Orimulsion revulsion: AIMS on NB Power’s Coleson Cove fiasco
Nothing sums up NB Power’s problems better than the Coleson Cove fiasco. In an effort to reduce its dependence on expensive fuel oil, the utility embarked on a $747-million conversion of Coleson Cove to burn Orimulsion. The vast bulk of the money has already been spent. There is just one tiny little catch. There is only one place you can buy Orimulsion: the state oil company of Venezuela. And while it has not always been the case, these days Venezuela is a synonym for “unstable banana republic.” The country teeters on the brink of civil unrest and authoritarian rule by a military strongman. Risky? You bet. Find out just how risky, and the price New Brunswickers paid when the risk went wrong,
AIMS Online March 9, 2004
AIMS releases its 2004 High School Report Card, a new edition of “Ideas Matter,” featuring Edmonton School Superintendent Angus McBeath, Wendell Cox asks How Smart is “Smart Growth”? and more.
Testing the testers; What educational establishment still won’t tell you
Nova Scotia's Minister of Education, Jamie Muir, released the third annual Minister's Report to Parents in late February. The good news? We didn't get any worse. According to the minister, we spent almost $1,900 more per student this year than in 1997-98. That's a lot of money just to prevent things from getting worse. In this commentary in the the Halifax Chronicle Herald, Charles Cirtwill asks, if we are spending that extra money, where is it going and is it going where it is needed?
How Smart is “Smart Growth”?
International expert challenges urban planning assumptions in AIMS’ most recent “Urban Futures” paper
Smart Growth
A world leader in smart growth has been Portland, Oregon. Many urban planners view Portland as a model for limiting sprawl. In the latest paper in AIMS’ Urban Futures project, “Smart Growth”: Threatening the quality of life, author Wendell Cox challenges the many assumptions promoted by smart growth advocates. He argues the evidence is mounting that Portland’s smart growth policies simply don’t work.
Media responds quickly to AIMS second Report Card
Following the release of AIMS first Report Card in 2003, anticipation was high for the second edition. Media outlets across the region were quick to get response from educators, students and education departments. Here is a sampling of the coverage.
AIMS’ 2nd Annual High School Report Card
This year the report card is based on much richer and more varied data provided by school boards, departments of education and post secondary institutions. With the provinces incrementally improving their measurement and reporting of school results, AIMS has been able to provide a more complete picture of achievement in: • Language arts • Science • Mathematics • Humanities • Post-secondary performance • “Hold” and “retention” rates for Grade 10 students; Additionally, in all provinces where the data allows, three-year rolling averages are used to smooth out spikes in year-over-year achievement and to assess schools and not groups of students.
The Results Are In, AIMS 2nd Annual High School Report Card
AIMS’ 2004 High Schools Report Card released in Progress magazine today shows few excellent OR failing schools in region
Why not “Europeanize” healthcare?
By opening up a European health care market where patients may travel and use the health care services they deem necessary without the permission or interference of their national health care authorities, the EU has laid the groundwork for a consumer-driven revolution in health care. How different from Canada. Here provincial bureaucrats decide if a treatment available in another province is something they will pay for, and if so, how much they will reimburse. They decide if the waiting times for various procedures are too long, and therefore whether to give permission to get those procedures elsewhere. In this commentary from the March 1, 2004 National Post AIMS president Brian Lee Crowley and Johan Hjertqvist, the director of the Health Consumer Policy Centre of Timbro in Stockholm, argue if Canadian health care consumers, who are asking for ever more authority over their health and their lives, are to succeed in getting it, Europe is showing the way.
Ideas Matter # 3
In the late winter of 2004 AIMS released its third edition of Ideas Matter as part of the Education Reform Initiative and as a companion piece to AIMS' second Report card on Atlantic Canadian High Schools. Featured on the cover is Angus McBeath, Superintendent of Edmonton's public schools.