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...
Steve Lafleur
“Privatization is Not Inherently Good or Bad”
“Privatization is not inherently good or bad – the performance or effectiveness depends on implementation.” That isn’t the type of rhetoric one might expect to hear when describing something as polarizing as privatization, but it is one of the conclusions from the...
Transit and Roads Aren’t Always at Odds
Public transit is often assumed to come at the expense of good roads, and vice versa. There are certainly cases where roadway spending and public transit are at odds. For instance, when light rail or streetcar projects remove lanes of traffic, or when road design...
If Governments Aren’t Wasting Money, They’re Doing it Wrong
Tales of government waste make for excellent news headlines. Bev Oda's infamous $16 orange juice probably got more media attention than the $45 billion F35 procurement debacle. Part of the reason is that is that people understand the value and cost of orange juice. It...
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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...
Road Tolls Could Fund Winnipeg’s Roadway Improvements
Winnipeg’s roads are in bad shape, to put it mildly, and the City’s coffers aren’t exactly overflowing. That makes it tough to scratch together funds for roadway maintenance, let alone improvements. Even projects as crucial as the Inner Ring Road could bump up against...
Craft Beer: A Tool for Urban Revitalization?
Most people don’t think of breweries as tools for economic development. In fact, the default assumption among politicians seems to be that alcohol is an unavoidable evil. However, the growth of the craft brewing industry has been a major boon to urban revitalization...
Selfish Reasons to (Sometimes) Buy Local
“Buy local” has become an increasingly popular mantra in North America. It is often both a social statement and a matter of preference for goods that happen to be locally produced. This has often spilled over into advocacy against large retail chains and foreign made...
A Harm Reduction Agenda for Distracted Driving
All Canadian provinces have introduced legislation to punish people for using cellphones while driving. But, the legislation doesn’t appear to be working. The number of distracted driving tickets suggests that people just aren’t listening. Rather than ratcheting up...
Cities Can Improve Services by Freeing Employees to Compete
How should municipal services be delivered to citizens? The political right argues that outsourcing services is usually most efficient, while the left argues that “privatization” of services such as waste management or wastewater treatment would lead to lower quality...
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...
Heated Sidewalks are an Option for Some Canadian Neighbourhoods
Snow presents many logistical challenges for Canadian cities. Street parking is difficult; snow plows exacerbate traffic congestion; excessive snow needs to be trucked out of the core; and melting snow turns streets and neighbourhoods into swamps. These challenges are...
Steve Lafleur Interviewed on CBC’s The 180 about the advantages of taxi de-regulation
Frontier Centre Policy Analyst Steve Lafleur makes the case for taxi de-regulation on CBC's The 180.
Deregulate Taxis To Improve Mobility in Winter Cities
Few urban experiences are less pleasant than waiting for a taxi in the middle of a Canadian winter. When temperatures dip, demand soars. Ordinary citizens begin to hijack other peoples’ taxis to avoid intolerable waits. It’s every man, woman, and child for him, her,...