Social well-being in Canada: how do the provinces measure up?
This post is the executive summary of a full-length report by the same name. In their book “The Spirit Level: Why Equality is Better for Everyone” Richard Wilkinson and Kate...
G20 leaders must solve the stagnation puzzle
When the leaders of the world’s most powerful economies meet at the Group of 20 summit in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Wednesday and Thursday, they face an economic puzzle only...
On income inequality, Andrew Coyne misses the mark
Andrew Coyne marshals an impressive range of statistics to make the case that rising income inequality is not a serious issue. A careful reading of his article shows that this...
Indecent proposals: why the Fraser Institute is wrong on immigration
My best guess it that the Fraser Institute expects no one to read the report behind their newest sensationalist press release, in which they claim that the cost of immigrants...
Labour Day: we can have the kind of Canada we want
The last long weekend of summer is upon us. On Monday, Canadians from coast to coast will enjoy Labour Day, a last dash of sun (we hope) before the days...
Public safety must trump red tape-cutting
When it comes to food, drug and consumer-product safety, the storage and transportation of hazardous goods, and the control of pollutants that threaten human health and the environment, Canadians would...
Race, class and lessons from Detroit
Detroit's recent bankruptcy filing led me to re-read a fine award-winning book by Thomas J. Sugrue, “The Origins of the Urban Crisis: Race and Inequality in Postwar Detroit.” The basic...
Confronting what makes us sick
I attended the annual meeting of the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) as a representative of Canadian Doctors for Medicare last year. The meeting was not at all what I'd expected. The CMA,...
Sun News: denied but (sadly) not forgotten
Today Sun News Network was refused mandatory carriage by the CRTC. That means that cable networks won't be forced to include Sun with every cable subscription; Sun claims mandatory carriage is...
The deteriorating health of the working poor
Last year the Metcalf Foundation released a report on working poverty in Toronto. It found that 113,000 people were living in working poverty in the Toronto region in 2005, a...
