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26 Feb 2015
7:00am

Prairie Metropolitan Areas Drive Canada's Growth

In Canada, growth is moving west, but not all the way. The big growth now is in the Prairies between central Canada and British Columbia, the Canadian part of the Great Plains.

Yet you can’t talk about metropolitan Canada without first mentioning the Toronto region.

The Greater Golden Horseshoe continues to dominate Canada's population, according to the latest census metropolitan area estimates from Statistics Canada. Anchored by Toronto, the metropolitan areas of the Greater Golden Horseshoe (Hamilton, Kitchener, Oshawa, Brantford, Barrie, Peterborough St. Catherine's – Niagara and Guelph) now have a population of 8.7 million residents, 23.4% of the national...

24 Feb 2015
7:00am

The World's Ten Largest Megacities

Originally published for The Huffington Post.

The world is rapidly becoming urban. More than half the world’s 7-plus billion people live in urban areas (urban cores, suburbs and small towns). Nearly a quarter of the population lives in “cities” of a million or more. Eight percent reside in megacities — urban areas of at least 10 million. And that percentage rises with each new megacity.

What is a City?

Demographers use a slew of terms to reference cities and urban areas. Plainly speaking, urban areas are the continuously built up areas that would be seen in the outline of city...

12 Feb 2015
7:00am

Manitoba’s Rapidly Growing Public Sector

Manitoba employs considerably more local and provincial public sector workers per capita than the rest of Canada. In an increasingly lower-income province facing a convergence of high debt, structural budget deficits, and flat or declining equalization payments, policy makers in Manitoba need to seriously explore options for reducing the public sector wage bill.

The most recent Statistics Canada data (2013) reports that 18 % of all jobs are in the public sector; that is, government employees at the federal, provincial and local levels excluding defence and Crown corporations. Manitoba’s figure is almost 30% higher than the Canadian average, at...

12 Feb 2015
7:00am

Measuring the Size and Cost of Manitoba’s and Saskatchewan’s Public Sectors

In September 2014, the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies (AIMS) released a policy paper that looked at the size and cost of Atlantic Canada’s public sector. AIMS researchers Ben Eisen and Shaun Fantauzzo examined Statistics Canada data to empirically assess the claim that Atlantic Canada’s public sector is unusually large compared with other regions of the country. After careful analysis, they discovered that public sector employment rates in the Atlantic region, relative to population, are higher than the rates in the rest of Canada.

Using the methodology of that policy paper, this study examines the size of the public sector...

29 Jan 2015
7:00am

Ottawa, First Nations Should Narrow Poverty Gap

First Nations poverty may be Canada’s most important moral issue in generations.

Perry Bellegarde, the newly elected national chief of the Assembly of First Nations (AFN), cites United Nations statistics showing the tragic gap between First Nations and the rest of Canadian society. Canada, according to the United Nations Human Development Index, ranks sixth in terms of quality of life among countries of the world.
Applying those same indices to Indigenous peoples, it is 63rd. Addressing this gap was central to Bellegarde’s campaign.

Bellegarde is right that poverty need not be the destiny of Canada’s Indigenous populations. The answer...

12 Feb 2015
7:00am

Measuring the Size and Cost of Manitoba’s and Saskatchewan’s Public Sectors

Using the methodology of that policy paper, this study examines the size of the public sector...

6 Jan 2015
7:00am

The Cost Disease Infects Manitoba Education

Earlier this year, the Frontier Centre for Public Policy and the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies published a report I wrote that showed that the cost of public education in all Canadian provinces and territories has been increasing at rates far above the growth in the economy, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI).1 Moreover, the study showed considerable variability across the provinces and territories. The rising cost of public education was highest in Newfoundland and Labrador at 111.1 per cent and lowest in British Columbia at 53.3 per cent. Manitoba was in the middle of the distribution for...

2 Dec 2014
7:00am

Valuation Analysis of SaskEnergy

This analysis arrives at approximations of the value of SaskEnergy, a provincial Crown corporation owned by the government and thus the citizens and taxpayers, of the province of Saskatchewan. These valuation ranges could be useful in determining the future ownership or use of this asset. Every organization needs to review what it could or should do to serve its clients as well as review whether its present array of assets is appropriate for its strategy and future operations.

The best probable estimate of the total market capitalization, that is, the total value of the company were it to be traded...

26 Nov 2014
7:00am

Housing Affordability and the Standard of Living in Toronto

Over the past two centuries, the world has become more urban, as people have moved to the cities to better their lives. Cities exist because, as large labour markets, they facilitate a higher standard of living for residents and reduce poverty. Governments place a high priority on these social goods. Achieving them requires that governments pursue policies that lead to higher household discretionary income (income after paying taxes and for necessities). Governments must also proactively avoid policies that reduce discretionary income. Regrettably, urban containment policy, the subject of this report, increases house prices relative to income, thereby reducing discretionary income...

12 Nov 2014
6:00am

Declining Equalization Payments and Fiscal Challenges in the Small “Have-not” Provinces

This paper analyzes the fiscal condition of the four small, comparatively low-income Canadian provinces that rely on equalization payments as a source of revenue: Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. Specifically, we examine recent trends in the size of equalization payments to these provinces. We find that since Ontario began receiving payments in 2009/10, those provinces have experienced a marked decline in their share of equalization payments. More importantly, equalization payments as a share of nominal provincial GDP in those four provinces have declined. Finally, we analyze the impact of declining equalization payments on provincial finances. We...

12 Feb 2015
7:00am

Manitoba’s Rapidly Growing Public Sector

Ottawa, First Nations Should Narrow Poverty Gap

First Nations poverty may be Canada’s most important moral issue in generations.

Bellegarde is right that poverty need not be the destiny of Canada’s Indigenous populations. The answer...

27 Jan 2015
7:00am

The Critical Need for Endangered Species Reform

As the federal election looms, a hailstorm of criticism is being launched against the Harper government’s failure on environmental issues. Already the media has informed us that we are not protecting our caribou and that Canada is an international pariah with regard to the protection of endangered species. The Sixth Great Extinction looms; our water and air are threatened. Our grandchildren will live on a blasted heath, etc.

Unlike climate change, the notion of the Sixth Great Extinction is not contested vigorously or even examined dispassionately by anyone in the public arena. All reporting contains an element of alarm, if...

22 Jan 2015
7:00am

Handwriting is Still an Important Skill

Many progressive educators believe that handwriting is obsolete in the 21st century. It isn’t hard to see how they came to this conclusion. Computers are everywhere and an increasing number of schools expect students, even those in grade 1, to do their work on handheld tablets. So why bother teaching students how to handwrite?

Unfortunately, much of the debate about handwriting tends to dwell on minor issues. For example, supporters and opponents of handwriting argue about how often students will find themselves in situations where computers are not available. They squabble over whether handwritten signatures on legal documents will eventually...

20 Jan 2015
7:00am

It’s in the Public Interest to Pay Attention to Landlords’ Needs

Rumors abound about "slumlords," as there are landlords that fail to meet the basic needs of their renters and are driven solely by profit. But landlords can also be your average pensioner or middle-income couple, and they have their own stories to share of bad tenants who have caused them financial strain and emotional distress.

Landlords often suggest the laws are biased against them and go to great lengths to screen prospective tenants, because once tenants are selected, landlords can face problems for months if the tenants fail to respect the agreement.

Whereas many renters have little choice but to...

12 Feb 2015
7:10am

Frontier Centre releases Measuring the Size and Cost of Manitoba’s and Saskatchewan’s Public Sectors

Today the Frontier Centre for Public Policy released a new study documenting how high public sector employment rates in the provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan have significant costs to the taxpayers of those provinces. Additional spending on the public sector wage bills due to a sub-national public sector size in excess of the national average cost both Manitoba and Saskatchewan $4.052 billion.

Findings include (all data is from 2013):

An analysis of Statistics Canada data from 2013 demonstrates that 18 per cent of all jobs at the national level are in the public sector, that is, government employees at

6 Jan 2015
7:00am

Frontier Centre releases The Cost Disease Infects Manitoba Education

A new study published by the Frontier Centre for Public Policy shows that per-pupil education costs are soaring in Manitoba. Taxpayers shoulder an ever-increasing burden, but there is little evidence that higher spending results in better educational outcomes.

In “The Cost Disease Infects Manitoba Education,” Professor Rod Clifton examines expenditures on education in the province between 2002/03 and 2012/13, showing that while public school enrollment decreased by 3.5%, the number of educators increased by 5.8%. More significantly, the expenditures increased by about 48.5% from slightly over $1.3 billion to more than $1.9 billion, when the Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased...

2 Dec 2014
7:00am

Frontier Centre for Public Policy Estimates SaskEnergy at $1.2 Billion

Today the Frontier Centre for Public Policy released an independent valuation of SaskEnergy, Saskatchewan’s provincial Crown natural gas distributor. The report authored by financial analyst Ian Madsen estimated the potential market value at an average of $1.164 billion based on three key metrics.

Using established financial analysis methods, the valuation study analyzed several privately traded peer companies including two Canadian regional gas utilities and 11 regional US companies. The analysis found that the firm’s current potential public listing value could be between $818 million and $1.241 billion.

Madsen notes several potential benefits of privatization: “Proceeds from any SaskEnergy sale could...

26 Nov 2014
7:00am

Frontier Centre releases Housing Affordability and the Standard of Living in Toronto

The Frontier Centre for Public Policy has today released Housing Affordability and the Standard of Living in Toronto, a new report authored by Wendell Cox, a senior fellow with the Frontier Centre.

Mr Cox is an expert in land use and transportation policy and the co-author of the annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey, which has examined metropolitan areas in Canada, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States since 2004.

In this report, Mr Cox draws on evidence from the Demographia survey, and his knowledge of the role of housing affordability in poverty reduction, to make recommendations...

12 Nov 2014
6:00am

Frontier Centre Releases Declining Equalization Payments and Fiscal Challenges in the Small “Have-not” Provinces

Today, the Frontier Centre for Public Policy (FCPP) and the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies (AIMS) released a new paper documenting a recent decline in equalization payments (relative to provincial GDP) to Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. In “Declining Equalization Payments and Fiscal Challenges in the ‘Have-not’ Provinces,” authors Ben Eisen, David Murrell, and Shaun Fantauzzo show that equalization payments as a share of provincial GDP have declined markedly in recent years in these four provinces, particularly since Ontario began receiving payments in 2009/10.

Manitoba and the three Maritime Provinces are grouped together for analysis in...

22 Oct 2014
4:36pm

Internship Opportunity

The Frontier Centre for Public Policy is seeking an intern for January to April 2015.

Our internship program is designed to develop future researchers, writers, and policy leaders in Canada, and to provide highly motivated students with the opportunity to experience working in a think tank environment.

The internship is part-time (10-15 hours per week, with the hours usually chosen by the intern) and can be completed at the Centre's head office in Winnipeg, Manitoba, or remotely through e-mail and Skype. The intern is given a monthly stipend.

The intern's role will be primarily that of a research assistant. Tasks...

3 Apr 2014
1:07pm

Is Quebec's electricity business model broken?

This report on Quebec Hydro is one in a long series of reports of 'troubles in Canada's utility land' brought about by the shale gas revolution, new technologies (solar, wind), larger investments in energy efficiency measures and slowing per capita demand, all taking the 'build' pressure down for large and expensive hydroelectric generating plants.

The problem for ratepayers is that provincial governments with monopoly Crown corporation utilities - Newfoundland Labrador's Nalcor, Quebec's Quebec Hydro, Manitoba's Manitoba Hydro and B.C.'s B.C. Hydro - aren't listening.

Grown dependent on the income streams the Crown monopolies flow into their government masters' revenue...

28 Mar 2014
9:00am

Human Achievement Hour 2014

Information Technology

Trade

Smart Green

Tomorrow, March 29th 2014, between 8:30pm and 9:30pm, we'll be celebrating Human Achievement Hour.

This one-hour event coincides with Earth Hour, an annual event where governments, businesses and individuals dim or shut off lights in an effort to raise awareness about pollution. In contrast, Human Achievement Hour (HAH) promotes human prosperity.

Human Achievement Hour is a period of time during which one shows appreciation for human accomplishments by engaging in capitalist acts between consenting adults. For example, going out shopping, or using electricity or indoor plumbing.

“We salute the people who keep the lights on and produce the energy that...

24 Mar 2014
5:58pm

Stephen Moore on how the energy boom is saving manufacturing in America

An animated version of Stephen Moore's talk - America's Energy Boom: How It Will Save U.S. Manufacturing and Recharge The U.S. Economy.

17 Mar 2014
8:13am

Mark Steyn at Manning Networking Conference 2014

Last month I attended the Manning Networking Conference in Ottawa.

It's the largest annual gathering of conservative and libertarians in Canada, with a noticeable generational split between those two philosophies.

The keynote speaker on the final day of the conference was Mark Steyn.

Now, Mark and I wouldn't agree on every political issue, but he's a very entertaining guy.

He gave an entertaining speech in which he covered six political facts of life:

1) When money drains, power drains. When a nation loses control of its finances, it loses control of its destiny.

2) Permanence is the illusion of...

2 Jan 2015
7:00am

It’s Still Important for Students to Learn Facts

Teachers in many Canadian classrooms are being encouraged to de-emphasize factual knowledge, in favour of a more hands-on discovery approach with students.

But some basic facts will always be essential in making higher-level learning possible.

For example, it's difficult for students to understand the grievances of the Métis, without knowing the facts about Louis Riel.

A student who memorizes multiplication tables is more likely to succeed at algebra than one who uses a calculator to multiply 5 times 6.

Students who don't know the tables are more likely to become bogged down and confused by the steps that are needed...

26 Dec 2014
7:00am

New National Chief Will Face Challenges

Saskatchewan's Perry Bellegarde faces many challenges as the new National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations.

The organization is in crisis after Shawn Atleo resigned from the post before the end of his term.

A number of chiefs felt he acted too independently and was too cozy with the Harper government in Ottawa.

Bellegarde’s first challenge will be to convince the chiefs that he needs a degree of independence to be effective, and that cooperation with government can result in meaningful change.

If the national chief works closely with Ottawa, there may be movement on calls for a national...

19 Dec 2014
7:00am

The Battle Against Bad Teaching

Nothing is more important than giving our children a good education, but getting rid of bad teachers can be very difficult.

A recent court case in California may change that in the United States.

A judge in Los Angeles has declared as unconstitutional, the sections of those laws that give teachers tenure within two years, protecting them from dismissal, and allowing lay-offs only on the basis of seniority.

Lawyers for a group of students argued successfully that the laws violate their rights to a quality education and equal opportunity to succeed, because they keep bad teachers in the classroom and...

12 Dec 2014
7:00am

Emission Targets Are Unrealistic

Political leaders around the world have now spent more than two decades setting targets for reducing emissions of carbon dioxide that no one has any realistic hope of achieving.

In the United Kingdom, emissions are being reduced at a rate of 1 percent per year.

To meet the country's target by 2022, that reduction will have to happen at a rate 4 to 5 times that.

Germany, which is building new coal-fired power plants, will also miss its 2020 emissions target.

Alternatives like solar and wind are simply not able to produce enough reasonably-priced, reliable energy that's necessary for an...

5 Dec 2014
7:00am

Quebec And Ontario Squeezing Smaller Provinces Out Of Equalization

Manitoba and the three Maritime provinces who rely on equalization payments as a source of revenue are getting a lot less than they used to.

Equalization payments as a share of GDP have been declining significantly in all four provinces since 2009.

In Manitoba, this means losses in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

A decade ago, Quebec was the big winner in equalization, taking 37% of all such transfers, but Ontario was still a have-province in those days and they took nothing.

Quebec’s share is continuing to increase significantly, and Ontario has been on the receiving end since 2009....

26 Feb 2015
7:00am

Prairie Metropolitan Areas Drive Canada's Growth

In Canada, growth is moving west, but not all the way. The big growth now is in the Prairies between central Canada and British Columbia, the Canadian part of the Great Plains.

Yet you can’t talk about metropolitan Canada without first mentioning the Toronto region.

24 Feb 2015
7:00am

The World's Ten Largest Megacities

Originally published for The Huffington Post.

What is a City?

Demographers use a slew of terms to reference cities and urban areas. Plainly speaking, urban areas are the continuously built up areas that would be seen in the outline of city...

28 Jan 2015
7:00am

Red Tape: Canada’s Hidden Tax (Speech)

Elliot Sims speech and Q&A at a Frontier Centre for Public Policy Breakfast entitled: Red Tape: Canada's Hidden Tax.

View the Power Point Presentation here: https://www.fcpp.org/posts/red-tape-canadas-hidden-tax-powerpoint-slides

28 Jan 2015
7:00am

Red Tape: Canada’s Hidden Tax (PowerPoint Slides)

Power Point presentation from Red Tape: Canada's Hidden Tax. A Breakfast on the Frontier event held in Winnipeg on January 20, 2015 with Elliot Sims.

Listen to his speech here: https://www.fcpp.org/posts/red-tape-canadas-hidden-tax-speech

View the entire Power Point Presentation here....

26 Jan 2015
7:00am

Middle-Income Housing Affordability: International Situation

This article was written by Wendell Cox and originally appeared in the Huffington Post.

Hong Kong, Sydney, Vancouver and the San Francisco Bay Area have the worst middle-income housing affordability in 9 nations, according to 11th Annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey. Median house prices in Hong Kong were 17 times the median household income, a measure called the "median multiple." Vancouver had a median multiple of 10.6, Sydney 9.8, while San Francisco and San Jose were each at 9.2. Other cities (metropolitan areas) with especially high median multiples included Melbourne (8.7), London (8.5), San Diego (8.3) Auckland (8.2),...

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