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AIMS fears gas committee will pump up fuel prices

By | July 24th, 2004|In the Media|

AIMS President Brian Lee Crowley's warning that the NS legislature's Standing Committee on gasoline prices is considering regulatory changes that will increase the price of gasoline was taken up in a news story in the Halifax Daily News. Crowley, who appeared before the committee in Truro on 21 July 2004, expressed concern in a media release that the Committee was showing considerable sympathy to the demands of gasoline retailers looking for increased margins, and they were openly canvassing ideas for regulatory schemes to give retailers the increased margins they seek. In his brief before the Committee, Crowley warned that such increased margins could only be created at the expense of consumers. When interviewed for the article, none of the Committee members denied that they were considering regulatory action to give retailers better incomes.

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The imperative of regional coherence

By | June 28th, 2004|In the Media|

The International Northeast, defined by geography and economic prospect, it is, at least, Atlantic Canada, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Quebec, Ontario and New York. To see these states and provinces listed together may be jarring to some. Yet, the map does not lie: these states and provinces share a geographic region... our shared region. If this is so, why does it matter? Because we are in the midst of a historic realignment of economics and trade. In this article for Business Voice Magazine Tim Woodcock, a Bangor attorney, board member of the East- West Highway Association, and former mayor of the City of Bangor outlines why he believes in the creation of a regional forum for the development and implementation of common regional goals.

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AIMS Fellow David Zitner – Health Care Innovator

By | June 9th, 2004|In the Media|

In April of this year, AIMS' Health Policy Fellow Dr. David Zitner of Dalhousie University wrote an opinion piece for the National Post outlining the benefits of health care co-operatives. In the article, Dr. Zitner says "Patient co-ops are a way to inject more money into the health care system without raising taxes; to improve the quality, speed, efficiency and convenience of contacts with medical professionals via technology; and to encourage more specialization among various levels of professionals like primary care nurses working under a physician's supervision. Patient power starts here." The patient co-op seems to be an idea whose time has come in Nova Scotia. A patient co-operative is being proposed by a Pictou County doctor. In this article from the Truro Daily news, Dr. Zitner and Diane Kelderman, CEO of the Nova Scotia Co-operative Council say "the concept of community run, medical co-operatives are the wave of the future."

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Revitalizing Atlantic Canada

By | June 8th, 2004|In the Media|

For decades, federal politicians have shown up at election-time, declaring they are "here to help," thus presaging a disastrous policy outcome. Their well-meaning efforts, with promises to close the prosperity gap with the rest of the country, have retarded Atlantic Canada's economic convergence with the rest of Canada. For too long, "economic development policy" has been based on the government-knows-best model -- a concept that presumes bureaucrats , rather than entrepreneurs and investors, are the best judge of which business opportunities should be pursued . In this commentary in the National Post, AIMS' Director of Research, Don McIver outlines some of the foundation concepts behind AIMS' recent paper, You Can Get There From Here: How Ottawa Can Put Atlantic Canada on the Road to Prosperity.

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Valeurs “américaines”: La rhétorique contre la réalité

By | June 6th, 2004|In the Media|

Pour la première fois en une génération, l'anti-américanisme, le leitmotiv de la campagne libérale hors du Québec, ne rapporte pas de gains politiques. Paul Martin tente de diaboliser le leader conservateur Stephen Harper en l'associant à des valeurs " américaines ". La principale cible de ses attaques: le volonté de M. Harper d'abaisser les impôts. Cette approche, soutient M. Martin, mettra en péril nos programmes sociaux. Le Canada est un pays où les gens prennent soin les uns des autres et, par implication, ce n'est pas le cas des États-Unis. En temps normal, cette tactique formerait un pari sûr. Dans sa chronique précédant les élections fédérales, le président de AIMS, Brian Lee Crowley demande dans La Presse, «Pourquoi cette totale indifférence? Ce pourrait bien être parce que M. Martin a trop joué la carte de l'anti-américanisme, même pour le grand appétit que manifestent normalement les Canadiens à cet égard.»

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Caring About Others = High Taxes: A false equation

By | June 2nd, 2004|In the Media|

In Canada, particularly in political circles, debate over levels of taxation generates much more heat than light. Proponents of higher taxation structures equate their position with a more "compassionate" policy agenda. The argument suggests tax cuts are part of an "American style" agenda, which only favours the rich and is inherently mean spirited toward the less fortunate. While this argument may appeal to our prejudices toward our neighbour to the south, it doesn't make it true. In his regular column in the Halifax Chronicle Herald and Moncton Times and Transcript, AIMS president Brian Lee Crowley asks the question "What do we get for our money, and does that value justify our level of taxation?

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Un système pervers

By | May 30th, 2004|In the Media|

Dans ses contes et ses chansons, Félix Leclerc parle sans cesse des valeurs qui nous habitent, mais qu'il voudrait voir grandir davantage en chacun de nous: le courage, la détermination, l'indépendance, la liberté. Si Leclerc a visé juste en soulignant que " la meilleure façon de tuer un homme, c'est de le payer à ne rien faire ", alors pourquoi les libéraux fédéraux nourrissent-ils des intentions si meurtrières à l'égard de tant de Canadiens? Car quelle autre conclusion peut-on tirer de l'annonce faite par le gouvernement, tout juste avant le déclenchement des élections, voulant que s'il est réélu, il consacrerait 300 millions supplémentaires aux prestations d'emploi destinées aux travailleurs saisonniers? Brian Lee Crowley observe que, toutes les études sérieuses consacrées aux prestations d'emploi versées aux travailleurs saisonniers ont reconnu sa perversité, piégeant génération après génération dans cette sorte de dépendance destructrice dénoncée par Leclerc.

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EI should be phased out over 10 years

By | May 20th, 2004|In the Media|

AIMS President Brian Lee Crowley says seasonal workers on employment insurance should acquire new skills and find extra work in the off-season, instead of relying on federal handouts. He says the EI benefits for seasonal workers should be phased out over the next five to 10 years.

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EI and Seasonal Workers: Another tragedy of every day life

By | May 19th, 2004|In the Media|

American playwright Eugene O'Neil is best known for poignant tragedies of everyday life in first half of the 20th century America. Sixty years later, O'Neil's words resonate as another modern day tragedy plays out in Atlantic Canada. Recently New Brunswick MP Dominic Leblanc announced on behalf of the election-bound federal government that seasonal workers would be rewarded even more richly for not working. As Brian Lee Crowley writes in his regular column for the Halifax Chronicle Herald and Moncton Times and Transcript, who knew that O'Neil could be talking about Employment Insurance policy when he wrote "There is no present or future - only the past happening over and over again"?

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Atlantic Canada’s dole rots the soul

By | May 19th, 2004|In the Media|

A cardinal rule of economics says if you subsidize something, you'll get more of it. An election-bound federal government recently announced they were adding a further $300-million of your tax dollars to subsidize seasonal work with Employment Insurance. What can we expect as a result? More such work will be created. In this column for the National Post, AIMS president Brian Lee Crowley calls into question the federal government's perverse policy of making access to EI easier for seasonal workers, and extending the period of time during which they can collect benefits.

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