Part One: Angus McBeath: Choice, Accountability and Performance in Public Schools
Edmonton has one of the most decentralized and effectively managed public school systems in North America. Superintendent Angus McBeath has been leading the “revolution” in the Edmonton public schools system by focusing on productivity, value for money, accountability and responsiveness to the people they serve. With this entrepreneurial spirit, Edmonton’s public school system has been putting the private school competition out of business. They have become a model of public education by operating more school choices than any other district in the continent. They have found the formula to revive the spirit, energy, and commitment of people to public education. Edmonton has proven that choice, accountability and performance are *not* incompatible with the Canadian public school system, but should be the foundation of excellence within that system.
To learn more about the Society for the Advancement of Excellence in Education and their research-based efforts to improve the quality of education for every Canadian student, please visit their website at www.saee.ca
*************************************************
Part Two:
You Can’t Build A City on Pity: Urban Visionary John Norquist speaks to AIMS Luncheon
John Norquist took office in 1988 as the 37th Mayor of Milwaukee. Under his leadership, Milwaukee has experienced a decline in poverty, a boom in new downtown housing and become a leading centre of education and welfare reform. Now serving his fourth term as Mayor, Norquist is a prominent participant in national discussions of urban design, government efficiency and educational issues. Most recently, he has drawn widespread recognition for championing the removal of a kilometre long stretch of elevated freeway, clearing the way for an anticipated $250 million in infill development in the heart of Milwaukee. Mayor Norquist was recently chosen as President and CEO of the Congress for the New Urbanism. He formerly chaired the National League of Cities Task Force on Federal Policy and Family Poverty. *************************************************
Part Three: Unleashing Canada: Former Ontario Premier Mike Harris to speak at AIMS event
Throughout his years in public life, Mike Harris has strongly favoured tax cuts and support of small business. His government set higher standards for Ontario schools, teachers and students; action was taken to modernize healthcare and legislation passed to make government more accountable and efficient. Harris was one of only two Ontario Premiers to introduce legislation reducing the size of the legislature and the first premier in a century whose government balanced the provincial budget three years in a row.
Since leaving politics, Mr. Harris has been highly critical of Canadian foreign policy, particularly Ottawa’s handling of our vital relationship with the United States.
Join AIMS and its partners, Corporate Research Associates, Deloitte & Touche and the Greater Halifax partnership, for this outstanding event on October 22nd. *************************************************
Part Four: Plugging in the International Northeast: A Canada – US dialogue on solving this region’s electricity challenges
Two years ago, AIMS and ECANS brought the very best ideas about competition, deregulation and market opening in the electricity field to Atlantic Canada: “Plugging in Atlantic Canada”. Now, with a recent major power outage in central North America, looming power generation shortages in the Maritimes, painful lessons to be learned from California and Ontario, and a growing awareness of the importance of regional co-operation across the Canada-US border, AIMS and ECANS are back with an update on how power markets are evolving, what it means for this region – and which region is the “right” one for electricity purposes.
*************************************************
Part Five: Gay Marriage: Judicial activism threatens social consensus and devalues rights
The public debate over gay marriage has converged largely on the interests of those who agree or disagree of the traditional definition of marriage. But are we losing sight of an even larger issue in the emotional rhetoric? Society has a clear interest in supporting loving relationships whether they are homosexual or heterosexual, but in the age of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, are Canadians losing the power to determine how their society is to evolve? Is the important process of political compromise and consensus being short-circuited in this debate by judges inventing rights to suit their personal political prejudices? And are we devaluing the whole concept of “rights” in the process? In this commentary, AIMS President Brian Lee Crowley examines the same sex marriage issue and the unchecked power of the judiciary. *************************************************
Permission is given to reproduce material from this newsletter or from the AIMS website, as long as both AIMS and the author, where appropriate, are given proper credit. Please notify us when using of our material.
Some of the materials in this newsletter will require Acrobat Reader to access. If you do not have Acrobat Reader installed on your computer, click here to download the full program.
If you have received this message in error, please accept our apologies.
To **unsubscribe** from AIMS On-Line, send a message to [email protected] contains in the body of the message the command unsubscribe and no other text. No subject line is necessary, but if your software requires one, just insert unsubscribe in the subject line as well.
To **subscribe**, send a message to [email protected] that contains in the body of the message the command subscribe and no other text. No subject line is necessary, but if your software requires one, just insert subscribe in the subject line as well.
We welcome your comments at [email protected]