Other Manitoba and Saskatchewan Developments

[pspeid]

I think in any discussion of attracting business to Manitoba, the nature of the business, it's leadership, and it's history in other communities it has operated in are perfectly legitimate questions for a government to ask. Governments have the responsibility to attract business and grow the economy, but to do so in a responsible manner. To do that we have to be realistic about the nature of the beast we have to deal with.

IMO that means both recognizing the need for business to sustain and grow the economy, and recognizing that business does not not exist to sustain and grow the economy. They exist to create wealth for their owners and/or shareholders, full stop. Anything else, including providing employment, constructing pretty office buildings, or being "good corporate citizens", is window dressing; hopefully good for business, but first to get jettisoned if profit margins go below what are desired.

Because of that, government's responsibility is to the electorate, not to any one person, company or industry. Governments can't afford to have "trickle down thinking", where they bend over backwards to accommodate the establishment of a business, only to hope and pray that business might see fit to share some of it's wealth. Spoiler alert: they don't, at least not voluntarily.

Can the government in a province like Manitoba create conditions that are attractive enough to lure businesses without forgoing tax revenue, and worker/environmental protections? It's a tough balance, especially when more resource-rich provinces have the luxury of waiting for businesses to come to them. I think it's what we have seen here for years, grow niche industry & business, diversify, try to balance incentives with public good, and, hopefully, be realistic about the task.

What we don't want to do is panic and sell the cow for a few promises and a bag of allegedly magic beans. This beans never seem to grow as promised in the real world.

[trueviking]

Originally Posted by EdwardTH

Nah I think if the head of your company is openly courting neo-nazi political parties in Europe and working with an administration that openly threatens Canada's sovereignty that is more than enough basis to sanction them. I'm sure GM execs all donated to Trump too but Musk actually held a position in the administration - which itself was an entry in a long list of ethically and legally dubious behaviour from him which is all the more reason to single out his company. Manitoba shouldn't do business with shady companies.

For all I know the heads of other auto companies also believe in replacement theory and other nazi talking points. But at least they are smart enough to keep their mouth shut about it and not sabotage their own company.

agreed...its called consequences for your actions.

[dennis]

Apparently anyone against liberal ideology and what is left of it is a Nazi now. A new buzz word without actual meaning being thrown around. Nazis were defeated in the Second World War and few fringe groups label themselves as such.

[biguc]

Originally Posted by wags_in_the_peg

NO KIDDING! wow, that dude needs therapy

You're the one calling everyone here lazy government teat suckers. If you want to talk shit, talk. Don't hide behind ideological pablum

[rebl]

Originally Posted by EdwardTH

Nah I think if the head of your company is openly courting neo-nazi political parties in Europe and working with an administration that openly threatens Canada's sovereignty that is more than enough basis to sanction them. I'm sure GM execs all donated to Trump too but Musk actually held a position in the administration - which itself was an entry in a long list of ethically and legally dubious behaviour from him which is all the more reason to single out his company. Manitoba shouldn't do business with shady companies.

For all I know the heads of other auto companies also believe in replacement theory and other nazi talking points. But at least they are smart enough to keep their mouth shut about it and not sabotage their own company.

People have short attention spans. That's why posts like this are important; to remind people.

Pity the nation that acclaims the bully as hero, and that deems the glittering conqueror bountiful.

[Stormer]

Originally Posted by pspeid

The massive quantities of oil, potash and uranium under the ground that made those places "have" provinces was not put there by their "mindset". Manitoba has had conservative governments with the same "mindset" as Alberta and Saskatchewan, and during none of those times did the province have an economic boom to make it a "have" province.

Don't forget that MB was endowed with massive hydro resources that AB and SK do not have. Arguably these will be much more valuable than oil in the future. They also don't count towards the Have-not determination for transfer payments - mostly because PQ would go wild if they did. MB benefits from this.

[pspeid]

A segment with Manitoba interest within a CBC article about a critical minerals strategy with G7 countries:

"These new deals include an agreement with RCT Solutions, a German company that will partner with Canada's Sio Silica and others on a high-purity silica project and solar manufacturing hub in Manitoba."

This I'd like to hear more about. We know Sio Silica's checkered recent history in the province, but a partnership with this German company (which seems to be an engineering consulting firm that specializes in solar manufacturing) gives me hope that the past Sio Silica grab-and-dash "strategy" can be turned into something sustainable and grow manufacturing here in Manitoba.

Here's a link to the entire article:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-energy-supplier-strait-hormuz-9.7238708

[bomberjet]

Theres loads of potential for silica sand, separate from sio silica. I hope they fold up shop and get lost.

[pspeid]

Originally Posted by bomberjet

Theres loads of potential for silica sand, separate from sio silica. I hope they fold up shop and get lost.

Didn't Sio Silica stake hundreds of mineral claims for a lot of that stuff? I don't think it guarantees they have the right to extract it, but doesn't it mean they can sit on it and screw the province over until they get their own way?

From what I've glanced at on-line a province can retract a minerals claim through expropriation & compensation, or if the original claim if the holder fails to meet required assessment work, fails to meet deadlines or if Indigenous land titles/claims are not addressed.

I'd like to see Sio Silica get kicked out of the province and a local company work with RCT to get local industry going, but who knows what might be involved in that?

[bomberjet]

I'm not sure. There were at least 2 other public proposals for silica sand mining. There is another one being worked on currently (at my workplace) and there's at least one other company that is proposing to mine sand.

The Province is covered in silica sand. Sio silica is definitely not the be all end all. And based on what's happened to date. Ie: the former premier is now a board member coincidentally, they can pound sand.

[pspeid]

Originally Posted by bomberjet

I'm not sure. There were at least 2 other public proposals for silica sand mining. There is another one being worked on currently (at my workplace) and there's at least one other company that is proposing to mine sand.

The Province is covered in silica sand. Sio silica is definitely not the be all end all. And based on what's happened to date. Ie: the former premier is now a board member coincidentally, they can pound sand.

Thanks for the info! Good to hear Sio Silica isn't the only player here.

[FactaNV]

The concern is less the company and the material and more the process. The silica mine on the East shore of Lake Winnipeg is a pit mine, whatever. Sio wants to essentially frack for sand and risk contaminating the primary drinking aquifer for SE MB, NW MN and NE ND with surface bacteria or worse, with heavy metals and other toxic minerals like arsenic which are lousy in shale layers. Icing on the cake is they seem to be scummers from Alberta who dont care if they fuck over a bunch of Manitobans. They couldnt even be bothered to provide a proper environmental contingency plan apparently.

[bomberjet]

The method that PADCOM is mining potash in western MB is similar to what sio silica wants to do. Essentially drill a well and pump water in to displace the product. Solution mining.

[Stormer]

Originally Posted by bomberjet

The method that PADCOM is mining potash in western MB is similar to what sio silica wants to do. Essentially drill a well and pump water in to displace the product. Solution mining.

Solution mining is quicker to bring to production and requires much less capex than underground mining, but has higher operating costs. Silica would be similar to potash. They are not rare commodities so it is all about having a resource that is low cost to produce and ship (both are very heavy).

K+S built a solution mine at Bethune SK for $4.7B and are expanding it for another $3B. BHP Billiton went the other way with a massive underground mine at Jansen SK that should have way lower operating costs, but is now projected to cost CAD $22B to complete Phase II.

[bomberjet]

Ya that's right. I've done a lot of work on both those plants. Jansen output is projected to be about double of bethune's (8 million tpa vs 4million tpa). Jansen could expand to be more than double that.

Where as the padcom thing is trying to get to 20,000 tpa lol

[pspeid]

Feds invest in clean energy project in Manitoba:

https://www.canada.ca/en/natural-resourc...nd-clean-energy-project-in-manitoba.html

Nice to see a trickle of that sweet Federal funding make it's way into Manitoba, and great that it's a renewable energy project in an indigenous community (Sayisi Dene First Nation at Tadoule Lake).

Wasn't there also supposed to be an Indigenous-owned wind-farm near Neepawa? Is it hung up in Nimby Purgatory ("it'll spoil the view/what if the wind stops blowing/won't someone think about the children")?

[pspeid]

More Manitoba clean energy projects featuring Indigenous partnerships in the works:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/wind-farms-indigenous-partnerships-9.7246374

I think this could be a rare win-win. Indigenous communities add a reliable source of income, Mb Hydro adds capacity to the grid, Canadian wind turbine companies are used and we're doing something that is environmentally sustainable.

[pspeid]

A promising MB/SK announcement. Arctic Gateway teaming with Eldorado Gold Saskatchewan and Hudbay Minerals Inc. to ship through HB railway, continuation of shipping minerals through Churchill.

It's still a work in progress, but there does seem to be some forward movement in the area of northern mineral extraction and shipping. I found this section to be quite encouraging:

"AGG said the growing industrial activity across the corridor comes as the organization works with federal and provincial partners, including Canada’s Major Projects Office, on the next phase of modernization for the Hudson Bay Railway and the Port of Churchill.

That work includes advancing plans to upgrade the HBR to modern North American industrial weight standards capable of fully interoperating with Canada’s Class 1 rail network."



Here's a link to the full announcement:

https://www.arcticgateway.com/agg-news/n...kMEsJ5Bzt9kZZ_aem_x-s7SdPiST5x2nm3GkJJdA

[Stormer]

The Eldorado gold cargo is not actually gold, but rather copper ore concentrate, which means there is potential for significant tonnage. I believe the mine at McIlvenna Bay, SK has a nameplate capacity of 4900 tonnes/day. For now though, this is all going south from Flin Flon to ON rather than through Churchill. Hudbay is using Churchill.

[pspeid]

Feds apparently to announce choosing German/Norwegian sub construction contract:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEPbTIzjfXI

Why am I putting this in "other MB/SK developments"? Both the German/Norwegian and the South Korean bids included promises of huge investments in other parts of the Canadian economy. I have no idea if the German/Norwegian bid was just name dropping, but I believe their bid mentioned, at one time, some kind of investment in Churchill.

Is it serious? If so it's probably nothing major, though European interest in Churchill so far seems more substantial than Canadian interest. We'll have to see if anything comes of this.