Who was Barbara Mitchell?

Printer-friendly version

When the conference How to Spend the Fiscal Dividend: What is the Optimal Size of Government? was planned in the summer of 1997, the Government of Canada was expected to present a balanced budget in the upcoming fiscal year 1998/99 and, if tax rates and spending programs remained unchanged, large annual surpluses in the following years. These expected surpluses have become known as the fiscal dividend because they are the return on the investment of fiscal restraint practised since 1993.

read more

Printer-friendly version

The purpose of this report on the public liabilities of Canada is to provide Canadians with an accessible account of the total indebtedness of each of the provinces and of the federal government. It is a reminder of the extent of our indebtedness, how jurisdictions compare both nationally and internationally, and how the national comparisons are changing as time passes.

read more

Printer-friendly version

I/M programs were developed during the 1970s in the United States, where government regulations imposing I/M programs spawned a billion-dollar vehicle-testing and consulting industry. In spite of the fact that in the United States, I/M programs have never been shown to provide anywhere near the benefits its supporters promised, the programs continue to be very popular with industry, government bureaucrats, and non-profit organizations.

read more

Printer-friendly version

Recent proposals to merge (1) the Royal Bank of Canada and the Bank of Montreal, and (2) the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and the Toronto Dominion Bank have sparked considerable debate in political and policy circles. Supporters of the mergers believe that greater consolidation in the industry is essential for Canadian banks to remain competitive in an increasingly global economy. Opponents argue that greater consolidation will result in reduced competition among Canadian banks, higher prices for banking services, and reduced consumer welfare.

read more

Printer-friendly version

Waiting Your Turn presents the only comprehensive measure of hospital waiting lists across Canada. The survey measures the extent of health care rationing in the provinces from year to year.

read more

Printer-friendly version

One of the most well-worn phrases of social reformers and political pundits is that the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.

read more

Printer-friendly version

The Costs of Crime: Who Pays and How Much? is a revision of The Crime Bill: Who Pays and How Much? (Brantingham and Easton 1996) that expands and brings up to date the statistics presented in the original publication. The purpose of this primer is to describe (1) what kinds of crime Canadians are exposed to, (2) who is at risk from these crimes, (3) who commits what crimes, (4) what costs the victims face, and (5) what expenditures we make to prevent crime. To understand what changes we may want to make in our criminal justice system, it is important to see the overall patterns of crime and punishment, how they have evolved, and what they have cost.

read more