Who was Barbara Mitchell?

Printer-friendly version

In its February pre-election budget, Alberta relied on unrealistic economic assumptions, ignoring private sector forecasts that were more realistic than its own. It appears to have been overly optimistic about oil and gas forecasts, among others. As a consequence, Alberta’s provincial government is unlikely to hit its deficit forecast this year of $886 million.

read more

Printer-friendly version

Fraser Forum is a monthly review of public policy in Canada, with articles covering taxation, education, health care policy, and a wide range of other topics. Forum writers are economists, Institute research analysts, and selected authors, including those from other public policy think tanks.

read more

Printer-friendly version

Cancer is the leading cause of premature death in Canada and the numbers of new cases of several major cancers have remained relatively stable. New, better treatments are needed as soon as they can be introduced. This study compares the number of new oncology drugs approved by each agency and their review times.

read more

Printer-friendly version

This report provides a comprehensive overview of the outlook for Alberta crude oil and bitumen production and an assessment of the economic attractiveness and feasibility of exporting oil to countries in the Asia-Pacific region instead of solely to markets in the United States. It also describes the extent of the new oil pipeline infrastructure that would be needed.

read more

Printer-friendly version

Tax rates affect people’s behavior. High taxes contribute to lower rates of economic growth, reduced rates of personal income growth, lower rates of capital formation, and reduced entrepreneurship. Provinces and countries are constantly competing for investment dollars, entrepreneurs, and skilled workers, so British Columbia must maintain a competitive tax system to ensure the province remains an attractive place to work and do business. This submission examines BC’s performance relative to other provinces in three key areas of taxation (business taxes, property taxes, and personal income taxes) and provides recommendations for reform in each area.

read more

Printer-friendly version

The 2012 Fraser Institute Global Petroleum Survey presents the results of the Fraser Institute’s 6th annual survey of petroleum industry executives and managers regarding barriers to investment in upstream oil and gas exploration and production in various jurisdictions around the globe. The survey responses have been tallied to rank provinces, states, and countries according to the extent of the investment barriers. Those barriers, as identified by the survey respondents, include high tax rates, costly regulatory schemes, uncertainty over environmental regulations and the interpretation and administration of regulations governing the petroleum industry, and security threats. 

read more

Printer-friendly version

The estimated cost of waiting for care in Canada for patients who were in the queue in 2011, was $1.08 billion—an average of about $1,144 for each of the estimated 941,321 Canadians waiting for treatment in 2011. Alternatively, that cost works out to roughly $10,399 for each individual among the 11.0% of patients in the queue who were suffering considerable hardship while waiting for care.

read more