Canada-No Bargain at All-Canada’s Health Deal —The Federal Government Out Manoeuvred the Provinces — What Happened to Provincial Rights —That’s When the Rubber Hits the Road! Walk in the park —the Feds never worked up a sweat! Forgone conclusion! As I keep saying—-how...
Equalization
If Canada is Broken, Why Not Fix It?
Any suggestion that we should consider reopening Canada’s Constitution to solve our increasingly serious problems usually evokes snorts of derision and eye-rolling. The last attempts—Mulroney’s failed Meech Lake Accord in 1990, and Charlottetown in 1992—left the...
Canada in 2073—Will There Be One?
“Ahead, Thar Be Dragons.” The world of 2023 is a scary place. One major war is raging, with others probably on the way. The Pax Americana that has given us freedom of the seas and allowed global trade to flourish might be breaking down. International piracy,...
57 Policy Proposals for Future Leaders to Help Make the Canadian Economy Soar
Executive Summary The various federal political parties are all promoting the policy agendas they believe will foster a sustainably high quality of life for all Canadians. It remains to be seen whether they will attain the success that they aim to achieve. In some...
Featured News
Alberta Politics and Empty Promises of Health-care Solutions
The writ has been dropped and Albertans are off to the polls on May 29. That leaves just four weeks for political leaders and voters to sort out what is arguably the most divisive, yet significant, issue for this election - health care. On Day 2, NDP leader Rachel...
There’s Nothing Fair About Canadian Health Care
For the past 14 years, Vancouver surgeon Dr. Brian Day has led the charge for health-care reform, pushing for the right of patients to pay for private care if their health and well-being are threatened as a result of waiting in a stagnant and overburdened public...
Transformers: More than Meets the Eye
The path to net zero, based on the much disputed belief that carbon dioxide is a pollution, is more steep and impractical than most people realize. Replacing fossil fuels with clean electricity will require much more power generation and a greatly upgraded grid to...
Peckford: Alberta and Sovereignty
Anyone who thinks of the word Alberta will likely say, oh, yes, that’s an area in the western part of Canada —a Province of Canada. I think that is how it is known now. Constitutionally it is a Province of Canada. There are no other Constitutions of this nature to...
Peckford: Why Our Constitution Will Not Be Amended Anytime Soon
Because the Federal Government and the Provincial Governments of Canada have allowed the Constitution‘s separation of powers outlined in Section 92 of the BNA Act to be blurred —disfigured. Section 92(7) outlines exclusive jurisdiction over health to be provincial....
Fixing the Unsustainable Atlantic Bubble
A month ago, the Chronicle Herald published an article in which I argued that the Atlantic Canada economy is unsustainable and that the region has become a major burden on Canada. The starkest evidence of that is that other Canadians are obliged to contribute $6,400...
Equalization Fight Doomed to ‘Dusty Death’
“Who has seen the wind?” asked Canadian W. O. Mitchell in his 1947 novel. In Alberta, the answer is just about everyone, as the winds of political discontent blow more fiercely than they have in decades. After several difficult years, Albertans watched the Liberals...
Time to Rethink Federal Transfers System
It is time for a fundamental course change by Atlantic Canadians respecting equalization and other regional subsidies. We’ve had a half-century of remarkably large subsidies to Quebec and Atlantic Canada, recently amounting to several thousand dollars per citizen per...
Equalization is Not Just Alberta’s Problem
In recent years, equalization and other regional subsidies have captured the attention of many Albertans. Much useful research has been done at the University of Calgary and by the former Wildrose Party. There has been extensive comment in Alberta’s media on Canada’s...
The stated objective of Canada’s equalization program is to ensure provincial governments in less-prosperous regions of the country are able to deliver high-quality public services to residents. This is a worthwhile, even noble objective. That the program is motivated...
Radio interview with David Mackinnon (580 CFRA)
Frontier Senior Fellow David Mackinnon discusses the problems with Canada’s antiquated equalization system and how it suppresses growth in recipient provinces. On 580 CFRA News Talk Radio on December 11, 2018 with Rob Snow. Listen here.