“My dispute is with Ottawa,” he told reporters at the end of Ontario Chamber of Commerce “economic summit” to which he had invited Mr. Charest. “Ottawa makes the rules and we have to play by them.” There is a surface logic to this argument but it ignores the fact that Ottawa was hoping in 2006 that the provinces could reach a consensus on equalization reform. It never came.
Year: 2008
Root Causes Of The Financial Crisis: A Primer
All of this leads to the bottom line. It is crucial that smart growth’s toxic land rationing policies be dismantled as quickly as possible. Otherwise, there could be further smart growth economic crises ahead, or, perhaps even worse, a further freezing of economic opportunity for future generations.
Government Investment in Private Enterprises
Sometimes governments invest in or provide investment subsidies to private enterprises for reasons of national security or in times of national emergency. While the specifics of such intervention may be contentious, few would question the necessity. However, sometimes...
Police In The Real World
So why do we need more policemen? To enforce laws, of course. But this raises the question, “which laws?” And this is the main issue in the real world. Most of the laws that “policemen on our streets” enforce are, like in 17th-century Paris, designed more to protect the state apparatus than the subjects’ liberties.
Featured News
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Frontier Centre for Public Policy!
COVID-19 Emergency Powers Nearly Limitless
The war against the invisible enemy of COVID-19 has unfortunately made normal rights and freedoms invisible as well. Another example manifested on September 13 when Saskatchewan’s premier renewed emergency orders for his province. The list of powers he claimed were so...
Nitrogen Must Go: Province
The Doer government is forcing Winnipeg to spend $10 million to $50 million on a sewage-treatment process that one of the world’s leading freshwater scientists believes will actually make Lake Winnipeg filthier.
Scientists Question Climate Change Consensus
ICSC chairman Professor Tim Patterson said, “Instead of wasting billions restricting emissions of CO2, a vitally important gas on which all life depends, governments must concentrate on solving known environmental problems over which we have influence.”
Let Them Eat Fruit Kebabs
Rather than assuming people are generally fit to make their own decisions and allowing them to bear or enjoy the consequences, good and bad, the paternalist state focuses on diminishing their access or temptation, treating them as weak, impressionable victims, prey to advertisers and retailers, who need to be protected from their own foolishness.
One Trip Around Houston, And They’re Preaching To The Converted
The idea of a city without zoning might imply anarchy. Houston avoids this through protective covenants. All the home owners in a neighbourhood can band together and agree that no development can take place without the approval of the community. These covenants cover a large proportion of the city, but they don’t cover vacant land, so they don’t impede development and growth. In effect, they provide privatised zoning, but at a local level and without the interference of government and all the corruption that brings with it.
Abundant Energy Will Power Future Growth
The world is consuming more and more energy and, as if by miracle, the amount left to consume grows ever higher. Never before in human history has energy been accessible in greater abundance and in more regions, never before has mankind had more energy options and faced a brighter energy future.
Native Reality Check
“Usually the public hears from native leaders about what’s wrong. The Winnipeg-based Frontier Centre for Public Policy, however, decided to go straight to grassroots natives to hear their concerns. For three years, the think tank has been soliciting the opinions of ordinary aboriginals on how their reserves are governed.”
Canadian Interests Divided at Global Trade Talks
Saskatchewan Agriculture Minister Bob Bjornerud told reporters last week he’s concerned that Canada’s refusal to make concessions on supply management could hurt western Canadian interests.
Public Cooling on Global Warming
Comments and reports about global warming are getting silly and even ridiculous. Al Gore says we have ten years left. We’re told cooling is due to warming. More rain and flooding and less rain and drought are both due to warming. More hurricanes are predicted while fewer occur.
Equalization a Moral Failure
In our personal lives, we generally recognize three basic moral principles in our economic relationships with others. The first is to do everything we can to ensure that we do not become an unnecessary burden on our neighbours. The second is a core principle adopted from the practice of medicine. It is to do no harm. The third principle is to share where sharing is required but to do so in a way that does not breed dependence. The failure to measure the system against its principal goal means that federal regional subsidies fail this final moral test.