This year, the borough decided to take the crumbling sidewalks into its own hands. On Wednesday, it declared it would be the first in the city to hand over all responsibility for sidewalk repairs to its blue-collar workers as part of a pilot project that could spread to other services. At an estimated $300,000, the expenditure is a drop in the bucket of the borough’s overall $66-million budget.
Public Sector
Winnipeg’s Libertarian Socialist: Nick Ternette RIP
Winnipeg’s most colourful community activist was not a predictable big government left winger.
Alberta Workers Taste Reality
Wages once virtually on par with the rest of the country became higher across all public-sector categories, in some cases substantially so, according to the study by Ben Eisen and Ken Boessenkool. (The province’s 36,000 teachers are paid 20 per cent higher than their typical counterparts elsewhere in the country, according to a recent Statistics Canada study.) Alberta’s public- sector salaries consumed nearly 95 per cent of the increase in provincial revenues over the decade analyzed.
The Red-State Path to Prosperity: Blue states with high taxes are struggling to compete for businesses and workers.
You can tell a lot about prosperity in America by observing the places people are moving to and where they are packing up and moving from. New Census Bureau data on metropolitan areas indicate that the South and the Sunbelt regions continue to grow, while the Northeast and Midwest continue to shrink.
Featured News
Let’s Celebrate Reaching Global Population of Eight Billion
Recently, the United Nations estimated that the population of Planet Earth had reached eight billion souls. Despite the chatter of the highly subsidized climate doomster complex this is quite an achievement - it certainly indicates that the carrying capacity of our...
China’s “Truckers’ Convoy”
Anti-lockdown protests are now taking place across China - the Chinese equivalent of our Truckers’ Convoy. The protests are a reaction to the brutal policies that literally lock people in their apartments, when even one infection is detected. As in Canada, when...
Niels Veldhuis, Senior Research Economist, the Fraser Institute – Second Interview
In the face of significant tax and regulatory competition from its Western neighbours, Manitoba could use a broad range of reform levers to improve its economic performance.
$4B Boom Just Tip of Iceberg
Manitoba is in the middle of a $4-billion construction boom and that is likely only the tip of the iceberg. Another $6 billion has been committed to upgrading roads and bridges in the city and across the province over the next 10 years and Manitoba Hydro has said it...
Richard Vedder, Ohio University, on the optimal size of government
The size of government in Western democracies has outgrown the point at which they offer the most optimal results for citizens. That has generally reduced standards of living and levels of efficiency in the public sector.
Public Auto Insurance Drives Up Costs
Findings from a study published by The Fraser Institute regarding the cost and affordability of auto insurance around the world and right here in our own country.
Moregovernmentfunding.org
The value of intellectual independence, especially in the world of public policy, cannot be underestimated. Author Mark Milke explains how special interest groups funded by government create more pressure for spending.
Gomery Wants Politicians to Stay Out of Daily Operation of Crown Corporations
MONTREAL (CP) - Canadians want politicians to avoid interfering in the operation of Crown corporations, the judge who headed the federal inquiry into the sponsorship scandal said Tuesday. "Efforts by the boards of public corporations towards more accountability...
Alberta Leadership Candidate lets Separatism Genie out of its Bottle
Mark Norris, campaigning to lead Alberta's Conservative government, told the Calgary Sun two weeks ago that if Ottawa tries another raid on Alberta like the NEP -- or Kyoto -- Albertans should separate. No Alberta politician, except a few fringe party separatists, has...
The Irish Question
With the budget set for May 2, Finance Minister James Flaherty has now settled on his major tax and spending initiatives. Let's hope he had his eye on Ireland as he made his way through the conflicting pressures. He certainly would have been aware of Ireland's...
The Passing of the Old Guard
As we dance in the New Year, we should consider letting some new energy onto the ballroom floor.