Federal approval for the Kinder Morgan pipeline was the beginning, not the end, of a long process. It has strained relations between the governments of Alberta and British Columbia and led to a number of challenges and public protests. Even Bill Nye the Science Guy challenged Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on the environmental impact of the project.

You’re a man in the hot seat. Whether approval for Kinder Morgan goes through or not, the project has the fate of the Alberta government in the balance — and maybe the fate of the federal government too.

We approved the pipeline because we said it was in the national interest and believed it. We made that decision after historic consultation with Canadians, with Indigenous peoples, with environmentalists and with industry leaders. There were literally tens of thousands of Canadians that had an opinion and offered it to us.

After that we made the decision that the project was in Canada’s interest because of the jobs it creates and because of the access to export markets—99 per cent of our exports of oil and gas go to one country, the United States. We want to expand those markets, particularly to Asia, and, while doing so, attract a much better price for Alberta crude.

Consultation aside, there is still powerful opposition to the pipeline, including from B.C. and many Indigenous groups.

That’s true. But there is only one government of Canada. And only one government in Canada that has the jurisdiction of making decisions on a pipeline that crosses provincial boundaries. We will intervene at the National Energy Board when necessary. The National Energy Board agreed with Canada and Kinder Morgan to be a standing panel and make sure there are no unwarranted delays.

What about the protesters and their capacity for disruption?

People are free in this country to demonstrate their unhappiness with the government. It is one of the reasons we’re such a special place. We’re also a country that abides by the rule of law. If people decide they’re going to break the law, we have mechanisms to make sure that the rule of law is respected.

Let’s talk about the economic impact for a moment. How important is this pipeline to the revenues of the government of Canada?

It’s very important. Also, we want to show Canadians and the world that we can approve and build major energy infrastructure projects. It’s very important that investors around the world see that Canada’s regulatory system is respected and that federal jurisdiction in cases such as this is paramount.

If Kinder Morgan goes ahead as you say it will, is this going to be the last pipeline built in Canada?

That’s not up to governments to decide. We do know that there will be increasing demand for fossil fuels, according to the International Energy Agency. At the same time, we have an international obligation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and that’s why the Alberta climate plan, which includes a 100-megaton cap on emissions, is a very important part of the bundle of policies and issues that are at stake here.

We are, in Canada, becoming better at extracting fossil fuels more sustainably. The carbon footprint is on the way down and will continue in that direction, in part because of the innovation and entrepreneurship and ingenuity of the industry itself.

At the same time, if you look at investment pattern, there is more and more investment in renewable energy. It only makes sense to us to use the resources we have now, more and more sustainably, move them to export markets and use the revenues in part to help finance the transition to a low-carbon economy.

If the pipeline is delayed or doesn’t get built, are you afraid that the whole environmental part of the program will fall apart too?

We believe it makes a lot of sense to tax pollution and use the revenues to incent the kinds of behaviours that will better position Canada as we move toward the lower-carbon future. We can’t predict how the electorates and provinces will behave, but we can continue to promote the value of a pan-Canadian framework that was signed by all provinces but one.

In terms of shovels in the ground, do you think the twinning of the Kinder Morgan pipeline will begin this year?

It’s happening already. There is already construction. There are permits that are being issued. The rate of construction will depend on Kinder Morgan’s judgment of the security of the entire project moving forward.

 

This interview has been edited for length.

When it comes to social media platforms, angst can eclipse reality

It all sounded so shocking at first. A whistleblower emerged with tales of a conspiracy between shady political actors and Facebook. With words like “personal data,” “privacy,” “Trump” and “mind-reading” tossed into the mix, public outrage and fear ensued.

Was this an overreaction? The activity and impact of social media, after all, remains challenging for even the savviest users to assess.

When we hear that political operatives mined Facebook or used our personal data to learn more about our motivations and intentions in the context of an election, the immediate reaction is to get angry. Anything that involves the use of “personal data” sounds like it must be an invasion of our privacy.

However, before we panic and call for policy changes, we should take a careful look at how we use sites like Facebook and what crumbs we, in fact, voluntarily leave behind.

• We “like” pages that signal our interests.
• We check into restaurants and stores.
• We disclose our relationship status.
• We respond to content in our feed.
• We share photos.
• We share the date of our birthday, or,
• even worse, our actual birth date.
• We talk about our favourite Netflix show.

We choose to disclose all of this information on a public platform. It’s a feature of the platform, not a bug. The decision to hand over this information is ours. In effect, we choose to make ourselves vulnerable.

That said, no amount of data is going to give any platform mind-reading and mind-shaping abilities. U.S. President Donald Trump did not win because he manipulated Americans into voting for him using Cambridge Analytica ad targeting. Anyone making such a claim is grossly exaggerating.

The utility of this particular data has significant limits. It can help advertisers paint a broad picture about a group of people. It can help political operatives target people who fit a certain demographic, geographic or interest profile. But they can do it at the group level only.

Our choices are still ours and we can reject things we don’t agree with. In reality, if we don’t want our data shared, or if we are convinced we could get brainwashed into voting for Trump because an advertiser knows our favourite TV personality, we have a clear choice in the matter: get off the platform.

However, no one wants to hear that. No one wants to look in the mirror. Instead, we expect Facebook to live up to a higher moral code. It’s the nature of becoming a platform billions of people “depend” on.  And when you get too big, and when government gets a whiff that you have lost the moral high ground, it sees an opportunity no government can resist: regulation.

With Congress contemplating whether to regulate Facebook, we have suddenly put social media on the same pedestal as industries of national importance like drugs, health care, agriculture, forestry, fishing, energy and mining. If public opinion tilts in the government’s favour, public scrutiny of Facebook and other social platforms will intensify. An entire industry could change. Facebook is not the only platform tracking user data, and governments around the globe will feel compelled to act.

 

 

For as long as Camilla Sutton can remember, she has loved the constant pulse of markets as they monitor the restless movement of money around the world.

She recalls that early in her career, while working in the Bank of Montreal’s capital markets division, she was one of the few juniors—and the only woman—who attended the early-morning strategy meetings every day. “I’d sit in the corner with my eyes wide, just listening,” she says. “I was completely mesmerized from the very start.”

Some 25 years later, Sutton was running the global foreign exchange division for Scotiabank. After a corporate reorganization, she decided it was time to step back to broaden her perspective.

As the new head of Women in Capital Markets, an advocacy group that encourages Canadian women to consider careers in the business and brings together those who already work there, Sutton has an opportunity to share her passion. She also has an opportunity to support change at a pivotal time for women.

“The need for diversity is pretty well understood by all organizations, but getting there is still a huge challenge, in large part because it’s cultural. And culture is tough to change,” Sutton says.

Few sectors remain as male-dominated as the deal-driven capital markets sector. Although it is an uncomfortable truth, the “boys’ club” mentality is deeply entrenched, despite the risks that represents in the #metoo era. It’s also something that discourages many women from considering a career on or around a trading floor.

According to Sutton, part of the problem is a “box-ticking mindset” that many organizations still have when it comes to gender diversity.

“The progress really starts with the recognition that women are not one big category to be dealt with in one uniform way. They don’t all want the same thing. They don’t need cookie-cutter policies and practices,” she says. “They need genuine opportunity to succeed in a culture that is respectful and inclusive.”

Although women are under-represented in capital markets more than in other professions, female leadership remains a challenge for corporations in other sectors as well. Despite the introduction of “comply or explain” rules by the Ontario Securities Commission, women hold only 14 per cent of board seats on publicly traded companies, up only slightly from 11 per cent in 2015. When boards do have a vacancy, just 26 per cent of those seats are filled by women.

Still, the issue of whether there should be quotas, which are now legally in place in many European countries—remains touchy. Most people would prefer that merit rather than mandate be the criterion for inclusion.

However, Sutton sees a point in having the discussion.

“I used to be skeptical about quotas for women in governance and leadership positions. But maybe it’s the only way to get the ball rolling,” Sutton says. “After all, merit can be a double-edged sword, just another excuse not to be inclusive.”

However great the challenge ahead, her new role reflects an ongoing passion for capital markets.

“I want capital markets to be a place where the best talent is given the best chance for success for all stakeholders,” Sutton says. For that to happen, unlearning will be as important as learning.

 

Vancouver

Hey Jaime,

All of us love a bit of drama, especially when it involves some family intrigue. But as all of us in B.C. are learning, when the family in question is the ruling political party, it can get tricky pretty fast. The balance between creating jobs and protecting the environment is nothing new,  especially in Canada where one affects the other so often. But when a party hasn’t yet found that balance internally and when the Green party holds more cards than ever it can lead to some contradictory policies. We’re seeing that here as the NDP swings from pursuit of subsidies for the LNG business to opposing the Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion, from approval of the Site C Dam to “speculation taxes” on home buyers to pursuit of electoral reforms that will change the way the province elects representatives. Small wonder that the business community is grumbling about the lack of consistency. All the more given the corporate donations the NDP grabbed in the weeks before the rules changed last year.

Hope you are well,
Alex Shiff

 

Calgary

Hi Jaime,

It’s all Trans Mountain all the time in Calgary these days, at least when people aren’t bashing their B.C. neighbours for stalling the project. To be clear, the project isn’t the only thing that’s been stalled. So has investment in the entire energy sector, as companies understandably try to make sense of what it all means for the future. Producers want a better sense of how their oil is going to get to market before they invest any more, and the pipeline companies have been very public about their negative view of the new federal regulations they face.

Pretty much the only bright spot in the whole situation is the political career of Rachel Notley. Even skeptics are impressed by how she’s stood up for the province and the industry. B.C. better not come by any time soon asking to borrow a cup of sugar!

Take care,
Jason Hatcher and Randy Dawson

 

London, UK

Dear Jaime,

The mood in London is truly one of dreary resignation. Britain and Italy are the slowest growing economies in the G7, and investment decisions of almost any size are on hold. Even the ardent Brexiteers are relatively quiet. Any notion that new trade deals with new partners will make up for lost EU trade has fallen away with a thud. Those who want to remain in the EU may be clinging to the hope the whole thing will blow over, but it won’t. The trade talks with the EU are ongoing but it will be the end of this year before a deal is agreed on.

There are lots of other points of focus—Russia, the poisoning in Salisbury of a former Russian spy, the crisis in Syria. But none of these are cheering either.

Best to the team in Toronto.

Cheers,
Ashley Prime

 

Ottawa

Bonjour Jaime,

It’s going to be a long, hot summer in Ottawa with Trans Mountain and NAFTA on the front burner. Even all the shade being thrown at National Security Adviser Daniel Jean over the Prime Minister’s India trip won’t cool things down. If that’s not enough, there’ll be a low-hanging hot air mass moving in as the Ottawa Senators gear up for the coming season, following the mass despair over missing the playoffs.

Whatever decision ensues about the future of Trans Mountain, it’s going to remain the biggest challenge of the Trudeau mandate politically and economically. At least Premier Notley seems comfortable in the role of bad cop, not something this Prime Minister likes to play. Whatever comes out of the NAFTA negotiations, there will be lots of detail and impact analysis to sift through, sector by sector. As for the India trip, if it becomes more certain that the PMO was behind the alleged “fake news” that the Indian government deliberately sabotaged the trip, the PM will wear it in the end—much like the kurti he favoured on that tour.

All the best,
Andrew Balfour and John Delacourt

 

Montréal

Mon cher Jaime,

Depuis les 24 derniers mois, le mouvement de désinvestissement des énergies fossiles semble accumuler les victoires à un rythme effréné, et ce, à l’échelle internationale. En effet, plusieurs institutions académiques, telles que la London School of Economics, Stanford University et l’Université Laval ont publiquement annoncé leur intention de se départir de leurs placements dans les énergies fossiles. Cela dit, certains pourraient y voir qu’un simple mouvement de militants écologiques se limitant aux campus universitaires, mais non, c’est tout le contraire.

Par exemple, en janvier dernier, la Ville de New York a fait l’annonce qu’elle se délestera de plus de 5 milliards d’investissements au sein d’entreprises actives dans les énergies fossiles. De plus, la ville a l’intention d’assigner en justice cinq entreprises pétrolières, dont Shell, ExxonMobil et British Petroleum (BP), pour leur supposé rôle dans les changements climatiques. Juste avant Noël, c’est le géant français AXA, qui a décidé d’exclure de ses investissements, les entreprises qui sont actives dans la production de sables bitumineux ainsi que celles impliquées dans la construction de nouveaux pipelines de sables bitumineux.

Plus près de chez nous, Michael Sabia, président de la Caisse de dépôt et de placements du Québec (CDPQ), a reconnu que le niveau de risque associé aux investissements dans les entreprises pétrolières est plus important qu’auparavant. Par conséquent, la CDPQ souhaite diminuer de 25 % son empreinte carbone d’ici 2025. Toutefois, selon les propos de M. Sabia, pour ce faire, des décisions difficiles devront être prises.

Alors la question se pose, pourquoi ce mouvement connaît-il autant de succès sachant les difficultés que les grands gestionnaires de fonds doivent affronter afin de satisfaire les nombreux actionnaires ? Et bien, selon l’ancien ministre français du Développement, et maintenant directeur général de la World Wide Fund for Nature — France (WWF), Pascal Canfin, trois raisons expliqueraient le succès de ce mouvement : « la première est éthique. La deuxième est financière. Et la troisième est juridique. » En effet, selon ses dires « la responsabilité des investisseurs qui ne prennent pas en compte le risque climatique va être mise en cause. » Avec ce type d’arguments, Il ne fait aucun doute que ce mouvement ne s’arrêtera pas de sitôt.

À bientôt,
Patrick Doyon

Values and integrity are shaping the new corporate agenda as stakeholders demand that corporate leaders demonstrate social responsibility. The relentless pursuit of accountability and collective morality can be exhausting, however… Navigator Consultant Arabella Goldring reviews some ethical options for rest and relaxation.

 

Ecolodges

Nimmo Bay Resort

Stay in an inter tidal chalet at this wilderness adventure resort that adheres to sustainable tourism practices. At Nimmo Bay Resort in Port McNeill, B.C., guests can take advantage of activities from whale watching to glacier trekking and heli-hiking.

Trout Point Lodge

This eco-destination allows guests to return to nature in a part of southwestern Nova Scotia so remote that there is no cellphone service. Trout Point Lodge is a five-star inn located on a wooded estate that borders on the scenic Tobeatic Wilderness Area. The inn offers guests all of the amenities needed to put outdoor recreation and relaxation at the forefront of their vacation.

Algonquin Eco-Lodge

This all-season eco-lodge offers wilderness lovers a unique way to explore southern Ontario’s Algonquin Park, with limited impact on the local environment. Algonquin Eco-Lodge is powered by 100 per cent micro-hydro electricity, generated by its own waterfall. Hike, horseback ride or relax lakeside at this award-winning reatreat.

Hotel Sacacomie

Hotel Sacacomie, a 90-minute drive from Montreal, provides cozy accommodations next to the Mastigouche wildlife reserve. Luxury meets the backwoods at this log cabin that hosts a spa offering a full range of services.

 

Minimalist architecture/architects

Architecture firms around the globe are increasingly committing to making more environmentally conscious decisions with their designs. Here are some examples of industry trailblazers:

1   Beat Box housing built by Danish firm Arkitema includes 20 apartments in 48 shipping containers that revitalized a neighbourhood in Roskilde, Denmark. (Source: Danish Design Firm Arkitema Is Building an Apartment Complex from Shipping Containers)

2   For Dubai Design Week 2017, boutique Indian firm Fahed + Architects repurposed coil springs from discarded bed mattresses to build a temporary pavilion. The structure, which resembles a cloud-like form, was constructed out of 100 per cent recyclable material. (Source: Abwab D3 Pavilion 2017)

3   Japanese architect Shigeru Ban, famous for his quickly erected, inexpensive structures in disaster zones, built a replacement cathedral in Christchurch, New Zealand, after the city wasdevastated by an earthquake in 2012. The temporary cathedral, completed in 2013, was constructed out of 98 equal-sized cardboard tubes and eight steel shipping containers. (Source: Newly Released Photos of Shigeru Ban’s Cardboard Cathedral in New Zealand)

 

Sustainable food/dining

These popular farm-to-table restaurants are showcasing all that Canada has to offer:

 

 

 

 

 

Annalena
Vancouver   |    www.annalena.ca

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mallard Cottage
St.John’s   |     www.mallardcottage.ca

 

 

 

 

 

Pilgrimme
Galiano Island, B.C.   |     www.pilgrimme.ca

 

 

 

 

 

 

Market
Calgary   |     www.marketcalgary.ca

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wolf In The Fog
Tofino, B.C.   |     www.wolfinthefog.com

 

Top books for minimalist living

Zero Waste Home
By Bea Johnson

The Joy of Less: A Minimalist Living Guide
By Francine Jay

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up:
The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing
By Marie Kondo

 

Meal-kit delivery services

As an alternative to buying all of the ingredients for a meal at the grocery store, why not opt for simplicity with a full meal in a box delivered right to your door? Try these meal-kit subscription services:

GoodFood

Delivers in: Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia and the Maritimes
Price: $9.38 per meal/person

Cook It

Delivers in: Quebec and Ontario
Price: $10.83 per meal/person

Chefs Plate

Delivers in: Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Quebec, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Manitoba
Price: $10.95 per meal/person

 

 

Apps that promote brain health

Calm

Apple’s 2017 App of the Year, Calm facilitates mindfulness and meditation. This app offers guided meditation, sleep stories, breathing programs and relaxing music to help its users get better sleep.

 

Headspace

Use this guided meditation app in moments of high stress. Headspace offers the basic breathing exercises and visualizations used by celebrities and business leaders alike to help manage stress.

 

Sporcle

Sporcle is an addictive trivia application that quizzes users on such subjects as sports, movies, television, music and geography. This app is sure to challenge your memory and exercise your brain.