Retrospective: Mind the Gap
In the spring of 2011, Naheed Nenshi flew off on his first big overseas junket as mayor of Calgary—a trade mission to China. His destination was Beijing, and he arrived after a gruelling flight [...]
By Chris Turner
Infrastructure
Infrastructure
The $35-Billion Build
After its hangover softened in late May 2015, the NDP likely felt winner’s remorse. The new government inherited hundreds of decaying hospitals and schools, many with leaking roofs, toxic mould [...]
Beyond Books
Each morning, David McMain tries to get to work an hour before he officially starts. But he doesn’t head straight to his office at Edmonton’s Stanley Milner library, where he is an outreach [...]
By Jay Smith
The Two-Wheel Challenge
Ask any cyclist who manoeuvres Calgary’s or Edmonton’s roads during rush hour if they feel comfortable or even respected by drivers. The answer is usually a resounding “no.” Ask any driver if [...]
Wild Rose Bullet
If Sir William Cornelius Van Horne were alive today, he’d surely be first in line to weigh in on the notion of a Calgary/Edmonton high-speed rail link. Haughty, wealthy and totally uncompromising [...]
Money Pit: The Case Against P3s
Communities are built around public facilities and the services they deliver. Town halls, libraries, hospitals, schools, arenas, recreation centres, roads and water treatment plants are [...]
MOST READ
MOST READ
Not a White-Bread Childhood
Toronto freelance portrait photographer Markian Lozowchuk (disclosure: his mother and I are second cousins) has photographed Justin Trudeau for Toronto Life and Margaret Atwood for Maclean’s, but his editorial shoot of Chrystia Freeland for Toronto Life in 2017, including the cover, was “the most memorable shoot I’ve done.” Even three ...
Jason Kenney’s Vision for K-12
It was by all accounts, a fiery speech. Standing on a blue-curtained stage in front of a couple thousand supporters at the UCP’s inaugural policy convention in Red Deer in May 2018, leader Jason Kenney went on the attack against anti-oilsands activists and the foreign money he says funds them ...
Should Post-Secondary Education be Free?
Hugh Mackenzie
The economist and research associate at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives says yes.
Free tuition would redress a massive intergenerational inequity created over the past 30 years. In 1990–91, average university tuition in Canada was $1,464; adjusted for inflation, that would be $2,541 in 2019–20. Today the actual average ...