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Education Faculties Should Disappear

The professional chasm between mathematicians and math education professors is an example. While many people assume that these two groups work closely together in designing provincial curricula and writing approved textbooks, the reality is quite different. Despite vigorous protests from mathematicians, math education professors regularly promote teaching methods that make it harder for students to acquire the math skills they need.

In The News — February 3, 2012
Weathering Global Warming in Agriculture

Provided it is not a consequence of governmental interference with market forces, cheap food creates far-reaching benefits. Indeed, declining food scarcity has helped drive overall economic progress for decades, even as the demand for edible goods has been increasing at a fast clip, say Douglas Southgate, a professor at Ohio State University, and Julian Morris, vice president of research at the Reason Foundation.

o Since the middle of the 20th century, when the population was slightly less than 2.5 billion, human numbers have shot up, surpassing 6 billion shortly before 2000 and currently approaching 7 billion.

o Yet food supplies have more than kept pace -- mainly thanks to technological advances during and since the Green Revolution that have caused global yields of cereals to rise by 150 percent since the early 1960s.

o The general tendency of food supplies to overwhelm food demand has registered in the marketplace.

Food prices can remain at current levels or even decline further in the years to come. But there are caveats. If governments continue to subsidize and mandate biofuel production, midcentury prices of crops could be 30 percent above current levels. Also, food could grow scarcer if global warming impairs agricultural
productivity. The question is: will global warming impair agricultural productivity?

Southgate and Morris investigate the potential consequences of climate change for global agricultural output and identify policies that would reduce any negative impacts. Some researchers have estimated that climate change resulting from manmade global warming could reduce agricultural output significantly (compared to baseline assumptions), especially in tropical countries. As a result, food prices would rise and malnutrition worsen. However, these estimates assume minimal or no adaptation to changes in the climate. In particular, they assume that farmers will fail to switch crops, modify their use of water and other inputs, and adopt new technology. This view is unrealistic: faced with changing conditions, farmers will adapt -- unless prohibited.


Source: Douglas Southgate and Julian Morris, "Weathering Global Warming in Agriculture,"
Reason Foundation, November 3, 2011.

See More "In the News"


Are Prairie Cities Dangerous?

Are Prairie cities dangerous, or is the media over-reacting? Maclean's magazine has published its annual list of Canada’s Most Dangerous Cities, and Manitoba and Saskatchewan are once again singled out. Winnipeg, Saskatoon, and Regina finished in the top five for violent crime rates. But the reality is that Prairie cities are relatively safe. More on this week's Frontier Centre Commentary. (~2 min)

Join us weekly across the prairies for our hard hitting policy commentary broadcast across the Goldenwest Radio Network - Click here for a list of 14 stations and broadcast times.

Joseph Quesnel, policy analyst for Frontier Cente for Public Policy, discusses how fighting crime is necessary, but it is dangerous when it conceals attacks on property rights. (~17 min.)

~17 min 

February 3, 2012 — Forfeiture Laws Threaten Property Rights (CHQR)
Joseph Quesnel, Policy Analyst at The Frontier Centre for Public Policy, helps explain the sometimes shocking forefeiture laws in Canada. (~12 min)

~11 min 

February 2, 2012 — Forfeiture Laws Threaten Property Rights (CKNX)
Professor Duane Bratt explores the saga of nuclear power in Alberta, Breakfast on the Frontier, Calgary, from January 26, 2012.

~57 min 

February 2, 2012 — Alberta's Nuclear Power Saga (Duane Bratt)
Scientists and experts say it's time to debunk the myths about climate change and the oil sands. Executive Director of the International Climate Science Coalition Tom Harris says a proper review would help eliminate some of the red-tape around pipeline hearings. He tells 660News the amount of gas that's emitted during extraction in Northern Alberta is small and inconsequential. (~1 min.)

~1 min 

February 1, 2012 — Review Needed to Inform Pipeline Hearings - Part 1 (660News)
Scientists and experts say it's time to debunk the myths about climate change and the oil sands. Executive Director of the International Climate Science Coalition Tom Harris says a proper review would help eliminate some of the red-tape around pipeline hearings. He tells 660News the amount of gas that's emitted during extraction in Northern Alberta is small and inconsequential. (~2 min.)

~1 min 

February 1, 2012 — Review Needed to Inform Pipeline Hearings - Part 2 (660News)
Tom Harris, Executive Director, International Climate Science Coalition joins Jeff Allan to discuss the issue surrounding the state of Global Warming. (~10 min.)

~10 min 

February 1, 2012 — No Need to Worry About Global Warming (570News)
Aruna Papp joins Dave Rutherford to discuss honour killings in Canada. How can we address the issue effectively? It begins with the correct training. (~12 min)

~12 min 

January 31, 2012 — Honourless 'Honour Killings'
We've been reporting that housing is expensive in Saskatchewan for some time now. But what is the root cause? Steve LaFleur joins the debate on the reason for the rise in housing prices. (~18 min)

~18 min 

January 30, 2012 — The Reason for High Housing Prices (CBC)
Murray Langdon from Straight Talk interviews Tom Harris, Executive Director, International Climate Science Coalition. Legitimate environmental concerns about the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline must be properly addressed through regulatory hearings. However, concerns about climate change are unsubstantiated. (~22 min)

~21 min 

January 27, 2012 — Bogus Global Warming Concerns Interfering with Enbridge Northern Gateway Hearings (CFAX)
Joseph Quesnel, policy analyst at the Frontier Centre for Public Policy who focuses on aboriginal matters. He is interviewed by Rob Breckenridge. They discuss what should happen to Canada's Indian Act to make it more beneficial. (~16 min)

~15 min 

January 27, 2012 — What Should Happen to Canada’s Indian Act (CHQR)
An expert in urban planning and analysis says there’s no excuse for the cost of housing in Saskatoon or Regina to be so high. We speak to Wendell Cox, the co-author of the eighth annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Study and principal of Demographia. (~10 min)

~10 min 

January 27, 2012 — 8th Annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey (CJME)
Professor Irv Studin lays out a provocative vision of how Canada could increase its population to 100 million.  Audio from a Frontier dinner, December 14th, 2012 in Calgary.

~31 min 

January 26, 2012 — Canada - Population 100 Million (Irv Studin)

Latest Publications

Dropping Faculties is Not as Important as Reorganizing Departments

— February 3, 2012

At the University of Manitoba, there are a number of departments that duplicate courses and programs and these departments could be combined so that more professors would be teaching courses rather than administering departments.



Climate Science Review Needed to Inform Pipeline Hearings Better

— January 31, 2012

The federal government should organise scientific and economic hearings about crucial projects like the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline in order properly to inform citizens and to dilute the impact of radical climate change environmentalists



Feedback - Education Faculties Should Disappear

— January 30, 2012

Feedback - Education Faculties Should Disappear.



The Great House Price Dilemma

— January 27, 2012

A global snapshot of housing affordability shows that local governments face a choice about land use regulations and housing affordability.



Education Faculties Should Disappear

— January 27, 2012

Education faculties across the country should be merged with other university faculties.



Wealth Shared Unfairly, Study says;

— January 27, 2012

Ottawa is suppressing key parts of a politically explosive federal report that reveals Ontario is being shortchanged by Canada's national wealth-sharing scheme.




Recent Updates


View More Policy Notes

Policy Notes - A One Page Policy Discussion

2012-02-03 – Dropping Faculties is Not as Important as Reorganizing Departments

2012-01-27 – The Great House Price Dilemma

2012-01-27 – Education Faculties Should Disappear

» View More Policy Notes

View More Frontier Backgrounders

Frontier Backgrounders - Short Analyses

2011-12-07 – Centralized Planning Poses Significant Challenges for First Responders to Disaster Situations

2011-11-16 – The Case for Voluntary Student Unionism

2011-11-02 – Smart Growth Hurts the Urban Poor

» View More Frontier Backgrounders

View More Perspectives

Perspectives - Thoughts from the Advisory Board...

2012-01-19 – Charles Manson Energy

2011-12-01 – Durban Due Diligence

2011-11-15 – CAPP and Industry Have Themselves To Blame

» View More Perspectives

View More Policy Series

Policy Series - Longer Reports & Studies

2012-01-20 – A Valuation Analysis of ATB Financial

2011-12-20 – Canada Health Consumer Index 2011

2011-12-15 – A Policy Roadmap for Solutions to Suicide Among Young Women of South Asian Origin

» View More Policy Series

View More Conversations

Conversations - with Policy Innovators

2011-11-30 – Frank de Jong, Former Green Party Leader

2011-08-22 – David Henderson, Economist

2011-04-27 – Dr. Patrick Moore, Co-Founder of Greenpeace and Environmentalist

» View More Conversations

View More Special Reports and Publications

Special Reports and Publications

2012-01-23 – 8th Annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey

2011-11-14 – A Tribute to Roger Kerr

2011-09-25 – Revitalizing Manitoba (Updated)

» View More Special Reports and Publications

View More Rural Renaissance Notes

Rural Renaissance Notes

2011-11-30 – NDP Stuck in the 1930s on CWB

2011-11-20 – Why the Wheat Board Monopoly is Being Removed

2011-07-21 – NDP Needs to Look Forward, not Back

» View More Rural Renaissance Notes

View More PowerPoint Slides from Events

PowerPoint Slides from Events

2011-11-28 – Untax Buildings, Uptax Land

2011-08-30 – The Nisga'a Treaty: Over 10 Years Later

2011-08-29 – Evaluating Canada’s Place in International Property Rights Protection

» View More PowerPoint Slides from Events

View More Aboriginal Voices from Ground Zero

Aboriginal Voices from Ground Zero

2012-01-10 – What to do with Lake St. Martin First Nation

2012-01-06 – Level the Playing Field for Aboriginals

2011-12-20 – Tackling the On-Reserve Housing Crisis

» View More Aboriginal Voices from Ground Zero

View More Worth a Look

Worth a Look - In our Virtual Library...

2012-02-03 – Un-Crown Them

2012-02-02 – Children Just Aren't Going to Know What Sun Is

2012-01-31 – Greens to Sceptics: Show Us the Money!

» View More Worth a Look

View More Modern Environmentalist

Modern Environmentalist

2012-01-31 – Climate Science Review Needed to Inform Pipeline Hearings Better

2011-12-06 – International Climate Policy Shouldn’t Punish Growth

2011-11-22 – Bias and Exploitation of Bias About Environment and Climate In Schools

» View More Modern Environmentalist

View More Charticles

Charticles - A Graphical Look at Issues

2012-01-23 – Manitoba Health Spending: Still Much Higher Than Average

2012-01-23 – Canadian Housing Affordability in One Page

2011-09-21 – Manitoba Real Spending Up 65%

» View More Charticles

View More Frontier Centre in the Media

Frontier Centre in the Media

2012-01-27 – Wealth Shared Unfairly, Study says;

2012-01-26 – A Place in the Sun Still Precious

2012-01-24 – STC Receives $9.2M to Run Routes in 2012

» View More Frontier Centre in the Media

View More Interactive Policy

Interactive Policy

2010-12-01 – Now Available: Frontier Centre iPhone Application

2009-03-14 – The Frontier Goods & Services Interactive InfoMap

2008-09-15 – Saskatchewan Carbon Capture Opportunity Cost Calculator

» View More Interactive Policy

View More Frontier Media Appearances

Frontier Media Appearances

2012-02-03 – Forfeiture Laws Threaten Property Rights (CHQR)

2012-02-02 – Forfeiture Laws Threaten Property Rights (CKNX)

2012-01-31 – Honourless 'Honour Killings'

» View More Frontier Media Appearances

View More Frontier Radio Commentary

Frontier Radio Commentary

2012-01-20 – Are Prairie Cities Dangerous?

2012-01-13 – Let the Money Follow the Student

2012-01-06 – A Smarter Approach to Funding Hospitals

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View More Frontier Audio (Speeches/Events)

Frontier Audio (Speeches/Events)

2012-02-02 – Alberta's Nuclear Power Saga (Duane Bratt)

2012-01-26 – Canada - Population 100 Million (Irv Studin)

2012-01-26 – Canada - Population 100 Million (Irv Studin speech with q & a s)

» View More Frontier Audio (Speeches/Events)

View More Frontier Recommended Audio

Frontier Recommended Audio

2012-02-01 – Review Needed to Inform Pipeline Hearings - Part 1 (660News)

2012-02-01 – Review Needed to Inform Pipeline Hearings - Part 2 (660News)

2012-02-01 – No Need to Worry About Global Warming (570News)

» View More Frontier Recommended Audio

View More Frontier Channel - Video

Frontier Channel - Video

2012-01-03 – The Assault on Saving (On the Other Hand Ep. 18)

2011-12-27 – Do Unions Really Raise Wages? (On the Other Hand Ep. 17)

2011-12-20 – The Mirage of Inflation (On the Other Hand Ep. 16)

» View More Frontier Channel - Video

View More Frontier Recommended Video

Frontier Recommended Video

2012-02-01 – Canada's Cleaner (SunTV)

2012-01-24 – Indian Act improvement? (SunTV)

2012-01-17 – Minimum wage 101

» View More Frontier Recommended Video

Feedback @ Frontier
RE: Education Faculties Should Disappear — January 30, 2012

I’d like to make some comments pertaining to your current article on the value of Faculties of Education.

I agree entirely that the enterprise of education would benefit from the winding down of Faculties of Education, but I would present a slightly different emphasis. Bad methodology is indeed relevant (I taught my own children to read at age three using Dr. Seuss and they were reading newspapers by the time they started school.) but my emphasis is more on teacher’s knowledge of content. I note that the references that you provided showed that this was not a major contributor to teaching effectiveness, but I suspect that with regard the narrower area of the sciences at the high school level it is. Some observations.

Read entire Feedback

RE: Tackling the On-Reserve Housing Crisis — December 17, 2011

Shameful that after 125 years our government has not resolved the problems involving our aboriginals in countless areas after setting them up on reserves including housing problems that have plagued them all these years and will continue doing so.  Employment, amongst the housing problems that exist will continue for ever and a day.

The magic wand for the housing problem and other problems is there to be resolved, but our governances in the House of Commons just would not bite the bullet and resolve them.  Just think of the countless immigrants that came to our country to find a better place to rear their children.  Many first started out by taking advantage of occupying a quarter section of land in the wilderness,  but before too many decades thereafter, many of their children became doctors, lawyers, engineers and yes even public service workers.  Their parents moved into cities and towns, took advantage of employment opportunities, that are rare in many of the reserves, and there – few problems arising In comparison to those constantly taking place is so many reserves during the past 125 years.

When our government spends countless of hundreds of millions of dollars, and who knows maybe billions of dollars annually as the child births are greater in the reserves than in other parts of our Country – why not provide each family with their own home in the cities and towns, provide training for those employables and enough social assistance, as provided in many instances to immigrants, and our aboriginals and their children would truly enjoy Canadianism as have the countless Immigrants to this day.

The magic wand worked for immigrants and still does today and can do so for our aboriginals likewise with the example cited here in. Email from Stephen Marlowe, Edmonton

(parents immigrants dating back to the early 1920s with very little help from our government)

RE: New Voluntary Wheat Board May Struggle — December 12, 2011

Notwithstanding one's political views about the wheat board, given that is very likely the federal govenrment will succeed in its efforts, the Board could consider converting itself into a mutual.  As  a back up strategy they probably should have been signing up all wheat board farmer members to something like this if they wanted to preserve their organizational status in light of the pending loss of its monopoly.   E-mail from Winnipeg

RE: Aboriginals Need Roadmap For Success, Not Ideology — July 12, 2011

Good morning; We haven’t been of any major help to aboriginals on reserves in many such situations, far away from any sources of employment. Our government has spent billions of tax dollars keeping them on reserves, and from the lack of success in our government’s efforts, it is time to bite the bullet and do the right thing for them.    More on this feedback found HERE.

 

RE: Unravelling Child Poverty — December 4, 2003
Kudos for taking on the poverty industry on this issue. Keep up the good work. - Email from Winnipeg
RE: The Costs of Caledonia — August 22, 2011

Dear Mr Quesnel,

As a fellow Quebecer, I thoroughly enjoyed your point of view regarding the Caledonia incident this morning.

It is refreshing and, sadly, far too rare, to read a commentary from someone who is able to step back and present a balanced and informative view. Too much of our main stream media today are filled with supposition, innuendo, and sweeping generalisations.

You have added considerably to my understanding of the issues in the Caledonia matter, and I thank you for that. Your Métis heritage gives you a good understanding of the First Nations view point, but you are also able to see all sides of the issue, with the right and wrong activities of all the parties. Clarence Louie of the Osoyoos Band in BC is another who is able to do that and he has set an example for other First Nations Chiefs to emulate in leading their bands to success in the modern world without blaming everyone else.

Let us hope that our various levels of government can shoulder their responsibilities and find a way to reach negotiated settlement with all of the parties involved. Thank you for your good ideas. Email from Ontario

RE: Indigenous Peoples from an International Perspective — May 16, 2008
It seems to me that we in Canada may be looking at things the wrong way. Is it that there are problems on Indian Reserves, or is it that the whole archaic concept of Indian Reserves is the problem? The bottom line is, the Cook Islands are doing very well thank you; NO RESERVES HERE. More - E-mail from Bob Foster, Winnipeg, MB
RE: Farmer Abuse — March 28, 2005

I am acutely aware that current international trade rules are not working for western Canadian farmers. At the WTO, this is a critical year for negotiations. We need to be there, not only to press for meaningful concessions from other countries but to ensure a deal that doesn't tip the scales away from producers in Canada. - E-Mail from Ken Ritter, Canadian Wheat Board

Read more and our response . . .

RE: Opening Up Cottage Country — July 19, 2002

This was a great article. I am looking forward to many more on this topic, hopefully soon. How do I find out more regarding this matter. I am very very interested. - Email from Winnipeg

Frontier Flashback
Effective Policing
This fixation on work rules is a common phenomenon in traditional public sector organizations. Without a focus on results administrative processes and procedures configure themselves over time to suit the needs of the professionals hired to deliver them, not the customers who are served by them. The police union's rigid two-person policy is an example. Many other major cities have managed a more flexible policy that saves money while maintaining service and protecting the safety of officers.
Media Release - The Role of Alberta Treasury Branches in the Alberta Financial Market
It appears that, in spite of the fact that ATB is still operating with some competitive advantages in Alberta’s financial markets, it is only able to operate efficiently when the economy of Alberta is performing well, as it is crippled by the incentives put in place by some combination of lax capital controls and government guarantees.
A Smarter, Less Duplicative Federal Government
This lack of spending discipline combined with the stimulus spending launched after the 2008 recession are responsible for the fiscal crunch we face today. The time is ripe to launch an era of intelligent austerity based on a two pronged plan to 1) modernize the operations of the federal civil service, and 2) reduce unnecessary duplication of functions and spending between the feds and the provinces, including a strong signal that the federal government intends to pursue a comprehensive plan to fix increasingly counterproductive transfer payment programs.
Your Land Is Not Your Land
Historically, a local government’s power to expropriate was limited to the needs of Public utilities -- roads, sewers, ditches and the like. However, changes made to the Municipal Act in 1997 opened the door to the seizure of property for “economic reasons.” Essentially, it is within a local government’s power to, for lack of a better term, -nationalize- an entire municipal economy. And it means the government can seize Mr. Fouillard’s property, property he has owned for more than fifty years.
What the Real-Wage Pessimists Are Missing
Start with the person's hourly wage rate. Many of the real-wage pessimists don't carefully estimate that but, instead, settle for looking at average weekly wages. But comparing average weekly wages over time will give a much more pessimistic view than is justified. Why? Part-time jobs as a percentage of total jobs have increased over time.
Speech by John Bruton, Former Prime Minister of Ireland
The early 1980's were a period of retrenchment. Public service members were frozen and the remaining taxes had to be increased. This stringency did, however, prevent Ireland falling into some of the costly political errors of continental Europe at that time, like taking on unrealistic pension commitments and creating overprotected labour markets.
Make Immigration Break Even
Since one side of the debate is primarily concerned with the economic benefit of immigration to existing Canadians, and the other side focuses on the benefit to immigrants themselves, the debate has been predictably polarized. A reasonable way to reconcile both concerns would be to charge an entrance fee to sponsored parents and grandparents through the family reunification program.
The Stockholm Healthcare Model In Manitoba
The model described above is known technically as the "purchaser/provider split" in service delivery. It is an easier sell for politicians, since funding remains public in this model. The critical success factor is that the monopoly disappears, replaced by a competitive, results-based model that gives patients choice.
Testing Public Patience
Soft, internal assessments not only shift costs and impose them on teachers, they produce unreliable results. “Standards tests are relatively objective tests that yield the same score for people who have the same performance,” says Rod Clifton, an education professor at the University of Manitoba. “Unstandardized tests . . . are more often than not scored differently by different people on different occasions. Consequently, unstandardized tests [like the CAP] are inherently unfair to some of the people who have been assessed.”

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