The shell game is a popular trick that dates back to ancient Greece. A magician places a pea underneath one of three shells. He then rapidly moves the three shells around while those watching try to guess which shell has the pea. More often than not, onlookers guess...
Year: 2013
Nothing Inherent About Home Schooling Means Socially Awkward Children
Many Canadian parents reject home-schooling as a viable option for their children because they don’t want them to be socially awkward. But nothing inherent about home-schooling points to that as a likely result. Home-schooled children have contact with neighbours, in...
Hydrophobia, A Literal Unreasoning Fear of Water, Which May Actually Be Reasonable
While neither the literal ‘fear of water’, nor the gruesome rabies virus, the aversion to massive and unnecessary, expensive new hydropower development is growing. Aside from the extensive environment disruption, human displacement, and ecological damage big new...
Alberta’s Growing Foreign Policy Presence
When thinking of foreign policy, one thinks of the processes and actors involved with federal governments making decisions about how to best pursue national interests and interact in an increasingly complex world. But many aspects of foreign policy formulation have...
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Canadian Property Rights Index 2023
A Snapshot of Property Rights Protection in Canada After 10 years
Alberta Politics and Empty Promises of Health-care Solutions
The writ has been dropped and Albertans are off to the polls on May 29. That leaves just four weeks for political leaders and voters to sort out what is arguably the most divisive, yet significant, issue for this election - health care. On Day 2, NDP leader Rachel...
Manitoba: Beware the Puffball Economy
The Manitoba and federal governments have recently disagreed on the population of the province, a dispute that could lessen the transfer payments Manitoba receives, overwhelmingly from taxpayers in other provinces. Manitoba Finance Minister Jennifer Howard feels...
Rights of Union Workers Should Not be Unilaterally Altered
For too long, Canadians have watched as governments have entered into bad and costly labour agreements with public sector employees. Now that the politicians can no longer afford these expensive contracts, the rights of public sector workers are being altered without...
More To Do In Saskatchewan
A recent report by the Fraser Institute on economic freedom across all 60 Canadian provinces and US states, has ranked Alberta first, and Saskatchewan right behind in second place. This news received significant media coverage in Saskatchewan and across North America...
Alberta schools are getting worse, not better
There is an old saying that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results. By this standard, the Redford government must be insane—at least when it comes to public education reform. Over the last decade, the Department of...
Dispatches From the American Midwest
Canadian cities face a myriad of challenges. Aging infrastructure and worsening traffic are undermining mobility, with immense costs. The Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area alone loses $6 billion in productivity due to gridlock each year, which is expected to increase...
Happy Holidays 2013
The Board and Staff of the Frontier Centre would like to wish you peace, health and happiness throughout the coming year. We look forward to sharing our vision for a stronger and more prosperous Canadian society with you in 2014 and for many years to come.
Coase, Pigou, and Sriracha Sauce
Huy Fong has been ordered to cease any odor emitting production by a California judge. This could lead to a shortage of their wildly popular Sriracha hot sauce. While foodies are upset, residents who sought the injunction against Huy Fong appear to have a legitimate...
Who should pay for Toronto transit projects?
Financing infrastructure projects is typically a complex process, involving transfers between provinces, cities, and neighbourhoods. While it is possible (though not easy) to track transfers between provinces, it is difficult to track transfers between cities, and...
Competition key to better post-secondary education
Source: Edmonton Journal, 14 Dec 2013 Re: “Reframing Alberta’s post-secondary debate,” by Brent Epperson, Ideas, Dec. 12. Brent Epperson eloquently argues for a more “progressive” style of post-secondary education in Alberta and rejects those critics who instead...