I’ll Keep on TOC’n
By: Casey Vander Ploeg, Senior Policy Analyst, Canada West Foundation One of the more enjoyable parts of my work routine over the past year has been the opportunity to pull together the weekly blog article for the Let’s TOC website. So, it is with some sadness that I am posting my last entry. The original [...]
Field of Dreams (Part II)
By: Casey Vander Ploeg, Senior Policy Analyst, Canada West Foundation Whenever I point to the Jets Stadium and the establishment of the Vauxhall Baseball Academy as an example of a very successful local and rural infrastructure investment that has yielded some great economic development and social dividends, the response is overwhelmingly positive. Often, it’s outright [...]
Field of Dreams (Part I)
By: Casey Vander Ploeg, Senior Policy Analyst, Canada West Foundation I don’t know if Bob Miller ever heard a voice whispering “If you build it they will come.” Maybe. After all, Bob did much the same thing as Iowa farmer Ray Kinsella, who in the movie Field of Dreams, acted on a little voice telling [...]
The Infrastructure Penny Tax: Can we Talk About the Real Issues Now?
By: Casey Vander Ploeg, Senior Policy Analyst, Canada West Foundation The world unfolds in some crazy ways. In January 2011, I addressed Canada’s first national infrastructure summit in Regina. My presentation to delegates was a bit off the cuff. As part of that presentation, I tossed out the idea of a penny tax for infrastructure. [...]
Tracking the Federal Infrastructure Interest
By: Casey Vander Ploeg, Senior Policy Analyst, Canada West Foundation The Canada West Foundation has a long history of monitoring government tax and spending trends. Buried inside my computer are several databases of federal, provincial, and municipal finance data that stretch all the way back to 1960. Some fiscal metrics go all the way back [...]
For Whom the Road Tolls
By: Casey Vander Ploeg, Senior Policy Analyst, Canada West Foundation Last week, the National Post reported on a study—from the Netherlands of all places—saying that Vancouver’s traffic is the worst in Canada. Vancouver is also the second most congested city out of 26 major centres in North America. News items like this are becoming more [...]
It’s Alive!
By: Casey Vander Ploeg, Senior Policy Analyst, Canada West Foundation This year, my son Mitchell graduated out of Mr. Green’s grade three class. Like his two older sisters before him, dad was called upon once again to help with Mr. Green’s “special” grade three science project—building a two-foot long bridge using only popsicle sticks, cardboard, [...]
Moose Jaw’s “Lean” Hospital Could Yield “Big” Dividends
By: Casey Vander Ploeg, Senior Policy Analyst, Canada West Foundation About a year ago the good citizens of Moose Jaw—Saskatchewan’s fourth largest city—were thrilled by news that a new hospital would be built to replace the city’s aging Union Hospital. The new facility is tagged at $105 million, of which 80% will be paid by [...]
Wanted: An Innovative LTIP
By: Casey Vander Ploeg, Senior Policy Analyst, Canada West Foundation After burning up 3,000 kilometers on western Canada’s highways, it feels good to be back in the saddle at Canada West Foundation’s offices in Calgary. In Saskatoon, I took part in a special Municipal Infrastructure Forum hosted by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) following [...]
What If?
By: Casey Vander Ploeg, Senior Policy Analyst, Canada West Foundation Communities of Tomorrow President John Lee and myself have spoken across western Canada about the need for innovative infrastructure solutions and www.LetsTOC.ca. Recent events include the annual general meeting of the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association (SUMA) and Economic Development Alberta (EDA). In our “tag-team” presentation, [...]
