I see that Enterprise Restigouche has an RFP out for a ‘repopulation strategy’. I hope they select a firm to do this work that understands the direct correlation between population and economy. This, I submit, should be somewhat self-evident. However,…
Continue ReadingPotash v. Natural Gas
This is good news. The New Brunswick government triumphed over rival locations to secure a US$1.6-billion investment by the Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc. to build a second mine in Sussex that will generate 140 new full-time jobs. Premier Shawn…
Continue ReadingTJ finally gets to the heart of the matter
I may have missed it but this is the first real story on the impact that Equalization changes will have on New Brunswick even though the new formula has been known for months. As I mentioned a few days ago,…
Continue ReadingRethinking pork barrel politics
I’ve been thinking about the mythical ‘convention centre’ proposed for Moncton or a host of other projects put forward by communities that are (or seem to be) totally dependent on either or both provincial or federal government funding to go…
Continue ReadingFarcical
The Conservation Council of New Brunswick is doing some major backpedalling today with their letter to the editor in the T&T. It says “The Conservation Council has never, as has been quoted in the press, opposed the resort development” (this…
Continue ReadingVery instructive example
If you read this blog at all, you will know my biggest bugaboo is people who say that New Brunswick’s problem is that we are “far from the market” which leads, invariably, to “why would company x ever want to…
Continue ReadingA weird benefit from out-migration
I just heard on CBC about the crime rate and how it is dropping in New Brunswick. The RCMP officer credited the fine work of his officers in the province. The interviewer stated that crime rates are down across Canada.…
Continue ReadingEggs, chickens, and all that jazz
David Shipley has a piece in the TJ this morning covering a new APEC report titled: The Growing Importance of Older Workers in Atlantic Canada. Shipley quotes a variety of experts predicting gloom and doom and advocating forcing seniors to…
Continue ReadingNew Brunswick getting older
Statistics Canada has just published its Age and Sex data from the 2006 Census. You can search the tables here. There aren’t a lot of surprises. Atlantic Canada is older than the rest of Canada – following a continuing trend.…
Continue ReadingIn defense of the Swivel Servants
Alec Bruce makes an important point in his column today. I have expressed my concern that you can’t have sustainable economic growth built on public sector employment growth. The dollars to fund the public sector either come from own source…
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