The Fraser Institute is a conservative and libertarian think tank based in Canada. Its stated mandate is to advocate for freedom and competitive markets as possible solutions to public policy problems. It approaches public policy solutions based on government spending, taxes, deficits, and regulation with skepticism. Some of the public policy stands taken by the Institute include: greater free trade throughout the world, privatization of various government services, marijuana legalization, the freedom to peacefully own and acquire firearms without unnecessary controls, competition in primary schooling, and greater private sector involvement in the delivery of healthcare insurance and services. In terms of present hot topics in public policy, the Institute is skeptical of government regulatory action as a possible solution to global warming. They argue that regulations have "the potential to impose high costs on Canadian citizens and drastically increase the regulatory state, while providing little or no environmental benefit." ^[1] Conservative may refer to: Conservatism, political philosophy A member of a Conservative Party Conservative extension, premise of deductive logic Conservativity theorem, mathematical proof of conservative extension Conservative Judaism britney spears Category: ... See also Libertarianism and Libertarian Party Libertarian,is a term for person who has made a conscious and principled commitment, evidenced by a statement or Pledge, to forswear violating others rights and usually living in voluntary communities: thus in law no longer subject to government supervision. ... This article is about the institution. ... Free trade is an economic concept referring to the selling of products between countries without tariffs or other trade barriers. ... This article does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Cannabis, also known as marijuana[1] or ganja (Hindi: गांजा),[2] is a psychoactive product of the plant Cannabis sativa. ... Global warming refers to the increase in the average temperature of the Earths near-surface air and oceans in recent decades and its projected continuation. ...

The Institute (named for the Fraser River) is headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia. It was founded in 1974 by Michael Walker, an economist from the University of Western Ontario and businessman T. Patrick Boyle. The current executive director, Mark Mullins, was the Institute's previous director of Ontario policy studies. As a registered charity with Revenue Canada, the Institute must file annual registered charity information returns. In its most recent annual return, the Institute reported having $10.4 million CAD in assets, $6.9 million CAD in annual revenue, and $6.9 million CAD in annual expenditures.^{[citation needed]} For other uses of this name see Fraser River (disambiguation). ... This article refers to the city in British Columbia, Canada. ... Year 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the 1974 Gregorian calendar. ... Michael Walker is a Canadian economist. ... The University of Western Ontario (known as Western, as well as UWO or Western Ontario) is a research university located in London, Ontario. ... Mark Mullins, Ph. ... The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) administers: tax laws for the Government of Canada and for most provinces and territories; international trade legislation; and various social and economic benefit and incentive programs delivered through the tax system. ... C$ redirects here. ...

Operations

Funding

The last year for which financial data is available for is 2004. The Institute reported in its 2004 year-end annual report that it had $6.9 million CAD in revenues that year. The annual report outlined that 62% of this sum came from charitable foundations, 25% came from corporations and 13% came from individuals. These percentages amounted to roughly $4.3 million, $1.7 million, and $0.9 million CAD, respectively. In 2004, $2.1 million, or roughly 49%, of funds donated to the Institute by a charitable foundation came from The W. Garfield Weston Foundation, as per its 2004 registered charity information return with the Canada Revenue Agency. C$ redirects here. ... A Foundation is a kind of philanthropic organization, set up by either individuals or institutions as a legal entity (usually either a corporation or a trust) with the purpose of distributing grants to support causes in line with the goals of the foundation. ... For other uses, see Corporation (disambiguation). ... The W. Garfield Weston Foundation is a Canadian charitable foundation committed to making grants in Canada for the benefit of Canadians. ... Example of a cheque from the Canada Revenue Agency The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) administers: tax laws for the Government of Canada and for most provinces and territories; international trade legislation; and various social and economic benefit and incentive programs delivered through the tax system. ...

Governance

The Institute is governed by a board of trustees. Current members of the board are: Raymond Addington (chairman), Hassan Khosrowshahi (vice-chairman), Mark Mitchell (vice-chairman), Gordon Arnell, Charles Barlow, Sonja Bata, Edward Belzberg, Everett Berg, Tony Boeckh, T. Patrick Boyle, Peter Brown, Alex Chafuen, James Chaplin, Serge Darkazanli, James Davidson, John Dobson, Greg Fleck, Shaun Francis, Arthur Grunder, John Hagg, Raymond Heung, Paul Hill, Stephen Hynes, David Laidley, Robert Lee, Brandt Louie, David MacKenzie, William Mackness, Jim Main, James McGovern, Gwyn Morgan, Mark Mullins, Roger Phillips, Herbert Pinder, R. Jack Pirie, Peter Pocklington, Conrad Riley, Anthony Sessions, William Siebens, Arni Thorsteinson, Michael Walker, Peter White, and Catherine Windels. Hassan Khosrowshahi (born 1940, Tehran, Iran) is the founder of Canadian electronics retailer, Future Shop. ... Mark Mitchell is a talented Australian comedic actor. ... James Davidson may refer to: James Davidson (Ottawa mayor) (1856–1913), mayor of Ottawa in 1901 James Davidson, CEO of FirstEnergy Capital Corp. ... The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada ran a full slate of candidates in the 1997 federal election, and won 20 seats out of 301 to emerge as the fifth largest party in the Canadian House of Commons. ... Gwyn Morgan, P.Eng. ... Mark Mullins, Ph. ... Peter Pocklington (b. ... Michael Walker is a Canadian economist. ...

Former members of the board of trustees include David Asper, whose family owns CanWest Global, Canada's largest media corporation; Barbara Amiel, wife of Conrad Black; and David Radler, Black's former business partner. David Asper is a Canadian businessman. ... CanWest Global Communications Corp. ... Barbara Joan Estelle Amiel, Lady Black of Crossharbour (born in Watford, Hertfordshire, England on December 4, 1940), is a British-Canadian journalist and writer. ... Conrad Moffat Black, Baron Black of Crossharbour, PC, OC, KCSG (born 25 August 1944, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada) is a former financier, newspaper magnate, and biographer. ... F. David Radler (born 1944 in Montreal, Quebec) is a Canadian executive and close associate of Conrad Black for 36 years. ...

High-profile figures

The Institute has attracted some well-known individuals to its ranks, such as founding member Friedrich Hayek. The Institute maintains that it has an apolitical stance and refuses to align itself with any political party. For example, in recent years, it has brought into its fold former politicians such as former Reform Party leader Preston Manning, former Ontario Conservative premier Michael Harris, former Alberta Conservative premier Ralph Klein and former Liberal cabinet minister and Newfoundland and Labrador premier Brian Tobin. Friedrich August von Hayek, CH (May 8, 1899 in Vienna – March 23, 1992 in Freiburg) was an Austrian-born British economist and political philosopher known for his defense of liberal democracy and free-market capitalism against socialist and collectivist thought in the mid-20th century. ... Ernest Preston Manning (born June 10, 1942, in Edmonton, Alberta), is a right-wing populist Canadian politician. ... Michael Harris is an author, journalist, and radio personality. ... Ralph Phillip Klein (born November 1, 1942) was the premier of the Canadian province of Alberta and leader of the Alberta Progressive Conservatives from 1992 until his retirement in 2006. ... Brian Vincent Tobin, PC (born October 21, 1954 in Stephenville, Newfoundland and Labrador) is a Canadian politician. ...

Controversy

Though little known at the time of its founding, the Institute has been a source of controversy since its beginning. It was founded by T.Patrick Boyle with a grant from forestry giant MacMillan Bloedel Limited^{[citation needed]}, at a time when MacMillan-Bloedel was in conflict with the left-wing NDP government of British Columbia then led by Premier Dave Barrett. The relationship, though, was short-lived as MacMillian-Bloedel broke ties with the Institute when it published a book opposing wage and price controls. The CEO of MacMillian-Bloedel at the time supported wage and price controls. MacMillan Bloedel, sometimes referred to as MacBlo, was a huge forestry company headquatered in Vancouver, British Columbia. ... The New Democratic Party of British Columbia is a democratic socialist political party in British Columbia, Canada. ... Motto: Splendor sine occasu (Latin: Splendour without diminishment) Capital Victoria Largest city Vancouver Official languages English (de facto) Government Lieutenant-Governor Steven Point Premier Gordon Campbell (BC Liberal) Federal representation in Canadian Parliament House seats 36 Senate seats 6 Confederation July 20, 1871 (6th province) Area  Ranked 5th Total 944... David Barrett, O.C. (born 2 October 1930 in Vancouver, British Columbia), commonly known as Dave Barrett, was a politician and social worker in British Columbia, Canada. ...

Critics of the Institute and other similar agenda-driven think tanks have claimed the Fraser Institute's reports, studies and surveys are usually not subject to standard academic peer review or the scholarly method. Institute supporters respond that this view is false. Institute research is peer-reviewed both by internal panels and external academics and policy researchers.^[2][3] Peer review (known as refereeing in some academic fields) is a scholarly process used in the publication of manuscripts and in the awarding of funding for research. ... Scholarly method - or as it is more commonly called, scholarship - is the body of principles and practices used by scholars to make their claims about the world as valid and trustworthy as possible, and to make them known to the scholarly public. ...

In 2002, a study by Neil Brooks of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives claimed the Institute's widely promoted Tax Freedom Day, described as the date each year when the average Canadian's income no longer goes to paying government taxes, included flawed accounting. The Brooks study stated that the Institute's methods of accounting excluded several important forms of income and inflated tax figures, moving the date nearly two months later in the year.^[4] The Institute counters that Professor Brooks confuses the aggregate tax burden with the tax burden borne by those who actually pay tax.^{[citation needed]} The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives is Canadas leading left-wing think tank. ... Tax Freedom Day is the first day of the year in which a nation as a whole has theoretically earned enough income to fund its annual tax burden. ...

In 1999, the Fraser Institute was attacked by health professionals and scientists^{[citation needed]} for sponsoring two conferences on the tobacco industry entitled "Junk Science, Junk Policy? Managing Risk and Regulation" and "Should government butt out? The pros and cons of tobacco regulation." Critics charged the Institute was associating itself with the tobacco industry's many attempts to discredit authentic scientific work. Shredded tobacco leaf for pipe smoking Tobacco can also be pressed into plugs and sliced into flakes Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the fresh leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. ...

The group has also come under fire from social conservatives, who feel it is too liberal in matters of social policy. For example, the Institute favors the legalization of marijuana.^[5][6] Canadian social conservatives openly support notions of natural law, tradition and conservative family values and policies. ... Cannabis, also known as marijuana[1] or ganja (Hindi: गांजा),[2] is a psychoactive product of the plant Cannabis sativa. ...

Global warming

Ross McKitrick, a Senior Fellow of the Institute, has been a prominent critic of some scientific opinion on climate change. On February 5, 2007, the Institute published The Independent Summary for Policymakers, IPCC Fourth Assessment Report.^[7] National and international science academies and professional societies have assessed the current scientific opinion on climate change, in particular recent global warming. ...

Publications

• Caring For Profit: Economic Dimensions of Canada's Health Care Industry (1987)
• Privatization: Tactics and Techniques (1988)
• Waiting Your Turn: Hospital Waiting Lists in Canada series (1990-present)
• Economics and the Environment: A Reconciliation (1990)
• The Case for the Amero: The Economics and Politics of a North American Monetary Union (1999)[1]
• Measuring Poverty in Canada, (a series articles/studies from 1992-2006), see related article Poverty in Canada
• Immigration and the Welfare State in Canada: Growing Conflicts, Constructive Solutions (2005), see related article Economic impact of immigration to Canada
• Fraser Institute Report Card on Alberta's High Schools (2006)
• Independent Summary for Policymakers, IPCC Fourth Assessment Report (2007) [2]

The economic impact of immigration to Canada is a much-debated topic in Canada. ... Annually, the Fraser Institute creates a report card that measures performance in Canadian schools. ...

Notes

1. ^ The Fraser Institute
2. ^ The Fraser Institute
3. ^ The Fraser Institute
4. ^ Neil Brooks (16 June 2005). Tax Freedom Day - A Flawed, Incoherent, and Pernicious Concept. Retrieved on 2005-12-11.
5. ^ The Fraser Institute
6. ^ The Fraser Institute
7. ^ The Fraser Institute

is the 167th day of the year (168th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 345th day of the year (346th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• Fraser Institute of Canada
• Policy.ca Profile: Fraser Institute
• CBC Profile: Fraser Institute
• Canada Revenue Agency registered charity information database: The Fraser Institute
• SourceWatch: Fraser Institute