I hope I don’t sound too critical of the folks charged with developing the downtown. I know the time and effort that many people have put in. However, I am a little cranky. Greater Moncton has undergone a significant economic…
Continue ReadingReally, I like arts & culture
A recent blog posted here by yours truly questioned the idea that a strong arts & culture community is a direct economic development driver. Some of you took this to mean that I do not support the Bohemians. On the…
Continue ReadingMadame Next NB – Stop Fear Mongering
The Telegraph-Journal’s Lisa Hrabluk fancies herself a bit of a thinker. Instead of piling on the drivel, some of the time her columns reflect that she has taken the time to think the issue through. Not this time. In her…
Continue ReadingMy Ode a l’Acadie
I had the pleasure of going to see the Festival acadien de Caraquet’s Ode a l’Acadie this weekend. It was awesome. These are truly gifted muscians and performers. However, as is usually the case, my mind wandered during a particularly…
Continue ReadingIs Florida Right?
Before you mistake this blog as an appeal for New Brunswickers to stay home this winter (i.e. is it ‘right’ to migrate to Florida), don’t. It’s not. It’s in reference to professor Richard Florida whose thinking is sweeping the economic…
Continue ReadingEngaging the private sector
In the early 1990s, then Premier of New Brunswick Frank McKenna struck a partnership with NBTel (now Aliant) to attract call centres to the province. Each party contributed financial support and human resources to the initiative. The partnership was highly…
Continue ReadingDieppe, you can learn from Dieppe
The title of this blog is not a typo or misspelling. The goal of this blog is to recommend that Dieppe (and Greater Moncton) learn from the successes of the past decade and expand the environment for that success to…
Continue ReadingBrent Taylor – What it takes to be a good leader
I occassionally get the chance to listen to the weekly political panel on CBC radio. Last week, the three panelists discussed a variety of issues including a debate on the new poll suggesting that Liberal leader Shawn Graham is now…
Continue ReadingNova Scotia leaving New Brunswick in the dust
In previous blogs, I have been documenting the fact that both Nova Scotia and PEI have been outpacing New Brunswick on most key economic indicators since the late 1990s. A new Statistics Canada report out last week highlights this trend…
Continue ReadingGovernment doesn’t create jobs, industry creates jobs. Hmmm…
If I had a nickel for every time an economic development made this statement. Governments don’t create jobs, industry creates jobs. The only problem with that statement is that it is patently untrue. Governments do create jobs – millions of…
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