[Canada] Canadian Politics Redux

[viper37]

We did not know asymptotic carriers could infect.  Instead we monitored symptoms like we did with SARS. 

No, we did not monitor symptoms.  That would have been at least something.

Like I said numerous times, the Quebec govt and the city of Montreal sent their own people at the airport to take care of that, and recommend travelers to isolate themselves for 14 days.

[crazy canuck]

I think you do not remember correctly. Checking symptoms at the airports was put in place before the international border closure.  Then the borders with everyone other than the US were closed.  And then shortly after that the border with the US was closed.

[Oexmelin]

Vip remembers well. I think you both are talking about slightly different things. Airports were not testing for symptoms, only to look out for them. The only measures taken at the airport for the longest time was simply to ask whether they came from China. On Mars 14, the city of Montreal dispatched teams to at least inform people of the situation. Border was closed on March 17. There is still no systemic monitoring of symptoms, which is what Viper is talking about, and especially not like SRAS, which involved readings of temperature. Still today, it relies mostly on self declaration.

[crazy canuck]

Vip remembers well. I think you both are talking about slightly different things. Airports were not testing for symptoms, only to look out for them. The only measures taken at the airport for the longest time was simply to ask whether they came from China. On Mars 14, the city of Montreal dispatched teams to at least inform people of the situation. Border was closed on March 17. There is still no systemic monitoring of symptoms, which is what Viper is talking about, and especially not like SRAS, which involved readings of temperature. Still today, it relies mostly on self declaration.

I think both you are and Viper and not taking into account how quickly this progressed.  Before the apparatus needed to screen for temperatures could be installed at the airports it was noted that unlike SARS temperature was not a good indication of infection.  Therefore we went to a system of self disclosure.  Less than perfect to be sure, but not many viable options short of detaining everyone coming off an international flight.  Then we learned that asymptomatic people can cause infections.  That again changed everything.

With hindsight it would have been great to know what we do now but in late January and February.  But we didnt.

[Valmy]

What's the political situation in Texas?  Does your governor still believe in strict sanitary measures or is he inclined to follow Trump's lead?

He believes in making general suggestions and then letting the local governments make their own call on how strict they want to be. All the major cities are in Democratic hands so that means he can be reasonably certain the major population centers will just do their own thing anyway. You have to remember that the actual executive power our Governor has is pretty limited. Texas is usually a decentralized mess when it comes to things like this.

He is doing a decent job supporting the technocratic data gathering and supplies and those kinds of things I think. A state of emergency is in force.

[Barrister]

The price of a barrel of Western Canada Select oil did in fact go negative this morning, and is currently trading at around $1.

[Grey Fox]

 

[PRC]

The price of a barrel of Western Canada Select oil did in fact go negative this morning, and is currently trading at around $1.

It's a good thing the Energy War Room is on the case!

[crazy canuck]

The price of a barrel of Western Canada Select oil did in fact go negative this morning, and is currently trading at around $1.

It's a good thing the Energy War Room is on the case!

And hopefully Alberta doesn't link the price to a lack of pipelines - there is nowhere for the oil to go.  US oil also went negative.  From the NyTimes:

Oil that is scheduled to be delivered in June fell 12 percent Monday to about $22 a barrel, but at the same time a benchmark to be delivered next month was essentially deemed worthless. Owing largely to a quirk in the way that oil prices are set, the May benchmark actually fell into negative territory, suggesting people who had oil to sell were willing to pay to have it taken off their hands.

The problem is that the United States is running out of places to store its oil, which is already being stockpiled on barges at sea and in any nook and cranny companies can find in their facilities. Traders are now worrying that even this space is running out. Under futures contracts, West Texas Intermediate — the American benchmark for oil prices — is delivered to Cushing, Okla., but investors are worried that there will be no place there to put it.

[Barrister]

Holy crap - the price of a barrel of West Texas Intermediate is -$35.

CC, of course pipelines are a part of this, but only one part.  Our energy sector has been hit by a terrible triple-whammy of A: lack of access to markets (which is why Alberta oil always trades at a significant discount compared to other types); B: the Saudi-Russia propduction war, and C: dramatic decline in demand because of the pandemic.

[Valmy]

Yes but this totally fucks Russia and Saudi Arabia. I know that is unpatriotic of me as a Texan but this temporary pain might be worth it.

[crazy canuck]

Holy crap - the price of a barrel of West Texas Intermediate is -$35.

CC, of course pipelines are a part of this, but only one part.  Our energy sector has been hit by a terrible triple-whammy of A: lack of access to markets (which is why Alberta oil always trades at a significant discount compared to other types); B: the Saudi-Russia propduction war, and C: dramatic decline in demand because of the pandemic.

BB - for a pipeline to have any effect the oil needs somewhere to go.  The reason the price is going negative is the supply in the coming months is greater than projected demand by about triple - so storage will fill up and the oil has literally no where to go.

[crazy canuck]

Yes but this totally fucks Russia and Saudi Arabia. I know that is unpatriotic of me as a Texan but this temporary pain might be worth it.

What happens to the excess oil once storage is filled - pretty hard to just dump the stuff or store it safely outside that purpose built storage.

[crazy canuck]

I wonder why the Liberals are reluctant to collapse all the programs into UBI.

[Grey Fox]

I wonder why the Liberals are reluctant to collapse all the programs into UBI.

That's just not the Liberal pro-capitalist MO.