So much for being in this together
Albertans are enduring a tale of two downturns during COVID-19. There’s the very real downturn full of private-sector pain. Then there’s the experience of government employees who have largely been shielded from the downturn. Over the last year, 76,600 private-sector jobs vanished in Alberta, while 5,600 government jobs were added. Since the beginning of 2015,…
A 10% pay cut for all sunshine listers would save beleaguered taxpayers more than $2.5B
While most Ontarians were barely getting by during lockdowns, the bill for Ontario top bureaucrats ballooned in 2020. There are still 800,000 Ontarians looking for a job. So, it must be jarring for them to see Ontario’s sunshine list, which discloses the municipal and provincial government employees making more than $100,000 per year, increased by…
A growing class divide between those who receive a government paycheque and those who pay it
Last year was a surprisingly good year financially for Alberta bureaucrats, unless you were one of the unlucky rubes who doesn’t work for the government. Even though the private sector was shedding jobs by the thousands, many Alberta bureaucrats received pay raises during lockdowns, courtesy of Mr. and Ms. Taxpayer. If that doesn’t seem fair…
We still have time to act by approving and quickly producing rapid tests in Canada by the tens of millions
By John Adams and Kashif Pirzada Macdonald-Laurier Institute Canada’s ongoing failure to effectively control the spread of COVID-19 reflects increasing failures by governments to coordinate with one another and to respond quickly and effectively to new developments and scientific advances. This is abundantly clear in the self-harm inflicted by our original difficulties in sourcing of…
It’s time for Alberta’s politicians to start living within taxpayers’ means.
Albertans have many legitimate beefs with their governments. They have municipal employees having pension parties on their dime. They have a federal government that is getting ready to hammer us with its second carbon tax. And they “have the most inefficient provincial government in Canada by a country mile,” to quote Premier Jason Kenney. But…
At the end of August Finance Minister Travis Toews released his budget update, which was 20 pages doused from top to bottom in red ink. Albertans couldn’t afford our high-cost provincial government before the pandemic. And Toews’ budget update shows we definitely can’t afford our high-cost provincial government now. At $24 billion, this year’s deficit…
For every $1 invested in psychological services for depression, there’s a $2 return to society
Too often goes untold are the stories of thousands of people who die by suicide every year in Canada – our friends, relatives, colleagues and neighbours. What’s also not well documented is how frequently many of them may have struggled with depression, often for months or even years, and how many may have lacked adequate…
We should be watching the case of B.C. clerk of the legislature Craig James and sergeant-at-arms Gary Lenz very carefully
As the old song says, “money makes the world go round” – at least on the level of material possessions. And money falls into two categories: ours and other people’s. Of course, we’re free to do whatever we wish with our money. We can spend it extravagantly. Or we can take care of it, spending…
Instead of climbing out of debt, federal and provincial governments are spending more, to the detriment of the economy
Recent employment data from Statistics Canada shows a troubling trend. In July, the ratio of private sector to public sector employees (excluding the self-employed) dipped to lows that – except for the period of massive ‘stimulus’ spending by the federal and provincial governments in 2009-10 – have not been seen since Canada’s fiscal crisis of…
Banning Quebec frontline civil servants from wearing religious symbols would show obstinate and dangerous secularism
Banning Quebec frontline civil servants from wearing religious symbols, as premier-designate François Legault intends to do, would be socially regressive. Imposing this kind of flinty and obstinate secularism squashes the very diversity most politicians claim to value and support. It’s also out of step with the growing awareness among the business community that religious diversity…