachesky, founder and Chief Investment Officer of MHR Fund Management, acts as Chairman of the Telesat board and holds significant influence through his firm's approximately 36 percent ownership stake. The Public Sector Pension Investment Board maintains an approximately 37 percent stake as a major institutional shareholder with government ties through public pension management. Mark Carney, former Governor of the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England, maintains a long standing personal friendship with Daniel S. Goldberg dating back over 15 years when their children played in the same preschool soccer league in Ottawa. This connection has been noted in discussions around Telesat funding though Goldberg has stated that Carney had no involvement in the loan decisions. The funding supports company operations, executive compensation packages, and shareholder value for entities including Telesat leadership, major investors such as MHR Fund Management and the Public Sector Pension Investment Board, as well as executives at recipient companies like Bell Canada, Rogers, and Telus who benefit from expanded rural infrastructure and associated revenues. Funds ultimately pay for construction, equipment, labor, contractors, suppliers, and operational costs with results varying by project location and timeline.

"and provinces should be required to put up all its assets from their petroleum rents" If you want to send support for Alberta separation to 60%, this would be a *great* way to do it.

We’re told Alberta on its own would have no leverage with the U.S. Yet now the same federalist voices say Canada’s leverage in CUSMA negotiations depends on Alberta’s energy sector. That contradiction says everything about Alberta’s strength and Canada’s growing weakness. #AlbertaIndependence

PMMC is not going to be the type of transformational leader many Canadians hoped he would be. On the contrary, he’s turning out to be a very traditional Liberal - minimizing political risk by putting off difficult but necessary economic and social reforms, while opting instead to grow government and the national debt.

I'm glad he asked.

The Liberals just used their new majority to force two additional Liberal MPs onto each House of Commons committee.

Venezuela has increased oil production 25% over the last 90 days @MarkJCarney. Just saying. You don’t need to keep spending tax money to artificially prop up Canada’s economy. Just take off the handcuffs. #fiscalupdate #cdnpoli

Five months. That’s how long the Prime Minister’s best friend, now in charge of the new military procurement bureaucracy, avoided committee scrutiny. He finally appeared. Watch my questions, including those about “thousands” of potential conflicts of interest.

The solution to Canada's lack of private investment isn't public investment. It's figuring out why private capital finds Canada--one of the most richly endowed countries on earth--so unattractive.

@markrmcqueen Or he’s lying!

When the answer to a simple question leaves you even more befuddled, you know that politicians haven’t thought their idea through very well