Who was Barbara Mitchell?
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Permit Times for Mining Exploration

Permit Times for Mining Exploration: How Long Are They? is the Fraser Institute’s first ever survey about permit times—the length of time it takes mining companies to get approval for mining exploration. The study compares the efficiency, transparency and certainty of the permitting processes in jurisdictions across Canada, based on the experiences and opinions of mining industry professionals. It finds that permit times for mining exploration are increasing across Canada and especially in Ontario.

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Despite a popular narrative at Queen’s Park, which blames Ontario’s large deficits and massive debt on the 2008 global economic downturn and other uncontrollable economic forces, Ontario’s chronic budget deficits stem from years of rapid spending growth, as detailed in Spending is the Source of Ontario’s Deficit and Debt Problem.

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Why Are Interest Rates So Low

Monetary policy is having less and less impact on interest rates in developed economies such as Canada because the demographic relationship between borrowers and savers has changed dramatically. Based on financial and demographic data for 29 developed countries, Why Are Interest Rates So Low? presents a ground-breaking new model of how interest rates are determined by focusing on changing demographics—not monetary policy.

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Measuring the Fiscal Performance of Canada's Premiers 2016

Measuring the Fiscal Performance of Canada's Premiers, ranks premiers based on three fiscal policy categories: government spending, taxes, and deficits and debt. Premiers who managed spending more prudently, balanced their books and paid down debt, and reduced or maintained competitive tax rates ranked higher. In the 2016 ranking, British Columbia Premier Christy Clark and Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard essentially tied for the best record at managing provincial finances.

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Comparing the Costs of the CPP with Public Pension Plans in Ontario

Proponents of expanding the Canada Pension Plan and those in support of launching the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan often trumpet claims of economies of scale, implying the relative costs of these plans decline as they grow and accumulate more assets. Comparing the Costs of the Canada Pension Plan with Public Pension Plans in Ontario, compares the total costs (investment and administrative) of five large public-sector pension plans in Ontario with the CPP and finds that those claims aren’t necessarily true.

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2015 Global Go To Think Tank Index

The Fraser Institute is ranked Number One among Canadian think tanks and 17th among all think tanks worldwide, according to the 2015 Global Go To Think Tank Index published by the University of Pennsylvania and released at The World Bank in Washington, D.C.

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An Economic Analysis of Rural Land Use Policies in Ontario

An Economic Analysis of Rural Land Use Policies in Ontario dispels the wide-spread belief that Ontario is rapidly losing agricultural land to urbanization. Building upon analysis by two Western University professors in the 1980s, the study finds that the area of cropland in Ontario – land that’s used to plant crops – has been essentially constant since 1951.

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