As classes resume at Canada's universities, students are paying mandatory fees of as much as 200 dollars each to student unions. These organizations do several things for students. They administer health and dental plans, fund a variety of activities including sports...
Year: 2014
Mid-Sized Cities Can Attract Tourists by Being Themselves
People flock to major cities to take advantage of unique experiences. In theory, most of the types of activities tourists seek out can be replicated most anywhere, but people are willing to pay a large premium and go out of their way to see a show on Broadway, or eat...
Parents Guide To Common Sense Education (CJME)
Education researcher Michael Zwaagstra has a new handbook coming out next month from the Frontier Centre. Parents’ guide to Common Sense Education in Saskatchewan covers issues ranging from standardized testing to report cards and teaching strategies. (CJME)
B.C. Teachers Continue Strike (CBC)
Michael Zwaagstra discusses the B.C. teachers union strike on CBC's The Current. Should the make up of classes be part of teachers' contract talks?
Featured News
Coal – Not Wind – is Keeping Saskatchewan’s Lights On
While it’s not the same minute-by-minute data provided by the Alberta Electric System Operator for their grid, SaskPower has begun breaking down where its power is coming from on a daily basis. And the data from Oct. 3 and 4 showed wind generated an average of just...
57 Policy Proposals for Future Leaders to Help Make the Canadian Economy Soar
Executive Summary The various federal political parties are all promoting the policy agendas they believe will foster a sustainably high quality of life for all Canadians. It remains to be seen whether they will attain the success that they aim to achieve. In some...
Parka and dagger
There has been no shortage of messages sent between Moscow and Ottawa since the outbreak of tensions between the West and Russia over Ukraine. In the most recent development, Moscow announced on Tuesday that it had expelled a Canadian diplomat. No reason was indicated...
Distracted Driving Laws Are Not Effective
All Canadian provinces have laws in place that punish people for texting or talking on cellphones while driving. But the rising number of tickets indicates people are just not listening. Jurisdictions with distracted driving laws have actually seen an increase in...
Saskatchewan Should Take A Leading Role In Trade
With an abundance of natural resources, and a bustling agriculture industry, trade is vital to the Saskatchewan economy. The province exports more products per capita than any other province, and recently overtook British Columbia to become the fourth largest...
Saskatchewan Scrapping Standardized Testing
Saskatchewan government announced it was was scrapping standardized testing. Michael Zwaagstra is a public high school teacher and a Senior researcher with the Frontier Centre for Public Policy.
How Canada adds value to its resources
Writing in the Globe and Mail, MLI Managing Director Brian Lee Crowley explains that while Canada is blessed with resource wealth, that alone is not what makes it such a wealthy country. Many jurisdictions that have abundant natural resources are poor or troubled,...
Custom elections challenge charter rights
Custom band elections are more difficult to understand than most Canadians realize. Take for instance Garden Hill First Nation in Manitoba, located 300 kilometres southeast of Thompson. Recently, the First Nation adopted rules preventing anyone under 50 from running...
A Harm Reduction Agenda for Distracted Driving
All Canadian provinces have introduced legislation to punish people for using cellphones while driving. But, the legislation doesn’t appear to be working. The number of distracted driving tickets suggests that people just aren’t listening. Rather than ratcheting up...
The Poverty of Western Strategy in Ukraine
The West has very few options left to curb further Russian aggression in the Ukraine. After seizing Crimea many naively hoped that Russia would be content with having secured its access to the Black Sea and the future for its Black Sea Fleet base, and would not...
Housing Affordability and the Standard of Living in Calgary
Executive Summary Over the past two centuries, the world has become more urban, as people have moved to the cities to better their lives. Cities exist because, as large labour markets, they facilitate a higher standard of living for residents and reduce...