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  • I think an added point is just how precarious the current Harper resource sector jobs strategy can be. For example, yesterday in the globe, it was estimated that the Oil sands biggest enemy is not blocked pipelines. It is economics! Not only is this sandy oil the dirtiest method of producing oil, it is also the most expensive. The NAtional Energy Board estimates that Oil must stay above $85-95$ per barrel for these massive investments to be commercially viable.

    Just look at the data, and it is obvious we are in a casino here with the single biggest economic driver and the given the fickleness in oil prices over the past 10 years, the odds are against the price of oil staying at such lofty levels. (let alone all the other negative effects and dynamics of this industry, which stack even more odds against price points for success.)

    I see a whole lot of rusting pipes in 10-20 years.

    The information age is here, and without a proper jobs strategy- we are losing ground every day we let Harper take our economy on this dirty oil ride of decline.

  • Well-argued, but the politics of implementation and the deeply ingrained, unconscious neoliberal ideology that permeates Flaherty and his cohorts’ thinking are major obstacles. It’s simply not going to happen because all the economists Flaherty would seem to consult, it would seem, are either from right-of-centre think tanks or the financial sector, which he profoundly favours of course. (It irritates me no end that the media consults only these types for its stories, though the off sop is thrown to Armine, Jim, and Erin.) He does claim the budget will deal in some way with job initiatives. I wonder if any of will agree with whatever policies are cooked up.

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