Bill 202, which has passed second reading, is officially titled the Alberta Affordable Housing Review Committee Act. Under this bill, the government will establish a committee of no fewer than three members to report on five areas. Four of the five areas listed in the...
Brianna Heinrichs
Recent Mortgage Rule Changes Not Well Thought Out
Starting in 2008, the federal government has made changes to the manner in which mortgages can be financed through the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). For instance, the maximum amortization period has been reduced from 40 years to 25 years; the maximum...
Canada’s Broken Compulsory Trades System
If a trade is compulsory, a person cannot legally work in the trade unless he or she carries a certificate of qualification or is registered in an apprenticeship program. If a trade is voluntary, a person can seek certification if desired, but he or she can also...
Local Government Performance Index
The Frontier Centre for Public Policy has completed the eighth edition of its Local Government Performance Index (LGPI). The Transparency Index (TI) ranks the top 100 Canadian cities on the quality of their financial reporting over the 2013 financial year. Since the...
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Canadian Property Rights Index 2023
A Snapshot of Property Rights Protection in Canada After 10 years
Alberta Politics and Empty Promises of Health-care Solutions
The writ has been dropped and Albertans are off to the polls on May 29. That leaves just four weeks for political leaders and voters to sort out what is arguably the most divisive, yet significant, issue for this election - health care. On Day 2, NDP leader Rachel...
The needs of landlords
Rumors abound about "slumlords," as there are landlords that fail to meet the basic needs of their renters and are driven solely by profit. But landlords can also be your average pensioner or middle-income couple, and they have their own stories to share of...
It’s in the Public Interest to Pay Attention to Landlords’ Needs
Rumors abound about "slumlords," as there are landlords that fail to meet the basic needs of their renters and are driven solely by profit. But landlords can also be your average pensioner or middle-income couple, and they have their own stories to share of bad...
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...
Labour Laws Are Hampering Young People
Labour laws are meant to protect workers from exploitation and to ensure their safety, but closer examination shows that when it comes to teenagers, the laws are not always doing people a favour. Age restrictions for workers vary from province to province. In 2008,...
Communities Should Say “No” to Youth Curfews
This Halloween, children younger than 16 will not be allowed outside without an adult after 7:00pm in Bonnyville, Alberta. The Halloween curfew has been around for decades, but some parents requested that the curfew time be extended an hour, or maybe two. But the...
Unpaid Internships: The Pressure Should be on Universities
Public debate continues over unpaid internships for students. Unpaid internships can provide new work experiences and help students meet university or college requirements. However, reasonable people often consider them to be exploitation of young people....
All Sex Workers Can’t Be Lumped Into One Category
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...
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...
It Shouldn’t Be Up to Industries to Decide If They Are Exclusive
As of last year, people in Ontario who wish to cut hair for a living must be a member of the Ontario College of Trades, which has mandated a 600 percent increase in certification fees for hairstylists. The newly formed Ontario Hairstylists Association claims that the...