I’m probably breaking a dozen copyright laws but I thought this article in the Sackville Tribune was worth the risk. The author is Bonnie Swift, the director of economic development at the town of Sackville. In the footnote, you will see…
Continue ReadingBullish on Ontario
Ontario, it’s kind of fun to watch the drama unfolding in our largest province. I have been listening to The Agenda coverage of the Drummond report. It’s an existential crisis! I’ve said it here before, Ontario is an economic powerhouse.…
Continue ReadingThe new, closer urban/rural divide
A number of folks have written about this after seeing the new 2011 numbers. Unlike some, I don’t spend a lot of time thinking and studying the issue of the new, closer rural/urban divide. I was a strong supporter…
Continue ReadingNatural resources and economic development – towards a better framework
I recently collaborated on a paper for the Atlantica Centre for Energy. A highly critical commentary in the TJ today suggested that I authored the report. This might be another debate about semantics but I helped write this report but…
Continue ReadingThe semantic dance: rural vs. urban
It’s not often Kurt Peacock and I disagree on much of anything but my column in the TJ today talks about the growth of the rural population in New Brunswick and his talks about the inevitable growth of urban New…
Continue ReadingAre we younger or older than we thought?
Statistics Canada has been estimating population every year since 2006 based on births/deaths, migration and immigration data (I think the base year is 2001 but someone can correct me on this). The Stats agency had estimated that the NB population…
Continue ReadingCalibrating and recalibrating expectations
Let me be clear up front. I was pleasantly surprised by the 2.9 percent population growth rate for NB from 2006 to 2011. When we get the population by age data, it will likely show population stagnation or decline…
Continue ReadingNB population – actual versus estimated
In 2006, there was something like a 22,000 gap between the Census population in New Brunswick and the estimated population that year (roughly 729,900 during the Census and over 750,000 had been the estimate). By 2011, that has tightened significantly.…
Continue ReadingJob creation promises – more NB than salmon and fiddleheads
During the provincial election of 1982, all the political parties promised impressive job creation plans.The Conservatives promised 35,000 by 1986, the Liberals 20,000 by the end of 1983, and the NDP 17,000 (According to Richard Wilbur’s annual review of New Brunswick…
Continue ReadingBC’s natural gas strategy
I read this thing from cover to cover last night and it is pretty amazing the differences between New Brunswick and western Canada when it comes to natural gas development. The BC government is thrilled about the potential of shale…
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