As a frequent user of Calgary public transit, I often think about how we can improve the public transit system, and I can’t help but notice what we might have done better. One issue I tend to wrestle with is how we pay for transit access as individual users. How a municipality implements transit fees […]
In Romanian, my native language, we have a saying along the lines: “don’t sell the bear’s skin while the bear is still in the forest”, some words of wisdom which have an equivalent in many other languages, like the English expression “don’t count your chickens before they hatch”. Yet both the provincial government in B.C. […]
On February 5th, Alberta Health Services President and CEO Vickie Kaminski announced that AHS would be implementing cost reductions.* Small wonder. Spending on health care in Alberta is very high and is increasing quickly. In this note I want to show this and then talk about the implications. The graph below uses data from the […]
Quebec is known to be rich in hydro-electricity. At the same time, hydrocarbons have played a central role in its energy sector, notably in its transportation sector. The public debate about the role of hydrocarbons in Quebec has often been quite muted and focused on the environmental impacts of using oil and gas, coming almost […]
As oil prices bottom out – we hope –the Alberta government is facing a major shortfall of provincial revenue. That has led to a recent flurry of rumours, arguments and trial balloons about what kind of tax reform or tax increases will be needed to generate revenue, while still protecting the “Alberta Advantage”. One such […]
Two economic events made headlines last week: (1) Bank of Canada lowered the target for the overnight interest rate by 1/4 percentage points, to 3/4 per cent (2) The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) predicts oil producers will decrease their capital spending by 33 per cent or $23 billion in 2015 Both announcements have […]
The giant hole in the Alberta budget arising from the drop in oil prices and government revenues from non-renewable energy resources has spurred Albertans to think about possible ways of restoring the government’s fiscal health. Early off the mark with a suggestion was Dr. Richard Johnston, president of the Alberta Medical Association, who wants the […]
Two intellectual giants died within hours of each other on January 10. Walter Berns and Harry Jaffa, both students of Leo Strauss, wrote prolifically and influentially over very long careers and on a wide range of subjects. This appreciation of their work focuses on their common, lifelong study of American political thought and constitutionalism. I […]
Clean Energy Canada (CEC) produced a report last week entitled “Tracking the Green Energy Revolution 2014 – Canada.” Though this report isn’t about “green jobs,” one of the comparisons made (and picked up by the media) is that “in 2012 there were 23,700 direct clean-energy sector jobs and 22,340 direct oil sands jobs.” A lot […]