Stats Canada is out with its latest data on charitable giving in Canada. New Brunswickers still give more than the median Canadian to charity but we had the largest percentage decline in giving in 2007 of all ten provinces. What…
Continue ReadingRural/urban population trends
Thought you might like to see this: Structure and Change in Canada’s Rural Demography: An Update to 2006. I don’t have much to say on it except that I remain reasonably convinced that New Brunswick has to a) become more…
Continue ReadingSigh
New Brunswick’s senior minister in the federal cabinet says he and other Conservative members will use their newly-won clout to go after money from the Atlantic Gateway initiative for provincial projects. Veterans Affairs Minister Greg Thompson joined Saint John MP…
Continue ReadingKeep a positive attitude
I have had a series of conversations in the past few days and people are feel quite glum about the prospects for New Brunswick these days. There is also some frustruction in there as well. Look, I serve up quite…
Continue ReadingAPEC’s outlook for New Brunswick
Sound familiar? Employment growth in New Brunswick has tapered off in 2008 after strong gains throughout 2007. Average employment levels during the first three quarters were still 1.1% higher than in 2007, but this is well below the 1.8% national…
Continue ReadingExpanding export destinations
N.B. must expand trading sphere as U.S. economy slumps: Graham Shawn Graham said that as Canada’s most trade-dependent province, with close to 90 per cent of its goods destined for the U.S. marketplace, New Brunswick must expand its trade opportunities.…
Continue ReadingSounds like an Air Farce skit
Ontario to collect $347-million payoutOntario will for the first time collect from a federal program designed to shift wealth to Canada’s poorest regions next year, an unpleasant reminder of the grim economic prospects facing the country’s most populous province. Premier…
Continue ReadingAnother Duncan Commission
Someone commented on my post this week recommending a “McKenna Plan” saying that was the Francis McGuire plan. Nope. I am talking about a Fed/Prov initiative with joint responsibility. Maybe even some kind of commission that would recommend significant changes.…
Continue ReadingOgle wants NB to focus on ET
Richard Ogle, who penned the book Smart World, says New Brunswick has done this before when it was a leader in creating a thriving call centre industry, and needs to get behind another new “big idea” if it wants to…
Continue ReadingBlaming demographics
I have blogged about this before but it is well worth repeating. After the Census of 2001 showed that New Brunswick’s population was in decline, then Premier Lord famously (at least in my mind) blamed it on ‘demographics’. It was…
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