In this piece from the Globe and Mail, AIMS Senior Fellow Michael MacDonald, analyses the state of Canada's cities in a primarily rural-dominated, bureaucratic environment and emphasizes the current lack of effective national urban strategy. Dr. MacDonald stresses that cities and city governments are not synonymous, and that therefore many urban problems are susceptible to non-governmental solutions.
Les villes canadiennes sont des moteurs économiques, sociaux et culturels du 21e siècle immobilisés dans un environnement politique de l'ère victorienne. Leurs gouvernements sont faibles et bornés: les provinces sont hostiles et concentrées sur le milieu rural et le gouvernement fédéral ne sait même plus s'il est censé connaître l'existence des villes. Ce n'est certes pas la recette de la prospérité.
Favourable to idea that is finding significant support
Five years ago the four provincial governments, plus Ottawa and some private-sector outfits such as the chartered banks, clubbed together and put $30 million into their new creation: ACF Equity Atlantic Inc. Now, at the five-year mark in its planned 10-year lifespan, questions are being asked about its performance.
In the November/December 2001 edition of The Taxpayer Magazine, Brian Lee Crowley, AIMS President, continues to point-out the problems with Equalization. He emphasizes that after 44 years and close to $200 billion in equalization spending, the Atlantic provinces are only barely more able to meet the needs of their citizens with their own revenue sources than they were when equalization was introduced in 1957. In addition, the incentives attached to equalization can penalize the poorer provinces for developing their economy and encourage them to settle for permanent reliance on federal transfers. The article then outlines two positive suggestions on what can be done to break this provincial “welfare trap”.
At a time in 2001 when the Canadian dollar sat at 63 cents, Brian Lee Crowley's gave this commentary on CBC Radio. He argues devaluation often looks like a good deal in the short run, but it almost always masks a declining standard of living. Bitter experience from around the world teaches that you cannot devalue your way to prosperity.
In this op-ed piece from the National Post, AIMS President, Brian Lee Crowley partners with Peter Holle, the President of the Frontier Centre for Public Policy and Michel Kelly-Gagnon, the Executive Director of the Montreal Economic Institute to discuss the potential benefits of targeting equalization at individuals rather than provinces.
Corporations, senior executives and Americans are the primary beneficiaries of our low Canadian dollar, says AIMS President, Brian Lee Crowley, in this week’s regular newspaper column. The last time that the U.S. and Canadian dollars were at par was November 1976. Today, the loonie stands at a mere 63 cents or so, and tests new lows each week. This represents a very significant decline in our standard of living, because we either have to buy less from our U.S. neighbours, or else we have to pay more for the same things. While those who can avoid these impacts do, it means that our dollar's relentless slide over the last 25 years has harmed the poorest and most vulnerable members of our society more than anyone else. Publication: CHH, November 21, 2001
Halifax Regional Council put in place a sound bidding process and it has received some good bids. After satisfying itself that its own process has been followed, council should see it through. These are the conclusions reached by AIMS President, Brian Lee Crowley.
This is just one of the provoking questions that was raised during "Equalization: Welfare Trap or Helping Hand?" a conference sponsored by the Montreal Economic Institute, the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies, the Frontier Centre for Public Policy and the Conseil des relations internationales de Montréal. This article from the Montreal Gazette discusses why Nobel laureate James Buchanan and a room full of senior economists called equalisation a bribe. Exploring the idea that, without this money, thousands more from Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and the rest would flood into Toronto and Calgary creating bigger cities, concentrating the money and skill needed for excellence, and world-class competitiveness