I’ll tell you right off the bat, I am not picking on the New Brunswick city in question. I just happened across its population in 1901 and decided to take a closer look. Here’s a pop quiz. It’s 1901. There…
Continue ReadingSettling into the new Normalcy
I just heard on the CBC that a new study in Nova Scotia predicts that there will not be a teacher shortage after all (there had been one predicted) because the declining number of teachers will be offset by the…
Continue ReadingThe source of apathy
The Commission on Legislative Democracy, headed up by long time Tory backroom operative, David McLaughlin, will be releasing its final report tomorrow and according to the Times and Transcript will be “recommending a sweeping makeover of New Brunswick’s political system,…
Continue ReadingA short history lesson
First things first. I don’t pretend to be a historian. However, I am a bit of a student of economic history – in particularly related to New Brunswick. So I offer this short history for your consideration. Going back 50…
Continue ReadingWhat is a subsidy?
The debate rages on about government subsidizing business. The media decries government for subsidizing business while at the same time closing hospital beds and cutting social programs. I think people have misconstrued the definition of a subsidy and now believe…
Continue ReadingNB exports show worrying trend
What you won’t read in the Times & Transcript is anything remotely related to bad news on the economy. So, you will have to read it here. There is a disturbing trend emerging from New Brunswick’s exports. New Brunswick is…
Continue ReadingWatch the Times & Transcript’s Propaganda
I watch with fascination as the Times & Transcript continues to prop up the obviously weak economic development policies of the provincial government. Today’s headline – N.B. job rate tops in Canada – is an incredible example of that. It…
Continue ReadingAlabama North
One of the commentators on the life of Louis J. Robichaud this week commented that without the former Premier’s reforms we would have been an ‘Alabama North’. Elizabeth Weir was famous for saying that Frank McKenna was turning New Brunswick…
Continue ReadingLearning from LJR
It now seems clear that Louis J. Robichaud will most likely go down in history as the most successful Premier in New Brunswick’s history. I have heard this intonation from a half dozen experts in the past 24 hours. Why?…
Continue ReadingMcKenna is the right guy for Washington
After the news broke yesterday that Frank McKenna has been offered the post of Ambassador to Washington, a colleague of mine remarked “why would Frank want to become a diplomat, that’s not his passion”. After pondering on that awhile, I…
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