In the spirit of the real St. Nick

            Along with the flurry of a commercialized Christmas, or which I have a love-hate kind of relationship, there also come some real moments of generosity at this time of year.

            Christmas does tend to bring about the best in humanity, as it should.  There is an underlying them of positive goodwill that makes us all realize, it’s indeed better to give than to get (although getting is okay too, in my humble opinion).

            Individuals today and throughout history have amazed us with their generosity and self-sacrifice, people we typically want to emulate in our daily lives.

            Unsurprisingly, the legend of Santa Claus is built upon this very theme of selflessness.  The original St. Nicholas (so the Internet tells me) lived in the fourth century in modern-day Turkey.  He gave away most or all of his inherited wealth to help the poor and sick.  Over time, his life of self-sacrifice earned him the sainthood, becoming a legend throughout Europe over 1,000 years after his death.

            His life wasn’t as magical as the jolly bearded version of St. Nick who lives at the North Pole, but it is incredible the impact his simple life had on generations after him.

            Certainly even the little things we do for others can hold significance.  The other day I was quite surprised by how much my daughter remembered about last year’s Christmas.  This day of great anticipation was remembered in detail for its customs and traditions, even if we just happened to make some of them up that year.

            Driving around the city to look at lights on Christmas Eve?  Oh yes, we’ve always done that… for the last couple years anyway.  And we were reminded that we did that after gift-opening, not before.

            In the same way, those in need tend to remember quite clearly when they’ve been provided aid.  As gift-givers, we may not give it much thought when we help someone out, but the recipient will always remember.

            Thankfully, our society still places an emphasis on helping those who are in need.  Food banks, shelters and soup kitchens tend to attract more volunteers and donations around Christmas than any other time of year. 

            It would be quite easy to neglect those in need in our affluent society, basing it on the view that even the poor in Canada are rich, relatively speaking.  Or to take on the stance that those who don’t help themselves, shouldn’t be helped.  Doesn’t it create a culture of dependency, after all?

            These views may be held by the most devoutly religious, of all people.  I confess to make these judgments myself when I assess whether someone should be helped or not.  But the simple reality is that we have not walked in the shoes of those in need. 

            A small town near where I grew up recently established its own food bank.  One might think that a food bank is not necessary in small town Saskatchewan, but clearly the demand is there.  This Christmas, they gave out over 180 food hampers to families in need.

            My dad had the idea to start this food bank a few years ago, and while there has been some opposition, it’s been generally well received by the community. 

            More than just provide food, it’s given the volunteers an opportunity to relate and befriend those in and outside of the community who would otherwise remain strangers.  Those who come for hampers are also welcome to stay for coffee and visit.  People from very different backgrounds and cultures have a unique opportunity to understand one another better.

            I’m sure the real St. Nick would wholeheartedly approve.

Impossible to avoid that Christmas creep

            No, I’m not talking about Santa, although an argument could be made…  I’m talking about the Christmas season.  It’s creeping up on us earlier and earlier every year.

I could just be me, but I’ve never noticed Christmas lights on homes in mid-November until this year. 

            Christmas merchandise was available in many stores before Remembrance Day.  I understand that Remembrance Day isn’t quite as marketable as Halloween or Christmas, but hold off with the Christmas music until after the poppy season!

            Maybe I’m old school, but I think the brakes should be put on Christmas creep, with Christmas decorations only going up on the first Advent.  That’s about the time we put up our Christmas tree.  The first year we did it I thought even that was early – I’m more accustomed to the mid-December tree installation, especially when it’s a real tree.  But thanks to genetic engineering (I really don’t know about that), a tree can now last a good 50 days.  It has to last until Ukrainian Christmas and then “Old” New Year’s in our household (January 14^th)!

            This isn’t Christmas creep, but rather Christmas over-extension.  It’s happening in the retail world as well, where Boxing Day is no longer a day, but rather a week.  Might as well just make it the whole month of January. 

            In the United States, Black Friday has crept into Canada, where we have no reason to have sales on a Friday after American Thanksgiving.  It’s a popular event for consumers, but apparently of less benefit to retailers whose profits are cut in half during a time of prime demand.

            In the U.S., Black Friday sales used to begin that Friday morning, then they crept up to Friday at midnight, and now some sales start Thursday evening during Thanksgiving turkey.  It’s heretical!  They might as well just start the sales on November 1^st and call it – that’s right – Black November.

            It’s of course all driven by retailers who are competing for profits for as long as possible.  This is understandable, but aren’t there limits to consumer spending?  Does it help to extend the period of spending?  Has it really been working?

We tried to scale back on our tree this year ;-)

            Based on U.S. statistics, it appears not to be.  Holiday sales as a percentage of total industry sales amounted to 19.3% in 2014.  That’s pretty significant and quite unsurprising.  But it’s still less than from 2000 to 2005 when holiday sales reached a high of 20.0%.  Even accounting for the recension post-2008, retailers would have surely been able to reach the same levels as 15 years ago though Christmas creep and over-extension.

            Or is the reality that consumers don’t have that much more cash to spend?  In Canada, the bulk of our spending now goes towards over-priced mortgages with additional spending racked up as debt.

            Consumers and retailers would do themselves a favour by scaling back a little.  Stores need to stop the never-ending sales.  Price things the way they should be priced in the first place, and return retail to normalcy.

            Consumers would benefit from a little less gift-giving fanaticism.  Take a break from it all – don’t give gifts this year, and see how your family reacts! 

            Our extended family is attempting to scale back this year because I strongly suggested it.  Sure, I may have been perceived as a scrooge, but is there any real point to exchanging gift cards every year?

            The kids are different of course, we spoil them no matter what.  And as adults we end up spoiling ourselves anyway this time of year.

            For example, I didn’t need to buy that big-screen TV last Christmas.  But creep or no creep (this may be a reference to Santa), it’s so much easier to justify than in July.

Even the geese are confused this winter

            You know it’s an abnormally warm year when there’s open water on a small Prairie lake in the middle of December.  Even more abnormal to see hundreds of geese in that water.

            I think they forgot to migrate this year. Now I realize there is a group of geese that never migrates.  They missed a critical year of learning how to fly south, and now they’re stuck in our city.  They even get fed, to basically foster their ignorance. (Don’t get me wrong, I love geese in the wild, but do you know a city goose deposits one kilogram of fertilizer in our parks each and every day?!)

I fear there’s a new contingent of geese that won’t know how to fly to Florida.  This time we can attribute it to El Nino.  This is likely the most intense El Nino we have ever seen. 

            The combination of climate change and the natural cyclical warming of the Pacific Ocean has already broken records and is bound to break more in the years ahead. 

            Saskatchewan could become a new winter refuge for geese for years to come.

Geese enjoying a glorious December day in Saskatchewan

            Like most others in this wretchedly cold province, I’m celebrating a reprieve from the past few winters.  In the past three years we’ve experienced record snowfall and some very cold snaps.  March of 2013 was exceptionally cold and miserable.  Of course compared to the 1920s, temperatures on average might be considered balmy.  But everything is relative…

            For every cold record that’s been broken in the last decade, two warm records were broken.  That’s an indication of a warming world.  How quickly we forget about the spring of 2012 where we experienced the warmest March on record.  Now just three and half years later, records are being broken in December.

            The climatologists could be right.  Imagine that.  This whole climate change thing could really be occurring.

And it’s not just political, as a farmer in California claimed after experiencing four years of extreme drought.  Amazingly, climate change science is viewed as political spin for large segments of the population. 

It’s like when the first negative claims of smoking were made public.  Few believed it, and even if they did, it wasn’t enough to change habits.  It took decades to change public perception so that today, smoking is almost frowned upon (smokers are still the coolest people around, of course).

            It may take decades before the global public feels the effects strong enough to address climate change.  In the fourth stage of a world-wide cancer, humanity may finally attempt to butt out when it comes to fossil fuels.

            Of course there are many complicated issues related to abstaining from fossil fuels, like the economic impacts, potential job losses, and the end of the good life (i.e. winter trips to Mexico, which might become pointless in 50 years anyway).

            It will all come to a head when the public realizes that the costs simply outweigh the benefits.  When a good portion of Vancouver is underwater, when hurricanes cause irreparable damage to the east coast, when geese populations overtake Regina…

            That will be the proverbial tipping point, to borrow a phrase from Al Gore.  But it won’t happen by talking about polar bears or melting ice caps, areas of the globe that very few of us have ever seen.  Only until we experience the impacts at home will we be incented to change our ways.

            On the normally frigid Canadian Prairies, that could be a very long time indeed.

Costco membership termination imminent

            The day of reckoning is here.  Our Costco membership card expires in three days.  In the critical month of December, we will no longer have access to all the goodies that this behemoth store has to offer.

            I swore I would never get a Costco membership.  But as with many things in life, I grew soft.  To be fair, we didn’t even buy this one-year membership – it was given to us by a friend. We’ve been sucked in.

            Now we’re one of the lemmings lined up outside the store doors at 10 in the morning, ready to jump off the cliff of financial prudence.  It reminds my wife of Soviet Union times when she was young.  A key difference is that we’re not in a line for a piece of sausage or loaf of bread, but rather a smorgasbord of electronics, clothing, food and accessories that we may or may not need.

            The limes are usually a good price.  The triangle buns you can’t find anywhere else.  And let’s not forget those bulk packs of lip balm (hey, you need it in winter!)

            We went in to Costco the other day to buy one thing… we came out spending nearly $200.  Okay, there was a lot of Christmas spending in there, but still.  We didn’t even buy anything substantive. 

            This is the lure of Costco.  So many different things all in one spot.  I was convinced this would be the problem with getting a membership card - the uncontrolled spending that occurs as soon as you enter the store.

            For some reason this doesn’t happen so much when you enter Superstore or Wal-Mart.  They have an assortment of goods, too, but they’re not as appealing, they’re just not… Kirkland.

            My wife will tell you that there are a few deals to be had at Costco, but it’s not always cheaper than the competitors.  And it will cost you annually.  Can you save $55 a year by going to Costco regularly?  I’m sure you can.  Will you spend $1,000 more than what you would have without a Costco card?  I'm sure you will.

            The letter from Costco indicating our date of membership termination sits on our desk downstairs, waiting for a response.  I’m surprised no one has called.  I guess they don’t think our business is that important (and I'm glad).

            They’re biggest worry probably isn’t a loss of customers but capacity over the Christmas season.  They’ve even got line-er-uppers in their stores (people who tell you which line to go to).  Any store that has to pay for a full-time line-er-upper needs to consider increasing its capacity.

            And this in itself may be the downfall of the Costco Empire.  Not the membership fee, the non-competitive pricing, or the half-kilometre line-ups.  It’s the herd mentality that led to Costco’s greatness, that could just as easily lead to its demise.  As soon as people realize it’s not the panacea of shopping that everyone thinks it is, they may just go elsewhere.  Where that new place is, I have no idea.   

            Always better to be ahead of the herd.  So we will not be responding to our membership expiration notice.

At least until January.

Let the climate change spin begin!

            I’m sure our newly minted prime minister is thanking his lucky stars there’s an NDP government in Alberta.  The biggest energy producer and per-capita emitter of greenhouse gases just did his dirty work without him having to lift a finger. 

            Alberta has committed to a broad-based carbon tax and placing a limit on oil sands emissions.  The reaction from the oil sector has been positive, but I’m not surprised.

            If anyone realizes they need a better environmental reputation, it’s the sector itself, which just saw its Keystone pipeline rejected because of its “dirty oil.”  This negative perception is starting to hurt.

            Whether it will be enough to change that perception remains to be seen.  Whether it’s enough to stop climate change is a definite no.  It’s surely a step in the right direction, but it won’t save the world from rising temperatures.

            In one of my classes at university, I had the opportunity to complete a paper on this very topic.  What should Canada do to address climate change?  I suggested a cap and trade system where carbon is priced at $10 per tonne.  (Alberta has plans to price carbon at $20 per tonne, raising it to $30 by 2018.)  The reason for this, however, is not to save the planet.  It’s to show the rest of the world that we’re at least trying.

While the new federal government may really want to do something about climate change, it’s always a question of how much the public will let them do. 

Sure, Canadians have recently said in a survey that they’re concerned about Canada’s reputation when it comes to climate change.  Of those surveyed, 78% want stronger leadership on climate change at the federal level, and 55% would support cost increases to combat climate change.  While that is something, I wonder how much they would be willing to pay.  How about a 100% carbon tax on gasoline to really start addressing the issue?

Telling is the fact that 77% of those surveyed said they would support greater resource development if the Canadian government had a more environmentally pro-active climate change policy.  To me, this sounds a lot like carbon capture and storage technologies, where carbon dioxide is pumped into the ground to extract more oil.  In this light, carbon capture sounds great – a win-win.  It’s like running once a week so you don’t feel so bad when you smoke those cigarettes.

I get the feeling that Canadians want a government that make us feel good about our role in battling climate change, but not one that forces us to make any sacrifices.  Because of course, it will cost us, especially in the short term.

An economic depression would likely result if Canada were to reduce emissions to levels required to prevent a two degree increase in world temperatures.  The economic decline would be all the more pointless if the big emitters, China and the U.S., did virtually nothing. 

Like the Kyoto Protocol, which Canada eagerly signed on to in the 1990s but never adhered to, any future treaty will not go far if Canada still wants to export oil.

That’s not to say that technologies and energy efficiencies won’t allow for considerable emission reductions in the years ahead.  It just won’t happen at the pace necessary to avoid future impacts.

To ensure we don’t exceed the two degree warming tipping point would require a 5.5% reduction in worldwide emissions every year until 2050; this when emissions have been rising 2% annually.

A reduction of this magnitude would be economically disastrous for many developing countries.  Russia reduced emissions in the 1990s by having its economy collapse.  In one decade, the average life expectancy of Russians was reduced by four years. And while it's true that developed countries like France have reduced emissions by converting to nuclear power, these reductions are usually one-time events.

It may require the same shock value as the terrorist attack in Paris to galvanize the world to address climate change to the extent required.  Instead, the world will likely reach the proverbial tipping point mid-century, and then get serious about addressing the problem when the devastation is too much to bear or when new technologies make it economically feasible.

The new federal government will come up with a plan to address climate change, I’m sure.  It will be necessary for our world reputation and an essential first step. 

But in the grand scheme of things, it will still be window dressing.