One of the presenters in the Toronto municipal budget consultations came up with well reasoned, solid advice.
Year: 2011
A Private Solution to the Very Public Problem of First Nations Living Conditions
Here is a prediction: in a week, or two, or three, or six, the CBC and the Globe and the National Post and NDP MP Charlie Angus and Liberal leader Bob Rae will forget about the tiny, suffering northern community of Attawapiskat. And so will the rest of us.
Municipal Mythologies: Infrastructure wish lists aren’t actual deficits
In a world with scarce resources, people want more money spent on something than what is available. But that is not a “deficit.” Otherwise, we have health, education and social deficits, to name a few. In principle, optimal spending would be based on a benefit-cost calculus and programs rejected if benefits are less than cost.
One Reason to Buy a Hybrid
Their extra weight makes them safer in an accident.
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Canadians on the Move, to Smaller Communities
The Canadian Dream is increasingly being realized in smaller areas For decades, Canadians moved to the larger cities (census metropolitan areas, or CMAs) with their economic opportunities. The latest estimates indicate that CMAs have 72 per cent of the nation’s...
Leadership Needed in Canadian Healthcare; Apply Within
When the Premiers were first called to a sit-down lunch to talk about healthcare with Prime Minister Trudeau, there was plenty of talk about the potential for systemic change, innovation and accountability. It seemed that Canadians and their leaders were finally on...
Freedom Shouldn’t Come with Caveats, but it Does
In Saturday’s National Post, my esteemed colleague, George Jonas, made the compelling case for why university attendees should not be compelled to join student unions. He would, of course, dispute the use of the word case, because the idea that people should not be forced to join involuntary organizations would seem to be self-evident in a free society.
Curbing illegal on-reserve tobacco
Much ado is being made about a recent illegal cigarettes seizure in southern Manitoba. The tobacco products were sold on a Dakota smoke shop. Although the cigarettes (manufactured on Mohawk territory in Quebec) were federally licensed, they were not stamped for sale...
Bias and Exploitation of Bias About Environment and Climate In Schools
Climate change advocates are penetrating the school systems without having to present a balanced view.
Citizens Can’t Wait for Transparency
According to Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Claude Williams, “There is no fixed timeline for municipalities to be brought under the Right to Information and Access to Privacy Act.” Apparently the provincial government has been consulting with municipalities about an appropriate timeline.
Education Isn’t the Same Thing as Training
A higher education should liberate students to think for themselves. The opposite is largely going on today. Students are being trained into thinking in specific ways for specific purposes.
Freedom of Association Shouldn’t Come with Caveats
A press release by the Frontier Centre for Public Policy caught my eye this week. The respected western Canadian think-tank was offering its clients “the case for ending compulsory membership in student unions in Canada’s universities and colleges.”
Lessons for U.S. from Canada’s ‘Basket Case’ Moment
Canada’s shift from pariah to fiscal darling provides lessons for Washington as lawmakers find few easy answers to the huge U.S. deficit and debt burden, and for European countries staggering under their own massive budget problems.
Cel Phone Class Action
The Merchant Law Group is leading a big class action against cel phone companies.
Shale Gas Activity in the UK
Several companies are chomping at the bit to get their hands on one of the new licences the government is planning to issue.