Frontier Centre

A rural Manitoba woman was recently fined $10 for sending her two kids to daycare with a lunch that was deemed nutritionally unbalanced according to Canada’s Food Guide.

The meal included roast beef, potatoes, carrots, an orange and milk. To comply with provincial rules, the daycare added Ritz crackers because a grain product was missing.

The Food Guide recommends that Canadians eat specific amounts of vegetables and fruits; grain; milk products; and meat.

There are some obvious problems with the Guide.

It fails to recognize similarities across food groups, and the vast difference between different foods within the groups.

One might substitute a grain with fruit, since fruits can contain as least as much dietary fiber as many grain products.

On the other hand, rye bread is more nutritious than white bread, and spinach is more vitamin-rich than iceberg lettuce.

Nutritional needs can also vary dramatically from one person to another because people have different body types.

We have a responsibility to see that children are properly nourished.

But the focus should be on basic food safety, and requiring food producers to do a good job of providing dietary information to consumers.

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

For more on nutrition, visit our website www.fcpp.org.

A rural Manitoba woman was recently fined $10 for sending her two kids to daycare with a lunch that was deemed nutritionally unbalanced according to Canada’s Food Guide.

The meal included roast beef, potatoes, carrots, an orange and milk. To comply with provincial rules, the daycare added Ritz crackers because a grain product was missing.

The Food Guide recommends that Canadians eat specific amounts of vegetables and fruits; grain; milk products; and meat.

There are some obvious problems with the Guide.

It fails to recognize similarities across food groups, and the vast difference between different foods within the groups.

One might substitute a grain with fruit, since fruits can contain as least as much dietary fiber as many grain products.

On the other hand, rye bread is more nutritious than white bread, and spinach is more vitamin-rich than iceberg lettuce.

Nutritional needs can also vary dramatically from one person to another because people have different body types.

We have a responsibility to see that children are properly nourished.

But the focus should be on basic food safety, and requiring food producers to do a good job of providing dietary information to consumers.

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

For more on nutrition, visit our website www.fcpp.org.

For too long, Canadians have watched as governments have entered into bad and costly labour agreements with public sector employees.

Now that the politicians can no longer afford these expensive contracts, the rights of public sector workers are being altered without appropriate justification.

The Government of Alberta recently introduced Bills 45 and 46, which would limit the right to strike in the public sector and allow the government to impose contracts unilaterally.

In Ontario last year, the government passed the ‘Putting Students First Act’.

It imposed contracts on teachers and others in education, despite massive opposition.

Ottawa is proposing drastic changes to the rights of federal workers in Bill C-4.

Under this legislation, the government will be able to unilaterally expand the definition of the essential service and restrict rights to bargain collectively.

Nobody likes to be inconvenienced by strikes or protests, but these are fundamental rights provided to workers under the Charter and various labour relations acts.

It has become easy to blame unions for labour unrest, but governments are sometimes equally to blame. They have given in too often to union pressure.

The process of making changes to the rights of workers must be as fair and transparent as possible.

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

For more on the public sector, visit our website www.fcpp.org.

For too long, Canadians have watched as governments have entered into bad and costly labour agreements with public sector employees.

Now that the politicians can no longer afford these expensive contracts, the rights of public sector workers are being altered without appropriate justification.

The Government of Alberta recently introduced Bills 45 and 46, which would limit the right to strike in the public sector and allow the government to impose contracts unilaterally.

In Ontario last year, the government passed the ‘Putting Students First Act’.

It imposed contracts on teachers and others in education, despite massive opposition.

Ottawa is proposing drastic changes to the rights of federal workers in Bill C-4.

Under this legislation, the government will be able to unilaterally expand the definition of the essential service and restrict rights to bargain collectively.

Nobody likes to be inconvenienced by strikes or protests, but these are fundamental rights provided to workers under the Charter and various labour relations acts.

It has become easy to blame unions for labour unrest, but governments are sometimes equally to blame. They have given in too often to union pressure.

The process of making changes to the rights of workers must be as fair and transparent as possible.

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

For more on the public sector, visit our website www.fcpp.org.

Many Canadian parents reject home-schooling as a viable option for their children because they don’t want them to be socially awkward.

But nothing inherent about home-schooling points to that as a likely result.

Home-schooled children have contact with neighbours, in extracurricular activities, and with children of co-workers and other home-schoolers.

Some people assume that parents who home-school their kids want to instill specific religious beliefs, but there are many different motivations for homeschooling.

Some dislike the values that are promoted in schools, others have high academic standards and little faith in the public school curriculum.

Often, parents want to focus on a particular strength or weakness in a child in a way that a teacher with responsibility for a whole class cannot.

Athletes and musicians often prefer home-schooling so they have more time for training.

Homeschooled children can often accomplish a lot more in a shorter period of time because they are not spending hours riding buses or interacting with peers outside the classroom.

Home-schooling provides students with opportunities to pursue different interests with a variety of people, rather than becoming locked into a group of students who are same age.

Parents who are concerned about the quality of their children’s education, should keep an open mind when it comes to home-schooling as a possible option.

I’m Roger Currie. Join us again in 2014 for more thoughts on the Frontier.

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

Many Canadian parents reject home-schooling as a viable option for their children because they don’t want them to be socially awkward.

But nothing inherent about home-schooling points to that as a likely result.

Home-schooled children have contact with neighbours, in extracurricular activities, and with children of co-workers and other home-schoolers.

Some people assume that parents who home-school their kids want to instill specific religious beliefs, but there are many different motivations for homeschooling.

Some dislike the values that are promoted in schools, others have high academic standards and little faith in the public school curriculum.

Often, parents want to focus on a particular strength or weakness in a child in a way that a teacher with responsibility for a whole class cannot.

Athletes and musicians often prefer home-schooling so they have more time for training.

Homeschooled children can often accomplish a lot more in a shorter period of time because they are not spending hours riding buses or interacting with peers outside the classroom.

Home-schooling provides students with opportunities to pursue different interests with a variety of people, rather than becoming locked into a group of students who are same age.

Parents who are concerned about the quality of their children’s education, should keep an open mind when it comes to home-schooling as a possible option.

I’m Roger Currie. Join us again in 2014 for more thoughts on the Frontier.

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

Environmentalists frequently raise alarms about fracking, and Canadians should be given more information about the process.

There are naturally-occurring fractures, but often rock formations are too impermeable to allow oil and gas to be extracted.

A fracking fluid is pumped into the formation, causing cracks to form.

The resulting fractures allow oil and gas to flow into the well.

Some people are worried that frac fluids could contaminate groundwater.

The danger is avoided when drill wells are properly cased as they penetrate aquifers to reach the rocks below.

The fractures are deeper than the aquifers, and the thick mass of rock in between prevents undesirable fluids from seeping into the water.

Over millions of years, some gas can naturally seep through rock mass to reach water, but fracking has nothing to do with it.

Some people are worried that fracking causes earthquakes.

Earth tremors do occur in drilling operations, but most often they are too small to be felt.

Precision instruments are used to monitor any tremors.

Fracking has been around for decades, and in recent years it has greatly increased the supply of natural gas, and lowered the price for all of us.

The technology is allowing North America to be more self-sufficient in energy, and it’s creating export opportunities for Canada.

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

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

Environmentalists frequently raise alarms about fracking, and Canadians should be given more information about the process.

There are naturally-occurring fractures, but often rock formations are too impermeable to allow oil and gas to be extracted.

A fracking fluid is pumped into the formation, causing cracks to form.

The resulting fractures allow oil and gas to flow into the well.

Some people are worried that frac fluids could contaminate groundwater.

The danger is avoided when drill wells are properly cased as they penetrate aquifers to reach the rocks below.

The fractures are deeper than the aquifers, and the thick mass of rock in between prevents undesirable fluids from seeping into the water.

Over millions of years, some gas can naturally seep through rock mass to reach water, but fracking has nothing to do with it.

Some people are worried that fracking causes earthquakes.

Earth tremors do occur in drilling operations, but most often they are too small to be felt.

Precision instruments are used to monitor any tremors.

Fracking has been around for decades, and in recent years it has greatly increased the supply of natural gas, and lowered the price for all of us.

The technology is allowing North America to be more self-sufficient in energy, and it’s creating export opportunities for Canada.

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

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

There is renewed discussion in Alberta about building a high-speed rail link between Calgary and Edmonton.

The idea has been around in one form or another for more than 30 years, but experience elsewhere in the world suggests that a high-speed train on the Canadian prairies simply would not be economically viable.

Right now only two high-speed rail lines are profitable: the Tokyo-Osaka corridor in Japan and the Paris-Lyon bullet train in France.

Both areas are much more densely populated than the corridor in Alberta.

Even if there were more potential riders, a high-speed train cannot compete with the alternative of driving in a private vehicle along that route.

Most people will find it cheaper and more convenient to drive or carpool than pay for a train ticket, especially when you consider that they would still need to rent a car or take a taxi to their final destination.

Environmental considerations are not a significant plus. High-speed trains take more energy than conventional trains, planes or motor vehicles.

The Alberta government simply cannot afford such an unproven high risk venture that taxpayers would inevitably end up subsidizing.

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

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

There is renewed discussion in Alberta about building a high-speed rail link between Calgary and Edmonton.

The idea has been around in one form or another for more than 30 years, but experience elsewhere in the world suggests that a high-speed train on the Canadian prairies simply would not be economically viable.

Right now only two high-speed rail lines are profitable: the Tokyo-Osaka corridor in Japan and the Paris-Lyon bullet train in France.

Both areas are much more densely populated than the corridor in Alberta.

Even if there were more potential riders, a high-speed train cannot compete with the alternative of driving in a private vehicle along that route.

Most people will find it cheaper and more convenient to drive or carpool than pay for a train ticket, especially when you consider that they would still need to rent a car or take a taxi to their final destination.

Environmental considerations are not a significant plus. High-speed trains take more energy than conventional trains, planes or motor vehicles.

The Alberta government simply cannot afford such an unproven high risk venture that taxpayers would inevitably end up subsidizing.

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

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