| The Fraser Institute | |
|---|---|
| Motto | If It Matters, Measure It |
| Formation | 1974 |
| Type | Public policy think tank |
| Headquarters | 1770 Burrard Street |
| Location | Vancouver, British Columbia |
| President & CEO | Brett J. Skinner |
| Website | www.fraserinstitute.org |
The Fraser Institute is a Canadian think tank. It has been described as politically conservative [1][2][3] and right-wing libertarian [4][5] and espouses free market principles.[6] Its stated mandate is "to measure, study, and communicate the impact of competitive markets and government intervention on the welfare of individuals."[7]
Named for the Fraser River, the Institute is headquartered in Vancouver, with offices also located in Calgary, Toronto, and Montreal, and ties to a global network of 80 think-tanks through the Economic Freedom Network.[8]
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The Fraser Institute was founded in 1974 by Michael Walker, an economist from the University of Western Ontario, and businessman T. Patrick Boyle, then a vice-president of MacMillan Bloedel. It obtained charitable status in Canada on October 22, 1974, and in the United States in 1978.[9]
Sir Antony Fisher, previously instrumental in setting up the UK's Institute of Economic Affairs, was appointed acting director in 1975, until Walker became executive director in 1977.[9] In its first full year of operation, 1975, the Institute reported revenues of $421,389.[9] In 1988, revenues exceed $1 million, and in 2003, $6 million.[9]
From 1979 to 1991, the Institute's senior economist was Walter Block.
In 2010, the Fraser Institute was ranked No. 1 among 97 think-tanks in Canada, for the third year in a row, in the University of Pennsylvania's Global Go-To Think-Tank Index,[10] a global survey of close to 1,500 scholars, policy makers, and journalists. The report also named the Fraser Institute as the only Canadian organization in the Top 25 leading think-tanks in the world in 2010, out of a global group of 6,480 think-tanks.
The Fraser Institute describes itself as "an independent international research and educational organization",[6] and envisions "a free and prosperous world where individuals benefit from greater choice, competitive markets, and personal responsibility."[7]
Forbes has referred to the think tank as libertarian.[11] The New York Times has described the Institute as libertarian[12] and conservative.[2] The Calgary Herald called it conservative,[3] the Langley Times classified it as right-of-center libertarian,[5] while philosopher Kai Nielsen referred to the Fraser Institute as an "extreme right-wing libertarian think tank."[4]
As a registered charity with the Canada Revenue Agency, the Institute files annual registered charity information returns. In 2010, the Institute reported having $4.5 million CAD in assets and $10.8 million in annual revenue.[13]
The Institute does not accept government grants or payments for research, but depends on contributions from individuals, organizations, and foundations.[14] As the institute is a registered charity, individual donors may claim tax credits for donations, and corporate donors may claim tax deductions.
According to Dobbin (2003), 31 % of Fraser Institute's revenue come from corporations and 57 % from "business-oriented charitable foundations" such as the right-wing Donner Foundation and the free-market-oriented John Dobson Foundation.[15] Critics of Fraser Institute such as David Suzuki have also named Exxon, Koch and Scaife as the Institute's donors.[16]
The Institute is well known for its annual Economic Freedom of the World[17] index, which ranks the countries of the world according to their degrees of economic freedom. The Institute has also published regional and sub-national reports ranking the economic freedom of North America, Latin America, the Arab World, and the Francophonie.[18] These reports are distributed worldwide through the Economic Freedom Network, a global network of 80 think-tanks.[8]
Waiting Your Turn: Wait Times for Health Care in Canada[19] is the Institute's annual report on hospital waiting times in Canada, based on a nationwide survey of physicians and health care practitioners. The twentieth annual survey, released December 2010, found that the total waiting time between referral from a general practitioner and delivery of elective treatment by a specialist, averaged across 12 specialties and 10 provinces surveyed, had risen from 16.1 weeks in 2009 to 18.2 weeks in 2010.[19]
Every year, the global Survey of Mining Companies[20] ranks the investment climates of mining jurisdictions worldwide, based on the opinions of mining industry executives and managers. In 2011, the companies participating in the survey reported exploration spending of US$2.43 billion in 2010 and US$1.86 billion in 2009.[21]
An annual survey of petroleum executives regarding barriers to investment in upstream oil and gas exploration and production in various jurisdictions around the globe.[22] The exploration and development budgets of companies participating in the most recent survey, released June 2011, totaled about $300 billion in 2010, which represents more than 60 per cent of global upstream expenditures in 2010.[22]
A series of reports measuring the extent to which Canadian provinces embrace public policies that contribute to, and sustain, positive investment climates.[23]
The Fraser Institute issued a number of articles and statements opposing Canadian gun control laws,[24][25] including firearms registry.[26]
Every year, the Institute publishes a series of School Report Cards ranking the academic performance of schools in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, and Washington state based on the publicly available results of standardized testing mandated and administered by the provinces.[27] The website www.compareschoolrankings.org allows anyone to compare up to five schools at once, based on a variety of performance indicators.[28]
The Institute's annual Tax Freedom Day report calculates the day the average Canadian family can "start working for themselves" after having paid off the total tax bill imposed on them by all levels of government.[29] In 2011, Tax Freedom Day was June 6.[29] The Institute also offers a personal Tax Freedom Day calculator.[30]
The Institute publishes three magazines: Fraser Forum, a bi-monthly review of public policy in Canada; Perspectives, a French-language review of public policy in Quebec and la Francophonie; and Canadian Student Review, a look at current affairs written for students, by students.[31]
In March 2010, the Institute released Did Government Stimulus Fuel Economic Growth in Canada? An Analysis of Statistics Canada Data,[32] a report critical of the Harper government's Economic Action Plan, concluding that the stimulus package did not have a material impact on Canada's economic turnaround in the latter half of 2009.
The Institute periodically hosts free seminars across Canada for students, teachers, and journalists, focusing on key economic concepts and timely issues in public policy.[33] In 2010, the Institute hosted eight one-day student seminars, attracting more than 775 participants.[34]
The Fraser Institute also offers an internship program, to which more than 431 individuals applied in 2010.[34]
Canada's first privately funded program of its kind, Children First: School Choice Trust[35] offers tuition assistance grants to help parents in financial need send their children to an independent school of their choice.
Canada's largest non-profit recognition program, the Donner Canadian Foundation Awards for Excellence in the Delivery of Social Services[36] recognize non-profit social service agencies that, despite budget limitations, excel in terms of management and service delivery. Winners are selected every year in a variety of categories, and share in $60,000 prize money.[36]
A global database of school chains, the multilingual website allows anyone to connect with school chain operators around the world.[37]
The Institute is governed by a board of trustees. Current members of the board are: Peter Brown (chairman), Mark Mitchell (vice-chairman), Edward Belzberg (vice-chairman), Salem Ben Nasser Al Ismaily, Gordon Arnell, Kathy Assayag, Ryan Beedie, Brad Bennett, Joseph Canavan, Alex Chafuen, Derwood Chase Jr., James Davidson, John Dielwart, Stuart Elman, Dave Filmon, Greg Fleck, Paul Fletcher, Shaun Francis, Ned Goodman, John Hagg, Paul Hill, Stephen, Hynes, Charles Jeannes, Kent Jespersen, Andrew Judson, Robert Lee, Brandt Louie, David MacKenzie, James McGovern, George Melville, Mark Mitchell, Gwyn Morgan, Eleanor Nicholls, Roger Phillips, Herb Pinder, Jack Pirie, Kevin Reed, H. Sanford Riley, Gavin Semple, Rod Senft, Anthony Sessions, Bill Siebens, Anna Stylianides, Arni Thorsteinson, Michael Walker, Jonathan Wener, Charles Barlow Jr., Sonja Bata, Everett Berg, Jim Chaplin, Serge Darkazanli, John Dobson, Raymond Heung, Bill Korol, Bill Mackness, Fred Mannix, Art Grunder, Everett Berg, Conrad Riley, and Catherine Windels.[38]
The Institute has attracted some well-known individuals to its ranks, including founding member Friedrich Hayek and politicians such as former Reform Party of Canada leader Preston Manning, former Progressive Conservative Ontario premier Mike Harris, former Progressive Conservative Alberta premier Ralph Klein, and former Liberal Newfoundland & Labrador premier Brian Tobin.
According to an article published in CBC News Online, some people allege that Michael Walker helped set up the Institute after he received financial backing from forestry giant MacMillan Bloedel, largely to counter British Columbia's NDP government[39] then led by premier Dave Barrett. The CEO of MacMillian-Bloedel at the time supported wage and price controls. The Institute has been criticized by trade unions for its recommendations to abolish minimum wage.
In late 1997, the Institute set up a research program emulating the UK's Social Affairs Unit, called the Social Affairs Centre. Its founding Director was Patrick Basham. The program's funding came from Rothmans International and Philip Morris.[40] When Rothmans was bought by British American Tobacco (BAT) in 1999, its funding ended,[41] and in 2000 the Institute wrote to BAT asking for $50,000 per year, to be split between the Social Affairs Centre and the Centre for Risk and Regulation.[40] The letter highlighted the Institute's 1999 publication Passive Smoke: The EPA's Betrayal of Science and Policy,[42] "which highlighted the absence of any scientific evidence for linking cancer with second-hand smoke [and] received widespread media coverage both in Canada and the United States".[40] At this time the CEO of BAT's Canadian subsidiary, Imasco, was also on the Fraser Institute's Board of Trustees.[41] The Fraser Institute ceased disclosing its sources of corporate funding in the 1980s.[41] In 2000 the Institute published another industry-friendly paper, a History of Tobacco Regulation by Filip Palda.[43]
In 1999, the Fraser Institute was criticized by health professionals and scientists 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.[39]
In 2002, a study by Neil Brooks of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives concluded that 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. According to the Brooks study, 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.[44]
In 2004, the Fraser Institute issued a statement of support for the legalization of cannabis and its sale on the market.[45] This is against the policies of the Institute's traditional conservative supporters who advocate anti-cannabis policies in their anti-illicit drug policies.