Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) did not become as stand-alone federal government department until 1966. Since then, it has ballooned in size to become a vast department with jurisdictional reach over 90 percent of Canada’s land mass. INAC, which is in...
Backgrounder
The Silence of the People
The federal government is moving full-speed ahead to dramatically reform the relationship between the Crown and Canada’s Indigenous people through a new Indigenous Rights, Recognition and Implementation Framework and through a suite of legislative changes. However,...
Treaty Annuity Right
Autonomy for individuals and families was built into traditional Indigenous governance structures, and explicitly built into the historical treaties through an annuity payable directly to every man, woman and child in bands signing the treaties. However, since the...
Distributing the Risk: Mortgage Default Insurance
Mortgage Default Insurance (MDI) is mandatory in Canada for residential purchases where the purchaser’s down payment is between 5% and 19.99%.[i] Most MDI premiums fall in the range between 2.4% to 6.6% of the mortgage amount. The idea behind MDI is to increase the...
Featured News
How to Turn Free Citizens Into Compliant Serfs
Free citizens have minds of their own and want to pursue their lives as they see fit. This is inconvenient for the elites, who wish to be in charge of everyone’s lives so that they can show their superiority and gain benefit for themselves and their friends. So the...
Demographia International Housing Affordability – 2023 Edition Released
Demographia International Housing Affordability rates middle-income housing affordability in 94 major housing markets in eight nations: Australia, Canada, China, Ireland, New Zealand, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States. This edition covers the third...
The Case for Voluntary Student Unionism
Student unionism in Canada is falling short of the mark of representing all students.
Smart Growth Hurts the Urban Poor: Urban planners hurting the home owning dream
The idea of containing urban populations through Smart Growth strategies has typically sent housing prices soaring and has hurt those least able to afford buying a house of their own, the urban poor.
Who Determines Entrepreneurship?
There are 2.6 million self-employed people in Canada. Even though the Canadian and provincial governments generally have formally stated positive attitudes toward self-employed people, key aspects of tax administration are biased against people being self-employed....
Can the Winnipeg Model Save Detroit?: Revitalization strategy preferable to shrinking one
Through targeted immigration policies Detroit can find its way back to prosperity and turn away from greater urban decay.
Ngâi Tahu: A Model for Indigenous Success?
Executive Summary The century Treaty of Waitangi covers all of New Zealand. It involved representatives of the British Crown and Maori chiefs. Although there are conflicts over interpretation, the treaty protected Maori ownership over their lands and recognized...
Saskatchewan! Connected?: Why “free” public Wi-Fi may be the silliest public policy we have.
A Frontier Backgrounder on free government wireless Internet in the downtowns and tertiary institutions of Saskatchewan’s major cities, arguing that this program is a policy failure that the provincial government should reform.
Toronto: 3 Cities in More Than One Way
Since the 1998 municipal amalgamation of the Megacity of Toronto there has developed a culture war: The culture war between the suburbs and the core is an acknowledgement of the zero sum game created by the megacity.
Public Administration Wage Growth: Comparing rates of wage growth in industries across the Canadian economy (1998-2009)
Between 1998 and 2009, wage growth for federal government public administration workers grew by 59%. This compares to an average rate of wage growth of just 30% across the rest of the economy.
Saskatchewan’s Commercial Crown Corporation Dividend Policy: Change Isn’t Always Progress
A former Vice-President of Finance for Crown Investments Corporation critiques the Saskatchewan government’s decision to take 100% of the 2010 profits of commercial Crowns other than SaskPower.