National Observer pointed out a fact that not so many know: That the Canadian oil industry is 80% foreign-owned, and 75 of the 80 are "American" (the rest, mostly Royal Dutch Shell).
So when the War Room, or the Fraser Institute (which a former leader of just admitted was mostly funded by American oil companies, principally Charles Koch) emit a strong defense of tax subsidies or immediate approvals, that's ALL "foreign meddling" in elections.
Thanks again for sharing the benefits of your experience and research.
And it strikes me as there is a very criminal disrespect for the truth of any matter on the conservative side of the conversation. It is so blatant and persistent, how can mainstream media channels like the CBC, CTV, et al… even bother to post or relay anything coming out if the FI? Are the editors that desperate to fluff up their programming slots?
Guess the only thing we can collectively do now is grab a coffee and read the news and analysis here. That and block the occasional hack spreading BS for some Tenet like operation.
Funny how things come full circle: coffee houses used to be the news exchange hubs in Europe for a long time. Mail was sent and picked up through them, pamphlets, news papers and book were shared and discussed there.
We must collectively keep up our eternal vigilance against the lies. (hence the need for more coffee)
An honest bullshitter bullshits for the pure fun and artistry of it. In a strange way it's possible to respect that. The Fraser institute takes money to do it. That's really and truly pathetic. Pierre Trudeau was once asked by a reporter what he thought about all the columnists criticizing him. He chuckled and said, "Why would I care? They're PAID to write that!"
Dougald, great job here. I have to say I have not paid much attention to the Fraser “propaganda mill” since I found out about where their funding comes from. Fraser is simply a bought-and-paid-for advertising arm of the fossil fuel industry that aims to discredit any and all opposition to its aims.
Thanks for this detailed rebuttal of the Fraser Institute claims. I've read nonsense written by Jack Mintz on LinkedIn & commented accordingly, however I've been amazed at how many others on LI are supportive of his BS. And he clearly has some deals with folks applauding his 'genius' because it's always the same crowd. You should consider posting your analysis on LinkedIn. These 'think tanks' should be thoroughly taxed.
Unfortunately, Fraser Institute operates as a "charity" due to its deceptive school rankings "public service." It needs to lose charity status. Real journalism this week would locate and publish PP's "Project 2025" which shows his rapid-fire dismantling of Canada in his first 100 days, just like tRump. Fraser Institute is connected to Heritage Foundation which wrote tRump's playbook.
Does anyone with half a brain still believe anything that comes out of the Fraser Institute? Not surprised that not one of their "24 facts for voters" stands up to scrutiny. Thanks for the in-depth plunge though.
Of course, but that doesn't mean their "reports" are accurate. It just means media want the reads/clicks and politicians (on the right) want their "argument" backed.
It also means that most Canadians are going to believe it. It’s conservative propaganda and it explains why provinces like Ontario has such a low voter turnout even when a corrupt premier is running things. The media is no longer concerned about the best interests of the Canadian people. Ford is killing Ontario.
if you are a regular person, a Canadian, the first thing that you might feel when you read something penned by Conrad( fucking) Black is doubt, then disbelief followed by disgust....thats what happens to me..... This guy has a trail of corruption, lies and traitorous behaviour strewn behind him a mile wide. He tells a good story but is NOT an example of a "great canadian"...not many convicts are.
Yeah. the "tells a good story" part sometimes snags me a bit. A sort of queezy feeling comes over me when I think, "wait, this kinda makes sense." Then something jolts me back to the real world and I remember that's the formula, and recognize the BS. To avoid the cycle, despite his compelling writing, I just don't read him at all anymore.
i should have been more specific regarding CB's writings...he has written some very good books, full of factual, historic pen....his editorials and opinion pieces however reveal his skeevy inner monster...bloody kleptocrat.
Pretty good attempt to defend Liberal policies, but a fail in my book. Reality on the ground and in the record book is that Liberals doubled the debt in 10 years and nobody can show me what we got for it. This is another ‘it's Harper's fault’ article and I'm not buying it.
A "fail in your book", because you can't take off your partisan beer goggles, and you don't want to talk about the way the economy and government actually work, so you use political slogans instead.
It's not an attempt to defend Liberal policies, at all. It's pointing out the reality of the Canadian economy, which works nothing like the way the Fraser Insitute says it does.
The Fraser Institute misleads Canadians about the role of the federal government and provinces, about taxes, about debt, and about the economy.
I have been consistent in saying that no Canadian politician or Canadian political party is responsible for three of the largest shocks ever to affect the Canadian economy: the Global Financial Crisis, the Saudi-OPEC Oil price war and the pandemic.
The answer to "where did the money go" includes twinning a $36-billion pipeline that allows Alberta to get $10 more per barrel by selling to the world market, instead of the U.S.
Provincial governments' combined budgets are larger than the federal government - and one of the things that happened during that time was that the federal government increased investments in health care, housing, and infrastructure, as well as provincial transfers.
Instead of investing in services, many provincial governments - like Manitoba's - delayed signing accords to invest directly in health care, housing, justice, and infrastructure. In 2019, the province of Manitoba alone was sitting on $1.9-billion in federal money and refusing to spend it, choosing tax cuts instead.
The Parliamentary Budget Office wrote a report about it: premiers were willing to deprive their own citizens of needed investments.
But aside from that, the money prevented a total economic collapse, which was in the cards in the pandemic.
So it went into preventing the collapse of governments, the stock market, of businesses, of communities, while providing funds that would allow people to eat and get health care during the worst public health crisis in a century.
During that crisis, the federal government was responsible for 83 cents on the dollar of support, while provinces picked up 17 cents.
Deficits aren't just from spending to invest. They happen because revenues drop when businesses start to fail and people lose their jobs. Making the recession even deeper by increasing unemployment doesn't work.
I can only laugh. You say the Fraser Institute cherry picks data and then you do the same.
Canada has a huge productivity issue. We have not figured out how to fix it. A good start would be competitive corporate taxes.
Every major industry in Canada is an Oligopoly. Banking, insurance, telecom, grocery. Its not good for most of us but it continues to support unions, I guess.
Immigration is needed, but Canada may have too much. 3% may be better than 5%. Housing and healthcare are stretched.
We've had a global financial crisis (2008) global oil price war (2014) and a global pandemic (2020) and your answer to fix productivity is to cut corporate taxes?
Canada already has low and competitive corporate tax rates.
The drop in productivity is directly related to the price of oil. Oil is a high productivity business, and when the price drops, so does productivity.
You think Banks and insurance are unionized? You think people working for grocery chains have good contracts?
As a Canadian living in the US, it saddens me to hear how much far right think tanks and politics are impacting Canada much as they are impacting the US. The cornerstone of this mess appears in the protection of mendacity under the hubris of protecting freedom of speech. It would seem that all public (not individual/private conversational) pronouncements should be required to be fact based and not commit misdirection or propaganda. In years past this was not possible logistically. Today, the use of AI to filter news and opinions whether by media, corporations, other organizations such as “think tanks” and then making prosecution possible through laws and regulatory reform would potentially reign in the abuse of misinformation and lies. The foundation of any society is trust. We are in an era of erosion of that trust. It will take an enormous effort of political will in our society to find a way to regulate speech without harming our freedoms, but it must be done. I hope Canada can help light the way. I thank those writing articles as this one in Substack for their thoughtful contribution to bringing the light of fact based discussions to the public.
Great refutations of a right-wing junk tank’s blathering Dougald. In Scotland we have The Fraser of Allander Institute who regularly present an economic and political outlook for Scotland which would, taken at face value, suggest that Scotland is a basket case and only fit to be a lackey province in a larger Britain. Same name, different outfits but exactly the same right wing partisan and distorted bullshit.
One contention: c19 has been shown to be (and is widely accepted, for what that is worth) lab made gain of function and uses synthetic GMO proteins. It is not natural.
That is not a contention based in facts or evidence.
Covid 19 has not been shown to be lab made. It is not widely accepted. It is being spread as propaganda by the current U.S. administration, which has zero respect for the facts, science or reality.
The origins are well documented and admitted to by the previous US administration and across the globe. I can see with the current extent of censorship, blacklisting, real disinfo and such how one would think otherwise.
Curious though, what other aspects of the c19 mam narrative do you find believable?
National Observer pointed out a fact that not so many know: That the Canadian oil industry is 80% foreign-owned, and 75 of the 80 are "American" (the rest, mostly Royal Dutch Shell).
So when the War Room, or the Fraser Institute (which a former leader of just admitted was mostly funded by American oil companies, principally Charles Koch) emit a strong defense of tax subsidies or immediate approvals, that's ALL "foreign meddling" in elections.
Thanks again for sharing the benefits of your experience and research.
And it strikes me as there is a very criminal disrespect for the truth of any matter on the conservative side of the conversation. It is so blatant and persistent, how can mainstream media channels like the CBC, CTV, et al… even bother to post or relay anything coming out if the FI? Are the editors that desperate to fluff up their programming slots?
Guess the only thing we can collectively do now is grab a coffee and read the news and analysis here. That and block the occasional hack spreading BS for some Tenet like operation.
Funny how things come full circle: coffee houses used to be the news exchange hubs in Europe for a long time. Mail was sent and picked up through them, pamphlets, news papers and book were shared and discussed there.
We must collectively keep up our eternal vigilance against the lies. (hence the need for more coffee)
Nous nous souviendrons.
We are Canadian.
Agreed.
An honest bullshitter bullshits for the pure fun and artistry of it. In a strange way it's possible to respect that. The Fraser institute takes money to do it. That's really and truly pathetic. Pierre Trudeau was once asked by a reporter what he thought about all the columnists criticizing him. He chuckled and said, "Why would I care? They're PAID to write that!"
Dougald, great job here. I have to say I have not paid much attention to the Fraser “propaganda mill” since I found out about where their funding comes from. Fraser is simply a bought-and-paid-for advertising arm of the fossil fuel industry that aims to discredit any and all opposition to its aims.
Thanks for this detailed rebuttal of the Fraser Institute claims. I've read nonsense written by Jack Mintz on LinkedIn & commented accordingly, however I've been amazed at how many others on LI are supportive of his BS. And he clearly has some deals with folks applauding his 'genius' because it's always the same crowd. You should consider posting your analysis on LinkedIn. These 'think tanks' should be thoroughly taxed.
Unfortunately, Fraser Institute operates as a "charity" due to its deceptive school rankings "public service." It needs to lose charity status. Real journalism this week would locate and publish PP's "Project 2025" which shows his rapid-fire dismantling of Canada in his first 100 days, just like tRump. Fraser Institute is connected to Heritage Foundation which wrote tRump's playbook.
Does anyone with half a brain still believe anything that comes out of the Fraser Institute? Not surprised that not one of their "24 facts for voters" stands up to scrutiny. Thanks for the in-depth plunge though.
They get cited by the media and politicians all the time.
Of course, but that doesn't mean their "reports" are accurate. It just means media want the reads/clicks and politicians (on the right) want their "argument" backed.
It also means that most Canadians are going to believe it. It’s conservative propaganda and it explains why provinces like Ontario has such a low voter turnout even when a corrupt premier is running things. The media is no longer concerned about the best interests of the Canadian people. Ford is killing Ontario.
What it ends up meaning is that "yes", many people believe it all to be objective facts and/or sound unbiased analysis.
True. And I’m disheartened by this.
Great post. Reprersents a lot of good work. Thank you.
if you are a regular person, a Canadian, the first thing that you might feel when you read something penned by Conrad( fucking) Black is doubt, then disbelief followed by disgust....thats what happens to me..... This guy has a trail of corruption, lies and traitorous behaviour strewn behind him a mile wide. He tells a good story but is NOT an example of a "great canadian"...not many convicts are.
Yeah. the "tells a good story" part sometimes snags me a bit. A sort of queezy feeling comes over me when I think, "wait, this kinda makes sense." Then something jolts me back to the real world and I remember that's the formula, and recognize the BS. To avoid the cycle, despite his compelling writing, I just don't read him at all anymore.
i should have been more specific regarding CB's writings...he has written some very good books, full of factual, historic pen....his editorials and opinion pieces however reveal his skeevy inner monster...bloody kleptocrat.
The Fraser Institute is the Canadian version of the Heritage Group in 🇺🇸
Pretty good attempt to defend Liberal policies, but a fail in my book. Reality on the ground and in the record book is that Liberals doubled the debt in 10 years and nobody can show me what we got for it. This is another ‘it's Harper's fault’ article and I'm not buying it.
A "fail in your book", because you can't take off your partisan beer goggles, and you don't want to talk about the way the economy and government actually work, so you use political slogans instead.
It's not an attempt to defend Liberal policies, at all. It's pointing out the reality of the Canadian economy, which works nothing like the way the Fraser Insitute says it does.
The Fraser Institute misleads Canadians about the role of the federal government and provinces, about taxes, about debt, and about the economy.
I have been consistent in saying that no Canadian politician or Canadian political party is responsible for three of the largest shocks ever to affect the Canadian economy: the Global Financial Crisis, the Saudi-OPEC Oil price war and the pandemic.
The answer to "where did the money go" includes twinning a $36-billion pipeline that allows Alberta to get $10 more per barrel by selling to the world market, instead of the U.S.
Provincial governments' combined budgets are larger than the federal government - and one of the things that happened during that time was that the federal government increased investments in health care, housing, and infrastructure, as well as provincial transfers.
Instead of investing in services, many provincial governments - like Manitoba's - delayed signing accords to invest directly in health care, housing, justice, and infrastructure. In 2019, the province of Manitoba alone was sitting on $1.9-billion in federal money and refusing to spend it, choosing tax cuts instead.
The Parliamentary Budget Office wrote a report about it: premiers were willing to deprive their own citizens of needed investments.
But aside from that, the money prevented a total economic collapse, which was in the cards in the pandemic.
So it went into preventing the collapse of governments, the stock market, of businesses, of communities, while providing funds that would allow people to eat and get health care during the worst public health crisis in a century.
During that crisis, the federal government was responsible for 83 cents on the dollar of support, while provinces picked up 17 cents.
Deficits aren't just from spending to invest. They happen because revenues drop when businesses start to fail and people lose their jobs. Making the recession even deeper by increasing unemployment doesn't work.
I agree with your last sentence. Only.
You’re not an independent thinker. You’re a human cut and paste.
Dude, this is my thread. You've said absolutely nothing of substance and your feed is filled with mindless, inaccurate garbage.
You are banned. Goodbye.
I can only laugh. You say the Fraser Institute cherry picks data and then you do the same.
Canada has a huge productivity issue. We have not figured out how to fix it. A good start would be competitive corporate taxes.
Every major industry in Canada is an Oligopoly. Banking, insurance, telecom, grocery. Its not good for most of us but it continues to support unions, I guess.
Immigration is needed, but Canada may have too much. 3% may be better than 5%. Housing and healthcare are stretched.
That's not an argument, it's an empty accusation.
We've had a global financial crisis (2008) global oil price war (2014) and a global pandemic (2020) and your answer to fix productivity is to cut corporate taxes?
Canada already has low and competitive corporate tax rates.
The drop in productivity is directly related to the price of oil. Oil is a high productivity business, and when the price drops, so does productivity.
You think Banks and insurance are unionized? You think people working for grocery chains have good contracts?
As a Canadian living in the US, it saddens me to hear how much far right think tanks and politics are impacting Canada much as they are impacting the US. The cornerstone of this mess appears in the protection of mendacity under the hubris of protecting freedom of speech. It would seem that all public (not individual/private conversational) pronouncements should be required to be fact based and not commit misdirection or propaganda. In years past this was not possible logistically. Today, the use of AI to filter news and opinions whether by media, corporations, other organizations such as “think tanks” and then making prosecution possible through laws and regulatory reform would potentially reign in the abuse of misinformation and lies. The foundation of any society is trust. We are in an era of erosion of that trust. It will take an enormous effort of political will in our society to find a way to regulate speech without harming our freedoms, but it must be done. I hope Canada can help light the way. I thank those writing articles as this one in Substack for their thoughtful contribution to bringing the light of fact based discussions to the public.
Terrific article. I liked it so much I wrote my own about it. (with the help of AI since I can't write). https://open.substack.com/pub/stuward/p/24-facts-for-2024-or-just-bs?r=704f8&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Great refutations of a right-wing junk tank’s blathering Dougald. In Scotland we have The Fraser of Allander Institute who regularly present an economic and political outlook for Scotland which would, taken at face value, suggest that Scotland is a basket case and only fit to be a lackey province in a larger Britain. Same name, different outfits but exactly the same right wing partisan and distorted bullshit.
Nice article and good points.
One contention: c19 has been shown to be (and is widely accepted, for what that is worth) lab made gain of function and uses synthetic GMO proteins. It is not natural.
That is not a contention based in facts or evidence.
Covid 19 has not been shown to be lab made. It is not widely accepted. It is being spread as propaganda by the current U.S. administration, which has zero respect for the facts, science or reality.
https://dougaldlamont.substack.com/p/the-chinese-spies-at-canadas-level?utm_source=publication-search
Correct about Trump.
The origins are well documented and admitted to by the previous US administration and across the globe. I can see with the current extent of censorship, blacklisting, real disinfo and such how one would think otherwise.
Curious though, what other aspects of the c19 mam narrative do you find believable?