Some civilizations count Time by using the phases of the Moon, others, I
hear, even follow the setting of the Sun. In Westmount we count time by
Wednesday Nights.
Guy Sprung
It was a singularly one-topic evening. Given the level of expertise represented by new guests, Thomas Mulcair and Professor Peter G.Brown, and the recent events in the National Assembly regarding Mount Orford, it was inevitable that the evening's discussion concentrate on environmental matters.
The high degree of interest in the environment on the part of all those gathered around the table, no matter what their backgrounds or professions, was indicative of how highly Québécois value their environment and how politically sensitive the topic is. If there was only one conclusion to be drawn from the discussion it would be that concern for the environment – and the future of our planet – is an issue on which the people are way out in front of their governments, and governments at all levels should be paying attention.
Rarely, if ever, has Chairman David permitted one guest to dominate the evening's discussion – that Thomas Mulcair was allowed to do so speaks volumes for his mastery of the topic and his articulate examination of the issues.
Finally, not since 2002, when she was in Shanghai for IATA, has Diana been absent on a Wednesday Night. David presented her excuses and reminded the gathering that only the presence of Al Gore as keynote speaker at tonight's dinner at the Canada 2020 conference and the early Thursday morning session with Jeffrey Sachs could have enticed her away.
[Editor's note: had I known that Al Gore would speak for 80 minutes after dinner and a full day of conference, in a darkened room, I would have come back to Wednesday Night and returned for the next morning's session. No, we didn't see the movie, but we did see the slide show, and those who had seen the movie tell us that his script at the conference was identical to the narration, including inflections. While I would not subscribe to L. Ian MacDonald's somewhat waspish account of the Al Gore evening, from all accounts, Mr. Mulcair was a far more engaging keynoter – and did stand for questions. Jeffrey Sachs , on the other hand, did not disappoint. Wn on Jeffrey Sachs]
The Quebec Liberal government put an end to debate in the National Assembly on Monday night, forcing the adoption of the controversial bill on the privatization of the ski hill in Mount Orford National Park. The sale of the hill is considered to be a mistake on two levels. Politically, because the government is out of sync with the public which is easily the most environmentally militant in Canada, and thus is burning its political capital. Second, legally; you don't sell public, protected land to private development interests unless there is an over-riding public good consideration. This is a fundamental issue of both legality and trust. Note that other parks, including Mont Tremblant have retained ski hills and/or golf courses within the public lands, while allowing residential and commercial development on adjacent private lands.
Furthermore, from an ecological standpoint, it is simply wrong to think that all land is interchangeable, - that any piece of land can be swapped for another, without consideration of the ecosystems that interrelate and contribute to one another's health and the protection of biodiversity.
While the sale of the ski hill and adjacent golf course has been opposed by a coalition of environmentalists, local authorities and dozens of community groups, - even prominent Liberals -, one of the problems with this debate is that it unnecessarily pits environmentalists and economic development proponents against one another. 'Sustainable development' does not imply economic stagnation, and economic development does not necessarily condemn the environment.
[Editor's note It is noteworthy that on June 15, the new Executive Director of UNEP, Achim Steiner, made the focus of his first message "... a call to all nations to put the environment at the heart of economic policies".see:Time to Make Environment and Economics Team Players]
In fact, market forces today play a role that is equally important as that of any government environment protection agency. Respect for environmental regulation has become a market-driven issue, as evidenced by the example of forestry practices in Southeast Asia [for more on this, see: www.forestandtradeasia.org/] and those supported by the Forestry Stewardship Council (www.fsc.org/en/ ) whereby wood products must receive certification of provenance from forest areas that are designated for cutting before they are exported, or before they are accepted by an importing nation. What politicians need to understand is that the origins of the market demand lie with the public, which was first awakened in the 1960s to the dangers of environmental degradation and the link to human health by Rachel Carson's book "Silent Spring". Since that time, public awareness of – even militancy on - the issues has driven the actions of government.
Even the worst environmental situations can be reversed. Witness the clean-up of the pulp and paper mill at Clermont in Charlevoix where in 30 years the situation has been so completely reversed that the river is again overflowing with salmon – a source of personal pride to many of those who work at the mill.
Quebec's new law on sustainable development has introduced a new era, one in which principles of sustainable development are applied to government decisions
[see: .mondaq.com/] One of the most interesting and important of the 16 principles set forth in the Act is number 16: 'Internalization of costs', meaning in simple terms, how to deal with, account and compensate for the harmful effects, or leftovers, of a product or project.
The economy
Resources have come down 20-30% since May 10 because the increases of previous months could not be maintained. China is still buying (growth is 9.5%) as is India. World Bank has revised its estimates to almost 5% growth around the world, including OECD countries. Inflation is rising though not yet alarmingly, but central banks are tightening interest rates. Jacques predicts that China will reevaluate the Yuan on the anniversary date in July. Canadian and U.S. central banks will continue to tighten rates, twice by ¼.
Canada's economy is booming [see: Jobless rate fell again in May ]with the best job creation in four years; housing starts continue to be strong; inventory is rebuilding. Canada has a stronger economic picture on the horizon than the U.S. In the U.S. inflation has reached 5.5%; it cannot continue that way. [See: "Dow soars as Bernanke changes tack on inflation"
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/] Bernanke has to slow down consumer spending to control trade imbalance. But despite the rise in the trade deficit, the U.S. dollar is gaining in value. The TSX has undergone a correction of over 12%; this is not cause for alarm but confirms that good portfolio diversification is a must.
Tar sands development is booming, and will not be derailed by labour shortages or housing problems [see: Canada's Oil Sands Output May Triple By 2020 ]
Malaria
It is undeniable that sustainable development is linked to the alleviation of poverty and the improvement of human health. One of the shocking problems is the frightful toll of malaria which kills more than 8,000 people every day and costs Africa alone about $12 billion a year. It is a social and economic weight that burdens most tropical nations, particularly those in sub-Saharan Africa, and impedes their growth and prosperity [see: nationmedia.com/ for facts and figures on this topic. ]
The frightening toll of malaria can be reduced with simple and inexpensive (US$5) Insecticide-Treated bed nets (ITNs), which last for 5 years. This is a proven preventative measure, which has been highly successful where deployed. Pierre Arbour mentioned that Jean de Brabant and his wife Hillery Radly are raising funds locally for the purchase of such nets and contributed some facts to the discussion of the project.
[[Editor's note: we are often impressed by how current the issues are that Wednesday Night raises and explores. On Thursday morning at the Canada 2020 Conference Jeffrey Sachs made an emotional plea for support of the bed net campaign: "We could save more than one million children per year that are dying of malaria by helping to distribute on a mass basis, like we do with immunizations, bed nets to protect the children against malaria, and with the modest additional expense to distribute effective medicines that would dramatically cut the disease burden and the number of children dying. Our estimate is that this would require about $2 to $3 per person per year in the rich world. Think about it: $2 to $3 per person in the rich world. A billion of us in the rich countries-- that's $2 billion to $3 billion per year-- could save more than a million lives" .pbs.org
His plea struck a responsive chord with several people at the Conference whom we hope to link with the project that Jean and his wife are working on.]
When the issue of softwood lumber first arose, the U.S. raised a valid sustainable development issue which was that there was no way that Canada could supply that much wood, at that stumpage fee without cheating. Quebec promised to undertake a scientific analysis of Québec's forestry industry practices to find out whether they were sustainable. The findings of the Coulombe Commission released in 2004, were very simply: you are cutting more trees than can grow back. [.wwf.ca/NewsAndFacts/]
Concluding remarks
On this Wednesday Night we have been extraordinarily privileged to discuss public policy with four politicians who have common sense, a well-defined set of values and a strong commitment to public service. By the same token, one of the endearing aspects of these discussions is that the participants have an ability to laugh at themselves.
Random notes on the economy
See also JACQUES CLEMENT: REPORT ON THE ECONOMY
Saturday Jun 10, 2006 Canada's Real Trade Surplus Has Turned into a Deficit
The 40% appreciation of the Canada-U.S. exchange rate since 2002 has turned Canada's real trade surplus into a deficit, forcing a profound structural change in the economy.
Canada is well known for enjoying large current-account surpluses—3% of GDP in the first quarter—thanks to sky-high commodity prices. What is less known, however, is that the 40% appreciation of Canada's currency relative to the U.S. dollar since 2002 has completely erased its trade surplus on a volume, or price-adjusted, basis. Relative to the size of the economy, the other (real) trade balance fell from 5.5% in 2002 to -0.6% in the first quarter. Fortunately, domestic demand has stepped in to fill the void. The fact that Canada is at full employment despite such a structural shift speaks volumes of the kind of adjustment that has taken place over the past four years.
Sunday Jun 4, 2006 rci Statistics Canada reports that the economy has been creating an increased percentage of jobs for the past 13 years, a longer period of job creation since the 1960s and 1970s. The federal agency reports that jobs grew during that 13-year period at an average of two per cent a year. StatsCan says that last year more than 17 million Canadians were employed, 67 per cent of those in a position to do so.
Note
Wednesday-Night creates charts and follows stocks, including timely related financial news items, in which Wednesday Nighters are interested and in order to demonstrate a service that could eventually be developed and marketed. Wednesday Nighters are invited to participate and help to test the service. see Wednesday-Night.com Flip charts
QUOTES of the EVENING from recent Wednesday Nights
In Canada it is not so much that we are lacking laws and regulations with respect to environmental matters, we are lacking the will to enforce them
The average (wind) turbine will be 3 to 5 million watts within the next five years
Why is there a differentiation of environmental responsibility between individuals, companies and municipalities – should not all of them be equally subject to regulation and to pursuit in the courts for actions that are not in the interest of sustainable development?
One of the real surprises to us was the emphasis in some 45 submissions on the protection of landscape – paysage – the absence of standards to preserve the visual beauty of the countryside
The pay-as-you-throw (away) system concentrates the mind wonderfully
Think of what would happen if we gave away electricity the way we give away water
You can't be diversified in Canada – there are only resource stocks
What do Boisclair, Charest and Dumont have in common? They have limited life experience, they have always been in politics, they have no knowledge of the 'real' world
If China were consuming resources at the same rate as North America, there would be nothing left
To: wednesday-night.com
Sent: Wednesday, June 21, 2006 12:40 AM
Thank you!!!!
Just got in from Calgary -had a quick chat with Fiona, all seems well -back to Toronto tomorrow and so it goes. Won't be with you tomorrow, but ran into Tom Mulcair and his wife at the Fraser Higland dinner last Saturday ( he seems to be making the rounds -this was a first) and he talked about how much they enjoyed Wednesday night.-Well done David.
LOL .... MML
Wednesday Jun 15, 2006
Gore preaches green gospel to Canadians and Diana
Liberals tell former U.S. vice-president that they're upset by Harper's stand on climate change MONT-TREMBLANT, QUE Mr. Gore has become a highly sought-after speaker on issues of climate change and a greener world after releasing a movie on the subject, An Inconvenient Truth. | apple.com/trailers | youtube | youtube 2
Stephen S. Poloz VP EDC Economics Weekly Commentary Market Action Symptomatic of Rising Global Risks - June 14, 2006
It’s never a good sign when stock markets make the front pages day after day. When stocks are going up daily, shattering old records, the feeling of bliss is tarnished by a growing worry that all is not quite right. In contrast, when stocks are plunging, well, people are just plain worried. Past issues | his WN page
Saturday May 20, 2006 Ottawa's divisive Afghan debate
Prime Minister Stephen Harper could have arranged Wednesday's debate on Canada's military mission in Afghanistan with a view to rallying Parliament solidly behind our 2,300 troops at a time when public anxiety is growing. Instead, he let narrow Conservative interests trump the national interest, invited partisan bickering and came away with a cheap victory extending the mission by two years to 2009
Andy Nulman 
BBC
Thomas Mulcair
 "click for Diana T. Nicholson")
; "click for Herb Bercovitz OWN")
Gore preaches green gospel to Canadians
Stephen S. Poloz
Thomas Mulcair 
Peter Roper 
Wed1266report 
Wed1268
Bloomberg
get player
