“It’s a tax in disguise and effectively a very regressive tax in disguise,” Brian Dijkema, vice president of external affairs at Cardus, tells TV Ontario as he outlines the problem with Ontario’s gambling set-up. He argues that the province should reform its casino and lottery operations so that they help, instead of harm, low-income Ontarians.

Canada’s charitable sector needs a hand up, not a hand out. That’s why Brian Dijkema, vice president of external affairs at Cardus, tells host Danielle Smith on AM770 Radio that Canada needs a national dollar-for-dollar charitable donation matching program.

Brian Dijkema joins host Jeff McArthur on AM640 Radio in Toronto to talk about Canada Cares – a new coalition of charities calling for a national 1:1 donation matching program.

By Matthew Lau Over the past year, the Hoover Institution at Stanford University has released a series of delightful one-minute videos featuring a cartoon Milton Friedman explaining key economic insights. One recent offering is about diversity and freedom. In a free society, people can make their own choices and pursue their own preferences, different from the choices and preferences of others. “It’s this diversity, the fact that there isn’t a monolithic conformity imposed on us,” the Nobel Prize-winning economist-toon says, “that is the source of protection for our freedom, and also the fruit of freedom.” The one-minute lesson? Diversity and the freedom to choose go hand in hand. The opposite of diversity and freedom is a government monopoly. The fact that in Canada there is both a government monopoly on health care and a near-monopoly on schooling suggests this country isn’t as free and diverse as many of us might think. And, ironically, the progressives who usually preach the virtues of diversity tend to be most strongly opposed to diversity in health-care and educational choices. A case in point: Alberta’s recently introduced Bill 15, the Choice in Education Act, would expand freedom and improve access to educational diversity by: providing families with more homeschooling options; protecting funding for independent schools; and making it easier to set up new charter schools — which are government-funded but independently run. The reaction from progressives ranges from skepticism to rabid hostility. The benefits of improving educational diversity instead of confining families to the government-run schools are clear. Student test scores at Alberta’s charter and independent schools are consistently higher than in its government-run schools. Similarly, in British Columbia, students from families with comparable incomes achieve higher test scores on average at independent schools than at government-run schools.  Beyond these academic differences, recent surveys from Cardus, a think-tank, find that graduates of independent schools are more likely to volunteer and donate to charity. A recent Cardus report also noted that Ontario’s coronavirus-induced transition to learning-from-home was more efficient at independent schools. Although the province announced March 12 that its schools would close “it was not until April 6,” according to the report, “that teacher-led learning resumed with limited instructional support … By contrast, Ontario’s independent-school administrators and teachers worked through spring break to ensure a rapid transition with minimal educational disruption.” But even if independent and charter schools were not demonstrably better than government-run schools, that wouldn’t alter the fact that families should have greater access to different educational options. The parents who pay taxes to educate their children should have a choice as to how that money is spent. After all, if a new grocery store wants to open up, it doesn’t have to prove to the government it will provide better products or greater variety than the local Loblaws. Its owners believing, rightly or wrongly, that enough people might want to shop there to make it worth the investment is sufficient reason to allow it to operate and compete on a level playing-field. If it turns out people don’t like the new store and don’t shop there, it will close. Schools should be no different. If there are families who want to send their children to a new charter school, the government should let them. If the school succeeds, fine. If it doesn’t, it will shut down. One great disadvantage of a lack of educational diversity is that families cannot fire their government-run school, even if they are profoundly dissatisfied with it. Independent schools are prohibitively expensive for many families. Charter schools in Alberta have long waiting lists — evidence there is no lack of demand — and in every other province, charter schools are not allowed at all. Many families are stuck sending their children to schools they are unhappy with but which are under no pressure to improve. The same families can very easily fire their grocery store by taking their business elsewhere. Which means people are less likely to be dissatisfied with their grocery store than with the school their children attend. Grocery store diversity works pretty well. Alberta recognizes that educational diversity is a good idea, too. Other provinces whose politicians and citizens claim to value diversity and freedom ought to follow its lead.

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/video/never-let-a-crisis-go-to-waste-martinrea-ceo-on-adapting-operations-to-covid-19~1970406