Happy NB Day, folks. Here’s my thinking on this thing:
Consider the main editorial and byline in the Times and Transcript and the Telegraph-Journal below:
Celebrating NB, a special home
We Say: New Brunswickers are among the most fortunate people in the world
Better province is the goal
The appeal of New Brunswick Day is that it’s gratuitous – a break just for the sake of enjoying an August long weekend. It’s also a suitable occasion to consider what’s working in the province and what isn’t.
Once again, we are reminded that the TJ is a real newspaper and the T&T is more of a tabloid, partisan piece. How could two newspapers so different be owned by the same organization?
Anyway, the TJ has a better angle on this thing because it is time for us to assess the economic and social health of the province and commit ourselves to making improvements.
Al Hogan thinks that New Brunswickers are among the most fortunate people in the world. Well, he is right and wrong.
In the right column:
NB is a nice environment to raise a family (calm, safe, quiet, low cost of living, etc.)
In the wrong column:
A real defeatist attitude is emerging in New Brunswick – particularly in rural areas. I have a friend who is moving to the US from the Miramichi – for his kids – he wants to raise them in an area where the people are positive and have a good outlook on life.
In the right column:
NBers enjoy the benefits of a socially oriented society – public health care, education, roads, welfare, EI, etc.
In the wrong column:
We can’t pay for it. We are on borrowed time.
In the right column:
Acadians prefer to stay in New Brunswick. I was in a Information Technology firm a few weeks ago here in Moncton and of the 80 people there 75 were Acadian computer programmers. The manager told me that the Anglos prefer to move to Toronto, Calgary, etc. but the Acadians do not want to move out of NB.
In the wrong column:
Anglos, especially professionals, are leaving NB in record numbers.
In the right column:
We live in a province where there is freedom of the press.
In the wrong column:
That has bred Al Hogan.