Proponents of evermore expensive government social programs often point to other nations, usually in Scandinavia, as places Canada should emulate. These advocates call those nations, erroneously, Socialist or Social Democratic. However, they are not. It is important...
Crown Corporations
Timeless Wisdom – The Politics of Successful Structural Reform
It’s a well-known pattern in public policy – profligate politicians damaging their economies with out-of-control spending, massive borrowing and higher taxes – inevitably leading to fiscal crisis, sharp declines in growth and ultimately rapidly falling currency value...
Sale of Sask Government Liquor Stores Leaves Manitoba an Odd Outlier
First Alberta, then Saskatchewan, but will Manitoba follow? Next year will be the final year for the Saskatchewan government retails alcohol—nearly 100 years after it began. This history demonstrates how long government keeps its hands on something once it starts, but...
Grant Devine Transformed Saskatchewan Politics
Book Excerpt With the agriculture prices being driven up during the 1970s due to the global scare that the world was going to suffer an impending food shortage, governments rushed to flood the market with more food. This sudden increase in production caused excess...
Featured News
Our Health Ministers Need to Take a Lesson from Hockey Coaches
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...
Zinchuk: Oilpatch Only Spending Half What It Spent in 2014
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...
The Raven Still Has Tricks Aplenty – a Valuation & Strategic Appraisal of Vancouver International Airport (YVR)
Divesting YVR will benefit B.C. taxpayers Vancouver International Airport WINNIPEG, MB, February 2020 - The Frontier Centre for Public Policy has just released The Raven Still Has Tricks Aplenty: A Valuation & Strategic Appraisal of Vancouver International Airport...
Profits Soar on a Knife-Edge of ‘Net Assets’: A Valuation & Strategic Appraisal of Aéroports de Montreal (YUL)
Aéroports de Montréal, ‘ADM’, whose main asset, Montreal-Trudeau International Airport’s symbol is YUL, is the umbrella company for the airport serving metropolitan Montreal, domestically and internationally. Its market area is larger: most of Quebec and much of...
$808 Million Dollar Muskrat
Nalcor chief financial officer Derrick Sturge told the Muskrat Falls Inquiry the business case to recover costs from the project was “rock solid.” The reality is much more disconcerting as Muskrat Falls promises to saddle the province with growing debt. The vital...
Ceiling Unlimited: A Valuation & Strategic Appraisal of Edmonton International Airport (YEG)
A VALUATION & STRATEGIC APPRAISAL OF EDMONTON INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (YEG) Edmonton International Airport (EIA), symbol YEG, is the airport serving metropolitan Edmonton, domestically and internationally. Its market area is far larger, comprising central and...
Searching for a Silver Bullet
Let there be no doubt that our province is facing a tough fiscal challenge and solutions are hard to come by. Proposals are emerging. Some of them come from think tanks, whose role is to divine public policy options and to chart a course through troubled waters. Some...
e-Zine: Ideas that change your world (Quarterly) Issue 2
Frontier Centre for Public Policy is proud to release its second issue of e-Zine: Ideas that change your world our quarterly magazine Ideas that change your world is our premier quarterly magazine delivering to you some of Frontier’s latest thought-provoking,...
Disaster Averted, Meddling Potential Persists: A Valuation & Strategic Appraisal of BC Hydro
BC Hydro is the electric power generating holding company and retail utility supplying the province of British Columbia (BC). As its name implies, it is nearly entirely a hydro-electric generation-based provider. The Peace River Site C project is scheduled to be...
Airport Improvement Fee Hikes Trivial Vs Self-Defeating Federal Land Rent Costs
Air travellers will be annoyed and exasperated at yet another hike in the almost-cheerily-named Airport Improvement Fee, ‘AIF’, of 25%, from $20 to $25 on every airline ticket originating at YVR, Vancouver International Airport. However, they are a relatively minor...
SaskPower: Solid Today but Divestment Is Key
The Frontier Centre for Public Policy (FCPP) has just released Running Hard to Adapt in a Dangerously Fast-Changing Industry by Ian Madsen, a senior policy analyst with the FCPP. The paper conducts an indepth valuation and strategic appraisal of SaskPower, using an...