There is a clear case for government intervention though: scale is needed to make cost reductions real and across the country and governments need to stop blocking its use. It is also useful as a competitive benchmark to reduce profit of contractors by growing productive capacity.

This is the result of Calgary's property values increasing at a higher rate than property in the province as a whole plus rates increasing. Two-thirds of last year's provincial increase was attributable to differential property value changes, much like how Calgary experiences differential value...

The supply gut is an illusion. There is an over supply of really expensive per square foot units. Plenty of units above $2000 a square foot that were bought by assignment speculators, rolling in their profit from their previous assignment sales blew up in their faces in spectacular fashion...

Having Red Deer certainly makes it easier. HSR would make the games easy peasy. renovating Red Deer for short track (with an international sized ice surface) would also likely be way more acceptable than renovating the NHL arenas.

The university spends a lot of money, but can't reallocate the funds it spends like a government can. The university is also starved for funds, with a 30% cut in provincial funding since the UCP took office iirc.

People may have not seen these, from the CBEC report to council that was only released with redactions (I have an early copy that only had black boxes over the redactions and that you can grab images from) :

A second large hockey arena helps a lot. one takes hockey, the other short track and figure skating. 2026 planned for both a new arena and the saddledome to be operating. Could do the curling tournament in Edmonton too. Spreads the infrastructure load around, increases the hotel pool, enables...

Nova Scotia and Newfoundland have active developments. SW Ontario, launching over the lakes could work too once there was a reliable launch vehicle. Basically anywhere where you can go south or east without hitting anything for a couple hundred kilometres. Going east, further south is better...

Like this maybe: I doubt the ground leases would ever happen. Alas. I think the main focus should be on a gondola from the townsite. that is a realistic goal.

I still think this would be really cool.

the government never did decide how to say yes to proposals in the parks or rec areas. For Spray Valley the government rejected it and it wasn’t in a park — the government expanding the park killed the spa only version of the project. Sort of like coal exploration it wasn’t really a litigious...

I think fare enforcement downtown is impossible, and what would actually help is behaviour enforcement. The platforms are not fare zones and holding a train for fare enforcement in the interlined section is a no go. Are people just assuming the fare entry pass doesn't exist?

The railway went on that path for much of the century.

Yeah strata or fee simple accommodation— the province has never figured out exactly how to square this circle.