The Atlantic Institute for Market Studies releasing an essay with the Fraser Institute on how New Brunswick and Nova Scotia rely on equalization payments yet shun natural resource development.
The Fraser Institute and the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies will release a new essay on Tuesday about equalization payments, natural resource development, and the economic malaise in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, and veteran provincial affairs reporter Chris Morris will be on hand to break it down and deliver it to the Telegraph Journal. The essay, “Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the Equalization Policy Crutch” examines the effect of the federal equalization program on the two most populous Atlantic provinces.
Across almost every major economic indicator, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick under-perform the rest of Canada and rank amongst the poorest regions in the country. Nova Scotia and New Brunswick rank eighth and ninth, respectively, amongst the provinces for average household income. Only Prince Edward Island has a lower average household income level.
Equalization is acting as a disincentive for natural resource development in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, according to a commentary released Tuesday by the Fraser Institute and the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies.
An essay published by two of Canada’s leading think-tanks–the Fraser Institute and Atlantic Institute for Market Studies–suggests New Brunswick and Nova Scotia dependence on federal equalization money is acting as a disincentive for natural resource development in those two provinces. New Brunswick has received $14.5 billion in equalization over the past decade and this gift of cash funnelled from the more prosperous regions of Canada still represents close to 40 per cent of provincial revenues.
Last week, a group of university and private sector analysts released a report on shale gas that included an economic study that predicted New Brunswick could create between 5,900 and 7,900 full-time jobs, both directly and indirectly, if the industry annually drilled between 150 and 200 wells. That would translate into between $1.4 billion and $1.8 billion in economic growth. Another report released this week by the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies stated that shale gas could help enrich the region.
Telegraph Journal commentator Charles Moore discusses the AIMS publication "The Size and Cost of Atlantic Canada's Public Sector" and argues that it is time for reform.
AIMS Director of Research and Programmes Ben Eisen discusses the Nova Scotia Tax and Regulatory Review authored by Laurel Broten with CCPA Nova Scotia Director Christine Saulnier on CBC Information Morning!
NationTalk covers the release of a joint FCPP/AIMS paper outlining the fiscal challenges facing Canada's small 'have-not' provinces, particularly in the context of declining equalization payments.
In a radio interview on the John Gormley show, 650 CKOM, AIMS policy analyst and co-author of "Declining Equalization Payments and Fiscal Challenges in the Small 'Have-not' Provinces" discusses the results of that report and argues that provincial governments in Canada must begin to recognize their own fiscal demands and choose policies that meet them rationally, instead of waiting for federal support.