In the Media

John Risley Calls Film Tax Credit 'Nuts,' Backs Government Changes Seafood baron John Risley, president of Clearwater Fine Foods Inc., says he's been watching the debate unfold "with dismay" as those opposed to the cut warned of "Armageddon" and a "tidal wave" of job losses. While many working in film have warned the changes will gut the industry, the head of think tank Atlantic Institute for Market Studies says there's been no independent analysis of whether the subsidy works. There are numbers being thrown left, right and centre. None of these are independent numbers," Marco Navarro Genie, the president of the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies. He said the film tax credit is essentially "free money." He also says productions can film here, but take advantage of other lower cost jurisdictions for pre and post production and still receive the Nova Scotia tax credit.

Bill Black discusses the upcoming budget and the size of Nova Scotia’s public sector. “Civil Servants: As argued by AIMS and others, the number needs to be reduced. This will only happen if the government has specific plans to simplify or eliminate activities, and can identify the particular departments where savings are to be achieved”.

News 95.7, The Rick Howe Show interviews AIMS Fellow Michael Zwaagstra discussing teacher’s comments section of report cards.

Jacques Poitras (CBC News), discusses different viewpoints of policy 409 and school closures. The Rural Schools Coalition wants the government to suspend policy 409, but Minister Rousselle suggests that the government has to respect the policy

Nova Scotia won’t be getting nuclear power from New Brunswick, even though the two provinces have just hitched their electrical grids together, an NB Power official says. A Maine energy expert said he thinks joint dispatch will save money and end up being expanded to include Newfoundland and Labrador. “At the point that the Maritime Link is completed, the capacity on the Nova Scotia-New Brunswick line automatically increases without any new hardware,” Gordon Weil said from Harpswell, Maine. “That will improve the operation of an agreement like this.” Weil, a senior fellow on electricity policy forWeil, a senior fellow on electricity policy for the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies in Halifax, said co-op dispatch is similar to the regional power pool for which he’s advocated. “There is no reason why this shouldn’t work and continue to work. And, eventually, I think there will be incentives to increase the ties among the provinces so that more power can be shared.”

John Ibbitson writes about how the Maritimes became Canada’s incredible shrinking region. After decades of declining fortunes, the Maritime provinces now find themselves trapped in what one observer describes as “a perfect storm” of economic and demographic decline. But the real problem is the makeup of the population that remains. Every year – due to a weakening economy, a dearth of immigrants, and a population reluctant to face these problems – there are fewer workers to pay taxes and more old people in need of government services.

NB Education minister has vowed to take action after learning French- and English-speaking students have been travelling on the same school bus. Under a long-standing policy the provincial government claims it is constitutionally mandated to provide separate buses for anglophones and francophones. Dominic Cardy, leader of the provincial New Democratic Party, disagrees. “A local-level compromise — that was apparently entirely agreeable to the parents and the community — is now being ditched because someone is playing politics,” he said. A January report by the Atlantic Institute of Market Studies raised alarms these costs were rising disproportionately, citing separate buses as a cause. “Few politicians or school officials have dared to even ask if the sharing of bus services, on a larger scale, might result in significant savings to provincial taxpayers,” it said. In the 2014-15 school year, New Brunswick will spend $64.8-million to bus 90,000 students, or about $72

Former NS elected official Bill Black discusses a study published recently by the Institute and argues that Nova Scotia's provincial government must take measures to reduce the size and cost of the province's public sector.

Globe and Mail columnist Jane Taber discusses a new report published by the Institute and authored by its former Director of Research Ian Munro, which analyzes PEI's golf tourism strategy and argues that it was a wasteful use of taxpayer dollars.

PEI Minister of Tourism Robert Henderson agrees with a new report published by the Institute arguing that the province made a mistake in getting into the golf game as an owner and operator.