Perhaps. But there is also the matter of the stereotype of "working class" that the actual working class have also "strayed from." I too listen to and read diverse voices but when those "voices" are mouthpieces, I feel no compulsion to affect false reverence. Levant should stick to barking for a carnival sideshow.
On Sat, May 5, 2012 at 6:30 PM, Arthur Cordell <[email protected]>wrote: > Perhaps the NDP has strayed from its working class roots. > > ** ** > > Arthur**** > > ** ** > > *From:* [email protected] [mailto: > [email protected]] *On Behalf Of *Tom Walker > *Sent:* Saturday, May 05, 2012 3:56 PM > *To:* RE-DESIGNING WORK, INCOME DISTRIBUTION, EDUCATION > *Cc:* [email protected] > *Subject:* Re: [Futurework] NDP loses touch with its roots**** > > ** ** > > Ezra Levant will never lose touch with his rooting for Exxon-Mobil > truffles. **** > > On Sat, May 5, 2012 at 12:20 PM, Arthur Cordell <[email protected]> > wrote:**** > NDP loses touch with its roots**** > > Read Later<http://www.readability.com/articles/bnefc1sb?legacy_bookmarklet=1> > *by* Ezra Levant • May 6, 2012 **** > > > <http://www.torontosun.com/2012/05/04/ndp-loses-touch-with-its-roots>**** > Canada’s Oil: For Sale to the Highest > Bidder<http://www.progressive-economics.ca/2012/05/05/canadas-oil-for-sale-to-the-highest-bidder/> > **** > > from The Progressive Economics > Forum<http://www.google.ca/reader/view/feed/http%3A%2F%2Fwww.progressive-economics.ca%2Ffeed%2F> > by > Jim Stanford**** > > Want to know why Canada’s currency is sky-high despite our sluggish > recovery, our large and persistent current account deficit, and our lousy > export performance?**** > > Check out this fascinating > story<http://business.financialpost.com/2012/05/03/oil-explorers-face-new-challenges/>in > Friday’s National Post, by Yadullah Hussain, on why Canada’s oil > reserves are such a uniquely hot commodity in the eyes of global oil > corporations.**** > > The story explains how private petroleum giants (like Exxon-Mobil) are > having a hard time replacing the reserves they produce. Over 80 percent of > known oil reserves in the world are controlled by state-owned companies. > Most major oil producing countries (sensibly, in my view) have decided that > management and ownership of this strategic, non-renewable resource should > be conducted through government enterprise, presumably in the interests of > the citizens who — after all — own the stuff in the first place. [Of > course, democracy is a pre-requisite for ensuring that public ownership > translates into public benefit.]**** > > That means less than 20 percent of known oil reserves are available for > exploitation by private companies. Incredibly, well over half of those > privately exploitable reserves are in Canada. Without Canada, private > firms like Exxon can tap into only 7 percent of known world reserves.**** > > There is a striking chart that accompanied the print version of the story > (but which I can’t find in the on-line version) that listed the countries > with the ten largest oil reserves. Canada was the *only one* of those > ten where the oil industry is not dominated by state-owned firms. (Canada > doesn’t even have a state-owned oil company.)**** > > The article cited Reynold Tetzlaff, energy expert with Price Waterhouse > Coopers, as follows: “If you look at the top … countries … for oil > reserves, Canada is the only one that does not have a national oil company. > We are the only one open for business.”**** > > Given sky-high oil prices and oil profits, and the relentless decline of > their existing reserves, the global petroleum industry has their sights set > firmly on Canada as a key solution to their long-run reserves replacement > problem. Indeed, even *foreign* state-owned companies (from Norway’s > Statoil to China’s CNPC) are getting in on Alberta’s bitumen action in a > big way. It seems especially ironic that foreign public corporations see > value in investing in Canadian oil, yet Canadians presently have no public > capacity to do the same thing.**** > > “These large companies need to continue to look for replacement reserves,” > Mr. Tetzlaff added. In other words, Canada will be the hottest target for > private oil investment for decades to come.**** > > All that drooling on the part of global petroleum companies over Canada’s > oil (which is uniquely accessible to private capital) is the key structural > reason why our currency has so closely tracked the price of oil over the > past decade. Our petroleum exports are important, but still constitute > just 18% of total exports (including natural gas). It is not that the > world wants more of what Canada produces: if that was true, Canada would > not have the enormous trade and current account deficits that we now > experience (despite the unsustainable windfall of petroleum exports). > Rather, it’s that global companies hunger for the right to own what’s > buried under our feet. This is reflected in high valuations for Canadian > assets (especially anything related to petroleum), and (to a lesser extent) > in strong inflows of real foreign investment as our oil resources are > steadily sold off to the highest bidder. This asset market effect, driving > our currency far above its fair or sustainable value, is underming our > national capacity to produce and sell real stuff to the rest of the world. > **** > > As I have argued before, a good way to break this damaging link between > oil prices and our currency (the 25% overvaluation of which which continues > to devastate all non-resource export industries, including manufacturing, > tourism, and tradable services) is to take down the “For Sale” sign > currently hanging on our oil reserves.**** > > Following the lead of the vast majority of other global oil exporters, > control over the pace and nature of development should be taken back into > the hands of Canadians. The non-renewable wealth embodied in those > reserves should be owned and controlled by Canadians, developed in a manner > consistent with the public interest — taking into account factors (like > environmental sustainability, and spillover Dutch-disease effects on the > rest of the national economy) that do not enter the cost-benefit > calculations of the private giants hungering for Canadian oil.**** > > **** > > > > > -- > Cheers, > > Tom Walker (Sandwichman)**** > > _______________________________________________ > Futurework mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework > > -- Cheers, Tom Walker (Sandwichman)
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