Much alarm is being expressed about proposed changes to the Indian Act in the omnibus budget bill. Much of this rhetoric is overdone or just plain wrong, but there are concerns about the changes, even if the changes respond to legitimate problems approving projects on reserves.
Year: 2012
Globe and Mail columnist misguided on climate and energy
Globe and Mail columnist Jeffery Simpson should not so easily accept official dogma on climate change and energy. He also needs to seriously investigate the popular though misguided belief that fossil fuel companies receive government subsidies.
Can Goldman Sachs help the homeless?
A few blocks from where I work, there’s a guy who lives on a sidewalk in the Financial District. That guy is incredibly expensive. For the amount we pay in social services to keep him alive, he could practically move into the Ritz. The yearly cost of caring for a homeless person with substance abuse and mental issues (that is, most of them) ranges from $55,000 up to $134,000, according to various research studies.
What is a Half-Urban World?
Within the last couple of years, the population of the world has become more than one half urban for the first time in history. By 2025, the world’s urban areas are expected to account for 58% of the world population, rising further to two-thirds in 2050. This represents a huge increase from the 29% that was urban in 1950, or estimates of approximately 10% (or less) in 1800.
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Promote Equity by Providing a Quality Education
Earlier this year, a group called Equity Matters asked the province to establish an education equity secretariat. They want this office to oversee equity officers working in Manitoba schools. Equity Matters wants to ensure that all Manitoba students are reflected in...
Why Frances Widdowson Matters
Frances Widdowson probably isn't someone most Canadians recognize. I'm here to tell you why they should. In terms of Canada's intellectual culture, Frances Widdowson matters because she is a classic and prolific academic. In a time when demagoguery easily flourishes,...
Harper’s civil service shuffle an attempt to make ‘Yes, Minister’ actually mean something
Ottawa positively hummed with speculation about a major shuffle in the upper reaches of the public service Monday — a story I suggested on Twitter was important because “these are the people who really run the country.” Not so, responded Ian Brodie, Stephen Harper’s former chief of staff : “I’m pretty sure the guy who moves them is the one who really runs the country.”
Bipartisan Drug Policy Reform
The Huffington Post has an interesting article today about the growing bipartisan nature of drug policy reform in the United States.
Infostructure Is the New Infrastructure: We aren’t going to need 20 lanes on the New Jersey Turnpike, or $100 billion high-speed rail lines, to save us from national gridlock.
Among advocates of big government and Keynesian countercyclical stimulus, one subject keeps coming up: infrastructure. They’re always arguing the short- and long-term benefits of building new highways, bridges, tunnels, urban light-rail systems, or, the Holy Grail itself, a national high-speed rail network.
Summary of University of Regina Liquor Policy Panel Discussion
Last Thursday I participated in a liquor policy panel at the University of Regina, organized by the Frontier Centre. Also on the panel were Simon Enoch (Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives), Bev Robertson (Owner, Bushwakker Brewing Company), and Greg Hanwell (Marketing Partner, Beer Bros. Gastropub and Deli).
Get Dominic to Run too!
The Liberal Party of Canada would have been well served in persuading Dominic Leblanc to run for the leadership of the party.
Response to native financial transparency law shouldn’t be to change the channel
The Assembly of First Nations (AFN) responded to Bill C-27, the First Nations Financial Transparency Act, by pointing out how other jurisdictions do not have similar disclosure standards. Well, this is not an adequate response. Full stop. It does not address the issue...
Belgian Vote Reflects Tensions Over Unity
Equalization policies now intensify calls for separatism in Belgium. Political tensions run high in Belgium, a federal state consisting of Dutch-speaking Flanders, French-speaking Wallonia and the bilingual Brussels-capital region. The previous general election, in 2010, led to an 18-month political crisis before a government was formed.
Yale/George Mason University climate poll just another biased survey promoting the climate scare
This week saw the release of Climate Change in the American Mind, a report interpreting an important poll concerning American public opinion about extreme weather and climate change. Media across the world immediately gave this survey from the Yale Project on Climate...
Fixing Hydro Subsidies – Tip of the Equalization Reform Iceberg
While these proposed reforms will be seen as very scary by our cautious ruling political class, they must still be seen for what they are. We need to look at the tweaks purportedly being considered as more patches on a very patched up and dysfunctional transfer payment system.