Generosity in Canada and the United States: The 2019 Generosity Index finds that the amount of money Canadians donate to registered charities—as a share of their income—has hit a 20-year low, and Canadians remain far less generous than Americans. According to the index, Utah remains the most generous of all 64 jurisdictions in North America, and Manitoba is again the most generous Canadian province or territory, but still only ranks 44th out of 64. Of the bottom-15 least generous jurisdictions in North America, 12 are Canadian.
The Human Freedom Index, 2019 finds that New Zealand is again the freest country in the world, followed by Switzerland and Hong Kong. Canada ranks 4th globally, and the United States ranks 15th in this year’s report. The index ranks 162 countries and jurisdictions based on 76 indicators of personal, civil and economic freedoms and is a joint project with the Cato Institute in the U.S. and Germany’s Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom.
Gaining Ground, Losing Ground: First Nations’ Community Well-Being in the 21st Century finds that, despite billions of dollars in government spending, nearly one of every five First Nation communities in Canada has experienced a decline in living standards since 2001.
Jordan is the most economically-free nation in the Arab world, followed by Bahrain and the U.A.E., according to the Economic Freedom of the Arab World: 2019 Annual Report, co-published by the Fraser Institute, the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Liberty and the International Research Foundation. This report compares and ranks 22 Arab nations in five areas of economic freedom: size of government, including expenditures, taxes and enterprises; commercial and economic law and security of property rights; access to sound money; freedom to trade internationally; and regulation of credit, labour and business.
Alberta carbon tax—just bad economics (Appeared in the Edmonton Sun)by Robert P. Murphy In 2017, Canada was responsible for only 1.7 per cent of global carbon dioxide emissions.
Struggling First Nations share common characteristics (Appeared in the Globe and Mail)by Tom Flanagan Most First Nations are in remote locations where natural resource development is the only likely source of economic advancement.
The Fraser Institute is an independent Canadian public policy research and educational organization with offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Montreal and ties to a global network of think-tanks in 87 countries. Its mission is to improve the quality of life for Canadians, their families and future generations by studying, measuring and broadly communicating the effects of government policies, entrepreneurship and choice on their well-being. To protect the Institute's independence, it does not accept grants from governments or contracts for research. For more, call (800) 665-3558 ext. 590.