The lack of pipeline capacity in North America is a serious problem for the Canadian economy, and needs to be urgently addressed”, says Nick Lazic, Vice President of Exploration with Saskatchewan-based Spectrum Resource Group.
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Manitoba Hydro is preparing for a $33 billion dollar expansion of its infrastructure. But given a record of cost overruns – such as the Wuskwatim Dam, which came in $900 million over budget – the huge program may well end up costing much more than that. Things were very different when the program was put in place just five years ago. Natural gas prices were high, and the Canadian dollar was low. (~2 min.)
Join us weekly across the prairies for our hard hitting policy commentary broadcast across the Goldenwest Radio Network and more - Click here for a list of 17 stations and broadcast times.
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~15 min
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June 14, 2013 —
Restructuring Saskatchewan’s BusTransportation Subsidy Policy
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~2 min
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June 14, 2013 —
A Costly Gamble with Manitoba’s Future
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~2 min
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June 7, 2013 —
Historic Bill Aims to Replace Outdated Indian Act
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~60 min
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June 7, 2013 —
Dam-nation: Rolling the Dice on Manitoba’s Future (Graham Lane)
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~1 min
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June 4, 2013 —
Good Governance is Key (Chief David Crate)
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~2 min
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May 31, 2013 —
Steep Tax Hikes For High Income Earners Do More Harm than Good
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~2 min
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May 24, 2013 —
Canada's Organic Food System is a Nightmare
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~5 min
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May 24, 2013 —
No Alcohol Allowed (Alberta Primetime)
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~2 min
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May 17, 2013 —
Improving Access to the Newest Medicines
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~55 min
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May 17, 2013 —
Schizophrenic Government Climate/Energy Policies (CFRA radio, Ottawa)
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~88 min
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May 16, 2013 —
To Heat or Eat: Europe's Climate Policy Fiasco (Benny Peiser)
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~2 min
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May 10, 2013 —
Government Set to Move on First Nations Equality Law
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Latest Publications
— June 19, 2013
A lack of pipeline capacity in North America is costing the Canadian economy billions of dollars each year. In order to draw attention to the significant loss of economic opportunity in the prairies, the Frontier Centre for Public Policy is launching a digital counter on its website to add up the lost dollars.
— June 19, 2013
Rather than focus on creating another First Nations political organization, native communities need to resolve existing issues within the Assembly of First Nations.
— June 18, 2013
Frontier's Conversation with Manny Jules, head of the First Nations Tax Commission and former Chief of B.C.'s Kamloops Indian Band on good governance and property rights on First Nations.
— June 18, 2013
Let me stipulate that I think Toronto’s Rob Ford is a terrible mayor. In fact, while I might not go so far as Richard Florida, who labeled Ford “the worst mayor in the modern history of cities, an avatar for all that is small-bore and destructive of the urban fabric, and the most anti-urban mayor ever to preside over a big city,” I’m willing to say he’s probably in the running for the title.
— June 14, 2013
In Manitoba, the provincially owned electrical utility is planning a massive expansion of its hydroelectric operations, even though its profits from the sale of electric power have fallen dramatically, to the point that Manitoba ratepayers are actually subsidizing the sale of cheap power into the U.S. grid.
— June 13, 2013
The federal government is considering mandatory minimum sentences for the sale of contraband tobacco in an attempt to crack down on black market activity. However, federal taxes are driving Canadians to the black market in the first place. Rather than ramping up policing efforts and costs, the government should reduce taxes to reduce demand for black market tobacco.
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RE: Make School Day Work Smarter, Not Longer
— December 17, 2012
99.5% of the time I agree with the Frontier's views but on this one I have to provide a different viewpoint. The existing school system at the elementary level is modeled on the same system that existed in the 60's, 50's, 40's, etc. Children are present in school from 9:00am to 3:30pm. Let's take the average family of the 21st century whereby both Mom and Dad are both present in the workforce (unlike the 60's, 50's, etc. where Mom's were "stay at home"). The standard workday is 8:00 to 4:00 or 9:00 to 5:00. Either parent is now forced to either rearrange their work schedule in order to pick up their child(ren) or find suitable after school daycare (for children under the age of 12).
Now take this situation one step further and apply it to a single parent family that is living at or below a middle income level. The parent gets two weeks vacation per year. The average number of Professional Development days teachers receive are a minimum of 1 per month not including early dismissals. The single parent must arrange and pay for an after school sitter or daycare when their child is released from school at 3:30pm. The cost of this to the parent is significant in terms of percentage of their annualized income. Factor in that the parent must arrange for a sitter 10 days a year not including the two weeks at Xmas and the summer and one can see the system is fine if we were living in 1952 but doesn not work for 2012.
I would argue that the average school day should not only coincide with the average work day but should be 8:30 to 5:30 to allow parents to fullfill their career/job obligations and help contribute to our economy by allowing for more work time and more disposable income directed to things the family needs vs going to after school daycare.
Email - Winnipeg, Mb
RE: Quebec Shouldn’t be Given its Gun Registry Data
— September 21, 2012
This column was an eye-opener. Not so much for Navarro-Genie's gun registry argument, but for the examples he gave of the intrusion of the Quebec government in people's lives.
I was aware of the requirement of women to maintain their maiden names upon marriage, but had forgotten, or was un-aware that, among other restrictions, all housing leases must expire at the same time, and that state permission must be sought in naming a child, or to send one to a non-French school. Top it off with the edict that all outdoor commercial signs must be exclusively in French and you have, I believe, the most totalitarian, intrusive regime in Canada.
As with all of their entrenched information-gathering systems already in place, the gun registry in-formation is merely another nail in the coffin for individual freedom in that sad imitation of a democracy.
Eric Hindson, Calgary
RE: Quebec Shouldn’t be Given its Gun Registry Data
— September 21, 2012
Question: Why do you care if Quebec keeps registering long guns, you are in Calgary, does it really affect you? The majority of Canadian's wanted to keep the registry.
Honestly, I'd be perfectly content if Alberta was the one to leave the country. You can take Stephen Hitler with you, and continue to ruin your local environment with all the tar sands production and those ugly tailing ponds. Email from William Groombridge
RE: Poverty Policies Tend to Impoverish
— September 13, 2007
If Holle prefers to live in a society in which the people's elected representatives can't intervene in the economy for the common good, he need not push it on us all. He could just move to Guatemala. - Letter to editor, Winnipeg Free Press, Andrew Bonner, London England
RE: Fit To Be Tied Over Native Crimes
— September 3, 2008
Thank you so much for the sane and well-written article that appeared in the Herald-Leader Press (Portage la Prairie, MB) last week. I hope what you say will be taken to heart - not only by aboriginals, but by all of us. Governments are notoriously stupid, but we individuals are not very bright, either. Working together, for the good of those we have any contact with, is a healing kind of attitude - on or off a reserve. -- Email from Manitoba
RE: European Lessons for Canada
— June 9, 2005
Congratulations. You hit the nail on the head with your analysis on the problems created by over-centralized government in Canada, particularly, how it fuels separatism in Quebec. - Jean Allard, Winnipeg
RE: Telecommuting Trumps the Planners
— October 9, 2006
Your comments on telecommuting and its impact on urban development were very interesting. Personally, I have been telecommuting in my work since 1997. In the 1990’s, my location options were limited to urban areas. Since 2000, my options expanded to include rural communities. In 2001, I managed a $400,000 contract in the Caribbean when I was located in a medium-sized rural community in Manitoba. Today, I live on a farm, and I can enjoy all the communication capacity that I could have located in the centre of Winnipeg. In the business world, I am as connected here as I would be living in downtown Toronto. Why would I give up the fresh air, the space and most importantly, the personal safety of my present situation to live in central Winnipeg? More and more, people are going to get out of this hostile environment and choose to live in safe rural communities where they can participate in the knowledge economy. - E-mail from rural Manitoba
RE: An Environmental Policy for the 21st Century
— October 13, 2005
I have just reviewed your paper on Smart and Green principles. I want to congratulate you for crafting such a thoughtful and intellectually-rigorous document. E-mail from Manitoba
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Deconstructing the Aboriginal Problem
In 1875, "five dollars was enough to buy five acres of land in southern Manitoba. . . . That land now sells for $1,000 an acre." In other words, if the treaty money had increased in value by the same proportion, it would be worth $5,000 a year per person. That translates into about $400 a month for each individual, and that's where Allard would direct it. Not into the pockets of tribal leaders, but to those who now live by their not-so-tender mercies.
The Right Moves on Immigration
The appearance of the Ocean Lady carrying 76 Tamil asylum seekers in October 2009, followed by the Sun Sea with 492 Tamils in August 2010, alerted Canadians to the reality that our borders were not secure and that people were being smuggled into the country under the guise of seeking asylum. The situation underscored the crucial need for reform.
Say Hello to the 1980s Deficits in Modern Drag
A deficit of this size cannot be allowed to continue," said Johnston in his 1987 budget remarks. Except that it did. The province incurred $2.1 billion in red ink in 1990—the planned year for balanced books, followed by deficits of $1.8 billion in 1991, $2.6 billion in 1992, $3.3 billion in 1993, and almost $1.4 billion in 1994.
IPCC Side Ducks Out of Chicago Conference on Climate Change
The clearest example of this strategy is the refusal of Al Gore –the man who popularized the most catastrophic theories about global warming- to even debate the topic. Imagine if the leading proponents of tax relief refused to debate Keynesian advocates because the “economics are settled.” They’d be laughed out of the public sphere- and deservedly so.
Growing Confidence in First Nation Elections
One of the most important dimensions of good governance is free and fair elections are a cornerstone of democracy. Legitimate and good government can only exist where political leaders operate with the consent of the public, which can only be obtained through open and fair electoral processes.
Getting Tough On Human Smuggling
Many of the smuggled asylum seekers already have relatives in Canada. They don't want to wait their turn in line or bother to go through the medical, criminal and security checks applicable to those waiting in the backlog. Many of them -- uncles, aunts, nephew, and nieces -- are not eligible to be sponsored so they pay to be smuggled into Canada. This is why smuggling has become big business. The smugglers can give an iron-clad guarantee to the person being smuggled that once on Canadian soil there is little chance of being removed even if their refugee claim is refused
Why the Public School System Exaggerates Student Disabilities
Are all the extra dollars justified? It is highly unlikely that the number of disabled students has tripled in 30 years, even though we have become more skilled at identifying handicaps and dedicating resources to them. A more likely explanation is that divisions have an economic incentive to apply for as much special education funding as possible, regardless of whether or not it is needed. It is clear that insufficient controls are in place to restrain divisions from doing so.
Canada’s Doctor Shortage
According to the latest figures from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Canada ranks 23rd out of 30 countries (tied with New Zealand) for doctors per 1,000 people. In 2005, the last year available, Canada had just 2.2 doctors per 1,000 people, barely higher than in 1990 when Canada had 2.1 physicians per 1,000 people (OECD, 2007).
Garden Chemicals and Intellectual Honesty
As to the market declining, Dr. Paton has once again neglected to do his homework. According to the Croplife Canada annual report, non-agricultural herbicide sales in Canada increased 16 percent in 2003 over 2002. Despite all of the politically correct hoopla around pesticides, Canadians are in favour of them now more than ever
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Upcoming Events
Dams & Transmission Lines: Are There Responsible Alternatives? with Ed Schreyer, Former Governor General of Canada & Premier of Manitoba
June 25, 2013 — Winnipeg
Future Solutions for Retirement Security & Pensions with The Honourable Ted Menzies
June 27, 2013 — Calgary
Upcoming FCPP AppearancesWatch for more appearances soon - to book a Frontier speaker for your community club or organization contact newideas@fcpp.org
Wed June 19, 2013

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| | Oil | 94.65
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