2010 had barely begun when on Saturday January 2, reports surfaced of an oil leak in a pipeline operated by the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC). The leak reportedly began on the previous Wednesday, December 30, as a result of a construction accident. Initial reports claimed that it had polluted a 20-mile stretch beginning at the Chishui tributary of the Wei River in the Shaanxi province, northern China. A 700-strong team swooped in to clean up the spillage, which, according to China’s...

There is an Italian proverb which says, “when the ship has sunk, everyone knows how she might have been saved.” It’s fair to say that this one can be well-attributed to our global outlook in light of COP15, first nicknamed “Hopenhagen,” now “Brokenhagen,” but before you throw up your hands in despair at another blog post which slams the lack of progress and concrete decision-making here, worry not, I’ll keep this brief and light. “After the Copenhagen climate conference failed...

Ah yes, it is back-to-school time. You may have read the Globe and Mail’s editorial in its Report on Business section about how Canadian innovation starts in the classroom. I couldn’t have agreed more with both contributors-senior vice-president and chief economist of Bank of Nova Scotia, Warren Jestin, and vice-president of research and innovation at York University,  Stan Shapson-who argue that “fresh thinking about our ‘innovation ecosystem’ is needed for adapting to...

This week, AIG gets a shout-out for issuing even more bonuses to its executives–sometimes people have to learn the hard way, twice. After public fury over the $165-million paid from bailout funds in March, AIG is back with the handouts. Next week, millions more will make its way around the C-Suite. No, this isn’t Canadian news, but it’s an issue that Bay Street isn’t totally innocent of either (READ: Nortel). It’s certainly a worthwhile discussion. Some say executives...