This backgrounder calls into question the common assumption that an increased police presence would reduce crime levels in Canadian cities
Municipal Government
A River Runs Through It: A natural experiment in infrastructure
The downtown bridge is being built by Kentucky and the other, known as the East End crossing, is being built by Indiana. Yet while Indiana has legislation that allows for public-private partnerships (PPP), Kentucky does not. So the downtown bridge will be procured the traditional way, and the East End crossing will use a PPP.
Regina Crime Rate Continues to Fall as Population Grows
Will Chabun reported in today’s Leader-Post that Regina’s crime statistics continue to fall. One can potentially attribute this to several factors: policing practices, community organizations, consistently low unemployment. It is difficult to assign weightings to such factors. But one factor is often left out of this discussion that almost certainly deserves part of the credit: increased population.
Bloomberg Mayor’s Challenge Rewarding Municipal Innovation
Bloomberg Philanthropies announced the twenty finalists for its Mayor’s Challenge, which rewards five US municipalities for innovative approaches to fixing urban problems. The Huffington Post has a feature on the competition, featuring an article written by the mayors of the nominated cities and a video for each of the nominated initiatives.
Featured News
Preston Manning: Report of the COVID Commission
Introductory Comment Brian Giesbrecht, Retired Judge, Frontier Centre Senior Fellow: The Frontier Centre for Public Policy is honoured to present Mr. Manning’s latest offering, in what he calls a fictionalized story. It is about everything that has happened to this...
Canada: Returning to the Original Vision
Many Canadians are aware of stories of how immigrants were originally attracted to Canada through the promise of free land. The then Minister responsible for immigration, Clifford Sifton, had his staff spread out across central and eastern Europe promising free land...
Political Currents in Quebec Shifting to the Right: A New Conservative Movements Emerges
A new political movement was launched in Quebec City on the weekend (October 23).The movement is an expression of the frustrations of a new generation with the excesses of the previous one. It aims not a forming a political party, but at bringing together libertarian and conservative Quebeckers to produce a cultural shift.
Like Having a Job? You’ll Love Proposition 23
“Prop. 23 will temporarily suspend some very expensive, job-killing regulations under the state’s global warming law, AB32 – regulations that even folks advocating immediate implementation of those rules admit will cost jobs.”
Cities Rent Police, Janitors to Save Cash
After years of whittling staff and cutting back on services, towns and cities are now outsourcing some of the most basic functions of local government, from policing to trash collection. Services that cities can no longer afford to provide are being contracted to private vendors, counties or even neighboring towns.
Media Release – Frontier Centre Launches New Interactive Website for Local Government Statistics
The Frontier Centre for Public Policy today launched a new website which turns its three-year-old Local Government Performance Index into an interactive tool for journalists, municipal staff, and the public. The site contains comparative statistics from the Annual Reports of Canada’s municipalities, and judgements on the quality of their reporting. The URL is www.lgpi.ca
The Tragedy of the Legislature: How the built-in incentives for voters and politicians in our system create acrimony.
Frustrated with the tone of the Saskatchewan legislature lately? This piece gives a novel analysis of the underlying cause.
Dump the (old) Alberta Agenda: It’s time for Alberta and the West to enact a more realistic agenda
Most of the Alberta Agenda ideas have never been fully costed out by their proponents.
Toward Greater Transparency in Water and Sewer Services in Winnipeg: It’s time to separate infrastructure from politics
Frontier’s new report shows how the public-private partnership being considered by Winnipeg City Council on sewer services and infrastructure is an effective model.
Creating Proper Incentives for Canada’s Cities Through Smart Provincial Legislation: A best-practice model of local government legislation for Canada
Frontier senior fellow Larry Mitchell on reforming Canada’s antiquated municipal government legislation: Canadian municipal law is characterized by its prescriptive rules-based codes of compliance. These contrast starkly with other jurisdiction’s local government law.
Modern local government laws of other countries seek to facilitate best-management practice by setting outcomes rather than rules;
they construct a performance and service-delivery framework designed to effectively and efficiently meet the needs of local taxpayers and residents.
Good local government law promotes good local government.
Media Release – Smart Local Government: The Frontier Centre points to outcomes, not rules, as necessary for Canada’s cities
“Good local government law promotes good local government,” writes Frontier senior fellow Larry Mitchell in a new look at reforming Canada’s antiquated municipal government legislation.