IMFC Research by Derek Miedema

 Please Note: This is a summary of the events and speeches in my own words for educational, information, and entertainment purposes only. It is not the speakers' exact words and should not be taken as such. It also may contain errors due to the nature of the medium. I am not responsible for any of them, use at your own risk.

Derek Miedema presents research on "Public Education and Parental Choice” and Government Gambling and Broken Families

He studied enrolment and funding trends in schools. He found that enrolment in public schools is declining, yet funding is going up. In private schools, enrolment is actually going up, but they get no funding in Ontario. Kids in private schools save the government 1.1 billion dollars, but that money does not follow the children, and their parents are being made to pay for education twice, once through taxes and once through tuition.

He also studied how problem gambling harms families. Children are not harmed just financially by problem gambling, as grocery money is spent in the casino, they are also harmed emotionally as they realize that they take second place to the gambling. About 3% of people in Ontario are problem gamblers, but it is estimated that 12-25% of people may be affected by problem gambling, as a spouse, child, etc. The government has no real incentive to deal with those who have serious gambling issues, in Alberta for example, 80% of their gambling revenue comes from 10% of the population.