THE Canada Thread (merged)

LoneSnark · Intermediate Crude Joined: Nov 15, 2007 Posts: 500

Yes, we are setting records against some currencies (not sure which ones), but we are not setting records against the loonie:

As of today, $1 US is equivalent to $1.0119 Canadian. Yes, you must go back to the 1970s to reach such exchange rates, but they are not unheard of.

Besides, is there any doubt that the current low dollar is well beyond fundamentals? Books and other goods cost more in Canada, they still do, that was never an exchange rate issue. The loonie is simply worth less in Canada than the dollar is in America. This is why the current account is shifting so quickly towards surplus for America (from 7% of GDP deficit last year to 5% this year) and so quickly towards deficit for Canada: the current exchange rate is not inflation driven, as such it is temporary and will go away as soon as the imbalance that created it goes away.

FoxV · Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 12:51 pm Post subject: Re: Canada Cuts!

uNkNowN ElEmEnt

It's been 99 days and thousands of docketed legal and accounting hours since the Pan Canadian Committee of investors was formed to oversee the restructuring of the third-party, asset-backed commercial paper (ABCP) market. Are investors further ahead? Not really. At press time the various parties were still squirreled away with a gun to their head trying to hammer out the "details" of a restructuring term sheet.

Believe it or not, getting to this stage has been the easy part. The real legal fun starts when, if ever, the committee issues a plan. That's because investors holding the notes will have to decide whether to sign onto the package or unleash their legal attack dogs and sue.

Doing both likely won't be an option. That's because the price of admission to the settlement table will include waivers and releases not to sue the parties that created this mess.

Assuming the committee delivers, most investors will likely hold their nose, sign on the dotted line and cross their fingers, hoping to recover as much as possible. But for those investors who face 50% losses or more, there's little incentive at this stage to sign away your rights to sue. Expect to see a scorched-earth policy from some disgruntled investors.

In fact, don't be surprised to see some type of class-action suit. One major player in the ABCP saga has already approached a leading class-action law firm and told it to keep itself available for a potential lawsuit, concerned at the prospects of where this is heading.

We've already seen signs of how messy it can get in two suits launched to date. Aastra Technologies sued its investment management firm, HSBC Securities Canada, for negligent misrepresentation in selling ABCP.

The more interesting suit involves a Vancouver businessman who sued Canaccord Capital Corp. for selling him ABCP. He alleges negligence, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty and negligent misrepresentation.

Canaccord denied liability in a statement of defence, but in an eyebrow-raising legal manoeuvre, it also issued a third-party notice to Scotia Capital Inc., and Scotia Capitaux Inc., manufacturers of some of the ABCP that Canaccord sold. The notice warns that Canaccord will seek to recover money from Scotia for any damages it has to pay. Canaccord alleges that Scotia was negligent, engaged in negligent misrepresentations, breached its contract and fiduciary duties and breached securities laws in the marketing and sales of the ABCP.

These allegations have yet to be heard by a judge, but you see where this can head. Brokerages face the most exposure now, but they will quickly drag in the institutions that created the market, which are looking to be shielded from litigation in any restructuring proposal.

Litigation likely won't stop there. Chatter in legal circles is how long Dominion Bond Rating Service can avoid a legal writ. As the only agency to rate the ABCP, it wears a rather large bull's eye on its back.

Perhaps the juiciest piece of litigation is whether the conduits, assuming they survive, will ever be in a position to sue the banks that failed to provide the liquidity needed in the first place to roll over the paper.

This litigation will likely never see the light of day for a variety of reasons, the biggest being that banks likely won't co-operate without assurance they are not going to be sued by the entities that they will effectively help bail out.

Given that $35-billion is at stake, the final price tag for the workout could easily hit $200-million or more. For investors, those few extra basis point they got in return for buying ABCP is looking very expensive.
http://www.financialpost.com/story.html?id=169910
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Canadian_Roughneck · Coal Joined: Jan 16, 2008 Posts: 1

I just came across a site that has some good industry information. It's called www.canadianwellsite.com.

Has anyone seen it before? Its very useful. Found a Job there in the Classifieds a few weeks ago.

Very Happy

Canadian_ROughNeck

Newfie · Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2008 7:34 pm Post subject: Re: CANADA THREAD

Bytesmiths · Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2008 11:13 pm Post subject: Re: CANADA THREAD

I've been having a "Canadian Moment" for a few weeks now -- unreasonable neighbors. I never had this problem in the US, although once I had a neighbor mention that there was a "meth lab" in the neighborhood, while glancing suspiciously at a 55 gallon drum labeled "METHANOL" that I use to make biodiesel...

Anyway, these neighbors are light sleepers, and strongly objected to our rooster. We were in the process of taking good-faith amelioration measures -- stacking straw bales around the coop, putting a pond liner over the fiberglass top to make it darker in there, even moving the entire coop further away from our neighbors -- when they called the cops. Or more correctly, the "bylaw control officer."

So Wolfgang came over, asked us about our "farm status" (in process of application), and a bit about what we were doing, and we had a lovely chat about farming. I introduced him to Permaculture, and he said he would come over and get some biodiesel from me for his truck.

As my research had revealed, we were covered by British Columbia's Right To Farm Act.

This is something worth researching in your area; many states and provinces have something similar. BC's appears to be stronger in favour of the farmer than many other such laws.

Simply put, if you are in an area zoned or designated for agriculture (we are) and you have a certain level of farming income ($2,500 for our size parcel, which we have), and follow "standard" or "innovative farm practices," (we do) you are protected from "nuiscance" complaints from neighbors regarding noise, dust, odours, etc. from your farm operations.

"Now I'll go over and tell the city people," Wolfgang said in his German accent, "how things work around here."

I imagine this must have caused some fuming, because about a week or two later, the building inspector came over and said, "We've had a complaint about some kind of 'ecovillage' going in here." He then asked one of our Advisory Council members, who was renting the cottage, "How many people are living here?"

We sometimes have lots of people here, during planting or harvest, but only had one at the time, which I guess is "below regulatory concern." The inspector looked around, as though seeking out something he could find fault with.

He spotted our renter's 19' yurt, and asked what it was used for, and if he could have a look. "It's for meditation and storage," our renter truthfully stated. The inspector and assistant measured the tent, and looked inside, and only then noticed it was on a wooden platform.

"This has to come down," he said, "It's on a structure built without a permit." It turns out that if it had been on the ground, or if it had been on a concrete pad, it would be legal, but because it was on plywood and 2"x6" boards, it could not be built without a permit.

I've been corresponding with our regional district elected official, trying to ascertain if we are the victim of "selective enforcement" and "regulatory abuse." I don't really blame the building inspector -- he's just doing his job -- but there has to be some limit to the regulatory scrutiny we have to endure, just because a neighbor is pissed off.

Obligatory disclaimer: I am making an assumption that we have just one neighbor problem, because most of the others have expressed support for what we are doing. Complaints are anonymous by law. But we had an "open house" last year, and every neighbor attended and had punch and home-made muffins and got a tour and were able to express their concerns and/or support. But that also included the neighbor who complained about the rooster, so I guess it could be anyone. Whatever happened to "live and let live?"
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threadbear · Expert Joined: Jan 22, 2005 Posts: 6773

Is the rooster waking them up early in the morning? At this time of year, that shouldn't be a problem.

Bytesmiths · Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2008 1:24 am Post subject: Re: CANADA THREAD

Nicholai · Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2008 4:06 pm Post subject: Re: CANADA THREAD

Canada used to be a country.

Now it's just a bunch of random people with jobs and no real direction.

It's too bad.

Blacksmith · Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2008 6:07 pm Post subject: Re: CANADA THREAD

keehah · Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2008 6:22 pm Post subject: Re: CANADA THREAD

Good luck with that Bytesmiths.

I was forced off a property because of poor neighbours. I was doing too much without a full sized house on the lot (I was not living there). According to the bylaws when fully enforced, one cannot even store a 2x4 on a property without having at least a >1,000sqft house in place first.

I bought an old place down the street. Luckily I actually made some money with the timing of the bubble between buying the new and selling the old. And my new neighbours are doing much more 'wrong' than I ever did at my old property. The difference is I am a better neighbour.