The Local Government Performance Index affords users the ability to compare financial data among Canadian municipalities.
Municipal Government
Improving the Competitiveness of Metropolitan Areas
Centrally-determined national transportation policies are misguided and wasteful. They do not solve the choking traffic problems that plague large urban centers but often make matters worse, undermining the competitiveness of metropolitan areas.
Micro-Targeting Alberta Electorate Obscures Economic Questions: ‘Vote buy” policies weaken policy discourse
The on-going Alberta election campaign is focused on micro-targeted policies rather than matters that affect the long term economic prosperity of Alberta, such as strengthened property rights and a fully functioning water license market.
Alberta Dividends Could Restrain Government Spending
Alberta’s Wildrose plan to pay out energy dividends may bring some structure to the provinces random spending, and may result in greater savings for Albertans.
Featured News
What Exactly Does ‘Climate Justice’ Mean?
It seems like everything is about justice these days. Recently, as I drove home from the store, I saw a sign for the elections here in New York from the local Democratic Party, promising “equity, equality, and justice for all.” Beyond the obvious concerns any sane...
We are Finding the 2800 Missing Children
The “secret graves” and “missing children” narrative had our national flag flying at half-mast for over five months after an obscure indigenous politician made the startling claim that she “knew” that 215 indigenous children had been secretly buried in the “apple...
Tough Medicine Tastes Terrible But it Works
A funny thing happened this week while I was at my local paint store. The gentleman serving me seemed anxious to tell me something or ask me a question. Once finished with the paint business he asked, "So, what's new in the world of politics"? Before I could answer he...
Disclosure by Municipalities ‘Unsatisfactory’
Canadian municipalities - particularly in Quebec - should adopt the practices of New Zealand municipalities when it comes to financial openness with the public, a small group of policymakers agreed yesterday. "The level of disclosure (by Canadian local governments) is...
City Taxes; The Onerous Job Ahead
As city officials discuss whether job cuts are required to hold the line on a tax increase residents in these lean times can ill afford, two new reports have painted Windsor as an area with higher taxes and costs than competing jurisdictions. A study released by the...
Halifax’s Financial Picture Just So-So: Winnipeg Think-Tank
Halifax Regional Municipality is in pretty good financial shape, but it could be doing better. A new report from the Winnipeg-based think-tank Frontier Centre, which is the sister think-tank to the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies, has compared the finances of...
Montreal Most Indebted City in Canada: Report; More Than Triple National Average
An independent Manitoba think tank has named Montreal the most-indebted city in Canada. Winnipeg-based Frontier Centre for Public Policy released its inaugural Local Government Performance Index: A Financial Analysis of 30 Canadian Cities yesterday, which found...
Surrey’s Accounts in Order
Surrey does the best job of Canada's most populous cities in disclosing its financial information so that residents understand how well it is performing, according to a report released Tuesday. The Frontier Centre for Public Policy, a Winnipeg-based non-profit think...
Windsor’s Taxes Above Average, Analysis Finds
Windsor is a high-tax, high-cost municipality and "a substantial drain" on senior government funds, according to an analysis of the financial performance of Canada's 30 largest cities. The report, entitled the 2007 Local Government Performance Index (LGPI), was...
City Council Spending Money Wisely, Study Finds
Despite a tighter tax base and economic circumstances that are less robust than in some other Canadian centres, Winnipeg's city council appears to be doing a good job of spending its money wisely. That's according to a report released yesterday by the Frontier Centre...
Municipal Accounting Standards Hamper Financial Comparisons
The 2007 Local Government Performance Index: A Financial Analysis of 30 Canadian Cities, a Canada wide financial comparison of the nation’s thirty most populous cities.