When the September 11th terrorist attacks happened, many in this country were astonished at how quickly it took for many Canadians to reveal they secretly believed America had it coming. In fact, it seems anti-Americanism is our civic religion that we can barely conceal any longer. In this excellent collection of 15 essays, Griffiths has assembled a diverse group of writers to each present a particular area of life touching on Canadian-American relations that has been distorted by anti-Americanism.
Year: 2008
Next Step: More Accountable And Transparent Native Governments
Similar to the municipal level, the effective use of public money by first nations requires transparent governments responsible to their own citizens, who pay a significant part of their cost by taxing themselves. It also requires a vigorous civil society in which most people are self-supporting, own property and are not dependent on government to do everything for them.
Common Sense on Canadian Bilingualism
If governments wish to spend money on language, it should be to make sure immigrants can speak one of the two official languages according to the dominant language of the province in which they reside: French in Quebec and English in Alberta. Beyond that, they shouldn’t go overboard.
The Strange Death of the Tory Climate Crusade
The recent success of the Conservative Party has owed little to quixotic environmentalism, and almost every Tory attempt to play the green card has been a disaster. While there is little public appetite for raising energy taxes or overhauling the British economy to deal with climate change, there is widespread support for boosting investment in green-friendly technologies, and the Tories are well-placed to advance this.
Featured News
China’s Intensifying Estrangement and Nativism may Make its Scientific Progress Stagnate
One of the most notable features of Nazi regime in Germany was its anti-intellectualism. While it claimed to be in the forefront of scientific and technical advances, its ideology and totalitarian rule made free enquiry and interchange between scientists and other...
Evasive Accountability: A New Norm for Police and Security Services in Canada
Since the founding of this country, a totalitarian, closed form of government has been considered unacceptable and un-American. The public assumes they have the freedom to be left alone and to live a life in privacy, while the government is believed to be open...
Which Best Helps the Poor?
An analysis of why raising tax exemptions is smarter than increasing the minimum wage.
New Funding for Native Entrepreneurs Positive Move
New funding for Manitoba First Nations entrepreneurs requires strong leadership to ensure that budding business people have the unmolested support of their band councils.
Eat Beef if You Care About Environmental Conservation
Increasing North American beef consumption supports extensive cattle ranching which, by the way, is a very environmentally sound form of food production.
City Borrowing May Skyrocket
A proposal to more than double the limits on Edmonton’s borrowing could burden taxpayers with a $2.5-billion debt that won’t solve the city’s infrastructure problems, Coun. Karen Leibovici says. A report to council’s executive committee Wednesday suggests councillors change the rules so they can borrow even more.
Misinterpreting the Weather
I ’d like to wish you a happy New Year, but I’m afraid I have a different sort of prediction. You’re in for very bad weather. In 2008, your television will bring you image after frightening image of natural havoc linked to global warming. You will be told such bizarre...
A Billion People live on a Dollar a Day
Two page pdf file
How Toronto Has Fared as One Big City
“[Amalgamation] hasn’t worked the way I thought it would or should have worked,” he said. “The province is partly to blame because they didn’t put enough controls in place to make sure it would run right. And certainly, the councillors elected, they had no concept of fiscal responsibility, in my opinion.”
TriMet to Me: You Cannot Get There From Here
Portland transit is too slow.
Antoine Hacault
Frontier discusses a troubling precedent-setting case with Antoine Hacault, the lawyer for the Foulliard family from the RM of Ellice, Manitoba. The local RM council is movng to expropriate their land for tourism development purposes.