Generating debate . . .
"I don’t think we spend too much money on it in the government. I just don’t think that we spend it very well. I think we spend it in a very cliquish, narrow sort of way. But I don’t think that we need to spend a lot more. I certainly don’t think that we should spend a lot less. .. Art and culture critic Robert Fulford on arts spending in a Frontier Conversation . . .          "Politicians don’t realize that the science is not settled on climate change. They think it’s a done deal and it’s inevitable that they have to take action so the question that they face is what type of action should we take? But I think they need to step back and do the science because it’s not clear that there is a problem because of climate change. There may be no problem at all." - Frontier's conversation with Lawrence Solomon, author of "The Deniers" . . . .           "As a thought experiment, if SaskPower, SaskEnergy and SaskTel were privately owned and independently regulated, would the public of Saskatchewan support a government policy to borrow billions of dollars to nationalize them?" - a Frontier conversation with Sheldon Schwartz . . .           Although Human Rights Commissions were founded to address insupportable abuses in the areas of employment and accommodation, their mandate has been unwisely expanded to include what is, in effect, a censor’s role. Read the latest Policy Series Paper . . .           Allowing public housing tenants the "right to buy" - a Frontier Policy Series Paper . . .           Getting rich by exporting water to the United States - read the provocative new Frontier Backgrounder . . .          Frontier's first video documentary debuts - Watch "Your Land is not Your Land" - How the RM of Ellice expropriated an 87 year old farmer's property for murky "tourism development" purposes.          Professor Bryan Schwartz explores Manitoba as a "supplicant society" - A Conversation on the Frontier . . .          Test your climate change knowledge on Frontier's Smart Green Climate Change Quiz . . .          Making the case for fiscal constitutions in the provinces - Leveling the Spending Field - a Policy Series Paper . . .          Our schoolkids are being taught a particular environmental ideology - why that's a problem - A Frontier Education Backgrounder . . .           Making the case that principals should not be in the teachers' union - another Education Backgrounder . . .          When factors such as household income are controlled, there is no evidence that greater access to computers at school has a positive correlation with academic achievement . . . Read the Frontier Backgrounder on computers in our schools . . .          Indigenous Peoples from an International Perspective - Comparing aboriginals in Australia, New Zealand and Canada - Policy Series Paper . . .          The Frontier Centre for Public Policy releases its 2nd Annual Aboriginal Governance Index, based on a weighted composite of scores evaluating six broad areas of good governance. This year's index covers 112 Aboriginal communities in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Read Canada's only independent assessment of First Nations governance here . . .          A Canadian and European think tank jointly release the first ever international consumer-focused bench-marking of national healthcare systems comparing Canada and 29 European countries. We unveil the 2008 Euro-Canada Health Consumer Index . . .          A smarter way to fight poverty - "Removing more people at the bottom of the income ladder entirely from the tax code is a superior means of fighting poverty." - Read the Policy Series Paper . . . .          The line losses on Manitoba's planned west side transmission line alone will generate greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to an extra 40,000 cars a year. Read the Policy Series Paper - "A Thread Down a Football Field" . . .           Frontier Centre releases its inaugural comprehensive evaluation of the finances of Canada's 30 most populous cities - read our preliminary snapshot of the financial landscape of urban Canada as profiled in the 2007 Local Government Performance Index . . .          David MacKinnon, Ontario critic of regional subsidies discusses how "unthinking money" from Ontario and Alberta retards Manitoba's policy landscape, a Conversation on the Frontier . . .          "Notwithstanding a weaker propensity to invest and expand, publicly retained SaskTel is indistinguishable from MTS . . ." - read the Policy Series Paper comparing SaskTel and MTS . . .          Taking all the cars off Canada’s roads would get us only halfway to Kyoto’s targets for greenhouse gas reductions. . . 10 "Smart Green" ideas to reduce greenhouse gases. . .           Modernizing environmental policy in Canada - the seven principles for making policy "smart green" - A Frontier Policy Series Paper . . .           
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The Frontier Centre for Public Policy is an independent public policy think tank whose mission is "to broaden the debate on our future through public policy research and education and to explore positive changes within our public institutions that support economic growth and opportunity." ...More

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Why Our Independence Matters to You

1. No Government Funding

Because we seek to comment objectively on public policy, FCPP is the only registered Prairie-based think tank which declines government grants.

2. Diversified Funding Base

We diversify our funding base as much as possible to ensure that we are not beholden to any particular industry, interest or persons. Individuals and businesses that see value in exploring better policy support FCPP. The bulk of our funding comes from charitable foundations that support public policy work in Canada.

3. Board/Staff Firewall

A respected Board of Research Advisors guarantees the independence and integrity of our work. The Centre has a formal policy, embodied in a Board of Directors resolution, that forbids any direct Board involvement or influence in the Centre's education efforts.

For an objective, arm's length take on public policy you can trust the very independent . . . Frontier Centre for Public Policy.


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In The News

2008-08-21
Montreal Gazette Urges Flat Tax for Canada
o Canada's 1917 income-tax act was just 10 pages long; today's comprises more than 1,100 pages in each language. The forms and publications (www.cra-arc.gc.ca) are trackless thickets of legalese. Even the simple basic personal tax form (due today!) is a challenge, so most of us need professionals to fill it out. Very few corporations can do without tax pros.

o Income tax is so complicated because the system does so many things. Home-relocation loans, "grubstakers' shares," northern residents, "ecological gifts," the list of special deals goes on and on.

o The Canada Revenue Agency needs 44,000 employees, to joust with the countless expensive private-sector tax wizards who help corporations and the rich exploit every loophole and argue for more. None of them creates any wealth; they just haggle over the wealth others create.

o There is a better way. Imagine everyone paying at one rate, on every dollar earned. You could "do your taxes" on a postcard. About 20 versions of the flat tax exist already, many in ex-communist countries where a new tax system was designed without kowtowing to special interests. Alberta has it.

Source: "Flat tax would make today a lot easier," The Montreal Gazette, April 30, 2008.