Finance Minister Jeannot VolpĂ© is back on the road to conduct pre-budget consultations in New Brunswick. Once again, the pre-budget consultation document is a marketing piece. They want to ‘consult’ New Brunswickers but they public a ‘consultation document’ that doesn’t…
Continue ReadingManitoba & New Brunswick – partners in decline
Steve Demmings, one of the architects of the Manitoba call centre initiative in the early 1990s is now lashing out at the Manitoba government for its lack of vision on economic development. He talks about Nova Scotia’s success in great…
Continue ReadingCan’t help but sigh
I just read Premier Lord’s State of the Province address and I just get more cynical after reading this crap than ever before. Here’s the goals: Lord then set out the five ambitious goals to be achieved in the next…
Continue ReadingAnd a child shall lead them….
A commentary from the Times & Transcript: Written by Ellen Creighton of Fredericton -a member of the New Brunswick Student Alliance and UNB’s Student Union executives, and is a Bachelor of Laws candidate (2006). It’s difficult to deny that we…
Continue ReadingDispatches from the road: San Diego (Quirky California)
Only in California, eh? Where else can you buy a personal ‘paternity’ test for $345 that tells you in a week whether or not ‘the child’ is yours? Where else would a city like San Diego be considering banning cigarette…
Continue ReadingDispatches from the road: San Diego (India Calling)
Here is a better link for Jacques Poitras’ recent series of reports from India on the rise of that country as an outsourcing location. This is a very good assessment of the rise of India and the implications for a…
Continue ReadingDispatches from the road: San Diego (Lord in Finland)
I am in the ultra cool city of San Diego for a conference this week so I will be posting from this remote location for a few days. I’ll have more observations about SD as the week progresses. My first…
Continue ReadingIndia Calling
CBC’s Jacques Poitras recently spent a week in India studying the rise of call centres, business process and IT outsourcing in that country. Most troubling is Peter Mesheau’s comments (Minister of BNB). He spends most of his time lately disclaiming…
Continue ReadingElvy steps down
I find this a bit bizarre. Why would one of the top cabinet ministers in New Brunswick announce his retirement 20 months before the next election? I read all the boiler plate reasons but I think that this is a…
Continue ReadingFrank bids us adieu
Well, it looks like New Brunswick’s chances at having a home grown Prime Minister have taken a dive once again. It wasn’t that long ago that some were speculating (i.e. Don Desserud) that we could have a McKenna vs. Lord…
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