SOBERING RESULT: THE ALBERTA LIQUOR RETAIL INDUSTRY TEN YEARS AFTER
PRIVATIZATION
By Greg Flanagan, June 4, 2002
This study concludes that ten years after the government of Alberta privatized
the province's liquor retailing industry, the decision has proved to be a
serious policy mistake. The study examines what privatization has meant for the
province, both socially and economically, considers how the private liquor
market has developed since September 1993, and draws "sobering" conclusions
about the benefits and costs. Overwhelmingly, the evidence points to liquor
privatization having resulted in significantly more costs than benefits to both
the people and the government of Alberta. The higher costs are social as well as
financial. Despite some increased convenience to consumers, privatization has
had serious negative outcomes, including a loss of effective control over the
industry by the government and an increase in alcohol consumption.
This report is available from the CCPA web site at:
http://www.policyalternatives.ca
TARGETTING THE MOST VULNERABLE; A DECADE OF DESPARATION FOR ONTARIO
šS WELFARE
RECIPIENTS, By Michael Oliphant and Chris Schlosser, May 28, 2003
Eight years after the Harris-Eves government cuts to Ontario's welfare system,
Ontario's poorest are finding it nearly impossible to meet basic needs such as
food and secure shelter, according to this study for the Ontario alternative
budget project. Welfare rates were cut by 21.6%; since 1995, inflation has
increased by 15.8%, making the real value of that cut now over 37%. In Ontario,
the average rent for a two-bedroom apartment has increased by 24% over that
period while in Toronto the cost of food has increased by 13% since 1999.
Higher rental prices have been devastating, especially in the two largest urban
centres: the GTA and Ottawa. The Daily Bread Food Bank in Toronto reports that
the average family on welfare in the GTA spends 70% of income on rent. The
authors propose that the basic needs allowance be returned to its pre-1994
level, and that the cost of inflation be added. Furthermore, the flat shelter
allowance should be replaced with a rate that is variable by location and tied
to the prevailing average rents in each city.
This report is available from the CCPA web site at:
http://www.policyalternatives.ca
FRAGILE RECOVERY THE STATE OF PUBLIC SERVICES IN MANITOBA:
SPRING 2003, May 28, 2003
The state of Manitoba's public services has improved slightly since they were
gutted in the mid-1990s. But the recovery has been uneven, and it is threatened
by the prospect of additional provincial income tax cuts
ďare key findings of
the report. It found that, over much of the past decade, quality suffered in all
sectors, and the accessibility of services was
reduced, in part through increases in user fees. Some sectors, such as
Education, are recovering well. But others, such as municipal services in
Winnipeg, have continued their steady decline, and are now alarmingly weak. The
tax cuts promised by all three parties in the recent election would make it much
more difficult, if not impossible, to rebuild the services that were damaged in
the '90s.
This report is available from the CCPA web site at:
http://www.policyalternatives.ca
TELLING TALES OUT OF SCHOOL: HOW THE ONTARIO GOVERNMENT IS FUNDING EDUCATION By
Hugh Mackenzie, May 22, 2003
The study provides a board-by-board and grant-by-grant analysis of the
Government's funding announcement for 2003-4 and shows a shortfall of $1.4
billion compared with the amount that would be required for full implementation
of the Rozanski recommendations in 2003-4. According the author, if Rozanski's
benchmark updates were phased in over three years as was suggested, the analysis
shows 2003-4 funding $666 million short of what would be required in the first
year of a 3-year implementation plan. The study reveals that, far from
implementing Rozanski's recommendations, the
Government has rejected the central message in Rozanski's report--that a
centrally determined funding formula cannot work if the benchmarks are not
adjusted to keep pace with costs. Funding shortfalls relative to Rozanski
average $712 per student in total, $340 per student in the first year of a
three-year phase-in.
This report is available from the CCPA web site at:
http://www.policyalternatives.ca
BECOME A CCPA MEMBER
The vast majority of our work is freely accessible on our web site. But of
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have access to the resources of the big corporate-funded or government-funded
think tanks. But nor are we beholden to these funders; and this gives us the
freedom to do critical research on controversial
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For information on how to become a member of the CCPA, visit our web site at:
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