Vaccination passports are being touted as the answer to getting our travel industry and other businesses up and running again. One would simply produce their “papers” and airline tickets could be purchased, access gained to restaurants, hockey games, etc. Why would...
Commentary
The Worst Part of the CPC’s Climate Plan is not the Carbon Tax
A lot has been written about the recently revealed Conservative Plan to Combat Climate Change. Most of that (including my own first take) focused on the carbon tax part of the plan, which is just another rhetorically packaged tax-and-rebate scheme that has become the...
The Prairie Provinces’ Growing Debt: The Danger of Unsustainability
At the end of 2020, Alberta’s debt was estimated to be $98 billion, Manitoba’s was $28.6 billion and Saskatchewan’s stood at $15 billion. These debts are lower than Quebec’s ($220 billion) and Ontario’s ($448.9 billion), but concerns arise about their sustainability....
How Safe are Prescription Drugs?
Can we trust our government and medical establishment? Not entirely. Some glimpses of Health Canada’s approach to prescription drug safety are less than assuring. Public policy should be guided towards more drug safety, not less. Health Canada was solely funded by...
Featured News
Could Canada’s Airports go Bankrupt? (and Could That be the Best Thing for Them?)
Name something you can find only in Canada. If we eliminate easy answers such as wildlife oddities, three-down football and maple-flavoured pastries and focus instead on major transportation infrastructure hubs, there’s just one correct response: the unique and...
Let’s Open the Economy
Manitoba is temporarily in an enviable position COVID-wise. Both compared to our southern neighbors and even to most of our fellow provinces. But, this is mainly because few people travel to Manitoba in winter. Travelers from western provinces are now allowed to enter...
Parka and dagger
There has been no shortage of messages sent between Moscow and Ottawa since the outbreak of tensions between the West and Russia over Ukraine. In the most recent development, Moscow announced on Tuesday that it had expelled a Canadian diplomat. No reason was indicated...
Saskatchewan Should Take A Leading Role In Trade
With an abundance of natural resources, and a bustling agriculture industry, trade is vital to the Saskatchewan economy. The province exports more products per capita than any other province, and recently overtook British Columbia to become the fourth largest...
How Canada adds value to its resources
Writing in the Globe and Mail, MLI Managing Director Brian Lee Crowley explains that while Canada is blessed with resource wealth, that alone is not what makes it such a wealthy country. Many jurisdictions that have abundant natural resources are poor or troubled,...
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...
The Poverty of Western Strategy in Ukraine
The West has very few options left to curb further Russian aggression in the Ukraine. After seizing Crimea many naively hoped that Russia would be content with having secured its access to the Black Sea and the future for its Black Sea Fleet base, and would not...
Burdening Manitoba’s Next Generation
Buried in Manitoba Hydro’s website in the section describing new projects is the noble statement “It’s our generation’s turn to invest”. The investment being referred to is a $34-billion bet that two new hydroelectric dams ( Keeyask and Conawapa), the associated...
The Future of Arts Funding
Technology has radically transformed many industries, from manufacturing and textiles to travel agencies or the entertainment business. Many have greatly suffered before accepting their fate and adapting to a new digital world. Now, the wider arts industry is in the...
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...
Aboriginal Employment: The Power of Self-Help
"The best social program is a good job." - Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton. Unemployment is notoriously higher among Canadian Aboriginal people than among the general population. Some observers emphasize the need for better government programs of education, job...