As it turns out, Australians—who are, after all, much like Americans, proudly democratic, entrepreneurial and of immigrant stock—warmed to Mr. Abbott’s old-school conservatism, along with his blokey, down-to-Earth persona. It’s a lesson to which conservatives in America (Republican, tea party, or otherwise) should pay close attention.
Year: 2010
Canada Trails In Legalizing Pot Debate: Policy makers need to take profit out of illegal drugs
“Drugs, prostitution and illegal gambling are all activities that bring harm in many instances to individuals, families and communities and many feel they are immoral. But, one needs to look at the unintended consequences of prohibiting all these activities. People will always want to do these things and criminals often reap the benefits because they can provide them at exorbitant prices and people will still pay.”
Test Often, Raise Standards, Manitoba Educator Urges
“Zwaagstra believes that curriculum content isn’t specific enough, academic standards in schools are not strong enough and that schools shouldn’t possess a no-fail policy. He went on to say that our school system has an anti-testing bias and that there isn’t a balance of standardized testing and teacher-created assessment.”
Whats Wrong With Our Schools?
Michael Zwaagstra discusses 'Whats Wrong With Our Schools' on the radio here. (17 minutes)
Featured News
Sustaining a Pariah State: Pakistan’s Ignominious Alliance in Afghanistan
The United Nations (UN) was born out of an idea for creating a society of nations, a global community, a brotherhood of nations built on a set of higher ideals. These ideals would give rise to a global village with accountability to each other, including social...
The Endemic Path is the Way Out
The Alberta premier’s plan to treat the coronavirus as endemic was the way out of the COVID crisis. That he is once again adopting restrictions for the province, for the fourth time, does not negate the endemic approach. But his declaration, paraphrasing President...
Manitoba First Nations Face Most Oversight By Ottawa
“With financial woes at Peguis First Nation again raising questions about the state of band management in Manitoba, new figures released by Indian and Northern Affairs Canada show 21 bands are currently managed entirely by a third party such as an accounting firm or are co-managed in partnership with the chief and council.”
Poverty: The Real Challenge is Understanding Where We’re At: Canada’s success at beating poverty means the poverty debate has morphed into an income inequality debate.
Canada has been so successful at beating poverty the real danger is forgetting what it is treating inequality as if it were poverty.
Mark Francis – Renaissance Man & Capital Markets
Lunch on the Frontier
Our Blue Gold: There’s nothing wrong with treating water as a commodity
“In the past few years, several domestic think-tanks have researched this issue, and concluded that there is a potentially lucrative market for Canadian water. The Frontier Centre for Public Policy estimates that Manitoba could earn US$1.33-billion annually by exporting just 1% of the fresh water flowing into Hudson Bay, via a pipeline to American markets, thereby ending Manitoba’s status as a have-not province.”
Best-Administered Reserves Have Highest Scores: Evidence points to connection between Administration and overall performance
Evidence from the Third Annual Aboriginal Governance Index reveals that good administration on a First Nation is a strong predictor of overall success for a reserve community.
Province Grinds Down Honest Family
“Governments must be restrained from dedicating public money and power to crush their citizens. The Charter fetters police powers and legislation, but what impedes government from applying its unlimited resources to harass us into poverty in civil court?”
Verging on Occult: Earth Hour fails at fighting climate change, so what is it about?
It’s time to ask why Earth Hour is so popular given that it is so ineffective at raising climate change concern.
Only Climate Deceptions Matter in the Post-Fact Society
“The Post-Fact society is very active with environmental and climate issues. The media, which has generally abandoned the concept of fair and balanced, amplifies it. There’s a constant search for examples to buttress the idea that global warming and climate change are caused by humans. Even after evidence is proven inaccurate, inappropriate or wrong, the idea is pushed and new ‘facts’ found. Central requirements are to blame humans for the change and imply planetary destruction will result.”
End Coming For Robin Hood-Type Transfers: Alberta Finance Minister Ted Morton has put Ottawa on notice that the unequal distribution of transfer payments to provinces must stop.
“So lucrative has the transfer of wealth become that, according to an excellent new analysis by the Frontier Centre for Public Policy, the less-fortunate provinces now outperform almighty Alberta in delivering almost all services, including health care and the cost of post-secondary education.”