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Winnipeg Free Press
5 days ago
- Business
- Winnipeg Free Press
Looking for ‘nation-building' projects? Here's one
Opinion Canada's prime minister Mark Carney has made much of the idea that this country should move quickly on 'nation-building' projects, ones that could both help the Canadian economy during tariff attacks from the U.S. and at the same time improve quality of life for Canadians. An idea for one of those projects? How about a modernized national electrical grid, one that builds capacity for future electricity needs, keeps Canadian power in Canada and moves it far more seamlessly both east and west? (A tip of the hat here to Norman Brandson, who mentions the grid idea in his op-ed Wab Kinew — not a climate change denialist and planted the seed for this editorial.) Nathan Denette / THE CANADIAN PRESS files Prime Minister Mark Carney There are many hurdles to jump, not the least of them being that under the Canadian constitution the provinces control the production and distribution of electricity within their borders and several provinces have built their own little energy fiefdoms based on the good fortune of the natural resources they happen to have. Those with power to sell — Manitoba included — have primarily built connections south to American markets with an eye to provincial financial returns rather than considering the good of Canada as a whole. As well, there has been a history of provincial utilities discouraging the transfer of power through their grids by setting high 'wheeling rates' for that transmission. But it doesn't have to be that way. Striking out provincial barriers to the transfer of electrical power, setting a national panel for reasonable and fair wheeling rates and dropping internal trade barriers would make the Canadian electrical power system more robust, more efficient and better able to face the future. In a paper way back in 1991 in the journal Transactions of the Engineering and Operating Division of the Canadian Electrical Association, E.L. Fytche wrote succinctly, 'Wheeling in Canada is different from the situation in the U.S.A., due to large distances spanned by Canadian utilities and because most are provincial Crown corporations, with different territorial interests and profit motivations than investor-owned utilities. Most trading in electricity has been between contiguous neighbours, for mutual advantage.' We can do better than that. We could wean ourselves away from the American market, allowing contracts with U.S. utilities to expire while improving reliability in our own backyard. Wednesdays What's next in arts, life and pop culture. The numbers look like this, according to the Canada Energy Regulator: 'All of Canada's electricity trade is with the U.S. In 2023, Canada exported 49.4 Terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity. These were valued at $4.3 billion. In 2023 Canada imported 16.7 TWh of electricity, valued at $1.6 billion in 2023.' The imports have by and large been for temporary shortages in individual provinces — something that could be mitigated by a national grid. Such a grid, of course, is something provincial utilities don't really see the immediate value of because they are more concerned with provincial supply and the cost of electricity in their particular provinces. The exports have primarily been for profit. If there was a comprehensive electrical grid in Canada, that power currently being exported to the U.S. could be sold and used inside this country, displacing other high-cost sources. It would also be cleaner energy than some current sources. And, unlike a pipeline that might serve the commercial interests of particular provinces when downloading environmental risks on others, the grid would serve the whole nation. (As a sideline, the construction would provide a market for a Canadian metals industry facing hefty tariff barriers.) We're going to need more electrical power in coming years. Wouldn't it be better to have a system that lets us buy it inside the country, from our own generation?
Winnipeg Free Press
09-06-2025
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
Letters, June 9
Opinion Canada's role in climate change Re: Planning for the next fires — they're coming (Think Tank, June 5) Norman Brandson is certainly correct to blame climate change for the catastrophic wildfires in Manitoba, and to call for increased resources for adaptation. However, his claim that Canada's contributions to climate change are 'minimal' is misleading and counterproductive. Yes, Canada 'only' emits about 1.5 per cent of global emissions. However, it is the 10th highest polluter of any country in the world, and is one of the highest per-capita emitters as well — about three times the global average. Much of this is caused by the Alberta oilsands. But Manitoba is far from blameless: the province has sizable emissions from oil and gas-intensive agriculture, transportation, space heating, and waste. A new natural gas plant would only worsen this. There are many achievable climate solutions available to us today. However, the first step requires truthfully reckoning with Manitoba and Canada's own contributions to the crisis — including astronomical downstream emissions from rising fossil fuel exports — and building a serious plan to a zero-emissions future. James Wilt Winnipeg Legalize and tax drugs Re: 'Ending the war on drugs' (Letters, June 6) Jamie Bonner's response to Sel Burrows' op-ed on drugs is bang on. Jamie wasn't quite right in the stats that were given. Governments have been waging a war on drugs for over 125 years, not 40 years, spending billions of dollars every year on enforcement. Some Asian countries have the death penalty for drug trafficking and yet there are no shortage of dealers making billions of dollars worldwide. Legalize them all, tax them, and for likely a fraction of what is spent on enforcement, use that money to help treat addiction. Dealers are gone, thousands aren't dying from overdoses, scarce resources for the police become better utilized and the whole drug subculture disappears. There will always be drugs and drug users, it's totally naive to think that can be eliminated, so why not take the profits out of the hands of the scumbags and put it in the government's hands. Ken McLean Starbuck Renewing call to honour Fox Several years ago, I suggested we rename the Queen Elizabeth Way to the Terry Fox Way. Adding a monument/plaque on the bridge crossings would display his determination to walk across our country to raise money for cancer research. A monument would be especially fitting as he was born in Winnipeg. Richard Bérubé Winnipeg Zelenskyy's wit Re: Ukraine's drone attack on Russian warplanes was a serious blow to the Kremlin's strategic arsenal (June 2) You have to give Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy five stars for not telling the United States (and President Donald Trump ) in advance about Ukraine's planned, devastating attack and destruction of Russia's many strategic bombing airplanes deep inside Russia. In Trump's recent phone call to Putin, Trump emphasized that he did not know that the Ukraine was planning such an attack, thus keeping their friendship intact. Do you really think that if Trump knew in advance about this planned attack by the Ukraine that Trump would keep this secret from Putin, his friend? I think not. Zelenskyy is a very smart man. Robert J. Moskal Winnipeg Safe cycling There's lots of hype about Bike Safety Week Winnipeg, June 8-14. Promoting the fact that e-bikes are shrinking the city and providing the opportunity to ride further in less time, is daunting and certainly not promoting safety for pedestrians and riders. Slow down, use your bell or call out, and use the bike paths, please and thank you. Rennie Bodi Winnipeg Card trouble My husband and I recently received our new Manitoba Health Cards in the mail. The new cards cover only the individual named on the front. I have a condition that requires me to go to the emergency room approximately every six to 12 months. When my husband drives me to the ER, I don't take my wallet and it is usually among the last things I would think about. Previously, when asked for my health card my husband would give them his, which included myself. I called Manitoba Health and asked what should happen in this kind of situation where I don't have my individual health card. The solution given by Manitoba Health? Keep your purple card! I can't help but ask, why then do we have the new ones? Janice Jackson Winnipeg Take responsibility So far, 98 of Manitoba's 106 wildfires have been caused by people, government data show. Four occurred naturally, probably as a result of lightning, and another four are under investigation. How can humans be responsible for more than 90 per cent of the forest fires in Manitoba this year so far? Come on people, you are making climate change seem more of a friend to us than the actual threat it is. Year in and year out, you are causing these fires and costing the province billions of tax dollars in fighting and then rebuilding communities. Not good! Alfred Sansregret Winnipeg Ableism in health care Re: 'Measles response falls short' (Letters, June 2) As Kristen Hardy states, vaccine access is one aspect of a greater issue, which is lack of accessibility to services and systemic bias. Many of us have experienced the types of bias to which she refers. I would add ageism to then list. I want to focus on one type in particular. Many people do not realize how pervasive ableism is. Many have never even heard the term or know what it means. It is discrimination in the form of favouritism towards able-bodied people. And it is rampant in the health system. Attaching a sign and a logo to a regular-sized parking space is one example. Many people with mobility issues need more space to enter and exit a vehicle. A regular-sized parking space does not provide this. There is also the attitude that 'disability' is an all-or-nothing status. Many people have mobility issues that are not obvious to others. They believe that for a person to claim a disability, it must be visible. People might be able to walk but not for long distances. They might have conditions that affect the upper body and have difficulty entering buildings and room with heavy doors. This is notable with respect to washrooms designated as accessible. Accessibility means more than a bar on the wall and a sign on the door. It is very frustrating to be unable to access a washroom with a door that is too heavy to open for a person with upper body limitations. Assigning someone with a mobility aid such as a walker to an examination room that is too small for the person to get in with the mobility aid makes it inaccessible. Leading a person down a long corridor at a walking speed that is too fast for the person to follow is a form of ableism. Telling people who bring attention to these issues that 'we are doing the best we can' is a form of ableism. When you have three big examination rooms, repeatedly putting the person with a mobility aid in the one tiny room that they are unable to access is not the best you can do. A better response would be to say thank you and to bring this concern forward so that changes can be made. So, yes, systemic bias in its many forms limits accessibility to health care for far too many. And yes, this contributes to people being unable to get the services they need, vaccination being one such service. And yes, this contributes to a decline in health in our population. Perhaps our esteemed health minister can make addressing systemic bias a priority. I for one would be more than willing to take part in this process. Ariel Lee Winnipeg
