After two decades of political and managerial incompetence, Manitoba is on track to lose the province’s best economic advantage
Former Saskatchewan premier Brad Wall’s report on the Keeyask dam and Bipole III transmission line expansion is a damning verdict on Manitoba Hydro’s past boards and executives, and various Manitoba governments. While Wall’s public criticism concentrates on the NDP, there’s much room for the current Progressive Conservative government to share the blame. Premiers former and…
Manitoba’s Opposition New Democratic Party proposes the creation of a new Crown corporation to provide high-speed internet service to rural and remote communities, particularly First Nations communities, in that province. This is a bad idea for several reasons. A host of private-sector and government organizations are launching enormous flotillas of low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites to…
Unsurprisingly, as a government car insurance monopoly, MPI’s history is marked by politics
Manitoba Public Insurance (MPI) is in updating its computer programs and associated practices. Through an estimated multimillion-dollar effort, MPI plans to provide its customers with online services. With MPI’s long-needed revamped technology, licensed drivers and vehicle owners will be able to select insurance options and pay MPI bills without even conversing with a broker. Yet…
Their emergence of nine new strains points to the importance of broader strategies to protect crops in Western Canada
Nine new strains of clubroot – a disease that can kill canola crops – have been discovered in Western Canadian fields. While that’s not good news for producers, the discovery shows how important it is to build a multi-pronged strategy for protecting their crops, not relying solely on canola plants bred to resist the disease,…
Manitoba can quarterback an economic resurgence in Western Canada, with a focus on electric vehicles
The slogan on licence plates reads, “Friendly Manitoba” but it might need to be changed to “Powerhouse Manitoba” over the next decade! Manitoba has a combination of the Hudson Bay seaport in Churchill giving access to an Atlantic Ocean channel, world-class nickel deposits, and a rail line allowing other precious metals such as lithium and…
Windy Craggy is a perfect example of how misguided environmental activism is fuelling northern alienation
A World Heritage Site designation continues to prevent development of one of the largest cobalt and copper deposits in North America. That lack of development is denying opportunities for Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities. And it serves as an example of how environmental activism is fuelling northern alienation. Windy Craggy is in northwestern British Columbia, about…
Instead of focusing on a problem concentrated in our long-term care facilities, politicians have closed vast swaths of our economy
Despite the relentless media drum-banging around the alarmist COVID-19 narrative, this virus is not the Black Death. Official numbers have the Canadian death count so far just over 14,000, bad for sure, but not hugely off the yearly flu toll in Canada that kills 6,500 to 8,000 people. The average age of those people who…
Leaders are ‘locked’ into a lockdown model that does more harm than good
In a crushing blow to small business and morale, Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister has ordered a return to the very lockdown model that the World Health Organization (WHO) warned leaders to avoid. Premiers are being pressured by a prime minister who threatens to withhold money unless they once again shut down restaurants and small businesses…
Zinc is a critical ingredient in a variety of products, including soap. In the midst of a pandemic, we need to ensure supply
Zinc is an important ingredient in disinfectants such as soap, so it plays an important role in preventing the spread of COVID-19. As we know, the twin pillars of COVID-19 prevention are social distancing and washing your hands properly. So mining this bluish-white metal is important to Canada’s strategy for addressing the pandemic at home.…
In order to promote respect for others, and to encourage reflection and dialogue, the museum needs to clean up its own house
The Canadian Museum for Human Rights has made news around the world for all the wrong reasons. It has been derelict in its mission and mandate. The museum has been accused of maintaining a poisoned work environment that practices racism, discrimination, a lack of gender equity and inclusion. In November 2007, I was selected by…
Riel's transformation from rebel traitor to cultural icon hasn't come without backlash, says U of A professor
One hundred and thirty-five years ago on July 20, Canada put Louis Riel on trial for high treason for precipitating the North West Resistance (traditionally called the North West Rebellion in mainstream settler history). Today, Riel is considered one of Canada’s most popular figures, easily eclipsing the country’s founding prime minister and his nemesis, John A. Macdonald. The political metamorphosis of Riel illustrates…
It’s time to reduce funding to police and reallocate those dollars to more proactive ways to reduce crime
Here’s a couple of questions that might have seemed crazy to many people just a few short years ago but are gaining purchase today. Do we really need as much policing as we have? Or are the ever-growing police budgets actually inadvertently leading to greater violence? A lot of us have believed that police exist…
If historical figures with 2020 attitudes could be found, renaming familiar streets and place names wouldn’t be so daunting
Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman is determined to pursue his name game – renaming, removing and rewriting history. Among his targets is Bishop Grandin Boulevard – the mayor doesn’t like the late Bishop Vital-Justin Grandin’s attitudes. If Bowman succeeds, the next logical renaming would be St. Vital – also named after Grandin, who was an important…
By Aaron Wudrick and Franco Terrazzano Canadian Taxpayers Federation Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has chosen to make life more expensive for Canadians by increasing the federal carbon tax by 50 per cent amidst the COVID-19 economic and health crisis. Meanwhile, governments around the world are moving in the opposite direction because hiking taxes during a…
Pushing for redrawn borders may force the province to address the unique economic and infrastructure needs of the region
Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister recently threw cold water on the notion of Western Canada separation, saying good relationships aren’t built on threats to leave. But Pallister has similar issues on his own doorstep: Northern Manitoba alienation is real and the government must take it seriously. Last year, the Frontier Centre for Public Policy initiated a landmark…
Former Saskatchewan premier Brad Wall’s report on the Keeyask dam and Bipole III transmission line expansion is a damning verdict on Manitoba Hydro’s past boards and executives, and various Manitoba governments. While Wall’s public criticism concentrates on the NDP, there’s much room for the current Progressive Conservative government to share the blame. Premiers former and…
