Montreal, November 20, 2007 – Promoting the creation of a competitive market for timber would help the forest industry restructure and meet international competition more effectively. The industry could thereby play its major role in Quebec’s development without resorting to short-term solutions based on subsidies and protectionist regulations.

Montreal, October 30, 2007 – Canada’s underground economy represents about 5% of the country’s gross domestic product, amounting to $75 billion. The underground economy includes goods and services that are produced, exchanged or consumed in violation of the law. These activities are illegal either because the law prohibits production or consumption of the goods or services concerned, as in the case of narcotics (referred to as black markets) or because legal goods or services are exchanged under illegal conditions.

Montreal, October 25, 2007 – Nine of the 10 fastest improving schools in Quebec are public schools, according to the 2007 Edition of the Report Card on Quebec’s Secondary Schools, released today by the Montreal Economic Institute and The Fraser Institute and, two independent research organizations.

Montreal, October 25, 2007 – According to a Léger Marketing poll commissioned by the Montreal Economic Institute, nearly seven Quebeckers in ten (68%) favour greater co-operation by high school principals in producing the Report Card on Quebec’s Secondary Schools.

Montreal, October 11, 2007 – Public-private partnerships (PPP), financed by tolls, can provide an advantageous way of carrying out a substantial number of highway renewal projects. In a series of three Economic Notes published by the Montreal Economic Institute, economist Mathieu Laberge says this could enable the Quebec government to save public funds in future reconstruction work on the Turcot interchange, the Metropolitan highway or, eventually, the Louis-Hippolyte-Lafontaine bridge and tunnel. “International experience shows that PPPs can help finance not only the construction but also the renewal of highways and other road infrastructure,” Mr. Laberge states.

Montreal, October 11, 2007 – According to a Léger Marketing poll commissioned by the Montreal Economic Institute, more than half of Quebeckers (52%) hold the view that tolls are the best of several suggested options for getting highway users to finance rebuilding projects. The poll was conducted to accompany the release of three Economic Notes by the Institute on financing the maintenance of highways through public-private partnerships and tolls.

Montreal, September 18, 2007 – Although the municipal administration just required budget cuts amounting to $100 million from its departments and boroughs, it is possible to believe that Montreal could do more and, most of all, better. Mayor Tremblay and officials in other cities could adopt two strategies that have helped reduce the cost of municipal services outside Quebec while enhancing their quality. In an Economic Note published by the Montreal Economic Institute, economist Mathieu Laberge explains that “good municipal governance includes systematic comparisons of efficiency as well as putting services up to competitive tender with the private sector.”

Montreal, August 29, 2007 – In a conference today in Montreal, Marcel Boyer, vice president of the Montreal Economic Institute, and Claude Garcia, former president of Standard Life, stated that partial or full privatization of Hydro-Québec would produce greater value for our water resources.

Montreal, August 23, 2007 – As the commission on the future of Quebec’s agriculture and agrifood sector begins its hearings, the Montreal Economic Institute is estimating that supply management of milk, eggs and poultry costs at least $300 extra per year for a family of four. This amounts to $575 million for everyone in Quebec.

Montreal, August 9, 2007 – Although private financing of health care may be controversial, Quebec has experienced continuous growth in private health spending over the last 25 years. In 2006, it amounted to $8.6 billion. This represents 28.4% of overall health care spending (up from 20.3% in 1981). In an Economic Note published by the Montreal Economic Institute, vice president and chief economist Marcel Boyer and economist Mathieu Laberge review the costs paid by users of health care services.