Military chief warns China and Russia are 'at war with the West' and Canada is not ready

[FJAG]

Yeah, I grew up in Hamilton, and it's amazing how much the manufacturing industries were deliberately undercut over the years, with support at all levels of government dropping in favour of 'service' industry jobs in things like financial services and other 'clean' industries. Meanwhile that requires a massive investment in infrastructure to support all the commuting to the GTA, while very little direct returns to the tax base from the service companies (compared to a factory, which will have fairly high property taxes and things like taxes on large power usage, on top of payroll taxes for all the employees).

Makes no sense to me, especially in a country so rich in natural resources. The UK has done the same, so was really weird to me they didn't better protect the City financial industry in the Brexit agreement (but maybe they have more opportunity for growth in money laundering and tax evasion, vice more above board services).

Meanwhile the same cities are allowing building of McMansions on some of the most fertile farming areas in Canada, as well as in flood plains and other high risk areas. Weird how covering over all the earth with concrete and ashphalt, then putting houses in low areas that used to be dried out will contribute to high rates of localized flooding.

I grew up in Scarborough in the late 50s and 60s and from the Bluffs you could see all the way to the blast furnaces in Hamilton turning out the steel that fed a multitude of manufacturing plants around Toronto which were all powered by cheap hydro power.

The blast furnaces like the cheap hydro are all gone. So are most of those manufacturing plants.

In 1904 Wilfred Laurier said: "The nineteenth century was the century of the United States. I think we can claim that it is Canada that shall fill the twentieth century."

For a while there it was true - and then we took our eye off the ball.

 

[Kat Stevens]

Look at Japan or Germany. They are manufacturing superpowers but they've just made their factories super efficient, leveraging the latest technology.

Wolfsburg Volkswagen Plant - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

We sold off all our World Class companies for pennies on the dollar.

It's worse than that; we just drove them away.

 

[QV]

It basically took this war for the Germans to realize how insane Germany's reliance on Russian energy was. Up until now, they voted for a leader who said it was "great for environment" to do things like get rid of nuclear power and buy all the energy from Russia. Only now, after funding Putin's war machine for years and billions of dollars, with the energy from Russia basically cut off and pipelines blown with gas escaping into the ocean and atmosphere, are they finally waking up to how dumb and predictable the entire thing was. And how much damage to the environment did they cause by basically funding the war? The damage to the environment from the war is clearly going to be substantial, although I doubt we will ever see public acceptance by any Western governments of just how stupid that entire plan was or how badly things unfolded or how they actually accelerated the decline of our planet by actioning these policies.

The worlds population has gone from 2.3 billion in 1945 at the end of WWII up to 7.7 billion currently. That's a lot of people in a short amount of time. I personally think the human race is causing a negative impact on the planet, I believe it, it makes sense to me, but when small populations like Canada and the USA are literally GIVING our money and quality of life to the worlds worst polluters, autocrats, and straight up thugs, to destroy the planet without any legitimate regulation at a much faster pace than we would, it make me wonder how does that make any sense? Is it possible that my views are actually more "alarmist" than those who want a "cleaner, greener, future" while staying on the current track that could possibly lead to armageddon if the situation is really as bad as some environmental scientist believe?

You would think the "green" crowd would be the first ones to see reality of the situation and start protesting that we stop spending places like China and Russia where epic environmental damage is commonplace, reverse track, produce our own energy until we find better solutions, and stop funding the worlds biggest polluters and warmongers to destroy this planet faster than we could do it ourselves.

At the end of the day, we're going to be damaging the environment for a while to come, it sucks but it's reality, until we transition to new permanent green alternatives down the road. The way we're doing this now is where we pay the worlds worst regimes to do the polluting for us in the worst ways imaginable, and then they use the money we paid them for more polluting and building militaries to use against us and other democracies--- this to me seems like the worst option.

Absolutely right…. But come on, you can say it…. Say it with me Mills Bomb: “Trump was right”.

 

[OldSolduer]

I grew up in Scarborough in the late 50s and 60s and from the Bluffs you could see all the way to the blast furnaces in Hamilton turning out the steel that fed a multitude of manufacturing plants around Toronto which were all powered by cheap hydro power.

The blast furnaces like the cheap hydro are all gone. So are most of those manufacturing plants.

In 1904 Wilfred Laurier said: "The nineteenth century was the century of the United States. I think we can claim that it is Canada that shall fill the twentieth century."

For a while there it was true - and then we took our eye off the ball.

How true, but hard times like WWI and WW2 and Korea make good people, while good times can make weak people.

 

[RedFive]

…fed by Canadian coal ripped out of open pit mines in the Rocky Mountains, like here in Elk Valley, B.C.

View attachment 74089

You couldn’t make up this insanely-hypocritical BS if you tried…

I know somebody who works for the company doing open pit coal mining in Tumbler Ridge, BC. She does permitting and environmental work.

Yes, it looks horrible but the amount of permitting, environmental work and rehabilitation required to continue their operation is astounding. It's not ideal or pretty, but it contributes greatly to the economy of BC.

 

[Good2Golf]

And all the CO2 chuffing out of Chinese steel mills doesn’t come back over Canada….unlike the horrid way that horrible Albertans just rip into the earth with no regard for the environment and are rightly persecuted by the Federal government because…no benefit to China.

 

[GK .Dundas]

Didn't we try to lay up some vessels about a decade ago, something like half the MCDV fleet.and.about two to three of the frigates?
And for this reason now that I think of it.

 

[Mills Bomb]

Absolutely right…. But come on, you can say it…. Say it with me Mills Bomb: “Trump was right”.

HA. Trump's advisors were right about certain things, although, unlike you, I don't think being right about certain things makes him a great president.

You Trumper types seem to love a good excuse to bring up anything he did remotely right, even when it's things others aren't even disagreeing with. Even when Trump isn't being discussed. You're probably not going to convince many people to bring back Trump just because most military types do believe things like domestic energy production should be a priority, or equal NATO military spending, these things are pretty universally accepted as good ideas by the types of people who frequent these types of forums and I don't think I've ever seen anyone go after Trump for that. For the list of things he did right, there's a lot he really messed up also. Trump, like most politicians, isn't some kind of binary debate; one point doesn't equal Trump good or Trump bad. But let's keep it to the Trump thread.

 

[childs56]

And all the CO2 chuffing out of Chinese steel mills doesn’t come back over Canada….

Hmm

unlike the horrid way that horrible Albertans just rip into the earth with no regard for the environment and are rightly persecuted by the Federal government because…no benefit to China.

Are you trying to be funny or are you for real?

 

[Czech_pivo]

I grew up in Scarborough in the late 50s and 60s and from the Bluffs you could see all the way to the blast furnaces in Hamilton turning out the steel that fed a multitude of manufacturing plants around Toronto which were all powered by cheap hydro power.

The blast furnaces like the cheap hydro are all gone. So are most of those manufacturing plants.

In 1904 Wilfred Laurier said: "The nineteenth century was the century of the United States. I think we can claim that it is Canada that shall fill the twentieth century."

For a while there it was true - and then we took our eye off the ball.

I’d say we poked our eye out.

 

[Quirky]

Are you trying to be funny or are you for real?

I've never seen someone miss the sarcasm before like this.

 

[Good2Golf]

I've never seen someone miss the sarcasm before like this.

Maybe I should have doubled down on my use of smilies?

 

[Good2Golf]

Hmm

Are you trying to be funny or are you for real?

Totally serious…just had some dust in the corner of my eye…

 

[daftandbarmy]

Maybe I should have doubled down on my use of smilies?

Or picked on BC more, because we produce wayyyyyyy more coal than steenkin' 'Berta

A tale of two provinces: how coal mining plowed ahead in the B.C. Rockies while Alberta hit the brakes​

While Alberta is a coal-rich province (nearly half of the province sits atop coal deposits), B.C. produces some ten times the volume of metallurgical coal — much of it from massive mountaintop-removal coal mines in the Rockies — and is one of the world’s largest exporters of the so-called black gold. Coal is B.C.’s most valuable mined commodity.

A tale of two provinces: how coal mining plowed ahead in the B.C. Rockies while Alberta hit the brakes | The Narwhal

Mountaintop-removal coal mining is much more prevalent in B.C. than Alberta. To understand why, you need to go back decades to unfurl a story that defies stereotypes of environmental values

thenarwhal.ca

 

[Good2Golf]

Because BC is preferentially treated by the Feds because they’re feeding the voracious CO2-generating appetite of Chinese industry, while Alberta is trying to be a responsible resource steward and support Canadian and western energy consumers?

 

[rmc_wannabe]

Because BC is preferentially treated by the Feds because they’re feeding the voracious CO2-generating appetite of Chinese industry, while Alberta is trying to be a responsible resource steward and support Canadian and western energy consumers?

That's lot of words to say the CCP bought up most of the Lower Mainland, but couldn't get a foothold in Fort Mac....

 

[daftandbarmy]

Because BC is preferentially treated by the Feds because they’re feeding the voracious CO2-generating appetite of Chinese industry, while Alberta is trying to be a responsible resource steward and support Canadian and western energy consumers?

Um, no.

BC was opened up and run by the mining industry since before the Cariboo Gold Rush of 1858, which sparked the creation of the Province of BC. There were very few people living in the mountainous areas of South Eastern BC, so the miners didn't have to worry about public consultation much. They still don't.

Before China, BC coal was being sold to Japan in the 60s & 70s to fuel their 'economic miracle' and they ramped up like crazy to meet that demand and opened up more coal mines in Tumbler Ridge Tumbler Ridge - Wikipedia

Alberta' was always a ranching/ farming province first and it's flat, so the public has always had lots of access to everywhere. Coal and oil turned up late to the party so the ranchers and recreational users were somewhat more militant as a result. Canmore used to be a coal mining town, for example.

 

[Good2Golf]

Your historical journey of BC coal usage doesn’t change how it is being preferentially treated as an export commodity to China and other Asian manufacturing nations today. The fact remains that BC rips into the Rocky Mountains within its own very favourable environmental impact assessment and licensing regime, to extract huge amounts of coal and a large portion of the output heads to one of the largest CO2 producers on the planet.

 

[daftandbarmy]

Your historical journey of BC coal usage doesn’t change how it is being preferentially treated as an export commodity to China and other Asian manufacturing nations today. The fact remains that BC rips into the Rocky Mountains within its own very favourable environmental impact assessment and licensing regime, to extract huge amounts of coal and a large portion of the output heads to one of the largest CO2 producers on the planet.

Yes!

 

[Colin Parkinson]

Your historical journey of BC coal usage doesn’t change how it is being preferentially treated as an export commodity to China and other Asian manufacturing nations today. The fact remains that BC rips into the Rocky Mountains within its own very favourable environmental impact assessment and licensing regime, to extract huge amounts of coal and a large portion of the output heads to one of the largest CO2 producers on the planet.

BC coal is really high quality, very little goes to power generation, a percentage of it goes to make carbon filters for water purifiers, the rest is for making steel.