Canada and the World Backgrounder articles from March 2001

Canada and the World Backgrounder archives from March 2001

For the People.(Canadian government; includes article on anarchism)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... It's been said that the purpose of government is to comfort the afflicted and to afflict the comfortable A favourite pastime for many Canadians is complaining about the government. It costs too much. It misuses taxpayers' money. It gets in...

The Public Good.(government)(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2001... The English philosopher John Locke (1632-1704) developed the idea that the purpose of government was to "make laws for [people] as the public good of the society shall require." Locke was not the first to theorize about the role of government,...

Charged With Controversy.(electric utilities deregulation)(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2001... The nature of the public good was redefined during the last quarter of the 20th century. Government could not be all things to all people -- Communists had tried that and got themselves into a terrible pickle. So, the smart thing to do was...

Small is Beautiful.(deregulation)
March 1, 2001... Going further than deregulation, a major trend in government has been to sell off publicly owned assets in the hope of raising cash to help offset deficits and also to get rid of money-losing enterprises that are a drain on taxpayers Anew...

Money and Politics.(Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency)
March 1, 2001... Perhaps, the main function that government has is the redistribution of wealth. It taxes those who are most comfortable and gives some of that wealth, in the form of cash and services, to those who are less well off. So, why is so much...

Passing the Buck.(Canadian government finance)(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2001... As upper levels of government load lower levels with some of their expensive programs and, at the same time, cut funding, something has to give Ottawa cuts funding to the provinces. The provinces cut funding to municipalities. At the same...

Behind the Image.(civil servants, Canada)(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2001... Government employees are everybody's favourite target of scorn. The popular image is that they are overpaid, underworked, and incompetent, but most of them are hard working and help keep our part of the world in order The Auditor-General's...

Quote ... Unquote.(famous opinions on government)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... "Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without government, I should not hesitate for a moment to prefer the latter." Thomas Jefferson "Everyone has the right to take part in...