Government is called upon for yet more legislation and more money when the real problem is poor parenting
Five calls to action in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada report concern child welfare. They are all destined to fail. The calls to action focus on increasing funding for Indigenous welfare, establishing national standards for the various agencies, keeping Indigenous children in culturally-relevant homes, and reducing the number of Indigenous children in the…
Provinces and municipalities face a bevy of expenses and a web of regulations. And the tax benefits at all levels are questionable
You might wonder how legislators could lose money by legalizing and taxing an addictive substance. Behold, Canadian officials have outdone themselves with the rollout of recreational cannabis. Provinces and municipalities, many already in financial dire straits, have revealed a bevy of legalization costs. Meanwhile, tax projections suggest relatively slim pickings, given the size of the…
‘Imagine what society would look like with more empowered, restored individuals, giving back like I am, changing like I did’
By Sen. Art Eggleton and Sen. Raymonde Saint-Germain A Department of Justice survey conducted earlier this year discovered that over half of Canadians (52 per cent) have little familiarity with restorative justice despite its use in our criminal justice system for over 40 years. So what is restorative justice? And can it provide better justice…
It’s time the provincial government took over taxation decisions, merged school divisions and put a lid on spending
By Alexandra Burnett and Rodney A. Clifton Frontier Centre for Public Policy On Oct. 24, Manitoba voters head to the polls to elect school trustees. But citizens are increasingly disaffected by school board politics and the turnout may be low. Many wonder if it’s worth voting at all. There are, however, good reasons to get…
Railway plans to spend more than $1.55 billion in capital investments in 2018
Canadian Pacific railway announced on Monday that it moved 25.8 million tonnes of Western Canadian grain and grain products, soybeans and other non-regulated principal field crops during the 2017-2018 crop year, up one per cent over the 2016-2017 crop-year and one per cent above its three-year average. It also said that September 2017 was CP's…
When governments run transportation services, more tax dollars make trips than people. Let private business fill the gap
Western Canadian bus riders have received an early Halloween scare: as of Oct. 31, 2018, Greyhound won’t offer passenger routes west of Ontario. For the company, it means 415 fewer employees and two million fewer passenger rides each year. For bus riders in remote areas, a vital link has been cut. Some advocates want the…
Canadian governments continue to allow the operation of a justice system constructed on a foundation of systemic racism
The ’60s Scoop never ended – only the destination changed. Instead of sending Indigenous children to white families, the government has sent a generation of Indigenous children to jail. It must end. Not long ago, First Nations people ‘caught’ leaving their reserve would be arrested and thrown in jail. Even more recently, Indigenous children were…
Why would a responsible government not immediately issue a total ban on something that’s so explicitly dangerous?
Night hunting is an incredibly dangerous practice involving high-powered rifles capable of killing over a distance measured in kilometres. People have been killed as a result of this reckless activity and livestock slaughtered. It’s also responsible for an alarming decline in moose in Manitoba. It should not be allowed under any circumstances. The Manitoba government…
We need to address contributing factors to homelessness, including mental illness, addictions and poverty
Tonight, an increasing number of Canadians face the prospect of sleeping in a tent – not to welcome the summer camping season but as a last resort. Unlike regulated campgrounds, tent cities are without electricity, water and often bathrooms. These makeshift encampments appear to be on the rise with Winnipeg and Nanaimo, B.C., being two…
Public policy discourse needs to move away from where Indigenous issues are paramount to where they’re one set among many
Indigenous people too often seem to think that their rights are absolute or act as if their rights trump everything else. This attitude was seen clearly in a reaction from the Saskatchewan-based Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN) after the Saskatchewan government changed the policy regarding when people can hunt on summer pasture lands. All…
