Gil McGowan
58.5K posts
@gilmcgowan
Proud father of three. President of the Alberta Federation of Labour. My job is to stand up for Alberta workers. RESIST! https://t.co/T5wHV2b7oC
The biggest private sector union in Alberta, UFCW 401, has filed a grievance against Sobeys/Safeway for placing Alberta flags in many of their stores. The company says they’re just promoting local products, but the timing is “reckless and irresponsible.” calgary.citynews.ca/2026/07/28/uni…
"Data Center Alley" a section of Virginia with the densest concentration of data centers in the country, caused the power to flicker across the East Coast. On Wednesday, July 22nd the electricity flickered on and off for about 10 minutes throughout the Eastern U.S., from Chicago to Boston to Miami. The cause appears to be a concentration of data centers straining the grid. Video from: @NBCWashington
Ottawa to scrap all contribution requirements for U.S. streamers thewirereport.ca/2026/07/28/bre… Find out more at nationalnewswatch.com
The CEO of Shopify, one of Canada’s largest corporations, says the poor and the elderly should not be allowed to vote. It’s pretty clear that billionaires are the real problem, not ordinary citizens.
🦔A New York Times investigation showed how Meta built its $50 billion Louisiana data center so almost everyone except Meta is holding the risk. Meta sold 80% of the project to a private equity firm called Blue Owl, which borrowed $27.3 billion by selling bonds to build it. Meta only owns 20% and can cancel its lease every four years, but the natural gas plants powering the site are built to last 30. The site sits on 3,200 acres in Richland Parish, one of the poorest counties in Louisiana, and it's in a flood plain that insurers wouldn't fully cover. My Take Meta engineered this so it keeps the gains and everyone else keeps the risk. If a hurricane hits the site, the bondholders eat it. If Meta cancels its lease after four years, Louisiana families pay for those gas plants for another 26 on their electric bills. If Meta leaves after collecting a property tax break that could hit 80%, Louisiana loses the tax revenue too. Meta itself carries almost none of that if the deal blows up. A similar Meta data center in Newton County, Georgia already left residents saying they're scared to drink from their own wells, so we know how this can play out. So where do those $27.3 billion in Blue Owl bonds actually sit? S&P rated them A+, which puts them inside investment-grade bond funds, pension plans, and the retirement accounts most people already hold. Louisiana families paying higher electric bills may also, unknowingly, own a piece of the same deal through their 401k. Meta is one of the biggest stocks in the S&P 500 too, so if you own an index fund, you own its upside on this. And if the whole thing falls apart, ordinary people absorb the damage from both sides at once, through their utility bill and through their savings. Hedgie🤗 Link: nytimes.com/2026/07/27/tec…
While Canada’s Premiers met this week, Alberta quietly reclassified all preventive testing as non-insured extended health services. Laying groundwork to delist health services from public coverage? Yet another step towards two-tier health care. friendsofmedicare.org/oic_step_towar…
