Barry F. Cooper This paper looks at the 1982 Saskatchewan provincial election, which brought Grant Devine to power, as a “critical election” in the sense that it had long-term consequences regarding what would subsequently be acceptable as public policy in that...
A public advocacy campaign to amalgamate the 13 municipal governments in Greater Victoria has been underway for a few years. As elsewhere in Canada and around the world, much of the justification for the amalgamation proposal is cost savings. However, the results have...
In the 1960s, the phrase “we are all Keynesians now” was uttered by Milton Friedman, possibly as some sort of a lament about how Keynesian interventionist ideas had come to dominate mainstream thinking about economic policy. Here we are in 2016, and it...
The Notley government promises a new Municipal Government Act in the fall, following a consultive process. In its September announcement, the Government said that new Growth Management Boards would be established in the Calgary and Edmonton areas. “Growth...
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...
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...
Among independent researchers who study local-government finance, however, the idea that forced mergers magically create efficiency is about as popular as climate-change denial is for climatologists. The financial consequences of this simplistic policy usually follow a predictable pattern, no matter how large or small the unwilling partners involved.
“Price gouging” during crises is a sensitive issue. Comments on a recent Huffington Post piece by my colleague Peter McCaffrey illustrate just how angry some people get over the issue. As mean spirited as raising prices to “take advantage” of soaring demand may seem, the case for price increases during natural disasters is incredibly straightfoward.
The Frontier Centre has submitted the Bigmouth Buffalo Sucker as its nominee for the official provincial fish, since the Manitoba government has decided that it would rather hold a fish naming contest than a referendum on the PST increase.
This policy paper examines current attempts to increase urban densification in Canada’s metropolitan areas, and makes a common-sense but unorthodox argument that cities would be better off embracing urban dispersion.
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.
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.
Cities are amazing places, bringing together all sorts of different people. Different ideas and customs often mix and multiply, providing new and exciting opportunities for work and play. And this intellectual and cultural fermentation does require a certain density of population. But is denser always better?
Let me stipulate that I think Toronto’s Rob Ford is a terrible mayor. In fact, while I might not go so far as Richard Florida, who labeled Ford “the worst mayor in the modern history of cities, an avatar for all that is small-bore and destructive of the urban fabric, and the most anti-urban mayor ever to preside over a big city,” I’m willing to say he’s probably in the running for the title.
Rob Ford may be the best thing to happen to Toronto in a long time. Alleged crack-smoking and ass-grabbing aside, the political meltdown of the embattled mayor of Canada’s largest city may inadvertently help undo one of the most disastrous public policy decisions in Canadian history: the amalgamation of Toronto by former premier Mike Harris.