After police chiefs across Canada last week passed a resolution to dedicate additional resources to officers pursuing individuals in possession of marijuana, I was left wondering one thing: Why do Canada’s police chiefs refuse to support the legalization of pot? The...
Year: 2013
On Government Growth
From one of my email feeds from New Zealand comes this thoughtful nugget by Dr. Oliver Hartwich, Executive Director of the New Zealand Initiative, a local think tank: Government spending has been rising for the past one and a half centuries. The increase itself is...
America Hanging in There Better Than Rivals
The country is shuffling through a very weak recovery, and public opinion remains distinctly negative, with nearly half of Americans saying China has already leapfrogged us and nearly 60 percent convinced the country is headed in the wrong direction.
First Nations once thrived in agriculture
This great column by Jamie Wilson, commissioner of the Treaty Relations Commission of Manitoba, documents how Prairie First Nations in the immediate post-treaty period were thriving farmers. The current system of dependency and poverty seen on many Western reserves...
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...
Promoting Health Through Less Regulation
Yesterday I had a very interesting meeting with a couple of staff members from the Regina Qu'Appelle Health Region. We covered what each of our organisations do, and shared how we operate and work towards improving the lives of Reginans and Canadians. In particular I...
Observations from the Western Canadian Aviation Forum
The Winnipeg Airports Authority was kind enough to invite me to participate in their Western Canadian Aviation Forum. While it is a policy conference, most of the presenters are from industry and government, which provides a slightly different perspective than conferences that are primarily populated and presented by academics and scholars. I’ve accumulated a few observations over the past two days that I’d like to throw out for consideration.
Crocus Resurrected
When a senior former bureaucrat comes forth and speaks out, accusing ‘sitting’ politicians of grave misconduct, with no possible personal gain to accrue to the accuser, he should not be ignored.
The Ontario government should not try to set insurance rates
In an attempt to garner NDP support for the provincial budget, the governing Liberals have pledged to reduce auto insurance rates by 15 percent. While this makes for excellent retail politics, it doesn’t make any economic sense.
Cloud Computing Centre – Electricity Bill Subsidized?
A red flag may be warranted. While, the recent announcement of Canadian Tire's Cloud Computing Centre is welcome news on several counts, there is one implication of the pending arrival that may not be so well received. Manitoba Hydro has (correctly) been...
Complete Surrender
Over the space of two days late last week, the prior good reputation of Manitoba's Public Utilities Board (PUB) was soiled and lost, perhaps forever. Unfortunately, Manitobans have not only lost a check on Manitoba's government-owned monopolies, but will have to pay...
Manitoba Has It Right On First Nation Equality
The federal NDP should stand united with its Manitoba provincial counterpart in supporting legislation that will ensure equitable property division between spouses on First Nations reserves.
Behind The Scenes
As our blog is a little more casual than our regular publications, I think it provides a good opportunity to give you all a bit of a behind-the-scenes look at what we do here at the Frontier. Given how spread out we are across the country, we usually conduct our...
Media Release – Frontier Centre’s Rod Clifton appointed Professor Emeritus
The Frontier Centre for Public Policy is pleased to announce that Rod Clifton, a Senior Research Fellow, will be named Professor Emeritus at the University of Manitoba on Tuesday, April 30, 2013.