By Livio Di Matteo, The Fraser Institute “Even Greece, the poster child for rampant debt, carried an Ontario-style debt load as recently as 1984” — Don Drummond (2012) Commission on the Reform of Ontario’s Public Services Greece is experiencing a massive fiscal crisis rooted in rampant debt with resulting cuts to its public spending and […]

We’ve all probably done it — hidden a purse or wallet in the car, while you’ve taken the dog for a walk, hoping car thieves aren’t active in that park. Or left a purchase in the backseat, while you ran into another store. Or, perhaps you’ve left your tools in your work van overnight, waking […]

Surrey-Whiterock MLA Gordon Hogg’s office just released information that is being welcomed by the many thousands of British Columbians opposed to the forced installation of wireless smart meters. Mr. Hogg’s office reports that last Wednesday, Energy Minister Rich Coleman advised that individual home owners who continue to...

by Jason Clemens and Amela Karabegovic More than three years after the end of the recession and British Columbia’s provincial government continues to struggle with deficits, which as of the last quarterly update will likely exceed $1.5 billion. Relying on revenues to rebound enough to catch up with spending just doesn’t work as BC’s own […]

If the B.C. government is ever on the hunt for a new slogan perhaps “spending our children's inheritance” would be fitting.  Since 2001, British Columbians have been witness to the sale of key parts of B.C.'s infrastructure, transfers of its wealth to private interests and sweetheart deals for industries that can afford...

I am not sure if Idle No More is a movement or merely a passing protest. Like Occupy Wall Street before it, Idle No More, above all, appears to be an expression of frustration. Earlier protest actions opposed the status quo, but they did have a clear focus — civil rights, women’s rights and gay rights — visions for a new...

By Mark Milke, The Fraser Institute You might think the federal Conservatives, who added $125-billion to the federal debt since 2008 and will add another $21-billion by the end of March, might be shy about unnecessary expenditures. Alas, that’s not the case, as it appears Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his colleagues would rather hand […]

Today Premier Christy Clark set in motion a $5-million fund to provide financial protection for forestry contractors, as well as announcing tax relief on previous compensation payments. “Our promise to logging contractors was to guarantee they receive payment for work performed, and to ensure fair tax treatment on earlier compensation,” said Premier Clark. “Today we’re […]

The B.C. government likes to boast that the province's personal income tax rates are among the lowest in the land, if not the lowest. Expect to hear it repeated a lot in TV ads over the coming weeks, when the legislature reconvenes in February and when the 2013 provincial budget is tabled.   On one level they're right. On...

Computer users in the Okanagan region are getting attacked by a virus impersonating law enforcement and then pressuring people to pay money to fix. The malware virus displays pop-up messages telling users that the RCMP or other government agencies are investigating the user for illegal activity on their computer. To fix the problem, the user […]