Connect with us
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=12]

Alberta

We Look Into The One Annual Event Covid-19 Cannot Cancel – Go Skateboarding Day

Published

3 minute read

From an original symbol of menace and mischief subject to criminal bans in certain cities, to a mainstream sport with international competitions and heavy influence in the fashion and music industries, the evolution of skateboarding has been controversial. As a standalone sport, the skateboarding community has built a global network founded on its own unique culture, members and attitude. 

“Skateboarding is a sport like no other … There are no teams and no rules. When someone skates well, we all win.” – Skateboard Here

Sunday, June 21, 2020 is the 16thannual Go Skateboarding Day (GSD), an international holiday encouraging skateboarders around the world to drop everything and go ride. Created in 2004 by the International Association of Skateboard Companies (IASC), GSD launched in southern California, the “unofficial skateboarding capital, and spread across the globe with the goal of becoming the “grind heard around the world”. 

Since its inception in ‘04, Go Skateboarding Day has gained increasing traction in skate communities all across the world, but the focus always remains the same. The IASC encourages people everywhere to “put away your phone, your computer and video games, and go skateboarding”. 

Although some members of the community don’t necessarily believe in the spirit of the holiday – skateboarding should be every day! – the sentiment surrounding the holiday largely reflects a positive, community-building event. In 2019, GSD rallies in major Canadian cities Vancouver and Toronto saw thousands of enthusiastic boarders take to the streets to celebrate, “The idea is that anyone who owns a board comes out and participates.” 

Although GSD will look different around the world this year due to COVID-19, the show will certainly go on! With all other major summer events and community gatherings cancelled, Go Skateboarding Day 2020 represents a great opportunity to get out, connect with others and have fun while still maintaining distance. 

According to Daniel Craig, Chair for the Calgary Association of Skateboarding Enthusiasts (CASE), the organization has not planned any official events due to COVID-19 concerns and regulations, but still encourages Calgary to get out and ride. “Skateboarding is social, it’s exercise, and it’s a great creative outlet for so many people,” says Craig, a skateboarder of 27 years, “I love Go Skateboarding Day. Get out, find a place to push around and do some tricks, enjoy it!” 

For more stories, visit Todayville Calgary.

Alberta

Alberta Next: Taxation

Published on

A new video from the Alberta Next panel looks at whether Alberta should stop relying on Ottawa to collect our provincial income taxes. Quebec already does it, and Alberta already collects corporate taxes directly. Doing the same for personal income taxes could mean better tax policy, thousands of new jobs, and less federal interference. But it would take time, cost money, and require building new systems from the ground up.

Continue Reading

Alberta

Cross-Canada NGL corridor will stretch from B.C. to Ontario

Published on

Keyera Corp.’s natural gas liquids facilities in Fort Saskatchewan. Photo courtesy Keyera Corp.

From the Canadian Energy Centre

By Will Gibson

Keyera ‘Canadianizes’ natural gas liquids with $5.15 billion acquisition

Sarnia, Ont., which sits on the southern tip of Lake Huron and peers across the St. Clair River to Michigan, is a crucial energy hub for much of the eastern half of Canada and parts of the United States.

With more than 60 industrial facilities including refineries and chemical plants that produce everything from petroleum, resins, synthetic rubber, plastics, lubricants, paint, cosmetics and food additives in the southwestern Ontario city, Mayor Mike Bradley admits the ongoing dialogue about tariffs with Canada’s southern neighbour hits close to home.

So Bradley welcomed the announcement that Calgary-based Keyera Corp. will acquire the majority of Plains American Pipelines LLP’s Canadian natural gas liquids (NGL) business, creating a cross-Canada NGL corridor that includes a storage hub in Sarnia.

“As a border city, we’ve been on the frontline of the tariff wars, so we support anything that helps enhance Canadian sovereignty and jobs,” says the long-time mayor, who was first elected in 1988.

The assets in Sarnia are a key piece of the $5.15 billion transaction, which will connect natural gas liquids from the growing Montney and Duvernay plays in B.C. and Alberta to markets in central Canada and the eastern U.S. seaboard.

Map courtesy Keyera Corp.

NGLs are hydrocarbons found within natural gas streams including ethane, propane and pentanes. They are important energy sources and used to produce a wide range of everyday items, from plastics and clothing to fuels.

Keyera CEO Dean Setoguchi cast the proposed acquisition as an act of repatriation.

“This transaction brings key NGL infrastructure under Canadian ownership, enhancing domestic energy capabilities and reinforcing Canada’s economic resilience by keeping value and decision-making closer to home,” Setoguchi told analysts in a June 17 call.

“Plains’ portfolio forms a fully integrated cross Canada NGL system connecting Western Canada supply to key demand centres across the Prairie provinces, Ontario and eastern U.S.,” he said.

“The system includes strategic hubs like Empress, Fort Saskatchewan and Sarnia – which provide a reliable source of Canadian NGL supply to extensive fractionation, storage, pipeline and logistics infrastructure.”

Martin King, RBN Energy’s managing director of North America Energy Market Analysis, sees Keyera’s ability to “Canadianize” its NGL infrastructure as improving the company’s growth prospects.

“It allows them to tap into the Duvernay and Montney, which are the fastest growing NGL plays in North America and gives them some key assets throughout the country,” said the Calgary-based analyst.

“The crown assets are probably the straddle plants in Empress, which help strip out the butane, ethane and other liquids for condensate. It also positions them well to serve the eastern half of the country.”

And that’s something welcomed in Sarnia.

“Having a Canadian source for natural gas would be our preference so we see Keyera’s acquisition as strengthening our region as an energy hub,” Bradley said.

“We are optimistic this will be good for our region in the long run.”

The acquisition is expected to close in the first quarter of 2026, pending regulatory approvals.

Meanwhile, the governments of Ontario and Alberta are joining forces to strengthen the economies of both regions, and the country, by advancing major infrastructure projects including pipelines, ports and rail.

A joint feasibility study is expected this year on how to move major private sector-led investments forward.

Continue Reading

Trending

X