PEI has changed economic development responsibilities: THE DEPARTMENT OF INNOVATION AND ADVANCED LEARNINGMinister Responsible: Honourable Richard BrownPrince Edward Island’s greatest natural resource is its people. We have a long and proud history of innovation – and a population that is…
Continue ReadingInvesting, just not investing here
Someone said to me recently “The forestry industry is ‘investing’, it’s just not investing here.” That is certainly the case. UPM Raflatac celebrates the opening of its new North American pressure sensitive labelstock manufacturing facility in Dixon, Illinois, approximately 100…
Continue ReadingCivil servant overview
Good article today in the T&T on the NB civil service today. Since 2003, the provincial public service has added 2,414 employees, representing a 5.4 per cent increase in staffing. No increase in population but we needed 2,414 new public…
Continue ReadingBe careful what you wish for
The TJ has a thoughtful opinion piece today about the need for access to capital in New Brunswick: The No. 1 issue standing in the way of business development in New Brunswick isn’t rising power rates, trade barriers, a growing…
Continue ReadingReconstructionism and questionable historicity
I have been watching that HBO miniseries “John Adams” on TMN. I read the book it is based on and I have enjoyed the TV version equally. However, I have to say that interpreting history is a bit tricky. The…
Continue ReadingCheap power and economic development
Manitoba was the only Canadian province that was competing with New Brunswick to attract call centres in the early 1990s. By the mid to late 1990s every province in Canada was trying to attract them. Manitoba is now out front…
Continue ReadingIt’s the Economy, Stupid – March 30 Podcast
Here is the podcast version of It’s the economy, stupid for March 30 – keep the feedback coming.
Continue ReadingLose-Lose Game
I don’t know what I like worse, outright naivete or pragmatism. The folks pushing for ‘self-sufficiency’ have almost no real grounding in reality. SS has become a generic term. However, the New Brunswick Union of Public and Private Employees’ resignation…
Continue ReadingCompetitive Alternatives – Comes at a price!
KPMG is out with their 2008 version of the international cost comparison called Competitive Alternatives. I was waiting for this as the 2006 version confidently intoned that Canada’s competitive cost advantage would hold all the way to an 85 cent…
Continue ReadingRoasting Francis McGuire
Just got back from the roast of Francis McGuire – the former Deputy Minister of Economic Development under McKenna and for awhile my boss (at least way up on the chain). He’s a good guy and I am happy for…
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