The Montreal Economic Institute (MEI) is a non-profit research organization (or
think tank
A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmenta ...
) based in
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
, Quebec, Canada. It aims at promoting
economic liberalism
Economic liberalism is a political and economic ideology that supports a market economy based on individualism and private property in the means of production. Adam Smith is considered one of the primary initial writers on economic liberalism ...
through economic education of the general public and what it regards as efficient public policies in
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
and
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
through studies and conferences. Its research areas include different topics such as health care, education, taxation, labour, agriculture and the environment. Its studies are often mentioned in the media.
History
The MEI was incorporated in July 1987, after being created by a group of Québec intellectuals and businessmen as the continuation of the Institut économique de Paris à Montréal (which was directed by economists
Pierre Lemieux
Pierre Lemieux (born April 9, 1963) is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He served as the Member of Parliament for the riding of Glengarry-Prescott-Russell from 2006 to 2015, first elected in Canada's 39th general election and defeated in the ...
). MEI's activities soared in the late 1990s with the nomination of
Michel Kelly-Gagnon as executive director. The institute rapidly established a leading place in debates on economic policy in the province of Quebec and managed to attract leading academics. Several members of its board of directors and many of its fellows play a significant role in Quebec's economy as entrepreneurs or intellectuals.
Maxime Bernier
Maxime Bernier (born January 18, 1963) is a Canadian politician who is the founder and leader of the People's Party of Canada (PPC). Formerly a member of the Conservative Party, Bernier left the caucus in 2018 to form the PPC. He was the member ...
served as its vice president, from May to November 2005, before he became federal
Minister of Industry The industry minister is a cabinet position in a government.
The title may refer to the head of the governmental department that specializes in industry. This position may also be responsible for trade and employment, areas that fall under the mini ...
. Bernier explained that his role at the Institute was mainly fundraising and act as an advisor to Kelly Gagnon.
Tasha Kheiriddin
Tasha Kheiriddin (born 1970) is a Canadian public affairs commentator, consultant, lawyer, policy analyst and writer.
Early life and education
Born on June 25, 1970, Kheiriddin was born and raised in Montreal and earned a law degree from McGill ...
also briefly occupied this position from March to September 2006, before moving to the Quebec branch of the Fraser Institute. From February 2007 to October 2009, the vice president was Marcel Boyer, professor of economics at the
University of Montreal
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...
. The vice president is currently
Jasmin Guénette, former director of public affairs who came back after spending two years at the
Institute for Humane Studies
The Institute for Humane Studies (IHS) is a non-profit organization that promotes the teaching and research of classical liberalism in higher education in the United States. IHS offers funding opportunities, programs, and events for faculty and g ...
in
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
.
Paul Muller was president of the MEI from 2006 to 2012 and former policy adviser to leader of
Action démocratique du Québec
Action may refer to:
* Action (narrative), a literary mode
* Action fiction, a type of genre fiction
* Action game, a genre of video game
Film
* Action film, a genre of film
* ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford
* ''Action'' (1980 fil ...
,
Mario Dumont
Mario Dumont (born May 19, 1970) is a Canadian television personality and former politician in Quebec, Canada. He was a Member of the National Assembly of Quebec (MNA), and the leader of the Action démocratique du Québec (ADQ), from 1994 to 20 ...
.
From 2000 until 2008, the MEI prepared a ranking of Quebec high schools published in
L'actualité
''L'actualité'' is a Canadian French-language news and general interest magazine published in Montreal by Rogers Communications until 2016, then by Mishmash (XPND Capital). The magazine has over a million readers, according to Canada's Print Measu ...
magazine every fall.
In 2009, Kelly Gangon returned to the MEI as president and moved the organisation from a $269,342 deficit for financial year ending December 31, 2008 to a $153,188 surplus (as of December 31, 2009) in the context of a severe recession
During
2012 Quebec student protests
The 2012 Quebec student protests (movement) were a series of student protests led by student unions such as the Association pour une solidarité syndicale étudiante (ASSÉ), the Fédération étudiante universitaire du Québec, and the Fédéra ...
, their office was damaged by militants who disapproved of their positions.
MEI recruited
Joe Oliver, the former
Minister of Finance
A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation.
A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...
in
Stephen Harper
Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. Harper is the first and only prime minister to come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ...
's
Conservative Party of Canada
The Conservative Party of Canada (french: Parti conservateur du Canada), colloquially known as the Tories, is a federal political party in Canada. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of the two main right-leaning parties, the Progressive Con ...
government, as a 'Distinguished Senior Fellow' in 2016.
Youri Chassin, who was the research director from 2012-2017 was elected as
MNA for
Saint-Jérôme
Saint-Jérôme () ( 2021 population 80,213) is a suburban city located about northwest of Montreal on the Rivière du Nord. It is part of the Montreal of Greater Montreal. It is a gateway to the Laurentian Mountains and its resorts via the ...
.
Description
MEI states that it does not participate in partisan activities. Its public interventions are meant only to analyze the relevance of public policies, their costs and benefits, and their impact on individuals and on private and public organizations. Our work remains the same regardless of who proposes or opposes specific policies.
It rejects characterizations such as "right-wing" and "libertarian," MEI advocates policies in line with economic liberalism,
such as loosening Quebec’s labour laws, increasing the transparency of labour union financing, merit pay for teachers, and ending
Canada Post
Canada Post Corporation (french: Société canadienne des postes), trading as Canada Post (french: Postes Canada), is a Crown corporation that functions as the primary postal operator in Canada. Originally known as Royal Mail Canada (the opera ...
's monopoly on letter delivery, as well as a general downsizing of the state.
The institute maintains a "Chinese wall" between its researchers and its Donors. The institute states that the publications and videos are not submitted to Donors or their representatives for approval or editing before they are released.
Funding
MEI is a registered Canadian charity and Kelly-Gagnon has said that 65-70% of MEI's funding comes from foundations, with an additional 15-20% coming from individuals and the remainder coming from corporations; it does not accept funding from the public sector.
Its 2015 budget was $2.3 million, and had a full-time staff of 12 as of March 2016.
Its tax returns indicate that major support comes from the
Stowers Institute for Medical Research
The Stowers Institute for Medical Research is a biomedical research organization that conducts basic research on genes and proteins that control fundamental processes in living cells to analyze diseases and find keys to their causes, treatment, ...
, the
Donner Canadian Foundation Donner may refer to: Places
* Donner (crater), a lunar crater
* Mount Donner, on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada
* Donner, California, an unincorporated community near Donner Pass, United States
* Donner Lake, in California
* Donner Memo ...
, and the Chase Foundation of Virginia.
It has also received funding from the
Claude R. Lambe Charitable Foundation and the
John Templeton Foundation
The John Templeton Foundation (Templeton Foundation) is a philanthropic organization that reflects the ideas of its founder, John Templeton, who became wealthy via a career as a contrarian investor, and wanted to support progress in religious an ...
.
Reputation
Commentators often characterize it as Quebec's equivalent to the
Fraser Institute
The Fraser Institute is a libertarian-conservative Canadian public policy think tank and registered charity. The institute describes itself as independent and non-partisan. It is headquartered in Vancouver, with additional offices in Calgary, Tor ...
and a voice of fiscal conservationism in Quebec.
Former MEI vice president Tasha Kheiriddin placed it in the same group as the Fraser Institute as well as the
National Citizens Coalition
The National Citizens Coalition (NCC) is a Canadian conservative lobby group that was incorporated in 1975 by Colin M. Brown, a successful insurance agent who strongly opposed public health insurance—medicare. In response to what he perceiv ...
,
Frontier Centre for Public Policy
The Frontier Centre for Public Policy (FCPP) is a Canadian public policy think tank, founded to undertake research and education projects in support of economic growth and social outcomes that enhance quality of life. 2012 Annual Report http://ww ...
, the
Canadian Taxpayers Federation
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF; french: Fédération canadienne des contribuables, link=no) is a federally incorporated, non-profit organization in Canada. It claimed 30,517 donors and 215,009 supporters in 2018–19. Voting membership, h ...
, and the
Atlantic Institute for Market Studies
The Fraser Institute is a libertarian-conservative Canadian public policy think tank and registered charity. The institute describes itself as independent and non-partisan. It is headquartered in Vancouver, with additional offices in Calgary, Tor ...
.
An
analysis of social networks on
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
by the
Institute for Research on Public Policy
The Institute for Research on Public Policy (IRPP) is an independent, national, bilingual, not-for-profit organization based in Montreal, Quebec. Its mission is to "improve public policy in Canada by generating research, providing insight and info ...
found that MEI is one of the Canadian think tanks with the highest "right-wing" scores, along with the
Manning Centre
Ernest Preston Manning (born June 10, 1942) is a Canadian retired politician. He was the founder and the only leader of the Reform Party of Canada, a Canadian federal political party that evolved into the Canadian Alliance in 2000 which in tur ...
, the Frontier Centre for Public Policy, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, the
C.D. Howe Institute
The C. D. Howe Institute (french: Institut C. D. Howe) is a Canadian nonprofit policy research organization in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It aims to be distinguished by "research that is nonpartisan, evidence-based, and subject to definitive exper ...
, the
Canada West Foundation
The Canada West Foundation is a non-partisan think tank based in Calgary, Alberta. It primarily conducts research on issues of concern in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, but also on issues of national significance.
The found ...
, and the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies.
Another former MEI vice president, Bernier stated the institute influenced him as an Industry Minister by giving him the experience to learn about public policies and how to implement good public policies.
Their reasoning was also questioned on several occasions by the ''Institut de recherche et d'informations socio-économiques,''.
Faut-il choisir entre la finance et la Corée du Nord?
', IRIS Ethan Cox, a political organizer and writer, has said that "MEI is part of the same problem they have with money in the U.S. political process: corporate interests who can outspend critics have too much influence in our political process."
Fellows and Associate Researchers
*
James M. Buchanan
James McGill Buchanan Jr. (; October 3, 1919 – January 9, 2013) was an American economist known for his work on public choice theory originally outlined in his most famous work co-authored with Gordon Tullock in 1962, ''The Calculus of Consen ...
– Senior Fellow honoraire
*
Vernon L. Smith
Vernon Lomax Smith (born January 1, 1927) is an American economist and professor of business economics and law at Chapman University. He was formerly a professor of economics at the University of Arizona, professor of economics and law at Georg ...
– Senior Fellow honoraire
*
Nathalie Elgrably-Lévy – Senior Economist
*
Pierre Lemieux
Pierre Lemieux (born April 9, 1963) is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He served as the Member of Parliament for the riding of Glengarry-Prescott-Russell from 2006 to 2015, first elected in Canada's 39th general election and defeated in the ...
– Senior Fellow
* Adam Daifallah – Fellow
*
Marie-Josée Loiselle – Fellow
* Etienne Bernier
*
Sylvain Charlebois
Sylvain Charlebois is a Canadian researcher and professor in food distribution and food policy at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. He is Dalhousie's former Dean of the Faculty of Management. He is currently the Director of t ...
* J. Edwin Coffey
*
Pierre Desrochers
* André Duchesne
*
Claude Garcia
* Vincent Geloso
* F. Pierre Gingras
* Ian Irvine
* Pierre J. Jeanniot
* Robert Knox
* Patrick Dery
* Valentin Petkantchin
References
External links
Montreal Economic Institute
{{Authority control
Conservatism in Canada
Political and economic think tanks based in Canada
Right-wing politics in Canada
Libertarian think tanks
Libertarianism in Canada