Happy anniversary, Frank. This is the 20th anniversary of Frank McKenna’s coming to power in 1987. A lot has changed since then, some good and some decidedly bad. In celebration of McKenna’s anniversary, let’s take a little look back at 1987 and compare it to today:
1987 – 9,600 births, 5,300 deaths
2006 – 6,700 births, 6,600 deaths
1987 – Net interprovincial migration -2,016
2006 – Net interprovincial migration – 1,114
1987 – population 710,000
2006 – population 729,000
1987 – population of Westmorland/Albert counties (Greater Moncton) 135,000
2006 – population of Westmorland/Albert counties (Greater Moncton) 160,400
1987 – population of Northumberland county 53,000
2006 – population of Northumberland county 48,800
1987 – population of Gloucester county 87,000
2006 – population of Gloucester county 78,000
1987 – Canada’s population 25.3 million
2006 – Canada’s population 32 million
1987 – New Brunswick’s Equalization payment: $723.5 million
2006 – New Brunswick’s Equalization payment: $1.45 billion
1987 – New Brunswick’s Equalization per capita: $1,000 per person
2006 – New Brunswick’s Equalization per capita: $2,000 per person
I guess that whole “boot straps” thing didn’t really work out after all. Then again, neither did the Prosperity Plan. Maybe we’ll have better luck with the Self Sufficiency plan.