The view from the southwest flank of Canada’s coastline—between Surrey B.C.’s Crescent Beach and the city of White Rock—is breathtaking. “It’s Canada’s Amalfi coast,” enthuses Erik Seiz, President of the Crescent Beach Property Owners’ Association. With its...
Year: 2014
New Fracking Methods Have Less Surface Impact Than Traditional Fracking
The controversy continues over hydraulic fracturing, or 'fracking' , to enhance recovery of oil and gas. Some places, such as France and the state of New York, have banned fracking because of fears that it might harm ground water, or possibly cause an earthquake....
The Sooner CETA is Ratified, the Better
Last week the Harper Government announced that the highly anticipated Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between Canada and the European Union had been finalized. The ratification process could take up to two years due to the complexities involved in...
Canadians Should Question The Designation Of Compulsory Trades
In five of Canada's provinces, including all three prairie provinces, barbers and hairstylists must be certified by a provincial regulatory body in order to do business. It's what's known as a compulsory trade. When a trade is voluntary, on the other hand, a person...
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Why University?
In this essay, I explain that young people should come to university to be educated, and not to become credentialed; the public should support universities because universities educate young people, not because they produce credentialled workers. Why should a...
A Lamentable Tale of Two Colonies
During the whole of recorded history, the empire has been the most constant and common form of political organization. A basic, self-evident feature of all empire-building has been the successful occupation of the lands of the local, Indigenous inhabitants by outside...
Michael Zwaagstra – Education Assessment Fads on John Gormley Live
Michael Zwaagstra joins John Gormley to discuss Education Assessment Fads.
Valuation Analysis of SaskPower
Executive Summary This analysis arrives at approximations of the value of SaskPower, a provincial Crown corporation owned by the government, and thus the citizens and taxpayers, of the province of Saskatchewan. The valuation ranges could be useful in determining...
SaskPower Value to Taxpayers Is High Now, But Could Decline
Provincial, or ‘Crown’ ownership of public utilities is a very common feature of life in Canada, and, until recently, rarely questioned. These very large companies are the monopoly providers of electricity, water, and sometimes gas, in all but a few Canadian...
Frontier Centre for Public Policy Values SaskPower at $2.35 – 2.62 Billion
The Frontier Centre for Public Policy, an independent research institute based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, released today an independent valuation of the potential market value of SaskPower, the provincial Crown electric power utility owned by the citizens and taxpayers of...
Human Achievement Hour 2014
Tomorrow, March 29th 2014, between 8:30pm and 9:30pm, we'll be celebrating Human Achievement Hour. This one-hour event coincides with Earth Hour, an annual event where governments, businesses and individuals dim or shut off lights in an effort to raise awareness about...
Civil Forfeiture Laws Victimize Citizens
More and more Canadians are being victimized by laws that allow authorities to seize assets that are suspected of being the proceeds of crime. In several provinces, property and other assets can be seized even without formal charges being laid, let alone a conviction...
Transfer Money to Individuals, Not Governments
Canadians benefit from a quality of life that few in human history could even conceive of. Unfortunately, many Canadians at the lower end of the income spectrum haven’t shared in those gains. A recent Statistics Canada report shows that while the middle class is...
Property Rights Under Threat
Property Rights Under Threat is a new video from the Frontier Centre for Public Policy that covers the plight of Geophysical Service Incorporated, a Calgary-based business that specializes in seismic exploration. For many years, GSI conducted seismic surveys of the...
Best option for Hydro in future
With announcements coming as regular as church bells ringing on a Sunday morning, it is clear that regardless of reason, risk and ratepayers' pocketbooks, the Selinger NDP government will push Manitoba Hydro into a potentially devastating expansion. With the Clean...