We are often told that Canada and the U.S.A. are racist societies. Minority activists denounce white society and demand compensatory measures. Black Lives Matter in Canada declares that “Black Power Matters.” In the United States, Black Lives Matter campaign against...
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Why a Ban on Plastic Straws Sucks
A strawman argument is a rhetorical device that deliberately misrepresents or exaggerates an opponent’s position in order to demolish it. It’s always easier to defeat an opponent made of straw than is to tackle a serious argument with facts and logic. You could say...
A Lower Standard of Living–The TransMountain NIMBY Effect
Canada’s standard of living is suffering because of the seemingly perpetual pipeline controversy and especially because of the delays. No, it is not merely the delay in construction that is causing problems, but it is also delays in expanding our oil exports to the...
Let Them Eat Carbon – Rebuttal to Ecofiscal Commission’s report “Clearing the Air”
In early April, 2018, Ecofiscal Commission issued a report entitled "Clearing the Air: How Carbon Pricing Helps Canada Fight Climate Change." They claim that a price on carbon dioxide will improve the economy and the environment. Friends of Science Society bring...
Featured News
Higher Mortgage Hurdles Beat up on Working Class
There is no mystery in why Canada has seen a record-setting housing spike in the past year: negative real interest rates and monetary debasement from federal deficits. Rather than considering fiscal austerity and getting inflation under control, Ottawa has opted to...
Emission Targets Are Unrealistic
Political leaders around the world have now spent more than two decades setting targets for reducing emissions of carbon dioxide that no one has any realistic hope of achieving. In the United Kingdom, emissions are being reduced at a rate of 1 percent per year. To...
Teacher Tenure Rules Can Harm Children
An important and historical court case recently concluded in California that has implications for Canadian public schools. In Vergara v. California [2014], the Superior Court for Los Angeles ruled that some of the state’s teacher tenure, dismissal, and layoff laws are...
Urbanization and the Good News About World Poverty
Originally printed in the Huffington Post. The history of humanity is a history of poverty. This is illustrated in the work of University of California, Davis economist Gregory Clark. According to Clark (Farewell to Alms: A Brief Economic History of the World):...
Knowledge is More Important Than Ever in Schools
Imagine that you are a fly on the wall in a faculty of education classroom or in a teachers’ professional development session. What would you hear? Chances are that you would hear about the need for teachers to establish a student-centred classroom environment in...
Quebec And Ontario Squeezing Smaller Provinces Out Of Equalization
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...
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...
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...
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...
Investing in First Nation Water Systems Must Continue
Residents of Canada's First Nations should begin to see noticeable improvements in the quality of their drinking water sooner rather than later. While the condition of water and sewage treatment systems on many reserves is a serious concern, significant resources have...