Atlantic First Nations lead on transparency
AIMS research fellow Joseph Quesnel discusses the compliance of Atlantic First Nations with the federal First Nations Financial Transparency Act. He argues that their leadership constitutes "a win-win for all Canadians, but transparency and accountability mostly benefits First Nations communities by ensuring revenues are wisely spent to help band members." This article appeared in the Telegraph-Journal. Atlantic Canada’s First Nation [...]
The Beacon – May 2016 (Vol XXII, No. 13)
The Beacon - June 4, 2016 | Vol XXII, No. 13 Atlantic Provinces Should Join the New West Partnership By Marco Navarro-Génie President & CEO Governments in Atlantic Canada have a vital political task: to break down all barriers, overcome all obstacles, and invalidate all irritants to interprovincial exchange. To this end, a regional free trade agreement is one possible idea. But it [...]
New Brunswick failing on trade, natural resources
Vice President of Research John Williamson writes that bad economic policies in New Brunswick gives one the impression that its government has stopped trying to reverse the province's woes. Banning hydraulic fracking, maintaining protectionist measures on alcohol, and inadequate education are mixing with outmigration to produce an economic death spiral. This article appeared in the Telegraph-Journal and the Financial Post. [...]
P.E.I.’s HST money grab
Jackson Doughart writes that P.E.I.'s HST increase is a poorly-conceived policy, largely because greater consumption taxes are not being adequately offset by income tax reductions across the board. Instead of taking more from Islanders' pockets, P.E.I.'s government needs to focus on prioritizing needs and cutting spending to prevent tax hikes. This article appeared in the Journal-Pioneer and the Charlottetown Guardian. [...]
Why smaller class sizes? Better teachers is a smarter solution
In Saint John's Telegraph-Journal, AIMS Fellow in Education Michael Zwaagstra argues against the temptation to lower class sizes as a solution to underperforming schools. Rather, governments in charge of public schools need to focus on ameliorating the quality of the instruction, which is shown to be a more effective measure. Read the full article on the Telegraph-Journal website. Prince Edward [...]
The Beacon – May 2016 (Vol XXII, No. 12)
The Beacon - June 4, 2016 | Vol XXII, No. 12 The Healthcare Financial Crunch For a service as important as healthcare, it is vital that our public policies distinguish between sound, evidence-based solutions and mere fads. And where problems exist, we must find and respond to their true cause. Health policy has been on our minds here at AIMS this [...]