I got into some controversy last year when I defended the City of Moncton for deciding to use some of the highway frontage land around Mapleton Park for commercial use. I got calls, emails and blog posts decrying me as…
Continue ReadingNew Irving Refinery
CBC is reporting this A.M. that the Irvings are about to announce another multi-billion dollar 1,000 person refinery in the Saint John area. The formal announcement is expected tomorrow. What’s interesting about this from a political perspective is that this…
Continue ReadingA healthy choice
I want to talk about Mike Murphy this a.m. but a couple of housekeeping comments first. 1. I thought it was telling that Premier Graham (Premier Shawn?) went out of his way in his first speech as Premier to say…
Continue ReadingDumping the name Business New Brunswick
The TJ is reporting this morning that Business New Brunswick will be getting a new name. I have said on these pages before that BNB meant nothing as a concept. After 10 years of trying to educate folks about the…
Continue ReadingLeft-Right-Centre?
I will poke my nose ever so slightly into the realm of political commentary/analysis although I don’t have much of a track record. I am curious about this left-right dialogue going on right now in the federal Liberal leadership race.…
Continue ReadingAt least one segment of the population is doing well
It’s nice to see that Al Hogan over at the T&T has his priorities right. AFter burying the story last week showing New Brunswick’s steepest population decline in a single year since the Depression in the 1930s, we get a…
Continue ReadingWhy the Libs should care about regional development
I posted before that Michael Ignatieff is the only leader among the Liberal pack to have made regional economic development a major plank in his platform. I was told that Dion also talked about regional economic development but I couldn’t…
Continue ReadingFinally, NB does something right
I have beem combing the world looking for things that New Brunswick has done right. Excellence that started in our problem. Here’s an example. Service New Brunswick was cited as as model for government service delivery by the Center for…
Continue ReadingEat up!
If you like the tourism sector, this must grind your gourd a bit. Total food service sales in New Brunswick in July suffered the second highest decline but more importantly NB is second last in the country for per capita…
Continue ReadingComparing housing prices
This is kind of cool. It is an average housing cost comparison from around the world. All figures are in US dollars. The average house costs $1.8M in Beverley Hills, CA and $190k in Moncton, NB. However, that same house…
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