The Hook

Let's just give it all away

Let's just give it all away so the numbers will go up.If BC is such a great place to drill why is our present government allowing our resources to go at fire sales prices? are we going to keep on being the suppiers of raw materials? With these clowns in power I guess the answer is yes.

mmm I'd like to drill something

oil or no oil.

I have an idea

Lets pay the huge record profit making companies to take out our oil and gas from the ground.

Wait a minute...we already do...about $250 million a year according to the CCPA.

I'd like to hear...

realisticman's take on the discounts to our future....

These people are not only

These people are not only crazy, but also crooked for a double whammy.

They're propagandizing "energy savings" urging people to shut off lights, while paying companies for huge increases in energy use and waste as a form of "efficiency".

Likely road, worn out and ruined by overloaded ore trucks from the Polley Mtn. copper/gold mine, even under load limits during breakup, still has no lines painted. 2 years ago they were painted in Sept. ready for the snow, last year it was in late Aug. So much for low bid privatization to "save".

At the same time they're wasting billions to expand Hwy 97 to 4 lanes, for the hookup with the NAFTA road, for the large road transport truck increases taking our resources South and bringing Mexican labour North to replace Canadians under the secret SPP's "free movement of labour".

What amazes me is how they can get away with it ? Has the public gone completely stupid not to realize what is going on and how they're being screwed ?

Ed Deak.

Campbell is thinking that we

Campbell is thinking that we are all pretty stupid out here and once he has managed to turn this province into an 'economic goldmine' we will praise his ingenuity for saving us from ourselves. Someone should get a petition going to have the man and some of his key pee-ons committed.

Balance

Nice to be synical. How about some creative solutions with respect to how we maintain the levels of service, we all take for granted, such as health care, education, parks, highways, warm or cool homes etc. If not through providing a strong and competitive environment for business to thrive in BC, then how. Please enlighten us all. The simple fact is that all the moderen day convieniences we all take for granted are available as long as the taxes we all pay and business pays flow into the public treasury and the BC has a dynamic and competitive economy.
Think about, it in order for us to pay taxes we need to work, be it for ourselves or others, in order for us to work we must have a job, in order for us to have a job there must be a demand for a product or service, in order for the demand to be satisfied someone has to believe that they can benefit by fulfilling the demand, in order to benefit from the demand the demand has to be satisfied, in order to satisfy the demand of one person very few resources are required, in order to satisfy the demand of many and still benefit the economies of scale must be applied, in order to apply the economies of scale you need to increas your resources be it people, transportation or building...I guess by now you can see where this is going.
For better or worse in order to maintain our societal expectations a strong economy is necessary. In order for BC to have a strong economy we must be competetive which really means we must set up an environment where those who fulfill the public demand, be they small mom amd pop operations or conglomerates can realize a benefit for the demand they fulfill.
We had a period in our past where we decided that a thriving business community was not necessary and managed to drive most business out of BC, the results, loss of jobs, diminished public services and one if not the lowest economy in Canada. we ought not to trod this path again.
I end my rant with a quote from Marl Twain " Good judgement comes from experience,And where does experience come from? Experience comes from Bad Judgement.

With that I return to the begining and my challenge is to provide solutions along with critisims.

Oh and one last thought from Mark Twain " I don't give a damn for any person who can spell a word only one way"

The sale of resources is not

The sale of resources is not an income, but a self destructive idiocy.

In any business, and I've been a business owner in BC, continuously, since 1957, when something is taken of the shelf and sold it has to be accounted as a debit and its value deducted from the price received.

In our present economic theory, everything we sell is an income and nothing is deducted. Which means that the GDP, growth and productivity figures published by the governments are fraudulent to mislead the public and steal their rights and eyes out.

Efficiency means the most work done with the least amount of energy/resource inputs.

Yet, "economic efficiency" is now measured as the biggest profits for the smallest monetary inputs, even if the physical inputs increase without limits. Like the replacement of a few horsepower of human energy with ten, or a hundred, or even a thousand times of other forms, like electric, or oil.

All monies "created" by the banks are public property, by law. Borrowing monies we already own is the stupidest policy that boggles the mind.

Canada's debt could be wiped out overnight by transferring it to the Bank of Canada and repaying it to ourselves, free of interests. Paying interests on monies we already own is the utmost idiocy. When one of my businesses borrowed from another, should I have paid interests to myself?

The most efficient economic system is self sufficiency. Don't buy it, make it!

We and many others have been practicing it for many years and are very well off as the result, while people are suffering and lining up at the foodbanks, because they relied on the promises of miseducated economists and crooked politicians.

All forms competition increase costs and economic competition is the worst. In the 35 years since the fraudulent neoclassical economic theory was forced on us by the corporate mafia, our living costs have increased by over 1,000%, while incomes stagnated, but CEOs have been permitted to steal our eyes out with their multimillion incomes.

Prices in the stores are going up every day, some doubling in the past year, while producers and workers are being destroyed by the corporate mafia.

Does anybody ever question these increases without any visible beneficiaries? Are farmers, or store clerks getting more ?

Like hell. Farmers are going broke, the ridiculous minimum wage to part time employees is a crime, while the corporate mafia rakes in bigger and bigger profits to buy more control over our lives and the whole world.

How long can this crime wave be permitted to go on and why is it being taught in our universities as a "science"?

Back on the 50s and 60s people were making decent wages, one breadwinner per family was enough and businesses were also making decent profits. So, why was that system destroyed, so that a small percentage of international crooks can take total, dictatorial control of the world?

Ed Deak.

This province and country

This province and country will never achieve as long as our political and business elite have a colonial mindset. We're no different than a 3rd world country.

Reducing Demand

Those who are most anxious about their carbon footprint and seeking the answer on how they can modify their behaviour to reduce greenhouse gas emissions might be interested in this study:

Reproduction and the Carbon Legacies of Individuals.

"Much attention has been paid to the ways that people’s home energy use, travel, food choices and other routine activities affect their emissions of carbon dioxide and, ultimately, their contributions to global warming. However, the reproductive choices of an individual are rarely incorporated into calculations of his personal impact on the environment. Here we estimate the extra emissions of fossil carbon dioxide that an average individual causes when he or she chooses to have children."

Easy Money

It is curious that the BC provincial gov't wants to compete with Alberta's oil patch and the rest of the world by cutting our royalty charges to drill here in BC. Especially when one considers why the tar sands has had such huge investment over the past 8 years, which is of course due to Canada's and Alberta's politically stable gov'ts. Despite the enormous costs/barrel of oil, both monetarily and environmentally. The most desirable oil wells, sands, etc., in the world are in politically stable countries and/or on land. So why does it appear to be another corporate give-away?

Reducing our royalties so significantly appears to be more of a desperate act by the BC Liberals to draw drillers from other areas in a time when drilling activity is down compared to a year ago.

The other issue is how the run of river proponents will react to this news. Including those so called enviros such as the coy and disingenuous Tzeporah Berman of Power Up Canada.

Drilling on land, in BC is one of the safest drill sites in the world, both politically and geographically. Like most real estate, it is all about location. Except that in the real estate world location always costs you a premium.

Gas Tax

It is good to see where the gas tax is being spent.

zalm

I guess we all agree that oil has a limited life span before it becomes of no further use, so we might as well use it now, or soon. Natural gas is one of cleanest sources of energy and we do not plan on freezing in the dark anytime soon.

Royalty rates change yet the benefits in jobs and royalties keep on coming. Jurisdictions compete for jobs and investments whether they are for auto plants, film production, energy extraction, etc. Since the decline of the money BC receives from forestry it makes sense to tap other sources too. The reason that Alberta has no sales tax is due to the oil and gas that they do have. The whole HST nightmare would not exist were BC to have the energy wealth that Alberta has. One would have to be an expert in resource royalties as well as have an understanding of the investments needed to extract the resources and understand the potential markets and possible future prices, etc., etc., to really be able to calculate what is reasonable and practical as to rate figures. This is why we elect the governments we chose. We select the managers we hope will do an efficient job.

Maybe they'll come in and find oodles of easy to get at oil and gas and all BCers will be better off. Maybe we'll be better off than they are in next door Alberta.

The sale of resources is not

The sale of resources is not an income except in the warped minds of economists and so called "conservatives"

We need more oil like we need them

Ed Deak.

Benefits in jobs - nada

For a small coterie of the CEO's friends - for the state of the communities he cares nothing - for the quality of life (literally) for children in care he has no concern.

The only promises the CEO keeps are to the boys in pin-stripe suits like Jack Poole with whom he's happy to accept free rides to Bejing or Maui any time.

We don't elect governments - the CEO's backers 'pay' for them.

The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

Unconventional Gas Plays

These credits and incentives are primarily directed to expedite drilling in the unconventional Montney and Horn River shale gas plays, which are still in their infancy stage.

Estimated royalties payable to the province total around $38 billion over the next 25 years from those two unconventional gas plays alone.

That equates to an additional $2.7 billion/year into provincial coffers. A future cash-cow for government, no doubt about it.

@Matt T

Gordon Campbell is starting to play dirty,why would he try to out bid Alberta,what if Alberta one-ups BCs proposal,........
A race to the bottom.......

Danny Williams has the right idea,Campbell`s policies are a failure,investments in oil n gas/mining/minerals/forestry has to do with world prices,as far as I`m concerned,it is a very foolish move to get in a bidding war with Alberta/because Alberta has a bigger gun then we do....

And,we are talking about a finite resource,right,got it,when our gas is gone it`s gone.

realisticman said,

"I guess we all agree that oil has a limited life span before it becomes of no further use, so we might as well use it now, or soon. Natural gas is one of cleanest sources of energy and we do not plan on freezing in the dark anytime soon."
Tell that to your ROR/IPP friends who say that burning natural gas in the Burrard Thermal energy plant is a dirty way to develop energy and so the rate rip-off and environmentally destructive ROR's energy plants must not be shut down by BCUC.
It is the height of economic stupidity to give oil companies a royalty credit for the oil they extract. They are gouging us at the pumps and making record profits and now Campbell gives them this break. Unbelievable.

South of Hope

...In Vancouver, the litre price includes 10 cents in federal excise tax, six per cent GST, 14.5 cents in provincial taxes and in the Greater Vancouver region, an additional six cents per litre of Transit tax.

10 to 15 per cent is the refiner's margin, the difference between what it costs to buy crude oil and the price refined gasoline sells for on the wholesale market.
Four to five per cent is the marketing margin that covers retailers' expenses and profit.

We all have to pay it if we want it. Endless investigations of oil companies have failed to figure out the real costs. If you accept it and want some of those huge profits you can buy oil company stocks and if you hate it you can also buy transportation that uses as little as possible. Soon, electric cars will be all the rage. BC can get electricity from; oil, gas, nuclear, wind, hydro, coal.

Royalty payments

Don't seem to make a huge impact on the profitability of the oil companies...in the end, that's all you have to look at to decide who's zooming who.

The CEO, as always, looks after his enablers - in fact, until all their costs are covered, they don't pay a penny to the province in royalties...

As for oil stock buying - doesn't mean a thing for the vast majority of working Canadians... they're just struggling to pay the monthly bills - not that the oil companies or Gordon Campbell give a shit.

Use or lose it ?

The stone age didn't end because we ran out of stones. The fossil fuel age will end when even economists can't deny the benefits of renewable energy.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article6736744.ece

Alberta's oil wealth? - what a joke. Contrast Norway's management of her public wealth with Alberta's give-all to the Texan gangs.

http://www.swfinstitute.org/funds.php

North of Hope

Quote:
"It is the height of economic stupidity to give oil companies a royalty credit for the oil they extract. They are gouging us at the pumps and making record profits and now Campbell gives them this break."

The royalty credits are for natural gas, not for oil. The main beneficiaries, such as Encana, do not retail gasoline.

You must not be far enough north of Hope to understand the industry.

Understanding the industry?

Not essential!

Understanding the mentality of something for nothing?

Absolutely critical.

Understanding Campbell?

Not all that difficult - they are in desperate need of cash and they could care less what the province looks like 10 years from now.

Or even, two years from now.

At the moment all that matters is keeping the train on the tracks until after February 2010.

In fact, keep your eyes on all those grants and funding agreements that Campbell announced almost daily in the run-up to the May election.

They're all toast folks...so don't hold your breath - it's not just grants to cover loans for leaky condos that are being scrapped.

@reallife

My response should have stated, "It is the height of economic stupidity to give oil AND GAS companies a royalty credit for the oil they extract." The article refers to both as this quote from it shows.

"In a news release, Blair Lekstrom, Minister of Energy Mines and Petroleum Resources said the package would "attract investment and produce immediate economic benefits for British Columbia."
"B.C. is one of the most competitive oil and gas jurisdictions in North America, and this stimulus package will further strengthen the sector while increasing provincial revenues," said Lekstrom. "In this day and age capital investment is very fluid and we want to encourage the oil and gas sector to invest in British Columbia."
According to the ministry's news release, the package includes four royalty changes:
•A one-year, 2% royalty rate for all wells drilled between September 2009 and June 2010.
•An increase of 15 per cent in the existing royalty deductions for natural gas deep drilling.
•Qualification of horizontal wells drilled between 1,900 and 2,300 metres into the Deep Royalty Credit Program.
•An additional $50 million allocation for the Infrastructure Royalty Credit Program to be offered this fall to stimulate investment in oil and gas roads and pipelines."

For realisticman, the numbers you give us show that if the cost of gasoline is $1.00, the these total costs are between 50.5 to 56.5 cents. The rest of the $1.00 is profit for the oil companies. That's about 50% which is what people I know in the oil business tell me. That's quite a return on their investment.

Campbell is fibbing

The HST tax is a complete fraud in my opinion.

Here are some facts.

#1)Remember Campbell`s economic 10 point TV announcement last fall,remember #8-The province was to raise the fee business got to collect the PST,well under HST all fees are eliminated,they are schedualed to disappear,there is a 1500$ hit to business.

#2)Tree fallers never charged PST or truckers,forestry companies have always been able to write off new equipment.

#3)Forestry won`t turn around until prices rise but more importantly until USA demand rebounds.

#3)Same with mining,and oil n gas,investment or profibility in both of those depend on world commodity prices,gold,copper,zinc etc

#4)The comparisan with Atlantic Canada is flawed,they had such few PST exempt items when taxes merged it had little difference,still with Atlantic Canada,any new investment they had,had to do with world prices of oil and raw resources,not tax policy.

#5)Ontations are getting a 1000$ bribe,BCers,nothing

#6)You can`t compare the debt of BCers to Atlantic Canada or even Ontario,house in Halifax,100k--BC dead last on the affordibilty scale.

#7)BCers have been hit with many new taxes,residential,tolls,gas/tax/2 tier hydro,translink,ICBC,Translink is going for car levy,gas tax,more property taxes etc.

#8)Business on the Alberta border will get hammered

#9)The underground econ will flourish,and the public will pull back,resulting in job losses and business failure.

#10)Ontario and all other provinces have raised the minimum wage,BC is now the lowest,lowest minimum wage in the most expensive province

#11)Any good will about the olympics have been soured,Furlong last press conference was pouty and gloomy,expect more protests.

#12)Cmon Tyee,talk to some accountants,tax preparers,put Will Mcmartin on the case,I am just a simple person with a few functioning brain cells,expose the truth,this is the story of the year,lets go.

Cheers-Eyes Wide Open

Want more proof

Here it comes.

I mentioned about the phony comparisan to Atlantic Canada when they adopted to the HST a decade ago.....
Well,this little article from the times colonist should clear this up......

I will post the link,but let me highlight this.....
Before Atlantic Canada went to a 15%HST combined tax........

The tax rate for their PST and GST was .....

19% in Newfoundland and 18.7 % in Nova Scotia,in other words those provinces had very high PST rates,but when they went to a harmonized tax rate,the Combined tax rate was 15%....Now the combined rate is 13%......
So by going to Harmonization Atlantic Canada`s tax rate went down,although housing prices went up,......

So How Can Campbell and Hansen have the audacity to compare that experience of lowering taxes there to raising taxes here in BC....You can`t compare apples to oranges.....
I repeat the Tax grab is a fraud,voodoo economics,it`s all about the 1.6 billion bribe with our money and gifting big industry,this will have the reverse effect.....
Here is the link

http://www.timescolonist.com/travel/tale+HST+different/1875177/story.html

Cheers-Eyes Wide Open

North of Hope

From the MEMPR website Q's and A's:

What wells qualify for this program?
All natural gas wells that have a spud date after August 31, 2009 and before July 1, 2010 qualify for this program.

In any event, much of this stimulus program is unnecessary as the wells would get drilled anyway.

BC does have some effective programs including one that reduces royalty on marginal wells thereby extending the life of wells and increasing the ultimate recovery of the provincial resource. Another good program has encouraged summer drilling which brings a more stable employment and business regime for the northeast. Incentives for developing new technology have also been successful in BC and are directly linked to the "tight gas" boom in that has spun such large revenues for the province in the past couple years.

Gotta help those poor oil companies.

This is because the Campbell carbon tax was really a just a tax shift. That's a surprise!

Oilberta

"Alberta's oil wealth?"

The Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund 2008-09 Annual Report, the Heritage Fund’s fair value was $14.0 billion at March 31, 2009.

A joke? We'll take it.

Campbell has lost his mind

Latest breaking news.........

BC goverment to lend Vanoc 100 million dollars worth of goverment employees for 6 months,,,,,And guess who is picking up the tab,the BC taxpayer,are these employees not needed,who picks up the slack?

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/fp/taxpayer+millions+2010+Olympic+Games+volunteers/1876154/story.html