Category Canada – Politics
Understanding Victim Fine Surcharges
In Canada, people who break the law pay a “victim fine surcharge.” For federal offences, the surcharge is 15 percent of any fine imposed. For criminals who are not fined, a set surcharge of $50 or $100 is imposed, depending upon the severity of the crime. The funds raised through these fines stay in the […]
Does vote swapping increase efficiency?
Liberal voters in rural Alberta, Conservative voters in central Ottawa, and Green Party supporters across the country have one thing in common: their votes are almost certain to have no impact on the outcome of the Canadian election. Vote swapping websites offer these voters some hope of political power. A voter can register at votepair.ca or other […]
Worthwhile Survey Initiative
This will change everything. Please participate in our WCI political poll. Click here to take survey Only one response is allowed per IP address; your IP address is not stored in the poll results (we can't see it). Update: I've fixed the "skipped question" problem. Here is a summary of the results so far: Survey Summary
Is it moral to vote?
This question should perhaps better be left to Robin Hanson, who understands Aumann's agreement theorem better than me. (Maybe he's already addressed it, but a quick search of his blog didn't find it.) I am almost certainly muddled somewhere. But here goes anyway. Suppose there's an election between two parties. Or a vote between two […]
A cost effective crime fighting agenda
The Conservative Party of Canada is committed to a law-and-order agenda. Strengthened and toughened sentencing is a key part of that agenda. Sentencing reduces crime through "incapacitation". It is hard to rob a bank when you're in prison, so an incarcerated offender is an incapacitated offender. Yet incapacitating potential offenders through incarceration has two key […]
Conspicuous Politics
Today, I walked past a garden with a beautiful display of snowdrops and crocuses – and a Green Party lawn sign. A house with a bicycle locked to the railings at the front of the house – and an NDP lawn sign. A house with a neatly laid out garden – and a Liberal lawn […]
Ranking Prime Ministers: Are Tory Times Really Tough Times?
There is an old adage in Canadian political lore that “Tory times are tough times” and that Liberal governments have generally seen more prosperous times. Given that every Prime Minister since Confederation has been either a Liberal or a Conservative, it should be a relatively simple matter to find indicators rank the economic performance of […]
Don’t eat the marshmallow
"Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery" – Mr. Micawber in Charles Dickens' "David Copperfield" Canadians are increasingly indebted. 31% of us struggle to make our bills and payments. We're pretty clueless when it comes to retirement – just 40% […]
Does tweeting signal success?
More than one person has suggested that I start tweeting, but I'm afraid to. As my nearest and dearest have observed "Who would follow you on twitter?" It would be mortifying to be on twitter and have no followers. Yet tweeting is like bird song. A bird who sings early, long, and well will typically be […]
We learn, and then we forget
Every time the census is released, hopes are raised for the future of bilingualism in Canada. Although relatively few older Canadians can speak both official languages, bilingualism rates are higher for young Canadians. Here's a picture, based on 2006 Census data, showing the percentage of non-Francophones in each age group who are bilingual, that is, […]
Worthwhile Canadian Initiative 
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