Troy Media

EU–Canada trade talks: the devil is in the details

By Robert Gallagher BRUSSELS / Troy Media/ — In an age where coupling the words “economic” and “crisis” comes as naturally as the union of rhythm and blues or bacon and eggs, ticking off the projected benefits of the Canada–European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) evokes the stuff of dreams.

Canwest newspapers still have solid value

By Terry Field It would be hard to imagine anyone being surprised by the news yesterday that one of Canada's big media players has sought bankruptcy protection for a portion of its holdings.

Smart detective work key to better airport security

By Mark Milke Director of Research Frontier Centre for Public Policy We live in an age of equality where everyone wants to be treated the same. It's the desirable legacy of a centuries-long march to see all people practice their God-given inherent freedoms.

Climategate: Who’s in denial now?

- Kenneth P. Green, Advisor, Frontier Centre for Public Policy Recent responses to “Climategate” (the leaked e-mails from Britain's University of East Anglia and its Climatic Research Unit), remind me of the line “Are your feet wet? Can you see the pyramids? That's because you're in denial.”

A proper debate over climate change matters

By Mark Milke In a course I teach to undergraduate students, essay instruction necessitates a reminder about how to construct a proper argument. I warn students away from ad hominem attacks, one-sided essay research, guilt-by-association, the inadmissibility of “straw men” and correlation-equals-causation mistakes; I also point out why conspiracy theories are often wrong, and that assuming one's interests explains all is one-dimensional. Those and other follies too often cost students marks.

Ontario’s cities skip proper accounting standards on capital asset values

Of all the fields of government, local government is perhaps the least sexy. “Anarchist” youth will riot wherever international leaders meet each other and provincial governments might prompt the odd protest but municipal activities seldom make front page headlines.

Courts next big environmental battleground

By Gavin MacFadyen NEW YORK, Troy Media/ — There was a time when debate over humankind's impact on the environment could have been conducted in a calm manner – with mutual respect and deference. I imagine such a place was a smoky Victorian drawing room over brandy and cigars.

The Copenhagen summit: more a tale of self-interests than social responsibility

COPENHAGEN, 2009/ Troy Media/ — Copenhagen has two claims to fame at the moment: it's Europe's best city for live jazz and, by the way, there is an environmental summit going on there aimed at saving humanity.

A Realpolitik Approach to National Climate Change Policy

By Robert Roach How much are you willing to pay to see Canada reduce its greenhouse gas emissions? Answers vary from nothing to a lot. Into this mish mash of opinion came a recent announcement by the Pembina Institute and the David Suzuki Foundation that there is nothing to worry about: we can meet aggressive greenhouse gas reduction targets and still grow the economy.

The Frontier Centre releases a COMPAS poll on Canadian views on possibly global warming treaty

Frontier Centre for Public Policy WINNIPEG: The Frontier Centre for Public Policy today released a COMPAS poll which shows most Canadians prefer to hold off on signing a global warming treaty in Copenhagen; reasons include concern over the economy and doubts about the sureness of the science.

Pembina/Suzuki report recommendations severely damaging to West and all Canadians

CALGARY, AB – On December 10, Canada West Foundation will release a critique of the recently released Pembina Institute and David Suzuki Foundation study titled Climate Leadership, Economic Prosperity.

Recycling: Not the path to environmentalist salvation

By David Seymour The near bottomless virtue of recycling has become an article of faith amongst environmental activists and a whole generation of children in their tutelage. In today's world, recycling is supposed to be atonement for the sin of consumption, the difference between being a parasite on the earth or a custodian saving future generations.

Canada’s corporate welfare bill: $30,252 per dual-income family

By Mark Milke CALGARY, AB / – The English poet Philip James Bailey once wrote that we live “in feelings, not in figures on a dial.” It was an allusion to the notion that numbers and statistics rarely make anyone's pulse start to race.

Is western Canada a backwater?

By Dr Roger Gibbins Unless one is seeking peace and isolation, rarely does one like to be seen as living in a backwater, far removed from the bright lights, power brokers and intellectual currents of the day. Even when I was growing up in a small community in northern British Columbia – the truest definition of a backwater – I bristled at the slightest suggestion that I was in some way out of touch, out of step or out of reach.

Honour killings — premeditated executions — must be stopped in Canada

The murder of young women to protect family honour, while sadly common in some countries, has emerged as a recognized social phenomenon in Western countries — including Canada.

Canada cannot be passive observer of Honduras political crisis

By Stephen Randall CALGARY, AB — It has been five months since Honduran President Manuel Zelaya was removed from office and sent into exile by the Honduran military. Since then, Canada, along with the rest of the international community, has watched with concern – at times bewilderment, at other times frustration and anger – that the political crisis has evaded resolution.

Don’t axe provincial achievement tests

- Michael Zwaagstra, Policy Analyst, Frontier Centre for Public Policy When running a deficit, governments often use the need for expenditure reductions as an opportunity to cut programs they consider less important. Unsurprisingly, various organizations have offered their thoughts on what should be cut from Alberta Education's budget.

Alberta’s Bill 205 under fire

By Heather MacIntosh The Alberta government is set to adopt Bill 205 amending the Alberta law on election campaign spending. It is not a wise move.

What are the “Deniers” denying?

By Dr. Stephen Murgatroyd There is a growing anxiety amongst the supporters of a climate change treaty that the “deniers” are exerting an undue influence over the Copenhagen negotiations and are sowing the seeds of confusion and doubt in the minds of the general public.

Desperation grips environmental industry

By Dr. Stephen Murgatroyd A new report from the Alberta-based Pembina Institute and the David Suzuki Foundation, commissioned by TD Bank and released this past week, alarmingly lays out the economic impact on Canada of achieving even the modest CO2 reduction targets set by the Canadian government – a 20 per cent reduction on 2006 emissions – with western Canada, and Alberta in particular, targeted to beat the brunt of the devastation.