“The Western economy is the beating heart of Canadian progress in the future. This is where the action is. And, if this is where the action is economically, then we have to be there, too.”
says Michael Ignatieff, who is making his first visit to Saskatchewan this weekend as leader of the federal Liberals.
At what point in New Brunswick’s evolution will a federal politican say “this is the beating heart of Canadian progress”?
Your post should read “At what point in New Brunswick’s evolution will a federal politcian ONCE AGAIN say “this is the beating heart of Canadian progress.”
NB was an economic power house pre confederation and we allowed Ontario-centric laws, policies and taxation to take it away.
When we have 3 million votes to cast, I’d guess.
Ottawa won’t do much on its own. NB needs to come up with a plan for long-term high-value job creation and take that to Ottawa. Make that plan the only way forward, and get all major parties behind it. Then perhaps you will get somewhere. This is something Ottawa is not going to do on its own.
What Richard describes leans towards what I’ve been thinking: we need more of a “self-sufficient” way of doing things. I hate using that term, as it’s wrapped up in provincial Liberal branding, but it best describes where NB stands in confederation.
We’re not going to be handed anything in this federation besides some token ACOA and EI funding. Anything we want to do, we better be prepared to do ourselves. If we wait for Ottawa to bless and fund everything we want to do, we’re not going to get much done.
We’ve relied on federal help for 140-some years, and look where it’s got us.
Agreeed that Ottawa will not do anything for NB unless we ask. Our ask needs to be focussed and strategic with sustained and consistent pressure on true ED initiatives. It is not adequate to use ACOA for a clearing house for political initiatives funding festivals, community halls and garbage dumps if it is intended to be our primary ED fund.
One further point, while I do not advovate dwelling on past wrongs, we can learn from them. We should not feel guilty asking for federal help and we should aggresively fight any claims of corporate welfare from those who have been receiving billions in handouts for their automotive and aerospace ED initiatives.
“we should aggresively fight any claims of corporate welfare from those who have been receiving billions in handouts for their automotive and aerospace ED initiatives.”
Darn good point; any play for funds from Ottawa should politely point out those funds, as well as how Ottawa has spent funds sent here.