AIMS Director of Research Ian Munro speaks with the Chronicle Herald about the release of the Interim Municipal Report Card for Nova Scotia. Munro emphasizes that the goal of the Interim Report Card is to highlight the knowledge gaps.
A Mexican delegation's attendance at the Maritime Lumber Bureau's annual convention in Halifax highlights links between the Atlantica region and markets further south in North America.
One of the many barriers holding Atlantica back from being more attractive as a transportation corridor is the number of borders that goods have to cross to get to their destination. Different provinces and states have different regulations and standards adding complexity and cost to transportion. Attracting trade will require major investment in the region and strategies that think outside of provincial boxes.
A lot of talk about Atlantica focuses on imports from other markets around the world flowing into North America through its gateway. A large investment in NB's potash industry, however, has its eye on using the region's ports to target foreign export markets, such as Brazil.
Marine transport is lower cost than land and it's greener. Past increases in trade flows in North America have largely been handled by existing land routes pushing them to the limits while waterways have been underutilized. Reducing the import duty on foreign made vessels could help spur much needed investment in replacing Canada's ageing fleet at an opportune time.
With New Brunswick about to release its green paper on tax reform, reporters turned to AIMS for insight on what should be in the paper. In this article, AIMS executive vice president explains it needs to shift income taxes to consumption taxes.
A conference in Halifax highlights the potential for Atlantica as the energy hub for the energy hungry US northeast.
The potential for the Lower Churchill hydro power project to benefit Atlantica and beyond is discussed in this news article. Power from the Upper Churchill is transmitted through Quebec, but for the Lower Churchill the proposal is to transmit through the eastern Canada and the northeastern U.S.; a definite advantage for Atlantica.
When the latest Statistics Canada report indicated the number of civil servants had dropped in the province, most treated it as a bad thing. But AIMS Director of Research Ian Munro points out that a drop in the number of civil servants is actually a good thing.
A suggestion by the New Brunswick government to drastically overhaul its tax regime is welcome news, particularly says AIMS Executive Vice President Charles Cirtwill if that includes a major reduction in income tax. It's a suggestion made repeatedly by AIMS in various research papers through the years.