I just read John Geddes masterful piece in Macleans on the history and influences of Bill Morneau’s tax crusade against the 1%. It reads like a condensed modern biography – a thriller with Geddes unearthing deep background – only partially…
Continue ReadingImmigrants and the workforce: Moncton CMA impressive results
One of the mantras I have been preaching for years now is the need to attract immigrants into actual employment opportunities. I realize this is not as simple as it seems given the sometimes strange world of immigration where prospective…
Continue ReadingNet worth-less? What’s going on?
Well the new data on household net worth is likely to cause a kerfuffle. Statistics Canada is reporting that median household net worth in New Brunswick dropped by 11% between 2012 and 2016. If you look at the average household net…
Continue ReadingSJ largest IT sector, Freddy largest IT labour pool, Moncton doing fine
Okay, I posted earlier this evening that Saint John has the largest IT sector measured by the number of people working in the IT sector as a share of total employment. It was pointed out to me that lots of…
Continue ReadingHave fun with numbers! Everyone can play along!
What do Riverview, New Brunswick and Niagara Falls, Ontario have in common (besides being named after a body of water)? Saint John, NB has the #1 employment concentration among hundreds of municipalities across in Canada for what industry? First the…
Continue ReadingEncouraging scale – towards global competitiveness
I have been thinking a lot lately about competitiveness – specifically how New Brunswick firms can compete in an increasingly globalized economy. Traditionally this was mostly a concern related to exporters but now even firms 100% focused on local markets…
Continue ReadingNew Brunswick: Don’t be distracted by Trump
I had hoped the mania over Donald Trump would die down over time. For more than a year after his election my Twitter and Facebook feeds (not so much LinkedIn) were so cluttered with fairly trivial Trump stories that I…
Continue ReadingInching towards the bilingualism 2.0 conversation
I have historically be reluctant to weigh in on the issue of ‘bilingualism’ in New Brunswick. It can be a polarizing subject with some believing we haven’t done enough and others suggesting it has gone too far. But it’s…
Continue ReadingBuilding out a cyber-security cluster
New Brunswick is trying to create a cybersecurity cluster. It has UNB researchers involved. It has several corporations involved – anchored by IBM/Q1 Labs. The government has set up CyberNB with a full team out there hustling to attract firm…
Continue ReadingA little good news, today (tip of the hat to Anne Murray)
Statistics Canada recently released its latest GDP and related figures for 2016 and New Brunswick has performed surprisingly well. Business capital spending is still very weak but household expenditures are up and overall GDP is up modestly over 2015. If…
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