Lots Of Interesting Stories Now

It is a lot of fun seeing various outlets on the Internet where interesting matters are revealed.  Clearly, I look for situations that have an impact on the area where I live. That is only normal as far as I am concerned and allows me to write stories about them.  However, I also find other situations in other areas that intrigue me and I do want to reveal those to you, dear reader.

In addition, I like to provide my point of view when doing an article about a story that I have read. Of course, I do not expect that every reader of my Blogs will agree with me but that is okay too.  Who knows, I might be able to convince those whose opinion differs that they may want to think about a different point of view and maybe even consider changing their perspective.

Here are some articles that I have seen and about which I hope you will find of interest as well.

LACK OF ENERGY

No, I am not talking about my physical condition. 

Rather, I am talking about what is going on in the energy business in Canada as well as other countries these days. I have to admit that I never expected this:

"Worldwide Gas Glut Claims Latest, $27 Billion Victim in Canada

A $27 billion energy project in Canada just became the latest casualty of a worldwide glut of natural gas.

Malaysia’s Petroliam Nasional Bhd abandoned on Tuesday its plans for the Pacific Northwest LNG terminal, a plant that would’ve liquefied Canada’s gas and sent the fuel by tanker from the western shores of British Columbia to markets in Asia. Petronas cited market conditions in its decision.

Pacific Northwest LNG now joins a growing list of projects that have been killed in recent months by plummeting LNG prices throwing the economics of export terminals from Australia to Russia to Mozambique into question. Prices have crashed as increasing volumes of gas from Australia and America’s shale formations hit the water, inundating the market with so much supply that analysts say demand may not catch up until the next decade…

"There is simply too much LNG export capacity planned in North America, and cancellations, especially of Canadian projects, are likely to continue."  (Bloomberg, July 26, 2017) 

Here is a rather negative attitude as set out in that article:

"LNG is now a global market that is going on everywhere else on the planet,” said Rafi Tahmazian, a fund manager at Canoe Financial in Calgary. “Canada missed out on that opportunity."

And I just saw this which is very disturbing for our economic future for this industry:

"Five years ago, there were more than a dozen LNG projects proposed for the B.C. coast. Now, only two large plans remain, one spearheaded by Royal Dutch Shell, the other by Chevron. Both have been delayed and their futures remain uncertain." (Kate MacNamara, CBC.ca, July 28, 2017) 

FEDEX

Here is another disturbing story that I just read:

"FedEx closing all retail office stores in Canada

Shipping giant FedEx has quietly moved to close retail office stores in all Canadian cities putting more than 214 people out of work and ending three decades of doing business in the country. 

FedEx will continue to ship within Canada, but its copy and office supply stores will close Aug. 18." (CBC.ca,  July 21, 2017) 

Of course, FedEx will still be carrying on business in Canada but closing all of those shops and putting so many people out of work has to be very troubling.  The question has to be why is all of this happening.  No answer provided so far other than this generalized comment:

"the decision was made after assessing current and future business prospects."

PELISSIER PARKING GARAGE PRICING

What a ridiculous situation we are seeing!  How can there possibly be such a huge problem when another much more massive project seems to be working perfectly:

"Construction of Windsor’s new $43.9-million city hall is on budget and on schedule for occupancy in May 2018, city engineer Mark Winterton said Tuesday.

“Everything is going very well for an extremely complicated project,” said Winterton, who said the project, which started a year ago, is starting to look like a building."  (Brian Cross, Windsor  Star, July 11, 2017) 

Well, that is sort of correct when one considers this:

"Staff have been very reluctant to allow for any extra costs on the project, he said, because the cost for demolition of the old city hall — located directly north — is still not tendered, yet it’s included in the total $43.9-million price. They want to make sure there’s still money left for the demolition once the new building is finished.

“There’s not a lot of bells and whistles on this project,” Winterton said. “Things that need to get done get done, but things that are the nice-to-haves we’ve been very diligent deferring.”

If you want to have some fun, dear reader, go back and take a look at all of the stories written about the cost of making changes in the Pelissier Parking Garage.  The City's estimated cost for doing so was to be around $507,000. The lowest cost that came in was $888,000 in a bid to get the project while 3 other bids that came in at over a million dollars!

Here is what is so absurd about the way that the City was doing business and why pricing and tendering seem so completely out of reality:

"Mayor Drew Dilkens says the administration knew the cost would be higher than $500,000 because an engineering firm set it at $650,00 in April.

Dilkens says the actual cost to the city may not be that high."  (Peter Langille, AM 800 News, July 24, 2017) 

"Not that high!" Just wait until you see another article about what the cost might actually be now after some negotiations but here is another article about what that $507,000 is from:

"Councillors Chris Holt and Rino Bortolin also raised concerns, with Holt arguing council had been given a "bum number" and Bortolin calling the bids a "complete game changer."

But Dilkens said the $507,000 figure was calculated five years ago and added city administration has been working with the low bidder to search for ways to "value engineer and remove costs." (CBC News, July 26, 2017) 

After some negotiations, here is what the new price would be:

"The latest report, which will be discussed at Tuesday night's council meeting, indicates costs increased because of rising construction costs, additional aesthetic features and a tighter deadline to have the work done to accommodate the new University of Windsor downtown campuses.

Staff have since met with the lowest bidder, Elmara Construction Co. Limited, and found ways to whittle the cost down to $723,500." (CBC News, July 28, 2017)   

With the cost still substantially higher than what it was expected to be at first, it should be interesting to see what Council will do.

WHAT WILL WINDSOR HAVE TO OFFER TO TRY TO GET A NEW DEAL

How much can it cost these days to be the "winner" to get a new project started in one's area?

I will let you decide, dear reader, if this type of an approach should be done or not in order to be successful. Sure, it will cost Windsor taxpayers money but does the Windsor City Government have to act this way in order to compete against other areas who are trying to get a plant built:

"Windsor offers land deal to woo German auto parts supplier

Windsor city council upped the ante in its bid to convince a major German auto parts supplier to expand its manufacturing operations in the region.

The politicians agreed Friday afternoon to offer up a piece of land for an attractive price aimed at sweetening the deal and making Windsor a more appealing option than two other communities vying for the same deal.

Mayor Drew Dilkens flew to Germany earlier this month, flanked by officials from the region's economic development corporation, in yet another attempt to woo victory. If successful, he says the deal could create an estimated 300 jobs." (CBC News, July 28, 2017) 

Will Windsor still have to put up even more money before this ends if it wants to win the contract? Alternatively, has it no chance at all at being successful but is merely being used to get the other potential sites to increase their offers!

Here is one reason why its position may not be all that powerful:

"Other regions are offering plenty of incentives, such as free land, which Dilkens has said he is not prepared to offer."