Discussions about Canada’s new prostitution laws rarely involve defining who is meant by the term “sex workers.” There are sex workers who want to work in the trade, those who work in the trade out of desperation, and victims of human trafficking. In order to have a...
Year: 2014
‘Smart Growth’ Not Necessary To Protect Farms
Urban sprawl is still regarded as undesirable by city planners, but the arguments against it are changing. The planners have long maintained that limited development should be allowed beyond existing urban boundaries, as long as there are areas in the core that could...
Are Student Unions Relevant to Student Life?
Next month, university students will cough up money for tuition, textbooks, residence, and additional fees. Student fees, which include transit passes and health and dental insurance, range from $500 to $1000 a year at Canadian universities, of which approximately...
Research Oriented Universities Need To Find Better Balance
In less than a month, it will be back to class on Canada's university campuses. Some schools like the University of Alberta, are more focused on research, while others, like Brandon University, concentrate more on teaching undergraduates. Students enrolled in...
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Promote Equity by Providing a Quality Education
Earlier this year, a group called Equity Matters asked the province to establish an education equity secretariat. They want this office to oversee equity officers working in Manitoba schools. Equity Matters wants to ensure that all Manitoba students are reflected in...
Why Frances Widdowson Matters
Frances Widdowson probably isn't someone most Canadians recognize. I'm here to tell you why they should. In terms of Canada's intellectual culture, Frances Widdowson matters because she is a classic and prolific academic. In a time when demagoguery easily flourishes,...
Frontier Centre Releases Housing Affordability and the Standard of Living in Calgary
The Frontier Centre for Public Policy has today released Housing Affordability and the Standard of Living in Calgary, a new report authored by Wendell Cox, a senior fellow with the Frontier Centre. Mr Cox is an expert in land use and transportation policy and the...
Cold Lake First Nations Employment Initiatives
Unemployment is a chronic problem for Canada’s Aboriginal people, but Cold Lake First Nations in Alberta have achieved success that’s worth trumpeting. Band member James Blackman started the Primco Dene Group of Companies. The businesses are wholly owned by the Cold...
Burdening Manitoba’s Next Generation
Buried in Manitoba Hydro’s website in the section describing new projects is the noble statement “It’s our generation’s turn to invest”. The investment being referred to is a $34-billion bet that two new hydroelectric dams ( Keeyask and Conawapa), the associated...
The Future of Arts Funding
Technology has radically transformed many industries, from manufacturing and textiles to travel agencies or the entertainment business. Many have greatly suffered before accepting their fate and adapting to a new digital world. Now, the wider arts industry is in the...
Cities Can Improve Services by Freeing Employees to Compete
How should municipal services be delivered to citizens? The political right argues that outsourcing services is usually most efficient, while the left argues that “privatization” of services such as waste management or wastewater treatment would lead to lower quality...
Cutting through the Edu-Babble
Cutting throught the Edu-Babble - Research Fellow Michael Zwaagstra - Nineteenth National Congress on Rural Education in Canada, Saskatoon, March 31, 2014. View the entire Power Point Presentation here.
Unconditional Cash Transfers Better Than Ineffective Welfare Programs
Politicians are fond of championing the middle class, but a recent study by Statistics Canada shows that middle income Canadians are doing relatively well compared with those who fall below the poverty line and younger Canadians are falling behind older cohorts....
Is Quebec’s electricity business model broken?
This report on Quebec Hydro is one in a long series of reports of 'troubles in Canada's utility land' brought about by the shale gas revolution, new technologies (solar, wind), larger investments in energy efficiency measures and slowing per capita demand, all taking...
Aboriginal Employment: The Power of Self-Help
"The best social program is a good job." - Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton. Unemployment is notoriously higher among Canadian Aboriginal people than among the general population. Some observers emphasize the need for better government programs of education, job...