AIMS Operations Manager Alex Whalen, a graduate of the Dalhousie law school, discusses changes to the Supreme Court appointment process. He bemoans that Atlantic Canada is losing its convention of one guaranteed seat on the top bench, in favour of other diversity concerns, such as bilingualism, for the federal government. Read this article in the [...]
In his Financial Post column, AIMS Research Fellow Patrick Luciani debunks the notion that experience in business portends well for executive political power. For instance, Donald Trump's business success in gambling and real estate industries came at the "fringes" of free markets, giving him a skewed understanding of economic policy. Read this article on the [...]
Annual benefits from the Canada Pension Plan will rise by as much as $4,500. To finance this expansion, Ottawa and provincial governments have decided to increase payroll taxes. Workers and employers already pay up to $5,088 in CPP taxes each year. Rates will begin to gradually increase in 2019. By 2023, workers will [...]
AIMS Vice President of Research John Williamson responds to New Brunswick's Treasury Board Minister Roger Melanson about spending and deficits: "So long as New Brunswick continues to tax and spend the government will not balance its budget," he writes. "That is not partisanship or dogma – it’s a simple calculation." Read this article on the [...]
Cunard, along with the Canadian Maritime Heritage Foundation and the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, will award the second annual Samuel Cunard Prize for Vision, Courage and Creativity to John Risley, President of Clearwater Fine Foods Incorporated. The Nova Scotian resident will be given the award at a luncheon on September 10, 2016, on board [...]
In The Coast, AIMS's Mannkal Intern Ryan Scarth discusses transit reform in Halifax, proposing that the city implement a Bus Rapid Transit system in lieu of a commuter rail line from Beaverbank to Downtown. This option, he argues, would be more practical and affordable for a city of Halifax's size. Read this article on The [...]
AIMS Vice President of Research John Williamson appeared on CBC Radio to discuss government spending in New Brunswick. He argued that the recent HST increase is supporting spending, not deficit control.
New Brunswick and P.E.I. are proposing changes to how we vote. Both provincial governments have discussed changing the current, first-past-the-post electoral system to an alternative means of electing our representatives. Another consideration is e-voting, which would allow residents to vote through an online portal. And both provinces may lower the minimum voting age [...]
AIMS President Marco Navarro-Génie discusses the recently-announced immigration pilot project. "More immigration to the region is good," he writes. "But its success is tethered to retaining workers. We need to straighten out the policies that foster undisciplined spending, push taxation and the cost of living upward, and harmfully reduce competition". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1q_9ZGmDNs0 The continued success [...]
In the National Post, AIMS policy analyst Jackson Doughart argues that the Maritime custom of saying that foreign-born people "come from away" is a product of the provinces' poor economies and mistrust of Upper Canada. To soften the region's "parochial edge," governments must adopt pro-growth policies to counter worrying demography. Read the piece on the [...]