It’s hard to know what to make of this budget. Despite 424 pages, it comes across as the single most un-serious and flimsy budget document in recent memory. It’s the Peter Pan budget, created on a wish and a prayer. It hopes the world economy recovers instead of soberly facing up to the possibility that Canada’s federal government should get our fiscal house in order regardless.
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In The News —
March 10, 2010
The IPCC's Abominable Snowmen
The scientists who said that Himalayan glaciers will be gone by 2035 have admitted the claim has as much credibility as sightings of the mythical Yeti. It's their fraudulent claims that are melting away, says Investor's Business Daily (IBD).
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the U.N. body tasked with scaring us to death about global warming, has admitted that the claim in its 2007 report about the Himalayan glaciers disappearing was not based on any scientific study or research. It was instead based on one scientist's speculation in a telephone interview with a reporter.
o The IPCC claimed: "Glaciers in the Himalayas are receding faster than in any other part of the world and, if the present rate continues, the likelihood of their disappearing by the year 2035 and perhaps sooner is very high if the earth keeps warming at the current rate."
o As it turns out, the earth hasn't been warming at all, at least not in the last decade, and reputable scientists have said it may continue to cool for decades to come.
o Even if it was warming, glaciologists insist, the sheer mass of Himalayan glaciers made such a prediction laughable.
According to Professor Julian Dowdeswell, director of the Scott Polar Research Institute at Cambridge University:
o Even a small glacier, such as the Dokriani glacier, is up to 120 meters (394 feet) thick; a big one would be several hundred meters thick and tens of kilometers long.
o The average glacier is 300 meters thick, so to melt one even at the rate of five meters a year would take half a century.
o That is a lot faster than anything we are seeing now, so the idea of losing it all by 2035 is unrealistically high; the current maximum observed rate of glacier melt worldwide is two to three meters a year.
Like the infamous "hockey stick" graph purporting to show sudden and man-induced warming, and the Climate-gate e-mails showing the efforts by researchers associated with Britain's Climate Research unit to "hide the decline" in global temperatures, the
Himalayan glacier claim, like the IPCC report itself, is science fiction and not science fact, says IBD.
Source: Editorial, "The IPCC's Abominable Snowmen,"
Investor's Business Daily, January 21, 2010.
See More "In the News"
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During the recent Speech from the Throne, Canada’s Conservative government has said it will “take steps” to endorse the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. While some provisions are laudable, many are troubling. Provisions relating to land and resources are too broad and it appears the Declaration could open up matters already settled under land claims. Moreover, requirements that states receive full consent before acting on matters dealing with Native peoples are too restrictive.
Join us weekly across the prairies for our hard hitting policy commentary broadcast across the Goldenwest Radio Network - Click here for a list of 13 stations and broadcast times.
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~2 min
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March 12, 2010 —
Ottawa Should Not Flip Flop On UN Indigenous Declaration
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~1 min
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March 11, 2010 —
4th Annual Aboriginal Governance Index Update (MBC)
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~1 min
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March 11, 2010 —
4th Annual Aboriginal Governance Index Update (MBC)
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~30 min
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March 8, 2010 —
Where Are Aboriginal Affairs in Canada Headed? (Doug Bland)
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~2 min
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March 6, 2010 —
Canada's Broken Equalization Program
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~30 min
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March 4, 2010 —
The Myths of Photo Radar Exposed (Nancy Thomas)
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~7 min
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March 1, 2010 —
The Real Have-Nots in Conferderation (CHQR)
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~2 min
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February 26, 2010 —
Self-Government Shouldn’t Trump Human Rights
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~2 min
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February 26, 2010 —
Reserves Should Be Closer to Urban Centres
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~2 min
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February 19, 2010 —
A Kuhn-Style Revolution In Climate Science
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~2 min
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February 12, 2010 —
School Performance Data Should Be Public
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~5 min
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February 10, 2010 —
Non-viable Communities (CBC-Calgary)
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Latest Publications
— March 11, 2010
Manitoba’s decision to freeze wage growth for its highly paid public sector employees will help ensure the province’s fiscal health, and arguments that the policy will hurt the economy are based on weak economic arguments.
— March 10, 2010
Evidence from the Third Annual Aboriginal Governance Index reveals that First Nations with high Electoral rankings perform well overall.
— March 8, 2010
The new federal budget was created on a wish and a prayer, on a hope the world economy recovers instead of soberly facing up to the possibility that Canada’s federal government should get our fiscal house in order.
— March 8, 2010
PowerPoint slides which accompanied the Lunch on the Frontier speech by Doug Bland in Winnipeg March 5, 2010. Watch while listening to related audio below.
— March 8, 2010
"Alberta people and companies send about $40 billion a year to Ottawa in taxes and other payments. The feds return just $19 billion. Annual net loss to Albertans: $21 billion."
— March 5, 2010
"As the economic crisis hit, Canada may have been the best prepared among developed nations when it came to the strength of its banking sector and government finances, but it seems ill-prepared to handle the global fallout."
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 Policy Notes
- A One Page Policy Discussion
2010-03-11 –
Freezing Government Wages is Prudent Cost-Control
2010-03-08 –
Ottawa’s Peter Pan Budget
2010-03-02 –
Inequalities of Equalization Leave Ontarians Worse Off
» View More Policy Notes
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2010-02-26 –
The Global Fiscal Crisis
2009-10-22 –
The End is Nigh
2009-09-24 –
Manitoba’s Public Sector is Larger, More Expensive Than Most
» View More Frontier Backgrounders
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 Perspectives
- Thoughts from the Advisory Board...
2010-02-20 –
Atlanta: Ground Zero for the American Dream
2010-02-17 –
When Welfarism Takes Over, Disaster Will Follow
2010-01-08 –
Climate conference organizers asked for trouble in Copenhagen
» View More Perspectives
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 Policy Series
- Longer Reports & Studies
2010-02-24 –
The Real Have-Nots In Confederation: British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario
2010-02-16 –
Opportunism and Exploitation: Climate Change Activism and Hostility to Liberal Civilization
2010-02-08 –
Respecting the Seventh Generation:A voluntary plan for relocating non-viable Native reserves
» View More Policy Series
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2009-11-13 –
Brian Lee Crowley, Founding President of AIMS, the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies
2009-07-31 –
Dr. Madhav Khandekar, Retired Environment Canada Scientist
2009-07-08 –
Dr. Kenneth P. Green, Environmental Scientist
» View More Conversations
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2010-02-23 –
2010 International Property Rights Index: Canada outranks USA; but Improvements Needed
2010-02-01 –
Behind The Classroom Door
2010-01-25 –
6th Annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey
» View More Special Reports and Publications
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2009-09-02 –
How U.S. Protectionism is Killing Canada’s Livestock Producers
2009-02-26 –
Food Safety: Quality Matters, Not Just Price
2009-02-17 –
President Obama Is COOLing It
» View More Rural Renaissance Notes
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2010-03-08 –
Where Are Aboriginal Affairs in Canada Headed?
2010-03-03 –
The Myths of Photo Radar Exposed
2010-02-12 –
Wastewater Problems in Cottage Country
» View More PowerPoint Slides from Events
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2010-03-04 –
Where’s Aboriginal Leadership on Human Rights?
2010-02-09 –
Time To Debate The Viability Of Some Reserves
2010-01-26 –
Wanted: A New Vision for First Nations
» View More Aboriginal Voices from Ground Zero
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 Worth a Look
- In our Virtual Library...
2010-02-28 –
Health Insurance: Clear Diagnosis, Uncertain Remedy
2010-02-25 –
Labor in Denial as ETS Fairyland Fractures
2010-02-23 –
Denial Not Just For The Deniers
» View More Worth a Look
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2010-02-15 –
IPCC Corruption Included Ignoring Facts and Science
2010-02-07 –
Climategate Necessary to Cover Incorrect Climate Basics of IPCC
2010-01-23 –
Climate Cools But Arctic Ice Scares Continue
» View More Modern Environmentalist
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 Charticles
- A Graphical Look at Issues
2010-03-10 –
Fair Elections Strong Indicator of High Performing First Nations
2010-03-05 –
Canada’s Cropland: Becoming Better Protected From Erosion
2010-02-19 –
Canada v. Europe on Patient Rights: Canada Lags
» View More Charticles
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2010-03-08 –
Why 'Have' Provinces are the New Have-Nots
2010-03-05 –
Economic fallout upsets Canadian status quo, norms
2010-03-02 –
USA 15th in Property Rights Protections. Behind...Finland?
» View More Frontier Centre in the Media
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2009-03-14 –
The Frontier Goods & Services Interactive InfoMap
2008-09-15 –
Saskatchewan Carbon Capture Opportunity Cost Calculator
2008-09-11 –
Alberta Carbon Capture Opportunity Cost Calculator
» View More Interactive Policy
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2010-03-11 –
4th Annual Aboriginal Governance Index Update (MBC)
2010-03-11 –
4th Annual Aboriginal Governance Index Update (MBC)
2010-03-01 –
The Real Have-Nots in Conferderation (CHQR)
» View More Frontier Media Appearances
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2010-03-12 –
Ottawa Should Not Flip Flop On UN Indigenous Declaration
2010-03-06 –
Canada's Broken Equalization Program
2010-02-26 –
Self-Government Shouldn’t Trump Human Rights
» View More Frontier Radio Commentary
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2010-03-08 –
Where Are Aboriginal Affairs in Canada Headed? (Doug Bland)
2010-03-04 –
The Myths of Photo Radar Exposed (Nancy Thomas)
2010-02-03 –
My Life in the Grain Business William B. Parrish)
» View More Frontier Audio (Speeches/Events)
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2009-12-18 –
Healthcare Consumer Index Coverage (CBC SK)
2009-12-18 –
Frontier Event Picketed (CTV Regina)
2009-12-11 –
Explaining the 2009 Local Government Performance Index (Seymour)
» View More Frontier Channel - Video
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2010-02-28 –
How I Was Not Al Gored Into Submission
2010-02-20 –
Tom Brokaw Explains Canada
2010-02-10 –
The Green Police
» View More Frontier Recommended Video
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RE: Why You Pay a Fortune for Airline Tickets
— January 12, 2010
I was extremely impressed with your article about the lack of competition among North American air carriers. I fly within Europe fairly frequently and I am endlessly astonished by their low "domestic" prices in comparison with ours. Keep making noise Mark Milke! You hit the nail on the head. Who knows? Maybe one day the Canadian governments will wake up its slumber and truly support the competitive spirit it purportedly supports! Good for you! -- Email from Eric Scott, Montreal
RE: The Other Name For “Profiling”: Smart Detective Work
— January 12, 2010
I think your article on profiling was very good. As you said - it's just good police work. The example of people destroying their passport while enroute is easily solved - why don't we have the willpower to do it. --Email from Bob Spinney
RE: Climategate: Who’s In Denial Now?
— January 4, 2010
Regarding Ken Green’s article, "Who's in denial now", which appeared in the Dec 28 Calgary Herald, I congratulate, and thank, him for a very well written, thoughtful, and truthful comment on climategate and the reprehensible agenda of the global warming frauds. -- E-mail from Calgary
RE: High-Performance Cities show Calgary a Better Path
— November 28, 2005
Peter Holle's column should be required reading for every taxpayer. The Washington Monument syndrome he describes was evident in just about every statement I heard by Mayor Dave Bronconnier during the debate. This was one of the most articulate commentaries I have read on the need for municipal government reform, and not just in Calgary. I hope we can look forward to more articles like it that not only help to
identify root problems, but also offer practical suggestions for change for any leader bold enough to embrace them. - Stephen Pardy, Calgary
RE: Interview with Dr. Mark Godley
— January 20, 2006
Dr. Godley was fantastic! I think it was one of the best lunches I've been to. On a somewhat related note, some of the questions were around poaching of staff. My sister just graduated from Radiation Therapy. It's not MRI, but still somewhat related. She has to leave Manitoba to get a job because there are none here. Minister Sale keeps saying that they're understaffed and clinics like Dr. Godley's are making it worse by stealing staff. Yet all eight of the graduates from my sister's program have to leave Manitoba to find jobs. So our taxes are paying to train them, but because there's no jobs, they're leaving and going to work in other provinces while the government claims they're understaffed. Meanwhile, my sister says that cancer care is OVERSTAFFED for the equipment they have and they could run just as well, if not better, with half the staff... not because there's no demand, there's HUGE demand, but because there's a small, limited amount of equipment. - E-mail from Winnipeg
RE: Cheaper Car Insurance?
— February 9, 2006
If you really want to illustrate the price we pay for Autopac’s monopoly, I’d suggest you do a cross-country comparison of motorcycle insurance premiums similar to the one you did for car insurance. What we pay here is outrageous, and we average a 15% yearly increase. The PUB agrees, stating that Autopac’s method of calculating motorcyclists’ financial obligation is grossly unfair. Still no change though. E-mail from Winnipeg
RE: Devil in the Donuts
— February 24, 2005
"Mr. Penner called us the "doughnut-fighting duo." But we are not after doughnuts. Rather, we fight a growing health epidemic and the costs it poses to our health-care system.
Our motion calling on government, in consultation with all stakeholders, to eliminate manufactured trans fats from foods will ensure that Canadians win this fight."
STEVEN FLETCHER, Member of Parliament
Charleswood-St. James-Assiniboia
PAT MARTIN, Member of Parliament
Winnipeg Centre
Read more and Rolf Penner's response
RE: Winnipeg Wave Pool to Cope with Brutal Winters
— March 20, 2003
Thanks for the good article/column in the Winnipeg Free Press. Yes, why destroy a building when it could be used for other purposes. What a great use! But, as you suggest, our city council is not nearly creative enough to venture into something that may require creativity and thought and working together! Keep up the good work. - E-mail from Winnipeg
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Alaska Fund
The idea of setting up a heritage fund by selling Manitoba Hydro -- and other Crown assets, for that matter -- makes a lot of sense. Should that ever happen, though, the success of the venture will depend on how it is constructed. As Warrack and Keddie report, "The Alaskan method involves placing the funds directly into the hands of citizens, who will make their own economic decisions regarding consumption and saving/investing."
In Manitoba, Hydro remains small, offering lower prices because it pays few taxes and a miniscule return on the substantial investment it represents. In Alberta, oil profits have become the plaything of the politicians and civil servants. In Alaska, it's power to the people.
End of High Unemployment
Canada is no slouch by international standards. Our country rated very highly in recent international competitiveness surveys. We are strong users of technology. We have an open economy. Our government deficits are falling fast. Our business sector is recognized for its strong management skills. But we do poorly in several key survey areas. Comparatively inflexible labour markets, oversized, low-performing governments and onerous tax burdens drag down Canada's otherwise top class performance.
Higher Prices, Fewer Choices – Manitoba’s Rent Control Failure
Rent controls delay and defer investment in upgrades and normal maintenance, by keeping the return on apartments below normal market returns. The result has been an increasingly ramshackle stock of apartments in Winnipeg. As most North American cities experience a centre-city renaissance with the construction of thousands of housing units, Winnipeg, whose downtown has arguably one of the highest potentials for residential redevelopment, has been left sitting on the housing sidelines. At the same time, governments have frantically poured millions in subsidies into downtown arenas and government office buildings, in a desperate and ineffective attempt to stop downtown decline.
2004 Health Spending Comparison
Manitoba spends 7.6% more per capita on health care than Saskatchewan and 6.8% more than Alberta. Although Alberta’s population is younger on average, no demographic disparity explains the spread between health-care spending in Manitoba and Saskatchewan.
The Greediest Generation:
The tack taken by Alberta’s government on Tuesday was to once more put off thorny choices. As per usual for most of the last 50 years, baby boomers (and those who agree with such actions) again kicked at least some bills down the road to future generations. It’s been the baby boomers’ greatest legacy.
Canada's free-market past
We should not accept any more the notion that anyone who believes that less government is economically beneficial as well as morally justifiable is, de facto, trying to Americanize Canada and, thus, would be some sort of traitor to the Canada nation. The reality is that this so-called "Canadian identity" based on government compassion (or socialism, to speak more clearly) was only invented in the 1960s and '70s.
U.S. Protests Mexi-Canadian Overpass
"The Mexi-Canadian Overpass is not merely a bridge made of concrete and steel, but a metaphoric bridge bringing our two great nations together," Fox said. "At long last, the people of Canada and Mexico can finally begin to forge the sort of friendship and understanding that was impossible as long as the U.S. stood between us. This is the dawn of a wondrous new era for the people of Canada and Mexico."
Where does all this Stuff Come From, Anyway?
Rural economies are intimately involved with the handling, extracting and development of resources needed by service-based urbanites. This makes them all the more vulnerable to pressure from environmental extremists, whose campaigns often produce strangling bureaucratic processes. Over-regulation ultimately weakens the ability of those industries to survive by driving up their costs.
Marketing Manitoba Public Schools - PowerPoint
These slides accompany the speech by Sandra Sukhan on marketing a Manitoba public school education to international markets. This is best viewed concurrently (in a separate window) with the speech video (see related items below).
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Upcoming Events
How Hot Will It Get? with Dennis T. Avery, Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute and Co-Author
March 18, 2010 — Calgary
Democratization of the Capital Markets with S. Mark Francis, Business Consultant/ Stock Exchange Advisor
March 24, 2010 — Winnipeg
Free Agent Nations: The Rise of Independent Contractors over Employees with Ken Phillips, Co-Founder and Executive Director,Independent Contractors of Australia and Author of Independence and the Death of Employment (Connor Court)
March 30, 2010 — Saskatoon
Beyond the Indian Act: Restoring Aboriginal Property Rights with Dr. Tom Flanagan, Professor of Political Science, University of Calgary and, André Le Dressay, Director of Fiscal Realities
April 5, 2010 — Regina
April 6, 2010 — Winnipeg
Beyond the Indian Act: Restoring Aboriginal Property Rights with C.T. (Manny) Jules, Chief Commissioner, First Nations Tax Commission &, Dr. Tom Flanagan, Professor of Political Science, University of Calgary
April 6, 2010 — Winnipeg

Upcoming FCPP Appearances
Transparency and Accountability in the Public Sector - Panel #3
Speaker: Joseph Quesnel, Policy Analyst
Date: March 20, 2010
Time: 4:35 pm (approx.)
Place: John Dutton Theatre - Calgary Public Library
Hosted by the Macdonald-Cartier Society. For more details contact Immanuel Giulea at 514.577.2669 or immanuel@macdonaldcartier.com
Organizational Structure & Design HPG
Speaker: Peter Holle, President
Date: March 25, 2010
Time: 7 - 9:00 p.m.
Place: University of Manitoba, Room E2-160 Engineering Building
A discussion on creating high performance policy by maximizing transparency, neutrality and separation; distinguishing between private and public goods; and locating services at the most appropriate level of government. University grad school lecture, not open to public.
Manitoba Policy Blueprint for the Future
Speaker: Peter Holle, President
Date: March 30, 2010
Time: 8:45 a.m.
Place: Winnipeg Realtors, 1240 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg
Booming Saskatchewan is on the verge of matching Alberta's flat income tax. Beleaguered Ontario is pushing to trim transfer payments. Alberta is under pressure to slash public spending and reform healthcare. Sales tax harmonization is happening in most provinces. How can Manitoba avoid being left in the dust in these turbulent times? Frontier's Peter Holle maps out how western Canada's only "have not" province can pull itself out of the slow lane.
For more details contact: Shaila Wise at 786-8854 or swise@winnipegrealtors.ca

Fri March 12, 2010

| Symbol | Current Price |
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| Canadian $ | 0.9818
| | US $ | 1.0185
| | S&P/TSX | 11980.45
| | Dow Jones | 10603.46
| | NASDAQ | 2363.96
| | Crude Oil | 80.16
| | Uranium | 65.00
| | Potash | 125.91
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