Winning at spin?
Politicians continue to use the phrase “Hearts and Minds” despite its original rise to popularity during the Vietnam War and the fact it has ever since been linked to failure.
Rachel Notley used it this week at the kickoff of Alberta government’s billboard campaign that will announce “Trans Mountain Pipeline means more hospitals, schools and roads.”
The Alberta premier says she wants to win the “Hearts and Minds” of BCers to win support for the seemingly stalled project.
An interesting sub-plot, however, involves the hearts and minds of Albertans, who go to the polls in about 11 months.
It’s a major upgrade on the term “social licence” which has been thrown around so much it doesn’t mean much anymore, or has opposite meanings for opposite sides of the political spectrum.
The other phrasing is also interesting ... oil pays for schools has long been a cliché held dear by the conservative observers.
Maybe we can chalk it up to Alberta left-wing being a bit more right than elsewhere.
Similar on both counts, on Friday Notley got into a spat with former U.S. vice-president Al Gore over the term tarsands — a once-common term that PR people in industry have spent years trying to change to the less concerning term “oilsands.”
It’s semantics, but still, for Notley, whose plan to end coal-fired power production might be the single biggest accomplishment so far for the Canadian environmental movement, all the back-biting from environmentalists has got to be a pain in the neck.
Big money
Last week this column discussed inflation and how $100 million is big, but not what it used to be.
But what’s the view closer to one billion?
Consider that Aurora Cannabis plans to produce 150,000 kg, equal to 150 million grams, each year in Medicine Hat after a $130million plant is built this year.
The company’s first-quarter financial statements, filed this week with the Toronto Stock exchange, states it cost on average $2.33 to produce and market a gram, which was subsequently sold for an average price of $7.99.
If the same margins apply at the Aurora Sun facility, a cool profit of about $850 million annually appears after the dust settles, or smoke clears, whichever you prefer.
How it works
So why is natural gas so cheap while oil prices rise, it’s often asked.
Well, unfortunately for those of us living in shallow gas country, nowadays a higher price of oil only serves to drive down the price of gas.
The current standard drilling technique, hydraulic fracking, can unlock new oil reserves in mature fields while also unleashing large volumes of natural gas.
Therefore, the higher the oil price rises, the more oil exploration takes place and the greater amount of gas comes into an already oversupplied market place.
It seems you can’t win for trying.
Sports Shorts
James Paxton, the Seattle Mariners pitcher who no-hit the Blue Jays this week, will be remembered by a few Hatters as an all-star at the 2005 Canada Cup of Baseball tournament held at Athletic and Jeffries parks. The 6-foot-4 southpaw was drafted in the second round by the Blue Jays in 2009. This week he became the second Canadian to toss a no-hitter.
A look ahead
The Medicine Hat Public Library annual report will be presented to Monday’s meeting of the public services committee.
100 years ago
The News automotive column suggested a “neutral position for gears” and turned-off motor while going down hills was a clever, safe way to conserve gasoline. Also, newly developed storage batteries may soon make hand crank starters unnecessary.