The majority of the world’s population now live in cities. People leave poor rural areas hoping for a better life with more economic possibilities in urban areas. The most successful cities are able to handle population growth and naturally expand their physical size....
Poverty
Government regulation threatens homeless meal program
A program in southern Ontario that serves meals to homeless people is being threatened because it is using home cooked meals.
First Anniversary of Changes to Canadian Wheat Board
One year after liberalising the Canadian Wheat Board's lock on cereal farmers, it is time to turn on supply management and its marketing boards. Today, August 1, marks the first anniversary of the liberation of the wheat and barley (among other cereals) markets in...
Fewer People Below Poverty Line than ever -Why are We not Talking About it?
It’s been almost a month since Statistics Canada released its latest report on poverty in Canada (“Income of Canadians,” June 27). Since then I’ve been watching to see whether somebody, anybody would write about it. You would think somebody would. It is a well-established principle of social justice that a society should make its first priority improving the lot of the worst off among it, and is to be judged by how well it does in this regard. What is more, the news on this front is remarkable, even extraordinary.
Featured News
Weaponizing the Law
The indictment of former U.S. president Donald Trump for crimes invented by his political opponents is the most egregious example yet seen of the weaponizing of the law. The United States is now full of examples. However, in Canada, we also see the law being...
“Looking At” Seizing Control Over Western Canada’s Natural Resources
OTTAWA, REGINA - Last week, two things happened that could have profound impacts on natural resources development in Saskatchewan. One is a hint the federal government might want to take control of natural resources away from the provinces, and the other is the...
Conservatives Look to Tackle Social Services with Free Market Ingenuity
The government is always making “important announcements.” Every press release is labelled as such, even if it’s (as on Tuesday) merely funding for snow-grooming equipment for a quad riding club in Quebec. To be fair, that was probably judged “important” in Victoriaville, Que., if nowhere else.
Failed anti-GMO initiative victory for sound science and policy
California voters have apparently defeated Proposition 37, a ballot measure that would have mandated labeling of foods made from genetically modified crops. While on the surface there is nothing wrong with a voluntary labelling scheme. This is much better than...
Aruna Papp, MA, ADR, MEd.
Frontier Centre: I would like you to tell us a little bit about what is ‘Honour-based violence’? Aruna Papp: Honour based violence is a crime committed in the name of protecting or defending family honour. It is usually committed by family members who believe that...
Commercial fishing monopoly the problem
A few weeks ago, the Frontier Centre released a policy series called Free to Fish: How a Freshwater Fish Monopoly is Impovering Aboriginal Fishers. The piece tackled the problem of the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation (the FFMC), which is the sole selling and...
Poverty Claims Show Welfare System Failure
All kids are poor. Children typically don’t own much beyond a few toys. That’s true in poor families. And it’s true of rich families. Children must rely totally on parents and caregivers. On their own, they’re destitute. And yet we have a report boldly titled Child Poverty. That tugs at the heartstrings and makes great newspaper copy but it’s wrong. The report should properly be titled family or household poverty.
Indigenous property ownership popular on both sides of border
Although the proposal does not seem to go as far as the proposed First Nations Property Ownership Act (FNPOA) in Canada, the Helping Expedite and Advance Responsible Tribal Homeownership Act (HEARTH), which was passed without one dissenting voice in the U.S. House of...
It’s Time to End Welfare: Income Support Reform that Makes Sense
Though many claim that governments can reduce poverty by raising welfare rates and making benefits easier to get, the only real poverty reduction in half a century of welfare policy has come about by raising employment rates, not welfare rates.
Taming Two Dragons: Income Support Reform that Makes Sense
This policy paper examines the means and policies by which Canada could help people on welfare without trapping them in a cycle of poverty.
Media Release – Income Support Reform that Makes Sense: Poverty, Welfare, and the Future of Income Support
Based on a structural and historical analysis of Canada’s welfare system, this policy paper argues that welfare has helped create and maintain a chronically workless underclass that persists regardless of economic or labour market conditions instead of helping welfare recipients.