After reading the piece on Lise Ouellette this morning in the TJ it got me back on theme I have written about before – what is a Tory in New Brunswick? It seems to me that a fundamental opportunity would…
Continue ReadingThose who have destroyed us
The People’s Alliance Party is really tapping into a small but poignant populist sentiment. This bit about not wanting to vote for “those who have destroyed us” is taken from a column written by a PANB candidate in the Miramichi.…
Continue ReadingLightbulb moment on health care
I see that New Brunswickers want more doctors and more health care workers. At some point we are going to have to realize that the health care system cannot be fixed by massive new cash and new hires. The system…
Continue ReadingCreating connectivity
There’s an interesting story in the TJ today about New Brunswick’s debt and a poll done by CRA to find out how New Brunswickers want to pay for it. There was almost no appetite for any new tax increases and…
Continue ReadingThe BNB show
I’m surprised that economic development is getting fairly heavy play in this election. Don’t get me wrong, in every election the parties will have an economic development component but so far it seems to be more of an issue. Starting…
Continue ReadingA strange competitive advantage: U.S. lawyers like us
Add this to the pile of little every day coincidences. The TJ has a story about a Sackville software firm that is expanding: Sackville software developer Kleinmundo Solutions Inc. has inked a partnership agreement with a large U.S. firm that…
Continue ReadingAlward and tax cuts
I am a bit surprised the Tories are claiming to reverse the tax cuts but by only doing on on the very rich they don’t lose a lot of votes. The most recent data I have shows 1,170 people in…
Continue ReadingEconomic development and elections
I have been following elections in New Brunswick closely since the 1991 election and in my opinion economic development has always been a boilerplate issue but the parties have rarely proposed any bold new ideas – or even how they…
Continue ReadingDefining issue?
Election time again. I am feeling a little old – this will be my seventh provincial election. Now I have a little different role – I will be writing three colums a week in the Telegraph-Journal on election topics – Tuesday, Thursday…
Continue ReadingTo BNB or not to BNB? That is the Question
Several people have asked me to comment on the NDP proposal to scrap Business New Brunswick. I have resisted because it really is a red herring – the NDP would just find other ways to do its brand of economic development. …
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