Premier Jean Charest and his government have made a terrible mistake. They have essentially given in to the students by signing a deal that they can raise tuition but must cut other fees. First, how does this fix the fiscal imbalance of the Universities? The total income will not rise as much as planned, leaving …
Category Archive: Provincial
Apr 23
On the Alberta Election
And the pollsters are kicking themselves. All of the polls published in the last week of the campaign showed the Wildrose party in the lead, ranging from 6-17 points. but the PCs have scored their 12th consecutive majority government, and will reach the unparalleled target of having been in power for at least 45 years …
Apr 07
On Conscience Rights
The issue of “Conscience Rights” has come up in the Alberta Election campaign, and I for one think this is a very good thing. Why? Because it draws a distinct line between those who support individual freedom, and those who support groupthink. Only Wildrose and leader Danielle Smith have spoken out in favour of letting …
Apr 03
Stupid Proposals from Alberta Parties
OK, so the Alberta Provincial Election is a week old, and momentum has swung from the incumbent Progressive Conservatives to the upstart and conservative Wildrose Party. The leftist parties, which comprises the Liberals, NDP and Alberta Party are trailing well behind province-wide, although they have greater support in Edmonton and Lethbridge and can probably win …
Mar 25
On Governments funding Governments
This week, while driving to work, the local radio news had quotes from Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi (@nenshi) and Alderman Brian Pincott regarding the recent decision by the Alberta Provincial Government to raise the education property tax by 7.2% on residential properties. Now, for some background: Calgary City Council (#yyccc) had already decided to raise …
Jan 28
Alberta electricity “market” is broken
Back in 2000, the PC government of Ralph Klein purported to “deregulate” the electricity industry, with the promise that more competition and the free market would provide more choice and better prices for Albertans. But something went wrong. Today, although many power plants have been built and the total installed base of power generation …
Mar 01
Yes, patients die on the waiting list
Raj Sherman, the outspoken medical doctor and Member of the Alberta Legislature (Ind. former PC), has caused an outrage by claiming in the Legislature that 250 cancer patients died while waiting for treatment and that Alberta Health officials covered it up and penalized people in the system for speaking out. The outcry should be about …
Jan 06
Merit Pay for Teachers?
It is ridiculous to me that we, the people, are even having this discussion. All jobs/professions should be paid based on merit and performance. Experience should lead to better performance. Education should lead to better performance. But that fact it that you can’t take that for granted. Just because someone has been doing a job …
Jun 08
You can’t work in this province…
Yet another example of interprovincial trade restrictions that exist for no reason other than to prevent competition and create work for government bureaucrats. Contemporary Security Canada, which also provided private security for the Vancouver Olympic Games, was selected by the RCMP to provide approximately 1,100 private security guards to screen pedestrians throughout the summits in …
Apr 12
Nice to see, but do they understand?
It was nice to see thousands of people protesting tax increases in the streets of Quebec this weekend, but I am suspicious about what they really understand: Participants called for the government to clean up its own spending before imposing new taxes But, like the protestors in Greece a few weeks ago – do these …