I only knew Zita Cobb by reputation until I was asked to sit on a panel discussion related to productivity for the Public Policy Forum in Halifax recently. Zita was sitting to my left and after I gave what I…
Continue ReadingThe kids (and most of the adults) are all right: Thoughts from my whistle-stop tour of the Maritimes
I just completed a seven week period that included 12 public speaking engagements in all three Maritime Provinces (not including presentations of client work). I talked with industry groups including construction and forestry, spoke about immigration, labour markets, productivity and…
Continue ReadingBuilding Herb Emery’s empire of thought
I have mentioned before my admiration for the current Vaughan Chair in Regional Economics at UNB. He is getting involved in just about every possible issue that relates to economic development in New Brunswick. He is working on productivity, immigration,…
Continue ReadingOn immigration, here comes Toronto again. The rest of Canada beware.
One of the things that was interesting about the growing inflow of immigration into places like Manitoba and Prince Edward Island was that there was a corresponding decrease in immigrant flows into the largest centres. The Toronto CMA inflow dipped…
Continue ReadingGoin’ down the road: cough, cough, is good for the Canadian economy
One of the topics I have written the most about over the past 15 years has been the thorny issue of interprovincial migration, or the non-technical term “goin’ down the road”. Take your pick: the exodus of young Atlantic Canadians…
Continue ReadingDon’t panic, with the LFS yearly matters more than monthly changes
I’ve recently started a diet to try and shrink down to a more appropriate weight. Like a lot of people when I got real busy at work, I started to snack more and exercise less. Now my shirts won’t button…
Continue ReadingThe Benjamin Button effect? Some provinces are actually getting younger.
We talk a lot about the impacts of the aging population but it is important to point out that several provinces in Canada are actually getting ‘younger’. Specifically, as a result of attracting young immigrants and migrants the median age…
Continue ReadingWhat keeps Jean Guy Finn up at night?
It’s one of the more interesting statistics for New Brunswick. We are the only province in Canada with a larger share of its population living in rural areas now than way back in the 1960s. Or the opposite, we have…
Continue ReadingThe curiouser and curiouser case of the Nova Scotia LNG exports project
If you were to go looking for the place in North America furthest from natural gas production you might end up in Goldboro, Nova Scotia. They say the country rock star Conway Twitty got his name by jabbing his finger…
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