By GERRY BOWLER (Senior Fellow at the Frontier Centre for Public Policy) Frontier Centre for Public Policy, 31 July 2017 How much of a hero do you have to be to warrant a statue? How much of a villain do you have to be to have your name stripped from streets, bridges, or schools? The [...]
By Matthew Lau (AIMS Author) and Marco Navarro-Génie (AIMS President) Daily Gleaner, 27 July 2017 Huddle, 27 July 2017 Matthew Lau and Marco Navarro-Génie are co-authors of the AIMS study "Revisiting the Minimum Wage in Atlantic Canada." High unemployment in Atlantic Canada is a long-standing problem. For over four decades, unemployment rates in the Atlantic Province have [...]
Halifax: Nova Scotia implemented price controls for gasoline in 2006. Policy makers believed that regulation would prevent great price fluctuations. While there are indeed fewer highs and lows than before, gas regulation carries three disadvantages. First, there is a cost in the regulatory process itself. Second, deviations from the market price always come [...]
PEI: Prince Edward Island has a high minimum wage. Compared to the average Islander's income, it is the highest in Canada. Basic economics suggest that when someone's skills are worth less to employers than the minimum wage, he or she will be unemployed. Further increases to the minimum wage would threaten many [...]
To debate policy issues, it is vital that government make data easily accessible to the public. Many government records are published openly, while others can be attained through information requests. Unfortunately, Nova Scotia keeps poor records for tax exemptions on First Nations reserves. It is the only provincial jurisdiction that does not have [...]
Federal and provincial legislation exempts First Nations reserves from several forms of taxation. Unfortunately, most governments have not examined the cost of this policy, estimated at $1.3 billion across Canada. The largest tax exemption, is for tobacco. From PEI reserves in 2015, the value of the cigarette loophole was over a million dollars, [...]
In a new deal, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador will help to fund employee pensions at the Corner Brook paper mill. It's the latest in a string of deals for the mill, worth some some 250-million dollars. In this case, government intentions are good, but mistaken. The litany of failed businesses that [...]
New Brunswick's school enrollment is declining. Logically, fewer students should need fewer people to teach them. Instead, government has agreed employ no fewer than 7,280 teachers, regardless of enrollment decline. This decision will be expensive. The Province already spends 3,000 dollars more, per student, than it did last decade. With fewer students and [...]
In Newfoundland and Labrador, tough economic times have induced government to cut funding for Memorial University. This is a reasonable decision given financial challenges. Unfortunately, the province also wants to maintain a tuition freeze, keeping fees at Memorial the lowest in Canada. This decision will hamper the university's ability to operate and remain [...]
HALIFAX, NS – Trade is a fundamental ingredient to Nova Scotia's economic success, as identified by the provincial government and the Ivany Commission. And yet there are numerous lingering examples of protectionism, which serve to impede the flow of goods to and from the province. A new study, published today by the Atlantic Institute for [...]