Manitoba and the three Maritime provinces who rely on equalization payments as a source of revenue are getting a lot less than they used to. Equalization payments as a share of GDP have been declining significantly in all four provinces since 2009. In Manitoba, this...
Year: 2014
The Future of Public Transportation Has Arrived – and It’s in Cleveland
Support for public transportation has grown significantly over the past decade in North America. Major transit expansions were key issues in the recent Toronto, Vancouver, and Winnipeg elections, and ambitious plans were green lighted by voters in each of those...
Frontier Centre for Public Policy Estimates SaskEnergy at $1.2 Billion
Today the Frontier Centre for Public Policy released an independent valuation of SaskEnergy, Saskatchewan’s provincial Crown natural gas distributor. The report authored by financial analyst Ian Madsen estimated the potential market value at an average of $1.164...
Valuation Analysis of SaskEnergy
This analysis arrives at approximations of the value of SaskEnergy, a provincial Crown corporation owned by the government and thus the citizens and taxpayers, of the province of Saskatchewan. These valuation ranges could be useful in determining the future ownership...
Featured News
Weaponizing the Law
The indictment of former U.S. president Donald Trump for crimes invented by his political opponents is the most egregious example yet seen of the weaponizing of the law. The United States is now full of examples. However, in Canada, we also see the law being...
“Looking At” Seizing Control Over Western Canada’s Natural Resources
OTTAWA, REGINA - Last week, two things happened that could have profound impacts on natural resources development in Saskatchewan. One is a hint the federal government might want to take control of natural resources away from the provinces, and the other is the...
Frontier Centre Releases Declining Equalization Payments and Fiscal Challenges in the Small “Have-not” Provinces
Today, the Frontier Centre for Public Policy (FCPP) and the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies (AIMS) released a new paper documenting a recent decline in equalization payments (relative to provincial GDP) to Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward...
Declining Equalization Payments and Fiscal Challenges in the Small “Have-not” Provinces
This paper analyzes the fiscal condition of the four small, comparatively low-income Canadian provinces that rely on equalization payments as a source of revenue: Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. Specifically, we examine recent trends in...
Taxation Would Help First Nations
If First Nations started to tax band members and include that revenue in their annual budget, there could be measurable improvements in their overall quality of life. In recent years, First Nations have been given more opportunities to create their own independent tax...
Time to Audit Elizabeth May
This month, Canada’s Green Party leader Elizabeth May published “Who We Are, Reflections on My Life and Canada”. It is an important book, because May is an energetic power broker in Ottawa, the provinces and abroad. Responsible for many powerful...
What We Can Learn from the City That Lost A Million Pounds
There are two types of people in Canadian cities: people who hate cars, and people who hate cyclists. Or so the perception goes. While it is true that many cities have seen bitter electoral feuds over bike lanes and urban sprawl, they are driven more by perception...
Transit And Roads Don’t Need To Compete
In local government, the assumption is often made that a good road system means that public transit must suffer, and vice versa. Sometime roadways and transit are at odds, when light rail or streetcar projects remove lanes of traffic, or when road design does not...
City Councillors Should Spend Their Office Budgets
Now that municipal election season is over in Manitoba and Ontario, city councillors are transitioning into the ordinary business of governing. One of the first tasks will be hiring office staff. Some councillors will be tempted to hire as little staff as possible to...
Surviving Sustainability
Surviving Sustainability is a comprehensive new series of papers of the Frontier Centre for Public Policy, and an area of research that is only sporadically treated in public policy analysis. This oversight means that a substantial negative impact on our economic...
Youth Curfews Are Not Good Policy
Over the decades, many communities in Canada have experimented with different versions of a curfew for children and adolescents. Most often, anyone under the age of 16 or 18 must be off the street by a specific time, such as 10pm. The aim is to reduce vandalism and...