Polynerd

If you haven't heard by now, I'll tell you - The Canadian Revenue Agency is auditing Tides Canada and its charitable status.

This is the logical extention of calling certain unnamed charitable organizations money launderers and radicals.

Tides Canada and other charities do what countless other charitable organizations do. They follow the rules of the CRA in dispensing their funds and providing tax receipts.

This type of harassment is a slippery slope which is why an organization like Imagine Canada - an organization that is as vanilla as they come - issued a letter to Environment Minister Peter Kent and Prime Minister Stephen Harper urging them to retract and apologize for their vague statements about money laundering charities.

Whether you agree or disagree with the eventual recipients and purposes of those funds I would encourage the citizens of Canada (perhaps Vivian Krause) to train their high powered research skills to the money funneled towards institutions like the Fraser Institute or the Canadian Constitution Foundation. Because I'm positive, if I had three months to spare, I could dig through the books of those organizations and come up with some interesting definitions of funds being used for "political purposes".

By any reasonable (or unreasonable) interpretation of Canadian tax law any institution that does any political advocacy whatsoever could easily be defined as having used more than ten percent of its funds for nefarious "political purposes".

LOL you say? Let's take a walk down Canada Revenue Act Way shall we. The definition of political purposes in the Canada Revenue Act is pretty broad.

To wit

"Political purpose — The courts consider the following to be political purposes:
    •    to support a political party or candidate for public office; or
    •    to seek to retain, oppose, or change the law or policy or decisions of any level of government in Canada or a foreign country."

TO SEE TO CHANGE THE LAW OR POLICY OR DECISIONS OF ANY LEVEL OF GOVERNMENT IN CANADA.

Wait a second, what's this I found here? Why, it's the mission statement of the Fraser Institute.

"Our vision is a free and prosperous world where individuals benefit from greater choice, competitive markets, and personal responsibility.
Our mission is to measure, study, and communicate the impact of competitive markets and government interventions on the welfare of individuals."

Emphasis mine.

I wonder if "government interventions" have anything to do with law, policy or decisions at any level of government?

And look at this. It seems that if you donate to the Fraser Institute you get a charitable tax receipt.

"The benefits of becoming a donor
By donating to the Fraser Institute, you are supporting talented people, leading research, and widespread impact.
All supporters receive:
    •    The Fraser Institute's annual report
    •    Fraser Frontline (quarterly newsletter)
    •    Charitable receipts in accordance with Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)"

Good to know that little bit about IRS tax receipts. It's a funny thing. The US, just like Canada, issues tax receipts for people who donate to charities who do work outside of their home country.

In fact, for a measly $5000 to $9,999 I can become a member of the Chairman's Circle. I receive all the benefits of the Executive Circle and special Chairman's Circle invitation and access to renowned speakers and Institute leaders.

Call now...

_________________

I write this in support of the BlackOut SpeakOut campaign. I would encourage you to join a committed group of organizations representing millions of Canadians. Let your MPs know that you will not stand for this aggression (had to end it with a Big Lebowski quote).

_______________

Really important disclaimer - I am not a tax lawyer. Feel free to correct me in the comments. I seek knowledge.

Keeping an eye on - Co-Production: Geothermal Energy from Oilfield Waste Water ow.ly/afBEW

Read this, by Sara Horowitz: http://bit.ly/IhtKSY "The Dream of the 1890s: Why Old Mutualism Is Making a New Comeback"

Don't let your municipalities keep kicking the can down the road - http://ow.ly/adcEt

Must-read from @picardonhealth: Harper’s disregard for aboriginal health. http://tgam.ca/D54N

Mainstreaming the idea of breaking up the too big to fail banks - http://ow.ly/abJ7v

New Financing May Help Cities Adopt Smart Parking http://www.wired.com/autopia/2012/04/new-financing-may-help-cities-adopt-smart-parking/

I'm fascinated by the Jefferson Bible - http://ow.ly/aaxtZ

What would Alberta look like with a government guided by Ayn Rand's philosophy? http://bit.ly/HWjcVG

Best piece I've read on the news biz in a while. Read it twice. Thanks. @mleewelch http://bit.ly/Ht4y8m

What sustainability rankings say, and don’t, about oil and gas | Alberta Oil http://bit.ly/HmFjTs

Top 5 regrets of the dying - http://ow.ly/a7BC7

Bureaucracy making downtown Edmonton less fun? Perish the thought - http://ow.ly/a6FXd

The Rob Anders Guide to Political Leadership: http://www.unlimitedmagazine.com/2012/04/the-rob-anders-guide-to-leadership/

The one small problem with libertarians is that they don't understand the world at all. http://ow.ly/a2FOt

Marx: 193 years later - http://ow.ly/a0NZh

Stop listening to what banks say and concern yourselves with what they actually do - http://ow.ly/a0O5O

Nenshi pwns - http://ow.ly/9TvZV

Regular public transit links from the airport to an LRT stop are encouraging signs that Edmonton is getting it. The name of the bus is cute too. http://ow.ly/9TpCO

Instead of some fancy coalition could we, perhaps, talk about the failure of prohibition here? http://ow.ly/9ToxK

A Global Network for Schoolyard Gardens http://nyti.ms/GSvUbz

"Feed-in tariffs don't work" well, yes they do. And quite effectively. To wit http://is.gd/OE5Iu6

Herb/strawberry tower for the win - http://ow.ly/9OWef

Terrifying work from Mac McClelland - I Was a Warehouse Wage Slave - http://ow.ly/9OVzB

Report on Business with nearly 3000 words on Canada's dirty little sub-prime secret - http://ow.ly/9OCHm

The Curious Case of Canadian Control Works vs Fortis Alberta - http://ow.ly/9OX0G

India's supply of asbestos comes mostly from Canada http://goo.gl/Scx4t

Check it out. It's small strawbale porn.

http://duncankinney.tumblr.com/

There is a vast gulf between what's called business and entrepreneurship.

The CEOs, executive this and thats, directors, senior VPs and so on of corporations are not entrepreneurs who risk their own capital to set up companies. The entrepreneur that is so often feted in Alberta. No, for the most part these people are bureaucrats, technocrats and salarymen. Look at the career path of a utility company or oil major CEO. They've been with large, well established companies pretty much their entire career. 

These people are no more entrepreneurs than the gang running for the leadership of the New Democratic Party (BTW, vote Cullen, I did).

Speaking of the NDP the one area in my mind where they consistently fall down is economics. It's important for them to distinguish between business and markets. Business aims to concentrate power and wealth at the top of a hierarchy. Properly functioning markets disperse power. To business sky high profits are a good thing. Viewed through a pro-market orientation sky high profits would indicate a broken or improperly functioning market. 

In this respect pro-business policies are indeed diametrically opposed to pro-market policies. And it's precisely where the NDP should position themselves.

A pro-business government gives tax breaks and subsidies to favoured industries, A pro-markets government prefers a level playing field with a wide tax base with low tax rates. 

A pro-business goverment favours locked down copyright, IP and patent laws that entrench incumbents and make the cost of entry by new companies extremely high. A pro-market government would favour looser IP, copyright and patent laws in order to drop the barrier to entry and to encourage continuous innovation and creative destruction.

A pro-business government is for increased red-tape and regulation that prices out small firms. A pro-market government will not be.

A pro-business government tolerates or encourages mergers and oligopolies and discourages foreign investment. A pro-market government worries about the accumulation of monopoly power andthe effect on consumers and innovation that happens with oligopolies. A pro-market government encourages the freer flow of capital. While that might be scary to the regular NDPer out there there are ways to do it right.

A pro-business government will be relaxed about wasteful spending on procurement and infrastructure. The NDP can position themselves as against bloated public spending on the fact that it distorts the market.

In many ways to be pro-business is to be anti-market. 

If and when the great Liberal-Democrat merger happens and the party ticks to the centre and the left presents a credible challenge to the Harper-led Conservatives in 2018/2019 or so they're going to have to articulate coherent economic policy, something that hasn't been their strong suit. However, by favouring pro-market, pro-entrepreneur economic policy the future Liberal-Democrats (I've also heard the Progressive Party name bandied about) can secure new voters while also railing against an entrenched, gross, no-doubt bloated Conservative/industrial complex. They're on the side of the little guy, the upstart. 

While they're at it they might want to head back to their roots and start singing the praises of co-operatives and writing tax and economic policy that would encourage co-operative development on a national level. Co-operatives are the simplest way for broad swathes of people to benefit from corporate capitalism, a system that doesn't appear to be leaving us anytime soon.

I've started a new Tumblr. It's about sexy small strawbale structures. The first post - http://t.co/VRpxUkfo

McMaher continue with the solid work. Identity of mystery employee deepens #robocall puzzle: http://bit.ly/GzEUSQ | Who is Rick McKnight?

India's supply of asbestos comes mostly from Canada. A documentary from Al Jazeera http://goo.gl/Scx4t 

The This American Life/Mike Daisey retraction - http://t.co/7KGQOblb

Conrad Nobert of GGreen Edmonton highlights an interesting product called Razorpit whoich should help with my massive razor costs. This head don't shave itself you know -  http://greenedmonton.ca/razorpit

The Wildrose plays to their civil libertarian all caps wackadoodle base - http://ow.ly/9HZ9j

If you're under 35 and thinking about buying a house, read this - http://ow.ly/9Gcxs

The Dream of the '90s, the 1890s: Why Old Mutualism Is Making a New Comeback http://bit.ly/Aqeh0q

Lessons for @CalgaryCoop here - Big Times for B.C. Food Co-ops - http://ow.ly/9EYZW

Design the sweetest, most energy efficient house ever and goombas will still leave their plasmas on - http://ow.ly/9C65f

From Tyler Hamilton -  Ontario electricity emissions down 2/3rds in 8 years. Why can't coal-addicted AB do same? http://bit.ly/zjXIYN

Municipal Feed-In Tariffs in Alberta? They might be closer than you think http://ht.ly/1hRfTq

An encouraging sign. BC set to rewrite rules governing the structure of social enterprises. Needed in AB as well http://ow.ly/9uHsH

From The Economist - Better ways of storing energy are needed if electricity systems are to become cleaner and more efficient http://ow.ly/9thbn

The idea of a tool lending co-operative is really awesome. Check out the website of the Vancouver Tool Library http://ow.ly/9tges

Hilarious. Clinic set up to neuter nearly 200 Canmore rabbits http://bit.ly/wsi9xh

Occupy Your Assets: http://tinyurl.com/78g7jtm

Christopher Glazek makes a hell of a case for prison abolition. http://ow.ly/97bF6

What co-ops and the Occupy movement can learn from each other - http://ow.ly/9625d

Love that #yyc planners are considering gondolas as part of the urban public transit mix - http://ow.ly/96VVT

The creative re-use of older, inner city schools is an important issue. Glad to see someone is getting it right http://ow.ly/97lNP - Another blog post will be coming on this soon.

Amongst global financial uncertainty the humble credit union makes its case http://ow.ly/97rH6

A rare swing and a miss from the Conservative Party - Ottawa moves to retool cybercrime bill - http://ow.ly/97vx3

Harper's incoherent crime policy - http://ow.ly/95oZh

The Three Logics of Climate Politics, a must read by @ghoberg http://ow.ly/93nG6

Edmonton Bicycle Commuters’ group gears up for north side! http://www.edmontonjournal.com/Bicycle+commuters+group+gears+north+side/6142326/story.html

Yes, I brought out the Vote Goat.

Hi there

If you've been here in the past month or so you've seen me talk about the possibilities when we invest locally, the importance of banking local and why I want to be a director of Servus Credit Union.

Well, the time has come, the Servus director elections are upon us. You can vote by heading to your nearest branch. Members who signed up before Dec. 31, 2011 who want to vote have to call 1.877.378.8728, validate who they are and get a voting number. Once that's done head here, enter your number and vote.

Thank you so much and if you have anything to say or ask please leave it in the comments.

Cheers

-dk

Photo courtesy of Jeremy Richardson

Many thanks to the Edmonton Journal crew (@Ryan_Jackson and @KerryPowell specifically) for getting the presentations from Pecha Kucha 12 onto the internet.

Speaking in front of 500 plus people about why you should join a credit union and the culture change I'm looking to start at Servus capped off a busy week as it was just two days after the Local Money Summit. While banking and credit union governance might not be the easiest subject to craft an interesting speech around the crowd was engaged and response was positive. It was no acrobatic partner yoga, but then few things are.

Click here to watch my presentation on banking local.

The highlights of the evening for me were Councillor Ben Henderson's presentation on his trip to the Arctic Circle and how Edmonton can become a successful winter city and Chris Falconer and Owen Peterson's presentation on bread, the stave of life. Very high energy, very awesome. Click here to check out all of the PKN12 presenations. Check out Mack Male's recap of the night as well.