topraider

The 500K exemption still exists, its even higher now (800K). The things that it can be claimed on has narrowed however. The list includes "qualified agricultural property", which is probably aimed at farmers NOT speculators. You can use the 800K exemption as many times as you want, but the total claimed on all things during your lifetime can't exceed the limit. If you have claimed certain kinds of losses in the past, or claimed large interest expenses, watch out. My advice to you is to find out whether the property you sold qualifies as an agricultural property under the income tax act. Google is your friend. If it does, consider finding a professional with experience in this area - that is, an accountant that deals with farmers.

Nice photos, especially the first. Addymark, they're bohemians.

Nice pics, I think those canvasbacks were in fact redheads...same genus, different species.

These fellas engineered a makeshift bridge out of pallets to get from one icefloe to another. When there were warm offshore winds blowing. After a national weather service warning. That's dumb. Even if there were 100 of them. Send them the bill.

I have had a hand controlled unit at the bow of my boat for the past 15 years. I have used foot controlled ones in bass boats and I never felt comfortable with them, given the balancing issues - I fish out of a small boat and like to have both feet free. I also fish a lot, and like simple technology, I feel foot contolled models have more that can go wrong with them. When I fished bass tournaments, there were frequently issues with the cables, or the foot control assembly that would cause grief. I now stand on the bow of the boat (the very tip) and use my knees to steer, if the waters are not to rough. Never used the hand extension, in a small boat, it just gets in the way.

Scooter, I had the same problem with my 1992 Princecraft, and discovered that the hose going to the livewell must have cracked in the winter. The solution was to put a cork in the intake hole at the back of the boat. So block off all the holes at the back of the boat and see if that helps. There was no problem with the hull at all.

Careful holdfast, they love this guy in Toronto. He gets like 60% of the vote in every riding.

Holdfast, those companies you mentioned are not pure play refiners, I don't think Bonavista refines at all, I searched Suncor's earnings report from this morning and copied this paragraph: "The increase in earnings was primarily due to higher price realizations on the company's oil sands sales, as benchmark crude oil prices continued to rise. This was partially offset by increased oil sands operating expenses and increased oil sands royalties, as well as reduced margins in the refining and marketing business." The money is in exploration and production, not refining, a couple of years ago though, the refiners were making big margins. Not now. Thats why the integrated oil companies in Canada (petrocanada, imperial oil) have underperformed their peers, who mine or drill for it and then sell it to the marketers and refiners. Husky made $38million in the last quarter from marketing and refining. They made $882 million overall.

In this week's Fortune magazine there's an article about a new 6 billion dollar refinery being built in India that will be capable of producing 5% of the world's gasoline. 40% of the production will be shipped to the United States. As the North American gasoline market is integrated, it's good news for Canada too. Right now, refiners in North America aren't making money (all the money is being made in exploration and production), this additional supply can't be good news for the refiners, but it is good news for consumers. There is no getting around the cost of a barrel of oil though, and the fuel taxes governments levy on top of that. Biofuels are not the answer, unless you are happy to see people around the world go hungry because food is being turned into ethanol. Most of the world's oil is controlled by governments, not the big oil companies. Governments expropriate, and then run the resource down by not investing the profits back into the business.

Sometimes a hawk will stake out a feeder, which will cause the pigeons and doves to move on. Here in the city of ottawa, there are quite a few resident hawks, and even a few falcons, that keep the pigeons on their toes. I have not been lucky yet to see a Coopers hawk smash a pigeon. This year, there was a failure in the seed crop that caused the finches (i.e. pine grosbeak) and bohemian waxwings to vacate and move south out of the boreal forest, and they will keep moving until they find food. You may see them this winter, but maybe not again for a few years.

Am I missing something here? shipping OR gst? I expect you'll pay both. and pst to boot.

I was recently in the market for a spotting scope. I settled on a Bushnell model and my parents went all over Myrtle Beach looking for the best price, including at BPS. In the end, nobody came close to Lebarons (after 10% plus 7% discounts), so I bought it local. It doesn't always pay to shop in the states.

Good post re US dollar - I have a sneaky suspicion that a lot of countries that hold the$US as a reserve currency are "lightening up" , and purchasing Euros. China is losing a lot by holding US dollars, how long are they going to put up with that. Trouble is the US won't let them come in and buy anything with their dollars, since many of the Chinese multinationals are state controlled. Its a lot cheaper now for Canadian companies to buy US ones I feel bad for the Canadian retailer. Maybe its time that canadian customs started asking lots of questions at the border to slow things down a bit.

I used to live in Edmonton years ago. Due to the general lack of water in the province, there is a lot more fishing pressure on the available resource. On the other hand, the Alberta government funds their MNR, unlike Ontario. The fishing is way better in Ontario. Cottages are much cheaper in Ontario. We don't know how good we have it here. Forget about Muskies or bass. The North Saskatchewan, which runs through Edmonton, has pike, walleye, sauger, and goldeye. The river trout fishing is limited and highly regulated, but can be good. You won't see 10 pound steelhead being caught. No salmon. There are browns, rainbows, cutthroats, speckles, bulltrout, and rocky mountain whitefish for good measure. Some of the pothole lakes (sloughs) are stocked with rainbows that can grow 5 pounders in two years, the water is super productive.

Hand Control for me, I have used both, I'm over 40 and like to stand on two feet, so i steer with my knees. Both hands are free. I never use a seat when fishing, if you do maybe the foot control is better. I fish a lot and like to keep my stuff a long time, so the technologically simpler it is, the better, less can go wrong, I've seen too many trolling motors with problems because of screwed up cables and steering mechanisms. I drive standard too. Hate automatic. Tiller all the way.