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Where is the gold in equalization pot?

By | October 27th, 2001|In the Media|

In this column from the National Post, William Watson considers the message delivered by Nobel Laureate James Buchanan at a conference hosted by AIMS, the Montreal Economic Institute and the Frontier Centre for Public Policy. Held in Montreal on October 25, 2001, the conference considered whether equalization is really a helping hand or simply a welfare trap for provinces. After considering Buchanan’s fears that equalization programmes can be captured and destroyed by politics and bad design, Watson observes that, “If equalization weren't already in place, perhaps we wouldn't feel the need to invent it.” Publication: NP, October 27, 2001

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East Coast must pull its weight: Buchanan ’86 Nobel Prize laureate says

By | October 26th, 2001|In the Media|

James Buchanan, 1986 Nobel Prize laureate and pioneer of the "public choice" school of economics believes that the East Coast energy boom has given Canada a golden opportunity to reduce the distortions caused by equalization payments. Buchanan, of Virginia's George Mason University, was speaking after addressing a seminar "Equalization: Welfare Trap or Helping Hand?" sponsored by the Montreal Economic Institute, the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies, the Frontier Centre for Public Policy and the Conseil des relations internationales de Montréal. Buchanan’s remarks were reported in this article from the Financial Post. The government's equalization system may have brought benefits over the past 40 years, he said, but "it's time to wean the Atlantic area off transfer payments and make the receiving provinces and their taxpayers face their full responsibilities and spend less of the richer provinces' money."

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Canada, U.S. need a wall we can live with

By | October 24th, 2001|In the Media|

The stakes at the US-Canada border now are as high as they have ever been for Canadians, and AIMS President Brian Lee Crowley takes a look at these stakes in this regular column. He concludes that this country needs to make absolutely clear to the Americans that we are a trustworthy partner who is ready to work with them to create a well-policed continental perimeter within which we can all feel as safe as possible.

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Demographics point to looming labour shortage

By | October 10th, 2001|In the Media|

In 20 years there will be 32,000 fewer workers in Newfoundland, 11,000 fewer in Nova Scotia, 35,000 fewer in New Brunswick and virtually no change in Prince Edward Island. So, will this translate into a significant labour shortage in the coming decades? Not necessarily, says AIMS President Brian Lee Crowley. In his regular newspaper column, Crowley suggests that much of the potential shortage can be made up simply by increasing the percentage of people actually involved in the labour force. Higher wages, flexible working conditions, innovative technologies, and worker aids will all have their place in increasing productivity and drawing more people into the workforce. Equally crucial is social program redesign to eliminate current disincentives for people to get involved in the workforce. By encouraging self-sufficiency and rewarding a desire to work rather than penalizing it, welfare reform can meet the demographic changes head on and deliver benefits for the individual workers as we

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HRM needs a CAO

By | October 2nd, 2001|In the Media|

In this op-ed piece from the Chronicle Herald, AIMS newest Senior Fellow, Dr. Michael J. MacDonald discusses the critical need for professional management in today’s urban communities. Dr. MacDonald explores the myriad of complex issues facing municipal councils today and the increasingly critical role municipalities play as the drivers of growth. His conclusion is that a professional public service led by a talented and courageous CAO is absolutely critical to the long-term health of municipalities like Halifax. Publication: CHH, October 2, 2001

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The American idea and why it should be defended

By | September 26th, 2001|In the Media|

In his regular column this week AIMS President, Brian Lee Crowley, responds to the terrorist attacks carried out in New York and Washington two weeks ago. In exploring what America and liberty mean to him personally, and to billions around the globe, Crowley seizes the challenge he places before us all to "stand up and say that what America represents shall never be defeated by hate and terror". Publication: CHH, September 26, 2001

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Debate on health care reform: no end in sight

By | September 12th, 2001|In the Media|

In his regular Chronicle Herald column AIMS President Brian Lee Crowley explores the reasons why the debate on health care will take on greater and greater importance in the coming years. Most people are aware that health costs are going up, but few realize that the rate of growth is about to accelerate massively. New technologies, the increased incidence of chronic and new illnesses, and the significant cost of system renewal will force giant leaps in health costs in coming years. While starving funding for education and roads can provide some measure of short-term relief, the pressure is building. The tax system alone will not be able to handle these costs and a new balance of public and private expenditures will have to be found and the debate has barely even begun. Publication: CHH, September 12, 2001

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Boom or Bust

By | September 10th, 2001|In the Media|

Writing in the Globe and Mail, the Honourable John Crosbie, former federal minister and current AIMS Vice Chairman for Newfoundland and Labrador, reviews the offshore agreements between Ottawa and the Atlantic Provinces. These agreements were intended to ensure that Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador were the “principal beneficiaries” of development. In Crosbie’s view Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador receive resource revenues from the federal government in one pocket, and have most of those revenues taken out of another. This is not what the Atlantic and offshore accords were intended to accomplish. Crosbie believes it is time that Ottawa lived up to its agreements.

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National Post lauds AIMS’ analysis of region’s woes

By | September 1st, 2001|In the Media|

In taking a serious look at recent proposals for new economic development spending in Atlantic Canada the National Post turned to “Retreat from Growth” as a definitive source for why this is not the way to go. “Retreat from Growth” is AIMS’ most recent book and a finalist for the Donner Book Prize for the best public policy book of 2000. In it, author Fred McMahon notes that by the late 1960s, employment and business activity in Atlantic Canada had nearly caught up to the rest of the country, after suffering years of stagnation, only to lose that ground and more after 1972 when then prime minister Pierre Trudeau lavished transfers, economic development schemes and improved unemployment insurance benefits on the region.

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Atlantic Business and AIMS equalization studies

By | August 31st, 2001|In the Media|

In the August/September edition of Atlantic Business the Honourable John Crosbie, former federal minister and current AIMS Board member, profiles two recent AIMS studies on equalization. In the first part of a serial article for upcoming issues Crosbie argues there can be no question that equalization is a generous program but he looks beyond this generosity to question its effectiveness. Looking at the continuing gaps in provincial fiscal capacity he concludes equalization has failed of its basic intent. Recognizing this failure, Crosbie says we must now look at ways to fix the problem.

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