Frontier Centre for Public Policy

Last updated
Frontier Centre for Public Policy
Established1997 [1]
FounderPeter Holle [1]
Type Public Policy Think Tank
Headquarters203 – 2727 Portage Avenue
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Coordinates 49°52′43″N97°16′22″W / 49.8785°N 97.2728°W / 49.8785; -97.2728
President
Peter Holle [2]
Chairman
Wayne Anderson [2]
VP Development and Engagement
David Leis [2]
Website www.fcpp.org

The Frontier Centre for Public Policy (FCPP) is a Canadian public policy think tank, [1] founded to "undertake research and education projects in support of economic growth and social outcomes that enhance quality of life". [3] Among the positions promoted by the Centre is climate change denial.

Contents

Publications and controversies

Canadian Indian residential school system

In September 2018, the Frontier Centre ran a radio ad which asked "are Canadians being told the whole truth" about the Canadian Indian residential school system. [4] According to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), the ad stated that the "average stay was less than five years and the vast majority of Aboriginal youth never attended", and that "there is little evidence that abuse that was suffered by a grandparent had any affect on the academic success of the generations that followed". [4] CBC quoted a professor who described the Frontier Centre's position as "egregiously wrong" and "knowingly turning its back on the facts." [4] Perry Bellegarde of the Assembly of First Nations denounced the ad for downplaying the "overwhelming research and evidence that shows the harmful, negative impacts of residential school". [4]

The Centre published in 2021 an anthology of 13 articles criticizing editorial, legal and historical defects in the publications of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (2015). A general theme was that the TRC 500-page Summary, published first, does not reflect even-handedly the 3,000 other pages of the final report (in six volumes.) [5]

Climate Change

The Centre has published several articles against the scientific consensus on climate change. [6] [7] [8] [9] In 2011 and 2012 the Frontier Centre put on its website and in letters allegations of fraud made by Timothy Ball against climate scientist Michael E. Mann, who issued a lawsuit. In June 2019 the Frontier Centre apologised for publishing "untrue and disparaging accusations which impugned the character of Dr. Mann." It said that Mann had "graciously accepted our apology and retraction". [10] [11] [12]

Funding

The Frontier Centre does not receive government funding. Funding comes from private charitable foundations (63%) such as the Aurea Foundation and the Heartland Institute, [13] businesses (18%), individuals (18%), and by events (1%). [3]

Related Research Articles

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The Canadian Indian residential school system were a network of boarding schools for Indigenous peoples. Directed and funded by the Department of Indian Affairs, and administered mainly by Christian churches, the residential school system removed and isolated Indigenous children from the influence of their own native culture and religion in order to forcefully assimilate them into the dominant Canadian culture. Given that most of them were established by Christian missionaries with the express purpose of converting Indigenous children to Christianity, schools often had nearby mission churches with community cemeteries. Students were often buried in these cemeteries rather than being sent back to their home communities, since the school was expected by the Department of Indian Affairs to keep costs as low as possible. Additionally, occasional outbreaks of disease led to the creation of mass graves when the school had insufficient staff to bury students individually.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Frontier Centre website's About page, "accessed September 8, 2014".
  2. 1 2 3 Frontier Centre website's list of Board of Directors, "accessed September 8, 2014".
  3. 1 2 2012 Annual Report http://www.fcpp.org/files/annual-reports/pdfs/annual-report-2012.pdf
  4. 1 2 3 4 Meloney, Nic (September 24, 2018). "Radio ad claiming to debunk 'myths' of residential schools draws criticism". CBC News . Retrieved September 25, 2018.
  5. From Truth Comes Reconciliation, ed. Rodney A. Clifton and Mark DeWolf, Winnipeg, 2021.
  6. "Climate Change "Morality"". Frontier Centre for Public Policy. 2009-06-05. Retrieved 2022-11-24.
  7. "Climate Change; Data Control The Enemy Within". Frontier Centre for Public Policy. 2009-10-13. Retrieved 2022-11-24.
  8. del Pino Calvo-Sotelo, Fernando (2018-06-25). "Climate Change and Political Pollution". Frontier Centre for Public Policy. Retrieved 2022-11-24.
  9. Harris, Tom (2012-09-21). "Climate Change Dogma has more in Common with Fundamentalist Religion than Science". Frontier Centre for Public Policy. Retrieved 2022-11-24.
  10. "Retraction and Apology to Michael Mann". Frontier Centre For Public Policy. 2019-06-07. Archived from the original on 2019-06-09. Retrieved 2019-06-10.
  11. McIntosh, Emma (2019-06-13). "Michael E. Mann took climate change deniers to court. They apologized". Canada's National Observer . Retrieved 2022-11-24.
  12. McIntosh, Emma (2019-06-16). "A Scientist Took Climate Change Deniers to Court and Wrested an Apology From Them". Mother Jones . Retrieved 2019-06-16. (story originally published by the National Observer )
  13. "Frontier Centre for Public Policy (FCPP)". Desmog Clearing the PR Pollution that Clouds Climate Science. Retrieved 2022-11-24.