Frontier Centre

If First Nations started to tax band members and include that revenue in their annual budget, there could be measurable improvements in their overall quality of life.

In recent years, First Nations have been given more opportunities to create their own independent tax base.

Personal income can now be taxed on First Nations with self-government agreements, and other First Nations have the opportunity to implement sales taxes, user-fees, and taxes on real property.

The Institute on Governance has found that there are definite benefits to using tax revenue for First Nations projects and enhancing economic development.

These benefits include greater participation, and greater transparency and accountability, on First Nations where some form of tax is collected, because band members have a financial or personal stake in their government’s performance.

Nobody likes paying taxes, but comprehensive systems have been embraced and adopted by many First Nations governments.

More than a third of the First Nations in Canada have implemented at least one type of taxation within their reserve community.

Perhaps it’s time for more First Nations to embrace taxation as a means of improving their communities.

I'm Roger Currie. Join us again next week for more thoughts on the Frontier.

For more on Aboriginal policy, visit our website www.fcpp.org.

If First Nations started to tax band members and include that revenue in their annual budget, there could be measurable improvements in their overall quality of life.

In recent years, First Nations have been given more opportunities to create their own independent tax base.

Personal income can now be taxed on First Nations with self-government agreements, and other First Nations have the opportunity to implement sales taxes, user-fees, and taxes on real property.

The Institute on Governance has found that there are definite benefits to using tax revenue for First Nations projects and enhancing economic development.

These benefits include greater participation, and greater transparency and accountability, on First Nations where some form of tax is collected, because band members have a financial or personal stake in their government’s performance.

Nobody likes paying taxes, but comprehensive systems have been embraced and adopted by many First Nations governments.

More than a third of the First Nations in Canada have implemented at least one type of taxation within their reserve community.

Perhaps it’s time for more First Nations to embrace taxation as a means of improving their communities.

I'm Roger Currie. Join us again next week for more thoughts on the Frontier.

For more on Aboriginal policy, visit our website www.fcpp.org.

In local government, the assumption is often made that a good road system means that public transit must suffer, and vice versa.

Sometime roadways and transit are at odds, when light rail or streetcar projects remove lanes of traffic, or when road design does not accommodate the needs of buses.

But both needs can be accommodated at the same time.

Since buses share the road with private vehicles, minimizing the conflict between the two is in everyone's interest.

Adding dedicated bus lanes can greatly reduce the number of cars that might otherwise have to fight with the bus to get through.

The recent election in Winnipeg saw a bit of a fight between those favouring improved transit, and some candidates who argued that better lanes for cars must be job one, but it doesn't have to be that way.

When done right, expanded public transit can improve roadways for drivers and take some number of them off the street altogether, helping to relieve congestion.

It will cost hundreds of millions of dollars, but when it's completed, Winnipeg’s rapid transit network will provide other cities with a good example of how to balance the needs of drivers and transit users.

I’m Roger Currie. Join us again next week for more thoughts on the Frontier.

For more on policy issues facing local governments, visit www.fcpp.org.

In local government, the assumption is often made that a good road system means that public transit must suffer, and vice versa.

Sometime roadways and transit are at odds, when light rail or streetcar projects remove lanes of traffic, or when road design does not accommodate the needs of buses.

But both needs can be accommodated at the same time.

Since buses share the road with private vehicles, minimizing the conflict between the two is in everyone's interest.

Adding dedicated bus lanes can greatly reduce the number of cars that might otherwise have to fight with the bus to get through.

The recent election in Winnipeg saw a bit of a fight between those favouring improved transit, and some candidates who argued that better lanes for cars must be job one, but it doesn't have to be that way.

When done right, expanded public transit can improve roadways for drivers and take some number of them off the street altogether, helping to relieve congestion.

It will cost hundreds of millions of dollars, but when it's completed, Winnipeg’s rapid transit network will provide other cities with a good example of how to balance the needs of drivers and transit users.

I’m Roger Currie. Join us again next week for more thoughts on the Frontier.

For more on policy issues facing local governments, visit www.fcpp.org.

Over the decades, many communities in Canada have experimented with different versions of a curfew for children and adolescents.

Most often, anyone under the age of 16 or 18 must be off the street by a specific time, such as 10pm.

The aim is to reduce vandalism and other crimes that are often committed by teenagers, but most evidence suggests that they

have not been effective in preventing crime.

Sometimes crime does drop during curfew hours, but at the same time, crime will perhaps increase outside the boundaries of the curfew, or during non-curfew hours.

Another problem is that youth who already have a criminal history are unlikely to obey the curfew.

Meanwhile, teenagers who are not causing trouble are penalized even though they've done nothing wrong.

A curfew also does nothing about the concern that young people spend too much time inside watching television or surfing the internet.

Why prohibit law-abiding youth from going outside at night, maybe to watch the stars?

Youth curfews can also perpetuate an unfair stereotype that all youth are delinquent and can't be trusted.

Municipalities would do better to promote a positive relationship between youth and the police, rather than poisoning the relationship through disrespect.

Communities should just say “no” to a youth curfew.

I’m Roger Currie. Join us again next week for more thoughts on the Frontier.

For more of our work, visit www.fcpp.org.

Over the decades, many communities in Canada have experimented with different versions of a curfew for children and adolescents.

Most often, anyone under the age of 16 or 18 must be off the street by a specific time, such as 10pm.

The aim is to reduce vandalism and other crimes that are often committed by teenagers, but most evidence suggests that they

have not been effective in preventing crime.

Sometimes crime does drop during curfew hours, but at the same time, crime will perhaps increase outside the boundaries of the curfew, or during non-curfew hours.

Another problem is that youth who already have a criminal history are unlikely to obey the curfew.

Meanwhile, teenagers who are not causing trouble are penalized even though they've done nothing wrong.

A curfew also does nothing about the concern that young people spend too much time inside watching television or surfing the internet.

Why prohibit law-abiding youth from going outside at night, maybe to watch the stars?

Youth curfews can also perpetuate an unfair stereotype that all youth are delinquent and can't be trusted.

Municipalities would do better to promote a positive relationship between youth and the police, rather than poisoning the relationship through disrespect.

Communities should just say “no” to a youth curfew.

I’m Roger Currie. Join us again next week for more thoughts on the Frontier.

For more of our work, visit www.fcpp.org.

It is estimated that as many as 300,000 young Canadians work as unpaid interns, and there are moves being made to regulate the practice as it affects university students.

An NDP Member of Parliament has introduced a private member's bill aimed at curbing abuses, and the University of Toronto’s Student Union wants to see all unpaid internships banned.

Many small businesses and non-profits simply can't afford to pay the interns, and they do provide students with valuable work experience.

Rather than forbidding unpaid internships, governments should push universities to develop reasonable policies to protect the students.

Students should be allowed to choose their hours and the employer should be required to pay transportation costs.

Some universities might help the employer fund a student’s wages or reduce student fees while the student is working as an unpaid intern.

Universities also need to develop protocols for students who may be taken advantage of in the workplace.

Students should know that they need not suffer abuse in these situations to receive academic credits.

Whatever policies are put in place, universities must be transparent to ensure that students know what to expect.

Governments provide universities with the largest portion of their funding, so they have a responsibility to ensure that universities protect their students who are involved in internships.

I’m Roger Currie. Join us again next week for more thoughts on the Frontier.

For more on education policy, visit our website www.fcpp.org.

It is estimated that as many as 300,000 young Canadians work as unpaid interns, and there are moves being made to regulate the practice as it affects university students.

An NDP Member of Parliament has introduced a private member's bill aimed at curbing abuses, and the University of Toronto’s Student Union wants to see all unpaid internships banned.

Many small businesses and non-profits simply can't afford to pay the interns, and they do provide students with valuable work experience.

Rather than forbidding unpaid internships, governments should push universities to develop reasonable policies to protect the students.

Students should be allowed to choose their hours and the employer should be required to pay transportation costs.

Some universities might help the employer fund a student’s wages or reduce student fees while the student is working as an unpaid intern.

Universities also need to develop protocols for students who may be taken advantage of in the workplace.

Students should know that they need not suffer abuse in these situations to receive academic credits.

Whatever policies are put in place, universities must be transparent to ensure that students know what to expect.

Governments provide universities with the largest portion of their funding, so they have a responsibility to ensure that universities protect their students who are involved in internships.

I’m Roger Currie. Join us again next week for more thoughts on the Frontier.

For more on education policy, visit our website www.fcpp.org.

Why are we last? It's a question many people are asking after test results showing Manitoba students are getting the lowest grades in the country in math, science and reading. Michael Zwaagstra is a high school teacher and policy researcher with the Frontier Centre for Public Policy.

Why are we last? It's a question many people are asking after test results showing Manitoba students are getting the lowest grades in the country in math, science and reading. Michael Zwaagstra is a high school teacher and policy researcher with the Frontier Centre for Public Policy.