30Th Anniversary Retrospective

The Formation of the Institute search and disseminate its findings to policy makers and the general public, thus simultaneously providing policy In Canada in the early 1970s, the intellectual consensus makers with better alternatives, and stimulating public was that government action was the best means of meet- demand for better policies. The organization would act as ing the economic and social aspirations of Canadians. This an “economic conscience,” reminding everyone that view was prevalent in all major political parties, the civil effective economic policy must be the result of careful ap- service, academia, and the media, and even in much of the plication of the laws of economics to the facts of particular business world. The lack of vigorous public debate about situations. the limits of governmental competence had created an unhealthy situation where the Having agreed on this, the group then set about pro- general public, bombarded by this consen- ducing a mission statement to guide the work of the In- sus, demanded increasing government institute. Thirty years on, with minor changes, this tervention in the economy. Thus, the document still governs the Institute’s operations. Its pursuit of sound economic policy became main features were that: increasingly politically impossible. • the Institute’s research priorities would be deter- Drawn together by mutually-shared wor- mined by its staff, not its funders; ries about the future implications of this sit- • the Institute’s research would be based on sound uation, a small group of people gradually methodology and facts. To ensure this, an Editorial coalesced to discuss what could be done Advisory Board would be established; about it.* The main figures in this group were T. Patrick • no Institute staff would engage in political activity, Boyle, then V.P. Financial Planning for MacMillan and the Institute’s conclusions would not be modi- Bloedel, Michael Walker, an economist consulting for the fied to favour any political or economic group; Department of Finance in Ottawa, economists Csaba • Hajdá, John Raybould, and, in Vancouver, Sally Pipes. no donor, member, or trustee of the Institute would exercise a veto over the Institute’s work; and Boyle had the insight that a new type of organization was • the Institute would use the best available talent and needed to conduct independent economic and social re- consider issues in an international context. *A more extensive history of the Institute can be found in Challenging Perceptions: Twenty-Five Years of Influential Ideas available at www.fraserinstitute.ca. The Fraser Institute 1974 – 2004 Three of the many speakers at Fraser Institute events over the past 30 years include (from left): Chairman of the Board of Governors of the US Federal Reserve System Alan Greenspan (1984); Former US Secretary of State George Shultz (1990); former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (1993 in Toronto and 1997 in Vancouver). Growth of the Institute In its first full year of operation, 1975, the Institute re- corded revenues of $421,389. Growth in the first decade On October 21, 1974, The Fraser Institute (named for the was steady, but not spectacular. Three people played key river) was recognized as a charitable education organiza- roles in placing the organization on a sound financial foot- tion by the federal government, and commenced opera- ing in these early years. The Hon. J.V. Cline was instru- tions in Vancouver (charitable status in the United States mental in raising the required seed money. Boyle, after was obtained in 1978). Sir Antony Fisher, previously in- retiring from MacMillan Bloedel in 1977, ran the Insti- strumental in establishing the Institute of Economic Af- tute’s fundraising efforts until 1983. And in response to a fairs (IEA) in London, was appointed Acting Director in recession-caused funding crisis in 1982, Dr. Harold Wal- 1975. Michael Walker assumed the role of Chief Econo- ter Siebens made the first of many significant gifts to the mist, and succeeded Fisher as Executive Director in 1977. Institute. Sally Pipes and John Raybould were the other original staff members. The Institute now employs 45 full-time Another important factor in weathering the 1982 crisis— staff, as well as 21 senior fellows and adjunct scholars. and in establishing the Institute’s endowment fund—was From the beginning, the Institute’s operations have been overseen by a Board of Trustees nominated from amongst the Institute’s members. The first Chairman of the Board was the late Alan Campney, who stepped down in 1986 and was replaced by the current Chairman, R.J. Adding- ton, OBE. The Institute’s growth from its modest beginnings to pre-eminent status among Canadian public policy research organizations was not inevitable. Rather, it is a tes- tament to the strength of the ideas underlying the Institute’s work, and to the generosity and foresight of its members. The support of individuals, business leaders, M. Ridewood, CP Photo Assignment Services and private foundations has been indispensable, for un- In October 2002, Skeptical Environmentalist author Bjørn Lomborg like most other organizations of its kind, the Institute does warns a Calgary audience of the potentially devastating costs Canada could not accept public funding. impose upon itself by signing the Kyoto Accord. 2 The Fraser Institute 1974 – 2004 Mr. Bill Emmott, Editor of The Economist magazine, has spoken to two Fraser Institute audiences in the past few years: one in To- ronto in 2001 and another in Vancouver in 2003. Charles Kochman the game Poleconomy. Approached by the inventor of the game to market it in Canada, Walker orchestrated the sale to Canadian firms of naming rights to individual game Imke Wernicke squares. Over a million dollars were raised. The Children First Celebration event in Toronto in 2003 brought together families and staff to announce the first ever tuition assistance grants. However, it was not until 1988 that the million dollar mark in annual general revenue was passed. Then, after a period of fluctuation, an era of remarkable sustained growth began in 1993: the $2 million mark was passed in The Institute has always had a significant international 1994, the $3 million mark in 1997, the $4 million mark in dimension, and has built strong relationships with 1999, the $5 million mark in 2002, and the $6 million mark like-minded groups in other countries. Links with the in 2003. IEA and with the Washington-based Cato Institute were established almost immediately, and soon after with the Membership growth has been sensitive to economic Atlas Foundation, created by Sir Antony Fisher to en- trends and to “hot button” issues. Overall, however, courage the growth of independent research institutes membership has grown steadily, from 65 members at the patterned after The Fraser Institute around the world. As end of 1975, to 521 in 1983, to 1,070 in 1990, to 2,098 in 1994, part of this effort, the Institute in 1979 hosted a delega- to well over 3,000 in 2003. tion of Latin American economists, many of whom adopted the Institute’s organizational model for use in While having its headquarters in Vancouver, the Institute their own countries. has gradually expanded its physical presence across the country. Branch offices operated in Winnipeg in the late In 1983, 1992, and 1999, the Institute hosted meetings of 1980s, and in Ottawa in the late 1990s, but proved unsus- the Mont PJlPrin Society, the leading international forum tainable. However, branch offices in Calgary and Toronto for groups conducting research into and understanding of are flourishing following their respective expansions in market-oriented economic systems and free societies. 1999 and 2001. The Vancouver office was also able to Formed shortly after the Second World War, the society’s move into a new building in 1998. membership includes leading lights from academia, the media, and politics. Research The Institute has published a wide range of work, which can only be outlined here. Overall, the most prominent features of the more than 200 books and major studies pro- duced are their uniformly high quality, and their consis- tently correct analysis of the likely consequences of the public policies being examined. In brief, the Institute’s research findings have supported: • lower and flatter tax rates with minimal exemp- Economic Freedom Network members from around the world meet in Madrid, tions, and elimination of economically inefficient Spain, in October 2002. taxes like capital gains and corporate capital taxes; 3 The Fraser Institute 1974 – 2004 Fraser Institute Senior Fellow and former leader of the Reform Party of Canada, Preston Manning (right), following his presentation to a student seminar in Toronto on November 1, 2002. Kristin McCahon Alberta Premier Ralph Klein in a media scrum following the T. Patrick Boyle Founder’s Award presentation in Vancouver on November 15, 2002. • fiscal measures such as balanced budgets, and tax- ation and expenditure limitations; Annabel Addington • privatization of government functions and services, wherever this would reduce costs without • liberalization of trade, both nationally and interna- compromising effectiveness; tionally; • privatization of public pensions; • immigration policies based on liberal principles • introduction of private competition to the public but enforced strictly; and health care system, and of incentives within the • greater allocation of national resources to national public system to increase productivity;

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