By Michael Zwaagstra (AIMS Research Fellow) Last year, Newfoundland and Labrador’s government published a roadmap to better government in the future, with the title The Way Forward. This ambitious plan outlines how the government plans to modernize the public sector, build its economy for a sustainable future, and improve educational outcomes. Earlier this year, the provincial [...]
By John Risley (AIMS Chair of the Board) Atlantic Business Magazine, 25 October 2018 I BELIEVE trust is at the heart of many of the country’s—and indeed the world’s—current challenges. Rather, I should say it is the breakdown of trust within society that is the issue. Consider these examples… Government: our democratically-elected federal government declares [...]
By Sylvain Charlebois (AIMS Senior Fellow) Apparently, Canada is going meatless, unless you are a white older male, that is. Well, that may be a slight exaggeration, as many Canadians still need a regular meat fix. In fact, many see meat consumption as one of the pleasures in life, as well as a necessary part [...]
By Matthew Lau (AIMS Author) Troy Media, 01 November 2018 Canadians experience daily the enormous economic benefits of competition. For most consumer goods, over time, Canadians pay less and get more. Businesses compete to offer customers the best products at the lowest prices; those with offerings that consumers judge unsatisfactory eventually are forced to close [...]
By Sylvain Charlebois (AIMS Senior Fellow) The Lakeside Leader, 19 November 2018 Within a year, single-use plastics and excess packaging have become public enemy number 1. Everyone is talking about how our lives are overrun by too much plastic. Just recently, a Greenpeace-led audit looked at waterways waste and companies involved. Much of the plastic [...]
By Sylvain Charlebois (AIMS Senior Fellow) Net News Ledger, 02 October 2018 They may not know it yet, but the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA), or NAFTA 2.0, could become the watershed moment Canadian dairy farmers have been waiting for. The Trudeau government has committed to compensating the dairy sector for either lost sales, higher per-unit [...]
By Sylvain Charlebois (AIMS Senior Fellow) Walmart, the largest retailer in the world, recently notified its leafy green suppliers that they will need to use blockchain by the end of next year. Walmart is banking on its relationship with IBM to put pressure on the entire sector to comply to what consumers want from the [...]
By Ed Hollett (AIMS Senior Fellow) The Telegram, 15 September 2018 There are three rather obvious problems with Weston Raske’s suggestion on Sept. 6 (“Letter: We need to focus on selling surplus power”) that we should export surplus electricity and encourage greater local consumption to lower the impact Muskrat Falls will have on electricity rates [...]
By John Risley (AIMS Chairman of the Board) Atlantic Business Magazine, 23 August 2018 DEAR Dwight, Brian, Wade and Stephen, The purpose of this letter is not to be critical. Rather it is to encourage more aggressive action in bringing our Atlantic region into a more collaborative framework. The goal would be to reduce the [...]
By Paige MacPherson (AIMS Author) The Guardian, 04 September 2018 The Telegram, 08 September 2018 The Calgary Herald, 20 September 2018 The Toronto Sun, 15 September 2018 Nova Scotian kids aren’t getting access to the educational choices they deserve. While students in five provinces have a diverse range of partially or fully funded school options, [...]