oilpatch

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday December 20, 2018

Ottawa’s Gift to Alberta

The $1.6-billion aid package Justin Trudeau just handed Alberta’s wounded oilpatch is little more than a handkerchief for drying the province’s bitter tears.

It shows the federal government is aware of Alberta’s plight. It permits the prime minister to parade his capacious empathy. And it proves Ottawa is willing to act on behalf of that province’s oil and gas sector, though only in a limited way.

But it will accomplish almost nothing meaningful. It won’t staunch the bleeding in Alberta’s economy or ease the pain of its people because it does nothing to cure what really ails them — the oil pipeline bottleneck. Only a new pipeline or pipelines will fix this. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)

Meanwhile, traditional Christmas pudding is dying out, new figures show, as under 35s are shunning the traditional dessert.

Decked with a sprig of holly, brandy and flickering blue flames, it has been considered the pinnacle of Christmas dinner since Victorian times.  

Changing tastes down the generations mean sales of Christmas pudding are in slow but steady decline, falling at around 1 percent year on year, Tesco’s 2018 Christmas report has revealed.

It found that less than half of Brits now eat it on Christmas Day.

Just over one in five (23 per cent) people aged between 18 and 35 eat Christmas pudding, it said, with younger consumers favouring alternatives like chocolate pudding and pannetone.  

However Christmas pudding is still the most popular Christmas day dessert among over 55s, six in ten (59 per cent) of whom eat it on Christmas Day. (Source: Telegraph)