“Money for Nothing” by Dire Straits is layer upon layer of irony. Musician Mark Knopfler cribbed the lyrics from an appliance delivery man who was watching music videos and complaining about the posh life of rock stars. Layer one of…

The release of a number of reports by the federal Romanow  Commission has exposed its two-pronged public relations strategy: First, deny that there is a problem. Second, tag the provinces (especially Alberta) as the bad guys in health-care reform.  This…

The release of a number of reports by the federal Romanow  Commission has exposed its two-pronged public relations strategy: First, deny that there is a problem. Second, tag the provinces (especially Alberta) as the bad guys in health-care reform.  This…

The National Council of Welfare did the country a great service this week by releasing its annual Poverty Profile. It is a wealth of statistics that show, among other things, that the reduction in poverty during the mid- and late…

Equalization was designed to give cash to economically weaker provinces so that they would have total revenues that are comparable to a representative Canadian average. And at that task, the program works remarkably well. In doing so, however, the program…