Alberta Premier Jason Kenney delivered his first budget in October following the provincial Conservatives’ victory over the NDP earlier this year. His mandate from voters was similar to that of Ontario Premier Doug Ford – to reverse course on the previous...
Year: 2019
Exploring Canada’s Fluid Aboriginal Identity Mystery
I think I’m going to start identifying as a dark-haired 35-year-old male. That’s actually what I used to be, a long time ago. I have to start identifying that way because it’s no longer my lived chronological reality, as you might say. The verb “identify” used to...
Canadian Capital Markets Thrive without National Regulator
Advocates for centralized financial regulation have met their match in Canada. She is proof that competition between intranational jurisdictions can foster diverse, prosperous capital markets. In our research paper, “The Federal Takeover of Canada’s Capital Markets,”...
Social Justice & Caesarism
Don Cherry has now left the scene. After decades of entertaining hockey fans, it was two words - “You people” - that did him in. Although he later said he meant to say “Everyone”, judgement was swift and the execution was carried out on Remembrance Day. A Canadian...
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Timeless Wisdom – The Politics of Successful Structural Reform
It’s a well-known pattern in public policy – profligate politicians damaging their economies with out-of-control spending, massive borrowing and higher taxes – inevitably leading to fiscal crisis, sharp declines in growth and ultimately rapidly falling currency value...
Canada’s National Hysteria in the 21st Century
Mass hysteria is the spontaneous manifestation of a particular behaviour by many people. There are numerous historical examples: Middle Age nuns at a convent in France spontaneously began to meow like cats; at another convent, nuns began biting one another. In...
You Don’t Have to Be Fascist to Oppose Immigration
There are plenty of good reasons to oppose immigration into Canada. Presumably a man of the Left, Environmentalist David Suzuki opposes immigration: “Canada is full! Although it’s the second largest country in the world,” he says, “our useful area has been reduced....
For Most Things, Recycling Harms the Environment
In 2008 I was invited to a conference called Australia Recycles! in Fremantle. I flew coach for 30 hours (we had to divert, at one point, to Auckland instead of Sydney because huge headwinds used up more fuel than expected) and landed in Perth and then was driven to...
A Valuation & Strategic Appraisal of Newfoundland & Labrador’s Electric Utility
Nalcor is the electric power generating holding company supplying the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, ‘NL’. It is also the parent company of Newfoundland & Labrador Hydro, ‘NLH’, the actual utility that distributes and sells electric power to households,...
The Most Racist City?
Maclean’s magazine once declared Winnipeg as “Canada’s most racist city.” Now it is Thunder Bay’s turn, a city in turmoil after a report slammed its overstretched police force (if not the entire city) for alleged “systemic racism” towards its Indigenous population....
The Battle for the Bruce
As the final leg of the world-famous Bruce Trail – the country’s longest and oldest hiking trail – Ontario’s rugged Bruce Peninsula places a physical exclamation mark upon some of Canada’s most spectacular and well-loved scenery. Separating Lake Huron from Georgian...
The Speech Jacinda Ardern Should Have Given on IhumāTao
E ngā mana, en ngā reo, e ngā karangatanga maha. Tēnā kotou. Greetings. It’s my special privilege to address this nation today about Ihumātao because it’s an issue that goes to the heart of who we are as a country. This Government believes in shared prosperity, and I...
A Clean and Timely Brexit Is Good for Both Britain and Canada
There is no other time in recent history that British politics has been so turbulent. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been accused of lying to the Queen by a Scottish court, the Conservative government has lost its majority and kicked out 21 rebel Tory MPs,...
A Valuation & Strategic Appraisal of SaskPower
SaskPower is the electric power generating holding company and retail utility supplying the province of Saskatchewan. It also buys power from independent suppliers within the province. Unlike some of its Crown utility peers in Canada, it is not in bad financial...
Want Better MLAs? Pay Them Better, Not Less!
Recently announced pay cuts to Alberta elected representatives raise the important question whether our elected representatives get paid too much or even enough. Outside of political considerations, the question of salaries is important because we link attracting...