This new Portrait of Quebec High Schools is intended as a tool to serve at once the needs of parents and the needs of those who manage the school system. It is supplemented by an interactive Web tool that supplies a complete set of information to be consulted by both sets of people.
The Quebec government plans to raise university tuition fees by $50 per term until 2011-2012. Few studies up to now have assessed how this “unfreezing” policy will affect university financing and student enrolment. Moreover, no announcement has hinted at the tuition policy for university studies to be applied after 2012. This Economic Note begins a reflection on the type of policy that could be adopted to ensure long-term financing for universities.
The reserve supply of nursing staff time.
Why maintain a public monopoly on mail delivery?
Why maintain a public monopoly on mail delivery?
The Montreal Transit Corporation must rethink its fares policy.
The scope of roadwork announced in February by the Quebec Department of Transport ($12 billion from 2008 to 2012) suggests the extent to which the maintenance of highway infrastructure has been neglected in recent years. Last October, the Montreal Economic Institute published an Economic Note outlining tolls’ efficiency in financing the highway network. The Note showed that this type of revenue collection best respects the user-pay principle.
The tradition of celebrating Valentine’s Day by exchanging greetings and special gestures with loved ones goes back to the Middle Ages. The earliest known piece of writing in this respect is dated 1415. With the noble and idealistic concept of forming couples still in existence today, can we rule out all rationality in amorous deeds? Does the behaviour of men and women who are seeking partners not obey principles that go beyond passion to encompass an element of reason?
Eleven ideas from the MEI for getting Quebec out of its torpor.
Eleven ideas from the MEI for getting Quebec out of its torpor.
Eleven ideas from the MEI for getting Quebec out of its torpor.
Onze idées pour changer le Québec : l’IEDM lance un débat ! L’IEDM propose aux Québécois une discussion autour d’idées de réformes qui pourraient être mises en vigueur d’ici cinq ans, la plupart d’entre elles d’ici 12 ou 24 mois. Ces idées ont été discutées dans le Journal de Montréal du 12 janvier 2008.
As questions abound regarding management and resource use in the public health care system, it is important to evaluate the place the private sector could occupy. With this first Economic Note on the use of health care resources, the Montreal Economic Institute (MEI) wishes to add some thoughts on the optimization of operating blocks in Quebec. A later Economic Note will look into the supply of human resources in the health care system.
Quebec’s road network, much of it built in the 1960s and 1970s, is aging quickly. Highways in Quebec have reached a critical point and will need to be rejuvenated in the coming years. Other countries have found ways of ensuring adequate, stable financing to maintain their roads. The Quebec government could look into new means of conducting road rehabilitation projects. International experience in public-private partnerships (PPP) can offer worthwhile solutions as the government struggles to maintain the road network adequately.
Quebec’s road network is in dismal condition. During a visit to Montreal in 2006, Simon Anholt, a specialist in the marketing of political entities, said jokingly that he thought he was in the wrong country and had landed in Kazakhstan, since the road from the airport to downtown Montreal was so bad. The collapse of the de la Concorde overpass and information uncovered by the Johnson Commission have shown, concretely and sadly, that this was more than just an impression.
People often forget the fact that Quebec was once the province which made the greatest use of tolls. Toll booths, which were abandoned in the 1980s, were installed on portions of highways 10, 13, 15 and 40, as well as on the Jacques-Cartier and Champlain bridges. As the road network faces deterioration and insufficient funding, the return of tolls is an interesting solution for several reasons.
Last June, the Quebec Minister of Municipal Affairs submitted Bill 22 giving the City of Montreal greater taxation powers. If the bill is adopted, Quebec’s biggest city will be able, for instance, to impose a tax on show tickets and restaurant meals. The minister says these new income sources were given to Montreal because “our metropolis must have the means to deal with the challenges it faces.” Several municipalities, including Montreal, have been demanding broader sources of income to avoid tight budgets or red ink. But other solutions to the problem may be found in better control over spending.
We need more competition between Quebec’s Cégeps.
Publication of an Economic Note on existing user fees in Quebec’s health care system.
Publication of an Economic Note on existing user fees in Quebec’s health care system.
Potential roles for private financing in the health care sector are a recurring topic of debate – and often of controversy – in Quebec and elsewhere in Canada. A committee headed by Claude Castonguay, established in the latest budget, is also examining this issue and is to deliver its report in the fall. In the wake of these discussions, this Note aims to look into private payments that already exist in Quebec and put them into categories for a better understanding of their nature.
Wealth creation thanks to globalization.
