Want to pull more people into city centres? Stop pushing them out to the suburbs.
While urban development freezes are clearly not the solution, many growing urban communities are wrestling with the issue of how to manage growth intelligently. It is not enough to say that anti-growth policies don't work. So what is the alternative? In this column from the Halifax Chronicle Herald, AIMS President Brian Lee Crowley lays out a programme for making city centres attractive places to live and do business, so that people live there because they want to, not because they've been forced to do so by bossy bureaucrats. To find out how other cities have revived their centres by positive incentives rather than attacks on suburban property owners and lifestyles,
Let’s cure monopoly mania – AIMS in the Globe and Mail
In November of 2002, AIMS published its award winning Definitely NOT the Romanow Report, challenging the status quo in the Canadian healthcare system. In this column from the March 22, 2004 Globe and Mail, William Thorsell points to AIMS recommendations on free-standing, specialized, not-for-profit and for-profit clinics based on French or Norwegian models as a sensible Canadian healthcare option. In his column, Mr. Thorsell asks: “Why would you oppose the provision of excellent health care through a private clinic, fully paid by medicare, if the quality of that service was very good? And why would you oppose it if the cost to medicare was the same -- or less?”
Prince Edward Island needs better records on students: AIMS
The AIMS second Report Card on Atlantic canadian high schools continues to recieve media attention throughout the region weeks following its release. This report from the Summerside Journal-Pioneer examines the limited records available for study in Prince Edward Island.
Irrational rationing of home construction
Irrational rationing – Wendell Cox on HRM Development Freeze In the opinion of Urban development expert Wendell Cox, “the Halifax Regional Municipality freeze on new large-scale housing construction outside the serviced area could not be more inappropriate.” Cox, who was in Halifax in February to speak with developers, HRM officials and other interested parties says the proposed moratorium on development will hobble regional economic growth and the quality of life of households that do not yet own their own homes. In this opinion piece for the March 19 Chronicle-Herald, Cox says HRM appears to be “shooting itself in the foot.”
AIMS short-listed for new Templeton Awards
Atlantic Canada’s public policy think tank’ gains more international acclaim
AIMS to use Greater Saint John as test case for urban reform
As part of its Urban Futures initiative, AIMS is studying how municipalities can become more efficient and provide better service. Using Saint John, New Brunswick as an illustration, AIMS will reflect on how small and medium size municipalities can improve the quality of services for residents and value for money for taxpayers. In this article in the Saint John Telegraph Journal, reporter Mac Trueman examines the AIMS project and objectives.
AIMS to use Greater Saint John as test case for urban reform
As part of its Urban Futures initiative, AIMS is studying how municipalities can become more efficient and provide better service. Using Saint John, New Brunswick as an illustration, AIMS will reflect on how small and medium size municipalities can improve the quality of services for residents and value for money for taxpayers. In this article in the Saint John Telegraph Journal, reporter Mac Trueman examines the AIMS project and objectives.
Where entrepreneurs rule-AIMS in Toronto Star
When you gather up all the evidence, you can make a strong case for Atlantic Canadians being superior entrepreneurs. In this article in the March 17, 2004 Toronto Star, AIMS president Brian Lee Crowley says the success of Atlantic Canada entrepreneurs is particularly impressive because of special hurdles facing business in this region, not the least of which is government's damaging efforts to "help". According to many opinion leaders the image of Atlantic Canada as a region that lacks initiative is dead wrong.
Safe Salmon: Misinformation may be hazardous to your health
Farmed salmon is safe. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has repeatedly said so, Health Canada promotes it as a healthy form of protein, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration it is an excellent source of those Omega 3 fatty acids, vitamins and proteins and Britain's Food Standards Agency says there is evidence that eating salmon reduces the risk of death from heart attacks. So why is it being removed from some supermarkets? Recently, media reports citing a study that says farmed salmon contains higher levels chemicals than wild salmon are giving people the impression that farmed salmon is bad for you. The study published in Science magazine says the farmed salmon have higher trace levels of PCBs. What the study doesn’t point out is milk, eggs, and meats routinely contain the same or higher trace amounts of PCBs, yet all are quite safe to eat. So why single out farmed salmon? It may have something to do with who helped finance the study in the first place.
Parable of the Noon Gun: What’s urban planning really for?
There’s a famous story about a factory where, every day, a gun was fired from the main administrative building signalling that it was time for lunch. A management consultant asked the man who fired the gun how he knew when it was actually noontime. He said that he was guided by the town clock, visible out his window at the town hall across the road. The consultant went across the road and asked the town manager how he knew his clock gave the right time. “It’s always right by the noon gun” was the reply. In other words, none of the so-called “experts” actually knew what time it was at all. But they were convinced that because they only listened to each other’s unfounded prejudices they must be right. This parable is strangely applicable to the HRM and their current campaign against so-called “urban sprawl”.