New Brunswick MLAs are expected to vote this year on their own pay raise. AIMS executive vice president Charles Cirtwill suggests any pay raise for MLAs should only be effective after the next provincial election.
Most of the increase in trade flows across the borders in North America over the past couple of decades has piled up along land crossings that are now facing congestion. A new crossing facility in the Atlantica region is scheduled for completion by 2010 and will help with some of the flow.
AIMS has written extensively about ACOA over the years, so when Canadian Press reporter Michael Tutton was looking for comment on the latest report from the federal agency, he turned to Director of Research Ian Munro for insight.
As New Brunswick prepares to review its tax structure, the Times & Transcript turned to policy experts for some taxation advice. AIMS Director of Research Ian Munro makes some suggestions including a property tax system that is based on the services received and not the value of your property.
In this front page story, AIMS Director of Research Ian Munro explains that in good times governments, just like families, should be paying off their debt.
In this pre-budget story, AIMS acting president Charles Cirtwill points out that a tuition freeze is not the way to help post-secondary students. He says the New Brunswick government is following a trend that hasn't proven very efficient rather than forging ahead with innovative policies to address student debt, population growth, and access to a university education.
In this front page story, AIMS acting president Charles Cirtwill points out that any plan by the New Brunswick government to bail out a private pension fund for nursing home workers sets a bad precedent.
In this op/ed in the Chronicle-Herald, AIMS Director of Research Ian Munro argues that relying on windfall revenues is the wrong way for governments to fund the maintenance and replacement of key infrastructure like bridges, roads, and sewers. Ensuring the safety and quality of infrastructure should indeed be a high priority, says Munro, but the process of choosing high priorities for funding also entails determining which lower priorities should see funding reductions.
With the prospects of a new container port in Millford, N.S., the twinning of the highway between Saint John and St. Stephen, N.B., and a third border crossing in Calais, a proposed new one billion dollar highway linking New Brunswick with Quebec will generate savings in transportation costs for the Atlantica region.
New Brunswick has announced it is replacing its eight health care authorities with two. AIMS acting President Charles Cirtwill welcomes the move as the new structure provides better ccountability and transparency.