NB reporter Adam Huras discusses a new development in Atlantic Canada, wherein the four provinces have begun inquiring into whether standardized public sector wage scales could help rationalize public spending in the region and he cites figures outlined in an AIMS report from 2014.
Times and Transcript reporter Cole Hobson discusses a paper that the Institute recently released, which its former Director of Research Ian Munro authored, that details PEI's golf tourism strategy and argues that it failed to make good use of taxpayer dollars on the Island. He outlines a number of useful lessons from which other provinces can learn.
On the heels of an opinion piece authored by Paul Bennett, New Brunswick's Minister of Education Serge Rouselle makes it a point to say that snow days have become an issue in the province and one that needs a solution sooner than later.
In an article published by the Times and Transcript, one author cites a study released by the Institute in 2014 that measures the size and cost of Atlantic Canada's public sector and argues that the issue is ultimately about whether we have the right composition of public sector employment and compensation, not about whether it is costlier or bigger.
The Times and Transcript Editorial Board writes a letter urging the provincial government in New Brunswick to take measures that would rationalize public sector spending and cites a study published by the Institute in 2014.
Nova Scotia should cut its civil service and use the savings to help dig itself out of debt, says businessman and former Ivany report commissioner John Bragg. The province has 99 civil servants per 1,000 residents, well above the national average of 84 civil servants per 1,000 residents, Bragg said quoting a recent study prepared by the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies. Bragg offered the advice during a keynote address at an institute function in Halifax Wednesday evening that marked the one-year anniversary of the release of what has become known as the Ivany report. Its official title is Now or Never: an urgent call to action for Nova Scotians. “These are not easy issues to solve. They take fortitude and guts,” Bragg said.
In the year since the Ivany Commission told Nova Scotians that fundamental changes are needed to reverse the slide in the economy, critics say the government is "slow off the mark," implementing the changes. The report called "Now or Never: A Call to Action for Nova Scotians" made 19 recommendations that include boosting exports and the number of new businesses, as well as attracting more people to Nova Scotia. John Bragg is the founder and president of Oxford Frozen Foods, the world's largest blueberry producer, and a member of the Ivany Commission. He gave the keynote speech Wednesday night at an event called For the Love of Nova Scotia, hosted by the Atlantic Institute of Market Studies. Here's Bragg's assessment of what progress the province has made, one year later: "Well I'm not either satisfied or disappointed, but I do think we are slow off the mark," said the Cumberland County blueberry baron and owner of Eastlink Cable.
As Nova Scotians await Premier Stephen McNeil’s spring budget, a member of the Ivany commission has made a bold suggestion that the government must look at: cutting the size of the civil service. John Bragg, president and co-CEO of Oxford Frozen Foods Ltd., suggested the cuts Wednesday at an address to an Atlantic Institute for Market Studies (AIMS) event in Halifax. On the heels of the Ivany report — aptly titled Now or Never — we need bold action to reduce government costs. With a projected budget deficit of $220.6 million for 2014-15, a net debt of $14.8 billion, a stagnant economy, an aging population and rising costs, the province needs to figure out how to control spending. Governments commonly look to attrition to trim the public sector, but given the urgency of the challenges facing Nova Scotia, it may not be enough. Last year, AIMS released a report that said Nova Scotians have more civil servants, 99 per 1,000 residents, compared to the national average of 84 p
Roughly 25 years ago, the province took a real shine to golf as a tool to draw tourists to P.E.I. With the sport booming across North America in the 1990s, the government decided to make golf development a centerpiece of its tourism and economic development strategies. A new research report from the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies (AIMS) concludes the efforts were largely a flop — and quite a costly one at that. The paper, called Short of the Green: Golf as an Economic Development tool on Prince Edward Island, states that the Crown corporation created specifically to operate provincially owned courses has lost money in 10 of the last 14 years.
At one point in the early to mid-1990s on P.E.I., building a golf course was considered a licence to print money. A popular story that regularly made the rounds in those heady days was that a farmer went to the bank looking for a loan to expand his agricultural operation and was turned down. The farmer then asked about possible financing to build a golf course instead and the bank asked, “How much do you want?” The golf boom was in full bloom and nothing could stop it. A report released Tuesday by the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies provides a harsh assessment of our provincial government’s involvement over the years in P.E.I.’s golf industry, suggesting it was a poor investment which ended up costing the province millions. The study doesn’t mention the revenue generated by golf nor what our tourism industry would be without our courses. The study is both narrow in scope and often too critical.