Crude oil tankers dock at the Trans Mountain Westridge Marine Terminal, where crude oil from the expanded Trans Mountain Pipeline is loaded onto tankers, in Burnaby, B.C.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
Alberta advantage?
Re “If Alberta’s new pipeline has no private backer, it’s Ottawa’s fault. Ottawa must fix it” (Report on Business, June 29): I’m well-versed in Alberta’s grand tradition of blaming the federal government for all its problems, having lived there for the first 40 years of my life. But I would say this ode to the fossil fuel industry takes complaining to a laughable level.
Alberta consistently squandered its royalty riches during boom times. As proof, look at the Alberta Heritage Trust Fund, which sat at $31.9-billion at the end of 2025, compared to more than US$2-trillion in the Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund.
A new pipeline for a declining heavy oil industry – in a dangerously overheated world due to burning fossil fuels – would make no sense economically or environmentally. Please stop blaming Ottawa for reality.
Erin Ellis Vancouver
It is argued that in the name of sovereignty and security, Ottawa should own the risk of any cost overruns on future pipeline projects.
In such a relationship, the government should indeed think more like private capital about risk. Accordingly, cost overruns backstopped by Ottawa should take the form of equity ownership commensurate with its percentage of a project’s final cost.
And in the name of diversification, sovereignty and security, a partnership like this also should be employed in finally cutting out foreign intermediaries and building refineries for our raw petroleum product right here in Canada.
Edward Carson Toronto
Go nuclear
Re “Nuclear plans” (Letters, June 29): The letter-writer uses four examples of countries purportedly transitioning to renewables.
Yes, Denmark harnesses its location and small size to have a large percentage of wind-generated energy.
China? Yes, it is forging ahead with solar power. It also leads the world in new nuclear construction.
Pakistan? Sure, it is using solar panels. It is also building yet another nuclear plant as part of an energy strategy to continue expanding nuclear capacity.
And, yes, green-wannabe California, which continues to import a significant percentage of its energy, including nuclear energy.
Nuclear energy, then, is an integral part of the energy mix that many forward-looking countries rely upon.
Mark Fields North Vancouver
On AI
Re “Hamilton just hit pause on all AI data centres. This is big” (Report on Business, June 26): Municipalities should be thoughtful about digital infrastructure development, but they should not close the door to opportunities that bring jobs and investment. Today’s debate is about how Canada will participate in the future of economic growth – or watch investment go elsewhere.
The redevelopment of Steelport in Hamilton is a rare opportunity to transform dormant industrial land with legacy infrastructure into a place for innovation and employment. Rigorous federal and provincial safeguards govern data centres, including requirements for power, water and noise.
At Steelport, data centres represent a minority of the site and can be developed responsibly. Steelport already has power and has committed to using, at minimum, non-evaporative cooling systems requiring much less water.
After four years of consultation with the city, a moratorium on this project undermines investment confidence and delays growth. Canada cannot lead in artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing or innovation without the infrastructure that powers it.
Steven Dejonckheere, managing director, Slate Asset Management; Mississauga
Train dreams
Re “Is high-speed rail the best way to spend $90-billion?” (Report on Business, June 26): In 1980, as a young Ontario information officer, I sat in on the meetings of a committee looking into the feasibility of high-speed rail between Windsor and Quebec City.
My job was to help publicize anything that came out of the committee’s deliberations. Nothing did.
Thirty years later at a consulting engineering firm, some of my colleagues updated high-speed rail studies done over the years to reflect current economic and environmental factors. Their work went on the shelf, too.
I don’t expect a completed high-speed rail project in my lifetime. If it is, at the projected cost of $60-billion to $90-billion, surely it would be cheaper to buy anyone who wanted to travel quickly between Toronto and Montreal a ticket to fly from an expanded Billy Bishop Airport.
The proposed plan is to go through rural and environmentally sensitive lands north of Kingston. The “No Alto” signs are already appearing.
Peter Overton Kingston, Ont.
History has shown Canadians that visionary projects are often unsuccessful and huge costs to taxpayers.
We need only look at the costs of expropriations and dislocations for LeBreton Flats in Ottawa, Mirabel airport in Montreal and Pickering airport in Toronto. Each was launched with much enthusiasm but no business case, ending in total failures.
Similarly, Alto does not seem to have a business case. Consider Via Rail’s annual ridership of 4.4 million: To increase ridership to 24 million by 2055 for Alto (and assuming it is up and running in five years after approval in 2029) means ridership would have to increase by nearly one million passengers annually. Never in the annals of corporate growth has that kind of rate occurred.
Similarly, any aggressive revenue projections using reasonable growth factors does not justify capital costs and expectations of return on investment.
Alto looks like a boondoggle like its predecessors.
Michael Grass Perth, Ont.
Rank ‘em
Re “The day that Canada was at the centre of the soccer world’s consciousness” (Sports, June 29): As a casual fan of “football,” I am wondering about FIFA’s playoff system.
With the current format, Canada (ranked 30th) played South Africa (60), while Morocco (7) played Netherlands (8). Bizarre.
I’d suggest FIFA rank the 32 remaining teams from No. 1 to No. 32 and have the No. 1 team play the No. 32 team, etc. This way, you might even have No. 1 vs No. 2 in the final.
Don Paetkau Winnipeg
Play it again
Re “Blood, Sweat & Tears singer David Clayton-Thomas had a rocky road to stardom: ‘Music saved me’” (Online, June 25 ): In 1966, David Clayton-Thomas released an anti-Vietnam song called Brainwashed. It was the first and only time I have heard a lyric censored in a song.
About 25 years later after his stint with Blood, Sweat & Tears was over, I found him singing solo in a small jazz club at Bay Street and Yorkville Avenue in Toronto. It was during a weekday in winter and there was me and three other people in the audience. He sang the most beautiful, soulful rendition of Simon & Garfunkel’s Homeward Bound.
I never met David Clayton-Thomas but, boy, do I remember his impact on me.
Steven Brinder Toronto
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