Statistics Canada has come out with “experimental estimates for business openings and closures for Canada, provinces and territories, census metropolitan areas, seasonally adjusted”. The data is through April 2020 so we are starting to see how Covid-19 is impacting the…
Continue ReadingThank you for calling New Brunswick. How can I help you today?
A couple of years ago, international man of mystery, David Hawkins, conducted a series of focus groups with young people about what they thought of the ‘call centre’ industry as a career in New Brunswick. Most of the feedback he received…
Continue ReadingGet the economy blazing again? A review of the NS economy under Stephen McNeil
Stephen McNeil will be immortalized for telling everyone to “stay the blazes home” to stop the spread of Covid-19. The Premier announced he would be stepping down last week. How did the economy do under his leadership? Did it ‘blaze’?…
Continue ReadingHey Rip Van Winkle, if you are still stuck in 1970s New Brunswick, here are a few facts for you to consider
There is a young lady on social media who is elbowing her way around Saint John on something related to policing and Jacques Poitras had a story on her this a.m. She responded by posting the following commentary to her…
Continue ReadingNB economic growth: A couple of percentage points here or there, what’s the big deal?
I have been insisting in recent years that governments in Atlantic Canada should focus on getting their provincial economies back to pre-2008 rates of economic growth. Only PEI has come close to this objective. Between the long period 1983 and…
Continue ReadingA discussion with NOIA’s Charlene Johnson on the prospects for Newfoundland and Labrador oil and gas
On the Growing Pains podcast this week we interview Charlene Johnson, CEO of the province’s oil and gas industry association, NOIA. I have done some work with NOIA and therefore am familiar with the importance of the offshore oil and…
Continue ReadingCalling all the entrepreneurally-minded: Uncle Tim Horton wants you!
I was recently in Dingwall, Nova Scotia with my 87 year old dad (not sure if Dingwall is entitled to its entitlements or not – if you don’t recognize this increasingly obscure reference, just Google it). He looked out the…
Continue ReadingThinking about permanent conservation: Provincial context matters a lot
There is a lot of talk now about carving off more of the province for permanent conservation. In these areas, nothing can be done – not even tapping maple trees for sap. Ottawa has pledged to conserve 20% of the country’s…
Continue ReadingThe economic case for a tourism spending rebate
These things always come down to the assumptions you make but IMO the 20% rebate for tourism spending in New Brunswick up to $1,000 is a good idea. Between HST and other taxes, especially the taxes induced by the labour…
Continue ReadingNew Brunswick’s relatively robust labour market, for now (I’m uneasy)
I am pretty impressed by how the labour market has held up in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic in New Brunswick. Total employment in June was down to 366,000 (unadjusted) from 373,000 last year but on the whole relative…
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