Sir Roger Douglas, New Zealand Herald, 24 November 2013 Conventional politicians ignore structural reform because they think they are in power to please people, and pleasing people does not involve making them face the hard questions. They use the latest polls to...
Year: 2013
Next steps for the Harper Government
A speech by Robert Murray to the Manning Centre in Calgary about the next steps for the Harper Government, delivered on 1st November, during the Conservative Convention.
News report shows Manitoba bands in bad shape
A recent news report from the Winnipeg Free Press shows that 40 per cent of bands in Manitoba have outside managers to help with their finances. This is a record among Canadian provinces and territories. Saskatchewan also has a high number of First Nations...
The Condo Game: CBC’s Curiously Apocalyptic Documentary on Toronto’s Condo Market
CBC aired a documentary on Toronto's condo market on November 21st that can be viewed here. It is notable for two reasons. First, it provides a prognosis for Toronto that is much darker than the most negative mainstream sources would suggest. Second, while it hints at...
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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...
U.S. environmental regulations hurting Native Americans
Some interesting news south of the border. This piece by the Montana-based Property and Environment Research Center (PERC) tells it all. Apparently, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has imposed new regulations on the coal industry that are basically...
High Wages Attract Better Politicians
The Frontier Centre has released a backgrounder today entitled CEO Compensation, Politicians’ Salaries, and NHL Players. The author of the paper is Steve Lafleur, a policy analyst with the Frontier Centre. The backgrounder examines the relationship between...
CEO Compensation, Politicians’ Salaries, and NHL PLayers
Conservative activists often take issue with what they consider excessive pay and perks for politicians. Social democratic activists get riled up over the large salaries commanded by CEOs. Both often do so on an emotional rather than a logical basis. A myopic focus on...
Fixing California: The Green Gentry’s Class Warfare
Joel Kotkin, newgeography, October 28, 2013 Historically, progressives were seen as partisans for the people, eager to help the working and middle classes achieve upward mobility even at expense of the ultrarich. But in California, and much of the country,...
Alberta’s progressivism should come as no surprise
If one was to rely solely on Canadian media reports on the recent Alberta municipal elections, you would think Alberta went through a seismic political shift from radical conservatism to a sudden progressive awakening in one fowl swoop. Most of this discussion is...
Picking doctors by colour
In a recent position statement, the Canadian Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists argued that immigrant patients’ expressed wishes to be treated by a doctor of their own sex, race, culture or religion — reportedly a common phenomenon — should not be reflected in...
Overbooking is a Fact of Life in the World of Air Travel
Many air travelers are understandably annoyed when they get bumped from a flight because the airline has overbooked. But it has become a necessary way of life, and it actually reduces the cost of flying for everyone. Air Canada and other airlines offer refundable...
Do the numbers add up in Ontario public schools?
Mark Milke, in Tax Me I'm Canadian! Your Money and How Politicians Spend It, has a good point. Canadians are paying too much and getting way too little in return. But Ontario government's continuous expansion of its commitment to education and education spending...
CRTC Launches “Let’s Talk TV: A Conversation with Canadians”
Today the CRTC announced a new exercise in participatory democracy, directly consulting the public on the future of the television system in Canada. http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2013/2013-563.htm Although this is meant to be in keeping with the government’s...