Frontier Centre

Frontier Centre Policy Analyst Steve Lafleur makes the case for taxi de-regulation on CBC's The 180.

Frontier Centre Policy Analyst Steve Lafleur makes the case for taxi de-regulation on CBC's The 180.

Prince Edward Island is Canada’s smallest province, but people who live there receive three times as much as they contribute in premiums, when they collect Employment Insurance.

EI benefits in all of Atlantic Canada greatly outweigh the premiums paid.

The difference each year is about 1.5 billion dollars.

Special benefits for fishers on P.E.I. totalled 13.5 million dollars in 2011, and it’s a benefit that’s not available to other self-employed Canadians.

The issue of regional subsidies is much larger than that.

Spending by Ottawa on training programs in PEI in 2011 was nearly triple what was spent on a per capita basis in Ontario and Alberta.

Toronto’s Pearson Airport pays almost 50% of all rents paid by airports in Canada, even though it handles less than 30% of all passengers in the country.

The airport in Charlottetown pays no rent to Ottawa at all.

The same regional disparities exist in other federal programs.

Continuing down this path of economic dependency is unreasonable and risky.

Many people who left the Atlantic region in search of better opportunities are now in agreement with those who argue that P.E.I. and the other Maritime provinces should contribute more to building a competitive Canada.

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

To learn more about equalization, go to our website www.fcpp.org.

Prince Edward Island is Canada’s smallest province, but people who live there receive three times as much as they contribute in premiums, when they collect Employment Insurance.

EI benefits in all of Atlantic Canada greatly outweigh the premiums paid.

The difference each year is about 1.5 billion dollars.

Special benefits for fishers on P.E.I. totalled 13.5 million dollars in 2011, and it’s a benefit that’s not available to other self-employed Canadians.

The issue of regional subsidies is much larger than that.

Spending by Ottawa on training programs in PEI in 2011 was nearly triple what was spent on a per capita basis in Ontario and Alberta.

Toronto’s Pearson Airport pays almost 50% of all rents paid by airports in Canada, even though it handles less than 30% of all passengers in the country.

The airport in Charlottetown pays no rent to Ottawa at all.

The same regional disparities exist in other federal programs.

Continuing down this path of economic dependency is unreasonable and risky.

Many people who left the Atlantic region in search of better opportunities are now in agreement with those who argue that P.E.I. and the other Maritime provinces should contribute more to building a competitive Canada.

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

To learn more about equalization, go to our website www.fcpp.org.

The Frontier Centre has released its 7th annual Local Government Performance Index.

It measures 100 Canadian cities on their financial performance and overall transparency.

Measuring almost 30,000 individual data points, the Index is designed to shed light on how Canada’s largest municipalities are performing in comparison to others across the country.

This year Edmonton was ranked as the most transparent city in the country, along with Markham and Mississauga.

Calgary, Lethbridge and Medicine Hat tied for 9th place, and Regina was 14th.

Saskatoon and Kitchener are the most improved cities this year, both finishing together in the 22nd position, while the city of Winnipeg placed 47th out of 100.

The Index presents absolute, per capita and per household figures for property taxes, debt levels, and total spending.

After placing 5th last year, Toronto dropped down to 22nd place, despite getting the exact same score as last year.

Average scores are improving across the country, meaning that cities need to improve their performance just to maintain their ranking.

Financial transparency is a critical part of municipal government and is essential to ensure that public funds are used in a responsible manner.

To learn more, and to see the details about your community’s score, visit www.lgpi.ca.

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

The Frontier Centre has released its 7th annual Local Government Performance Index.

It measures 100 Canadian cities on their financial performance and overall transparency.

Measuring almost 30,000 individual data points, the Index is designed to shed light on how Canada’s largest municipalities are performing in comparison to others across the country.

This year Edmonton was ranked as the most transparent city in the country, along with Markham and Mississauga.

Calgary, Lethbridge and Medicine Hat tied for 9th place, and Regina was 14th.

Saskatoon and Kitchener are the most improved cities this year, both finishing together in the 22nd position, while the city of Winnipeg placed 47th out of 100.

The Index presents absolute, per capita and per household figures for property taxes, debt levels, and total spending.

After placing 5th last year, Toronto dropped down to 22nd place, despite getting the exact same score as last year.

Average scores are improving across the country, meaning that cities need to improve their performance just to maintain their ranking.

Financial transparency is a critical part of municipal government and is essential to ensure that public funds are used in a responsible manner.

To learn more, and to see the details about your community’s score, visit www.lgpi.ca.

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

Peter McCaffrey interviewed on 630 CHED Edmonton about the 7th Annual LGPI by Frontier Centre

Peter McCaffrey interviewed on 630 CHED Edmonton about the 7th Annual LGPI by Frontier Centre

Many air travelers are understandably annoyed when they get bumped from a flight because the airline has overbooked.

But it has become a necessary way of life, and it actually reduces the cost of flying for everyone.

Air Canada and other airlines offer refundable tickets.

This gives passengers the freedom to change their tickets and almost 10% of them never show up for their flights.

The airlines use ingenious software to help predict who the no-shows will be and where they will be flying.

Business passengers are the number one no-shows, while people on holiday will almost always show up at the gate.

Other common no-shows are people who over-sleep, or can’t get to the airport because of poor weather.

Costs are high and profit margins are very slim in the airline business.

Air Canada pays out a billion dollars a year in airport and navigation fees alone.

Overbooking has proven to be an effective way of maximizing revenue and staying competitive.

And by no means does everyone complain about overbooking.

For every unhappy traveler, there are nine others who will gladly volunteer to forgo their tickets in exchange for compensation.

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

For more on travel and transportation, visit our website www.fcpp.org.

Many air travelers are understandably annoyed when they get bumped from a flight because the airline has overbooked.

But it has become a necessary way of life, and it actually reduces the cost of flying for everyone.

Air Canada and other airlines offer refundable tickets.

This gives passengers the freedom to change their tickets and almost 10% of them never show up for their flights.

The airlines use ingenious software to help predict who the no-shows will be and where they will be flying.

Business passengers are the number one no-shows, while people on holiday will almost always show up at the gate.

Other common no-shows are people who over-sleep, or can’t get to the airport because of poor weather.

Costs are high and profit margins are very slim in the airline business.

Air Canada pays out a billion dollars a year in airport and navigation fees alone.

Overbooking has proven to be an effective way of maximizing revenue and staying competitive.

And by no means does everyone complain about overbooking.

For every unhappy traveler, there are nine others who will gladly volunteer to forgo their tickets in exchange for compensation.

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

For more on travel and transportation, visit our website www.fcpp.org.