Supplemental Financial Statement Information - Cash flow, etc. (Details) $ in Thousands			3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended		12 Months Ended
	Jan. 01, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017	Aug. 31, 2018 USD ($) shares	Aug. 31, 2017 USD ($)	Aug. 31, 2018 USD ($) shares	Aug. 31, 2017 USD ($)	Nov. 30, 2017 USD ($) a
Supplemental Cash Flow Information
Cash received on sale of land							$ 3,535
Number of acres sold | a							29
Increase (decrease) in value of available-for-sale securities: Investment in Centaur Media Plc						$ 245
Increase (decrease) in accounts payable and accrued liabilities related to additions to real estate assets					$ 1,461	1,757
Interest paid
Interest payments			$ 1,545	$ 1,309	$ 4,474	3,861
Income Taxes
Corporate statutory income tax rate	21.00%	35.00%			22.00%
Impact of lower statutory rate applied to deferred tax assets and deferred tax liabilities resulted for the re-measurement of deferred tax assets and liabilities					$ 1,001
Income tax provision			$ (89)	$ 704	$ 733	$ 2,806
2009 Stock Option Plan
Supplemental Cash Flow Information
Treasury shares | shares			30,039		30,039
Treasury stock			$ 1,189		$ 1,189