AIMS acting President Charles Cirtwill welcomes news that New Brunswick is taking a serious look at data collection and student testing. However, he points out it is how educators use data that will help make improvements to the public education system.
The province of New Brunswick is poised to post a $79-million surplus. AIMS acting President Charles Cirtwill says that money will be best spent paying down the provincial debt and ensuring that tax rates won't need to be hiked again.
Author and transportation expert Stephen Blank examines the trade corridors that extend from Canada to Mexico and enrich the North American continent.
As soon as the latest Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) results were released in Paris, education reporters were calling AIMS to help interpret the results. In this article, senior policy analyst Bobby O'Keefe explains that New Brunswick needs to start using performance data to make improvements to its public education, or it will continue to languish at the bottom of the pack.
Immigration continues to be an important public policy issue for the Atlantic region because of its declining population. AIMS acting President Charles Cirtwill says one of the major barriers to increasing immigration is a system that seeks "ideal" candidates instead of trying to match people to open poisitions.
The latest Statistics Canada report shows Nova Scotia has doubled the number of immigrants in just over a decade. However, AIMS acting President Charles Cirtwill says that's not enough and more must be done in order to replace workers in an aging province.
Canada's labour shortage is no more critical than in Atlantic Canada where an ageing population is compounded by high out-migration and low immigration. AIMS acting President Charles Cirtwill says while more immigrants are attracted to Nova Scotia, the province needs to do even more.
In his fortnightly column, AIMS acting President Charles Cirtwill dispels some of the baseless fears that pop-up whenever the government even suggests partnering with private industry. He notes that so-called P3s allow the government to tackle projects it wouldn't otherwise be able to contemplate without raising taxes or cutting jobs.
Author Stephen Blank argues that integration between Canada, the United States and Mexico is already a reality whether or not people choose to accept it. He goes on to say that if we continue to ignore reality we are restricting our ability to meet future challenges.
The New Brunswick government has said it may raise the provincial portion of the HST in order to offset the federal reduction planned for the new year. AIMS acting President Charles Cirtwill points out that such a move contradicts the government's drive for self-sufficiency.