The State of Things

David Campbell Post in Uncategorized

I attended the Premier’s State of the Province address last night.  I think I have attended 8 or 9 of these things over the years and they are mostly the same – a broad rah rah session to convince people things are moving ahead.  The speech outlined some interesting points.  Graham went out of his way to mentioned a dozen or so local firms but also discussed the expansions of multinational firms here.

I liked his message near the end that the province’s economic progress (self sufficiency) is not just a government thing – it needs to be embraced by the wider population.  I don’t think we will every see real change without that broader buy-in.

Even the opposition.  Somehow a vision for a new New Brunswick – not all that marketing crap – but serious fundamental change needs to be embraced by the opposition as well.

4 thoughts on “The State of Things”

  1. Yes its the people and the oppositions fault for the height of ridiculousness. While all we read is the giving away of our money to the Acadian penn. and mckennas friends.Irving should give him his pension early and bring in Lamrock.

  2. I don’t know if you are unfortunate enough to be a subscriber of the Daily Gleaner, but I found today’s editorial (based on the Premier’s speech) to be disheartening. Everything is just fine and dandy, says the Gleaner. Terrible four decades of relative non-growth, terrible wage gaps, manufacturing dying, etc; none of this matters, says the Gleaner, because our taxes are going to be cut. What was the editorial writer thinking? A majority of the money GNB spends comes from fed transfers; that pie and our slice of the pie are both set to shrink. Where will the funds come from to make up the shortage? How can we be self-sufficient with such low rates of growth?

    Graham and the Gleaner may think that tax cuts will trigger growth, but there are few if any studies showing that tax cuts provide anything more than a short-term stimulus. Are tax cuts just an election ploy? I wish the Premier had the guts to be honest with NBers about our future prospects.

    Seems to me that right now NB needs a web-based source of honest information.

  3. The constant spin turns everyone off (except the Daily Gleaner).

    Government Stats inconsistently utilize per capita data or flattering benchmark references freely so that there is little recogntion of our actual situation.

    When unemployment hits 20% and increases to 21 the headline will surely boast smallest percentage increase in unemployment figures.

    I agree we need consistent meaures and consistent comparative data. There is value in a positive outlook but disguising reality is not going to help us.

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