Radio Project audio
Radio: New Brunswick teacher Hires
New Brunswick's school enrollment is declining. Logically, fewer students should need fewer people to teach them. Instead, government has agreed employ no fewer than 7,280 teachers, regardless of enrollment decline. This decision will be expensive. The Province already spends 3,000 dollars more, per student, than it did last decade. With fewer students and [...]
Radio: Memorial University Tuition
In Newfoundland and Labrador, tough economic times have induced government to cut funding for Memorial University. This is a reasonable decision given financial challenges. Unfortunately, the province also wants to maintain a tuition freeze, keeping fees at Memorial the lowest in Canada. This decision will hamper the university's ability to operate and remain [...]
Radio: Canadian Free Trade Agreement
Federal and provincial governments have unveiled the Canadian Free Trade Agreement, designed to lower internal trading barriers and add $25 billion per year to the national economy. Unfortunately, the new arrangement wildly misses the mark. While the deal theoretically improves trade by widening the scope of free exchange, the hundreds of exemptions are [...]
Radio: Nova Scotia Municipalities Squeezed
Outside Halifax, Nova Scotia municipalities face a financial squeeze. With increasing spending obligations to meet higher service standards, the cost of operating a local government is rising. Meanwhile, the property tax base is declining from ageing and outmigration. Municipalities need more money to afford water and wastewater, bridges, road infrastructure, and fire and [...]
Radio: AIMS Platform for Nova Scotia
During the provincial election campaign, political parties in Nova Scotia presented their policy platforms, which detailed a governing agenda for the next four years. For the first time, the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies has released its own document, listing non-partisan policy proposals for the province's next government. Gleaned from interviews with [...]
Radio: Student Essay Contest
AIMS's student outreach program, AIMS on Campus, is holding an essay contest. Open to all students, the subject is supply management in Canadian agriculture. Is it time for Canada to adopt a market system for eggs, milk and poultry, thereby sending the current model the way of the Canada Wheat Board? Or does [...]
Radio: P3 Schools
Since the mid-1990s, Nova Scotia's government has made good use of public-private partnerships, or P3s, for school construction. Unfortunately, the record of these projects has been poorly understood, with some groups advocating that school construction be financed by government capital alone. In fact, the record of P3's has been strong. Government [...]
Radio: Shifting to Milk Markets
Canada's dairy industry has become controversial of late. The US President characterizes Canadian protectionism in milk products as unfair to American dairy farmers. Mr. Trump has a point. Supply management, the complex system that governs our milk production, has long surpassed its best-before date. Domestic quotas and high tariffs on imported milk contradict [...]
Radio: Government Tuition Subsidies
New Brunswick's Tuition Access Bursary subsidizes university or college tuition for the children of low-income households. Improving education is laudable, but this program may not achieve its goals. There is little relationship between tuition rates and enrollment. Low-income participation has been lowest in Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador, where tuition is least-expensive. Meanwhile, [...]
Radio: Prescriptions for Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador faces a daunting financial situation. In the upcoming budget, there are three actions we suggest to course-correct. First: reduce spending. The government spends more, per person, than every province except Alberta. Over the next five to eight years, the budget gap could be reduced by moving to the national per-capita [...]