Federal Government & Politics II

[Truenorth00]

Originally Posted by YOWetal

I guess new build vs retrofit is a key question but my understanding from looking at a few people who blog their results is it costs something like $10k extra and you save $500 a season. A 5% GIC for $10,000 is already $500 a month. So essentially you are treading water. In 30 years you have a more expensive system to replace. In Ontario at least our electricity costs are subsidized. Take away that subsidy and your costs increase.

As Warren mentioned, you are getting air conditioning too. And that cooling comes at a cheaper operating cost. So your comparison should include the cost of cooling that is saved and the cost of basically adding air conditioning (if there was none before or had to replaced). For somebody that had no AC or had to replace the AC, the marginal cost of a heat pump over AC is a few thousand and easily made up in a few years.

[YOWetal]

Originally Posted by Truenorth00

As Warren mentioned, you are getting air conditioning too. And that cooling comes at a cheaper operating cost. So your comparison should include the cost of cooling that is saved and the cost of basically adding air conditioning (if there was none before or had to replaced). For somebody that had no AC or had to replace the AC, the marginal cost of a heat pump over AC is a few thousand and easily made up in a few years.

A few thousand? I spend less than $2000 to heat and cool my 2000 SQFT attached house so it certainly couldn't save me a few thousand. But for sure if I need to replace central air it makes more sense.

[niwell]

When we eventually need to replace our central air I'd look at heat pumps but until then definitely not worth it. The system was put in about a year before we purchased so that's still a while off.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

All electric heat is practical in the lower mainland, Nova Scotia, and southern Ontario, basically.

The main problem with electric heat in NS is that the province doesn't have cheap hydro power. The gap will grow even more with carbon pricing and people find it frustrating because they don't have a lot of options.

If Canada were run more equitably, perhaps the northern hydro resources would be shared and the Maritimes would have about the same rates as Quebec.

I've never heard of the secondary heating source thing. In BC a lot of people just have the electric baseboards and in NS it's split between either having an oil furnace or electric heaters. If the power rates were the same as BC or QC I think almost everybody in NS would have electric baseboard heating like in BC.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by someone123

I've never heard of the secondary heating source thing..

My heat pumps have built in electric furnaces. If the outside unit freezes up, the electric furnace kicks in automatically to keep the house warm.

Earlier this year, the wall controller for one of my heat pumps was fried by a power bump from a nearby lightning strike. This also affected the back-up electric furnace but was repaired quickly. This is the only time this has happened in my 22 year experience with heat pumps. Otherwise, the back up furnace works really well.

[Truenorth00]

Originally Posted by YOWetal

A few thousand? I spend less than $2000 to heat and cool my 2000 SQFT attached house so it certainly couldn't save me a few thousand. But for sure if I need to replace central air it makes more sense.

You can find a loan or engineering economics calculator and do the math yourself. A difference of a few thousand can be made up in a few years. Let's say your AC compressor breaks and is due for replacement. If the difference between an AC and heat pump is $3k and you save $500/yr on heating and cooling with the heat pump, at a 7% interest rate, it takes 8 years to break-even on that marginal cost. And we assume that unit lasts at least 10-20 years, you will be pocketing savings after that.

Does it make sense to replace a properly functioning AC? Probably not. But if a replacement is due, it's a no-brainer in most cases.

Also, people need to stop thinking of heat pumps as replacing their entire HVAC. Perfectly possible to simply replace the AC unit with a heat pump and use the rest of the HVAC system (including furnace and blowers). The heat pump than just augments in cooler weather and cuts natural gas bills (which will only be going up thanks to our new export pipelines).

[Truenorth00]

Originally Posted by 1overcosc

One thing I think would go a long way to improving uptake of green renovations would be a loan program against property taxes, where homeowners can take out low-cost loans from the government to pay for renos, and the repayments would be charged to the property tax account. The extra property tax cost resulting would be offset by the reduced energy costs, and it would mean that if you move, the payments automatically transfer to the next owner.

There are programs that do this. More common in the US than Canada. I'm not sure why municipal governments should get involved though. Arguably the best way to make capital available for energy upgrades like this is to allow them to be tacked on to the mortgage.

1) It adds to the value of the home and that's easier for the bank to account for. The bank is probably more likely to make sure a person spends the money on a heat pump instead of a new fishing boat.

2) It can be spread over a much longer amortization period which makes such upgrades cashflow positive on a monthly basis, creating some incentive to do them.

3) It reducing the risk of conflicting liens between bank and municipality if there's a default on the mortgage.

[hipster duck]

I installed a heat pump because I wanted A/C, and my house is heated with radiators piping hot water in from a boiler. I thought I might as well kill two birds with one stone.

I think that's why they're flying off the shelves in Europe. Many if not most European homes are heated with radiators, and a heat pump gives you an air conditioner in the summer (given their increasingly hot summers), and a more efficient heater (given their natural gas prices) in the winter.

In Canada where most homes in Ontario, the Prairies and, I imagine, the Maritimes are heated with forced air that doubles as an A/C in the summertime, heat pumps aren't quite the slam dunk.

[Nashe]

Before I switched, I was paying $1800/year for electricity and $3000/winter for oil heating (so $4800 for lights/heat). I did that ONE winter before springing for the central heat pump ($10k investment).

Right now I pay $3600/year for electricity, heating, cooling AND the additional (not insignificant) 5-month heating/pumping of a pool (which has it's own heat-pump).

Oil was crazy expensive compared to electricity here back in 2017. And I didn't even have access to any gov grants at that time. I don't regret the switch for a second. No tank, no smell, no monthly deliveries.

[Truenorth00]

The Liberals are announcing a tepid crackdown on student visas for Fall 2024. Gotta love the crackdown theatre and the attempt to blame the provinces.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government is introducing new measures to tighten standards on colleges, responding to criticism that Canada’s education sector is bringing in so many foreign students that it’s boosting pressure on housing and the labor market.

Immigration Minister Marc Miller announced a framework on Friday that will push universities and colleges to set a higher standard for services, support and outcomes for international students, starting in time for the fall 2024 semester. Schools that meet the higher benchmark will get priority for the processing of student visas, Miller said, and adequate housing will be one of the criteria.

Institutions also will be required to confirm every applicant’s acceptance letter directly with the Canadian government starting Dec. 1, he said. The process aims to combat fraud, following revelations that hundreds of Indian newcomers unknowingly arrived in Canada with fake college admissions letters. In the coming months, Miller’s department will also review the post-graduate work permit program and introduce reforms to ensure it meets the needs of the labor market.

....

....While Trudeau’s government has previously mulled introducing a cap on international student visas, Miller poured cold water on that idea Friday. The number of foreign students in Canada has tripled in about a decade to more than 800,000 last year.

The experiences of international students are too complex for the federal government to “stomp in and pretend that it has all the solutions” in establishing a visa cap, Miller said.

Provinces have a primary role in accrediting learning institutions, he said.

“The federal government is coming forward and opening its arms to our provincial partners, territorial partners, to make sure we all do our jobs properly,” he said. “If that job can’t be done, the federal government is prepared to do it.”

International education contributes more than C$22 billion ($16 billion) to the Canadian economy annually — greater than Canada’s exports of auto parts, lumber or aircraft — and supports more than 200,000 jobs, according to Miller’s office. But the influx of foreign students has exacerbated housing shortages, leaving many without proper accommodation, and flooded labor markets in some regions where there aren’t enough jobs.

Miller’s announcement appeared aimed at private colleges and immigration consultants accused of exploiting international students for profit. He said a government investigation earlier this year identified nearly 1,550 study permit applications connected to fraudulent acceptance letters.

In most cases, the fraud was detected and the application was refused, but in about 450 cases, a permit was issued. A further review determined some were genuine students, while others were victims who unknowingly received fake admission documents, Miller said.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...dent-criticism

[Truenorth00]

Originally Posted by Nashe

Before I switched, I was paying $1800/year for electricity and $3000/winter for oil heating (so $4800 for lights/heat). I did that ONE winter before springing for the central heat pump ($10k investment).

Right now I pay $3600/year for electricity, heating, cooling AND the additional (not insignificant) 5-month heating/pumping of a pool (which has it's own heat-pump).

Oil was crazy expensive compared to electricity here back in 2017. And I didn't even have access to any gov grants at that time. I don't regret the switch for a second. No tank, no smell, no monthly deliveries.

I'm assuming you did this long before the pandemic. So even at an average interest rate of 5%, payback is 11 years. And interest rates were lower than 5% back then.

[Nashe]

Originally Posted by Truenorth00

I'm assuming you did this long before the pandemic. So even at an average interest rate of 5%, payback is 11 years. And interest rates were lower than 5% back then.

2018, yup. The oil furnace was installed in 1990 so was very inefficient and thus was going to have to be replaced with a new model anyway (thought for likely less than the $10k cash I paid for the heat pump/electric furnace).

[Truenorth00]

Originally Posted by Nashe

2018, yup. The oil furnace was installed in 1990 so was very inefficient and thus was going to have to be replaced with a new model anyway (thought for likely less than the $10k cash I paid for the heat pump/electric furnace).

So as long as your system lasts past 2030, you'll be in the money.

[Truenorth00]

Topic adjacent to heat pumps, good to see that natural gas bans for new builds are picking up. Also saves on construction costs, with one less utility to install.

...
This week, Montreal announced it will no longer allow gas in new buildings of up to three storeys as of October 2024, and ban the fossil fuel as of April 2025 in larger new builds. The ban will include gas-based heating and hot water systems, as well as items like barbecues and stoves. In Canada, fossil fuel-based heating systems for furnaces and water in homes and buildings make up 13 per cent of the country’s total greenhouse gas emissions. The share hits 18 per cent if you include electricity for cooking, lighting and appliances.
...
This summer, Nanaimo, B.C. announced new buildings won’t be allowed to use natural gas as the primary heat source as of July 2024. Prévost, a town in Quebec with a population of around 12,000, voted in September to ban gas in new buildings and new gas appliances in existing buildings.
...

https://www.nationalobserver.com/202...ng-natural-gas

[someone123]

Originally Posted by hipster duck

In Canada where most homes in Ontario, the Prairies and, I imagine, the Maritimes are heated with forced air that doubles as an A/C in the summertime, heat pumps aren't quite the slam dunk.

Electric baseboards, radiators, heat pumps, and forced air are all roughly tied in the Maritimes: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1...pid=3810028601

Central AC is fairly rare in the Maritimes. NB is a bit higher and climate zone wise part of it is more like Quebec than NS or PEI.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by someone123

The main problem with electric heat in NS is that the province doesn't have cheap hydro power.

Aren’t you guys the one and only Non-Quebec path for NL power? Just be as smart as your Quebec neighbors, and extort the Newfoundlanders, and you’ll get cheap hydro power too

[someone123]

Originally Posted by lio45

Aren’t you guys the one and only Non-Quebec path for NL power? Just be as smart as your Quebec neighbors, and extort the Newfoundlanders, and you’ll get cheap hydro power too

There's an NS-NL deal and undersea cable. I don't think it's extortionary but it's likely more expensive per kWh than the alternative universe where hydro resources in Canada are developed cooperatively and the end user rates only reflect differences in transmission fees instead of arbitrary political boundaries.

Another example I'd give is, say, the UAE. Collectively the world would be slightly better off if it could coordinate and share those resources, since it is worse overall to artificially flood the UAE with cash and promote otherwise unsustainable development there. In the UAE case there's no way for the world to coordinate, but in Canada there could have been.

(For a while in Canada the federal government's line was this was how it should work, but only for offshore resources. If there's hydro in Quebec that belongs to Quebec, if there's hydro in Labrador it sort of belongs to Quebec, and if there's oil off Newfoundland some of it belongs to Quebec. )

[theman23]

Originally Posted by Truenorth00

The Liberals are announcing a tepid crackdown on student visas for Fall 2024. Gotta love the crackdown theatre and the attempt to blame the provinces.



https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...dent-criticism

Does Marc Miller understand why international students have created so much controversy? We have too many bodies in this country and not enough places to house them. While it's good they're cracking down on the few hundred fraudulent acceptance letter, that has nothing to do with the actual problem of accepting nearly a million students without any place to house them. This is like a drug addict blowing all his money on cocaine telling you that it's OK because this time he bought it in a vial with a tamper seal.

[Truenorth00]

Originally Posted by theman23

Does Marc Miller understand why international students have created so much controversy? We have too many bodies in this country and not enough places to house them. While it's good they're cracking down on the few hundred fraudulent acceptance letter, that has nothing to do with the actual problem of accepting nearly a million students without any place to house them. This is like a drug addict blowing all his money on cocaine telling you that it's OK because this time he bought it in a vial with a tamper seal.

That's why I called it tepid. Sham would be more appropriate. They want to look like they are doing something without actually doing anything.

They really must think voters won't notice or care. But when the election rolls around and elevated prices and rents are still there, I wonder what they'll be telling voters.

When LPC supporters look back at when they had a chance to turn the ship around, I hope they remember this moment.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by elly63

I just read the article as well, very well done. I always apply the common sense test to anything I read in these divisive times. I too don't have a dog in this fight and just find the story very interesting but I have to side with the family. Buffy's inconsistencies are too numerous to make sense. The most egregious was the letter accusing her brother of sexual abuse.

As I don't have a dog in the fight I don't think it is all that big a deal and even if she is a fraud she seems like a well intentioned person who tried to do the right things. But this was very hurtful to many native people who may have lost opportunities because of this and they express it in the article so I again have to side with them.

Again, well worth the read just for the fascinating story, regardless of which side you believe.

Who is the real Buffy Sainte-Marie?
Buffy Sainte-Marie’s claims to Indigenous ancestry are being contradicted by members of the iconic singer-songwriter’s own family and an extensive CBC investigation.
Geoff Leo, Roxanna Woloshyn and Linda Guerriero cbc.ca October 27, 2023

Editor's Note
How, when and why CBC News investigates claims of Indigenous identity
These are difficult, nuanced stories to tell — and the bar is high
Brodie Fenlon CBC News October 27, 2023

I don't really care about her case though it does sound like her Indigenous origins were made up.

My takeaway from this is now ridiculous we've been to allow ethnic and racial origin of a person to regain so much credibility in the worth and authenticity of a person.

Stuff like this is what we get for allowing this to happen.