British Columbia Premier Christy Clark recently announced that the days of self-regulation are over for the real estate industry. The Real Estate Council of B.C. had previously been tasked with ensuring that people who are buying and selling homes in the province are...
Regulation
Issues Concerning Heritage Preservation
It is widely believed that historical preservation results in a positive outcome for the economy. However, there are issues involved in historical preservation that require further analysis. This paper identifies three basic issues that should be addressed when...
The dangers of driver’s licence suspensions
Make the scofflaws pay. And if they won’t pay, punish ’em. There’s an understandable lack of public sympathy for deadbeats such as parents who skip out on family support payments or drivers who rack up huge parking ticket fines. And one of the...
Let Grocers Sell Booze
Ontario's antiquated alcohol-distribution system has come under heavy scrutiny over the last few months. While alcohol policy change in Ontario has been glacial, the recent proposal to allow grocery stores to sell alcohol could be a step in the right direction. The...
Featured News
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,...
World Cries out for Canadian LNG, “No Business Case” Feds have Totally Failed Us
Today, Canada’s natural gas sector is seeing its decade of darkness due to federal policy. And it’s not because the opportunity wasn’t there. It was because our government allowed its ideology, and that of its anti-oil and gas friends (also known as protestors) to...
Upholding Federalism: Supreme Court ruling limits power of the unelected
Just before Christmas the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the federal government’s proposal to regulate securities as embodied in the “Securities Act” was unconstitutional. They did so, surprisingly enough, on the basis of those sections of the original British...
The Economic, Environmental and Political Consequences of Carbon Pricing: Case Studies in Pricing-Based Carbon Controls
Eric Merkley, Ben Eisen and Kenneth Green examine 8 case studies in carbon pricing from around the world, and assess their economic, environmental and political consequences.
OAS Reform Options – Let’s Start a Debate
I thank Andrew Coyne for stepping back from the OAS discussion and outlining some alternative routes forward.
BC Lobby to Legalize Pot
Some food for thought here. “I have always had a problem with the idea that the state should criminalize an act which is essentially no more complex than putting a couple of seeds in your back yard, waiting a while and then, when something grows, you put it in your...
The Online Snooping Act – They got it wrong
Sometimes it is better to retreat! This is certainly the case for the federal Conservatives with the Online Surveillance Act as it is often called. Whether it is called the Lawful Access Act or the Protecting Children from Internet Predators Act, it is way over the...
Pay as You Drive Insurance
Why I do not like the overall approach this auto insurance company has employed, it is a start in the migration toward charging for insurance based on people actual risk in driving instead of unrelated factors such as income or credit history. In my situation, I drive...
Media Release – Successful Disaster Recovery Hinges on Community Participation: Frontier Centre study argues centralized planning creates “yellow tape” for first responders
When it comes to disaster relief, the evidence shows that organically organized, decentralized groups of communities and individuals are best able to prepare for and rebuild after natural disasters occur.
Centralized Planning Poses Significant Challenges for First Responders to Disaster Situations: Frontier Centre study argues solutions that privilege grass roots
Bureaucratic, centralized disaster responses have a long history of failure.
Chicago Pot Commentary
The old prohibition system is not “solving” the problem and it is costing us all a lot of money.