“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...
Steve Lafleur
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...
Featured News
Our Health Ministers Need to Take a Lesson from Hockey Coaches
Those of you who are tired of my rants about the demise of our once great health system will be pleased to know that this is my last editorial. I am retiring from the BCMJ Editorial Board; currently, I am the longest-serving member (more than 20 years). I have been a...
Zinchuk: Oilpatch Only Spending Half What It Spent in 2014
Back in the lofty, pre-Justin Trudeau government days of 2014, back when oil was booming, pipelines were planned to east and west coasts, and Alberta and Saskatchewan were swimming in money, around $81 billion was spent in capital expenditures (CAPEX) in the Canadian...
Do We Need an Alternative to Traditional Post-Secondary Education?
The reality is that while education is important, it isn’t everything. Unfortunately, many students don’t seem to realize this going into post-secondary education. The most successful people I know all sought out other opportunities while in school, and shortly thereafter. Many volunteered with political campaigns and NGOs, others blogged (not just for fun), sought out internships relevant to their academic studies, or held down part time jobs.
City of Regina Plans to Solve Cab Shortage by Adding…6 Temporary Licences…
Regina has a serious taxi shortage. The city has 126 taxi licences for over 200,000 residents. In other words, there are nearly 1600 people per cab. A reasonable person might assume that this is a significant problem, especially in a dispersed city like Regina that does not have a great deal of mass transit. Aside from the fact that taxis are handy for non-drivers, they’re also a pretty big part of mitigating drunk driving. While adding a six taxis won’t hurt, it also won’t have much of an effect.
New Farmer’s Market a Small Step in the Right Direction for Downtown Winnipeg
Rather than focusing on one big answer (e.g. stadiums, convention centres, etc), Downtown Winnipeg needs a lot of little solutions. The new farmers market spearheaded by the Downtown Business Improvement Zone (BIZ) is exactly the type of small scale project that can help with this process.
Two Sensible Parking Reforms (One of Which Will Never Happen)
The most recent edition of Access (the University of California Transportation Centre’s quarterly journal) ran two thought provoking pieces on parking policy. One was a piece on how to optimally allocate parking in urban neighbourhoods, written by economist turned parking guru Donald Shoup. For those familiar with his work, this piece holds up to his usual standard of excellence. The more controversial piece was written by Michael Manville, Assistant Professor of City and Regional Planning at Cornell University, and Jonathan Williams, a Transportation Planner in Seattle. They argue that cities should eliminate free parking for disabled people. While this one will no doubt spark outrage (hence, will never happen), it is an equally sensible proposal.
Manitoba’s PST increase is for?
“Bad news all at once; good news over time.” That was the advice Niccolo Machivalli had for the eponymous Prince in his most famous work. This maxim has clearly not been lost on Manitoba's provincial government. Their recent decision to circumvent the requirement for...
Some Perspective on Mass Produced Food and Global Poverty
White bread has developed a bad name in most developed countries. It is bland, and unhealthy relative to whole wheat bread. Many Canadians with sufficient disposable income now spend an extra few dollars to buy all kinds of artisanal breads, rather than pre-made bread...
Time to End the Tax-and-Incarcerate Approach to Tobacco
The federal government is considering mandatory minimum sentences for the sale of contraband tobacco in an attempt to crack down on black market activity. However, federal taxes are driving Canadians to the black market in the first place. Rather than ramping up policing efforts and costs, the government should reduce taxes to reduce demand for black market tobacco.
Restructuring Saskatchewan’s Bus Transportation Subsidy Policy
Introduction The Saskatchewan Transportation Company (STC) is the main provider of bus passenger transportation services in Saskatchewan. Formed in 1946, the company is one of the province’s original government-owned enterprises. Until the early 1980s, STC managed to...
Sometimes We Need to Oppose the Un-Opposable
It’s hard to oppose dedicating money to good causes. However, those are clearly issues of provincial and municipal responsibility. There is good reason for that: they are better positioned to solve local problems than the federal government. As tough as it is to criticize the federal government for spending money on worthwhile causes, it has to be done.