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.”
Year: 2012
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).
Featured News
Raw-Milk Prohibition Reveals Policy Backwardness
Prohibitionists Dig In Heels for Supply Management, Ignore U.S. Success There is a legal way to consume raw milk in Canada: buy it in the United States and bring it home. Of the 13 states bordering Canada, 12 have legal raw milk. More than 40 have it legal in some...
The Pawlowski Decision
In the Alberta Health Services v. Artur Pawlowski and Dawid Pawlowski decision last September, a Court of Queen’s Bench justice found the two brothers in contempt of court. The Pawlowski brothers openly challenged health ordinances and court orders and did not deny...
Car Sharing is a Good Idea
A group in Saskatoon is evaluating the feasibility of establishing a car sharing service in the city. To me, this is a good idea that can reduce the cost of transportation for a lot of people. Another desirable step would be for SGI to create a "pay-as-you-drive"...
A Workable Voucher System for Aboriginal Students: Improving the Quality of Aboriginal Education in Canada
This backgrounder describes how Aboriginal education in Canada could improve significantly if Indian bands and parents took a greater role in the education of the children in their communities, insuring prompt remedial literacy and numeracy.
Media Release – Improving the Quality of Aboriginal Education in Canada: A Workable Voucher System for Aboriginal Students
Aboriginal education in Canada could improve significantly if Indian bands and parents took a greater role in the education of the children in their communities, insuring prompt remedial literacy and numeracy.
It’s a Bad Idea to Hit Anyone with Tax Jump
Ontario’s popular new measure to tax the rich will, unsurprisingly to those who understand how economic incentives work, very likely create more economic costs than benefits, according to a new analysis from the C.D. Howe Institute.
Memo to Vancouver about Alberta Oil
Have a nice summer with your stay at home vacations.
Incentivizing home maintenance on isolated indigenous communities
This is interesting. Municipal authorities offered six Nunavik communities in northern Quebec a contest aimed at increasing pride and improving homes. Prizes included a VIP trip to Montreal to see a Canadiens game, six months free rent, an Xbox. A large part of the...
Experimental Lakes Program – Adding My Voice
I agree with this editorial from the Saskatoon Paper. At a time when global attention increasingly is focused on the environmental impact of oilsands development, and when the glacial melt that supplies fresh water for cities such as Calgary and Saskatoon is...
Europe’s Green Energy Suicide
As austerity bites into European living standards, sparking revolt at the polls, “growth” has become the politician’s mantra. But to be competitive, European countries require a secure, plentiful and competitively priced energy supply. Unless Europe radically rethinks its obsession with carbon dioxide emissions and the anti-fossil fuel energy policies that flow from it, growth is likely to remain elusive, says author Rael Jean Isaac in the Wall Street Journal.
This Meaningless Green Drivel, by Environment Guru: Scientist’s U-turn on doomsday claim
He was once a guru to environmentalists, claiming climate change would kill billions of humans by the end of this century. But it seems James Lovelock has had a change of heart.