Budgetary Choices
Second, in a discussion of budgetary choices facing the federal government, he emphasized the wrong-headedness of holding on to labour policies designed to address systemic unemployment when the real challenge facing the country, and the world, in the 21st century is substantial labour shortages.
Regional Development
In his remarks at the national convention of the PC Party of Canada in Edmonton, AIMS President Brian Lee Crowley addressed three questions put to him by the conference organizers: First, he explained that regional economic development organizations like ACOA don't Actually create new economic activity but simply substitute the government's preferred activities for those that would have inevitably taken place if people had been left free to take their own decisions with their own money.
France’s chief news magazine highlights work of AIMS
Atlantic Canada, and the growing opportunities it represents, is attracting ever-greater international attention. And AIMS too is in ever-greater demand to explain this region's past and lay out a strategic vision for its future. The latest example comes from France's chief news magazine, L'Express. In their edition of 22 August, a large part of their major article about Atlantic Canada's renaissance is devoted to a discussion with AIMS President Brian Lee Crowley, who points out, among other things, that «Nous avons souffert d'être une région pauvre dans un pays riche.»
Alaska looks to AIMS in discussion of Aquaculture
This summer, the Anchorage Daily News sent a roving correspondent to Nova Scotia to explore the aquaculture industry on Canada’s east coast. In this extensive article the reporter explores the history, growth and future potential of the aquaculture industry here in Atlantic Canada. He describes how growth here mirrors the global expansion of this high tech twist on a traditional industry. The reporter also discusses with AIMS President Brian Lee Crowley why aquaculture - a high tech industry that is not seasonal and meets a growing global market demand - is an ideal fit with Canada’s coastal communities. To see how Nova Scotia’s fledgling aquaculture industry is already causing shockwaves on the other side of the continent read “A New Threat” by Wesley Loy. Publication: Anchorage Daily News, August 18, 2002
AIMS On-Line for August 2002
NS and NB should stop squabbling and think big – An AIMS Oil & Gas Perspective, “Canada First” Puts Canada Last - AIMS presentation to the National Energy Board, Brian Lee Crowley in the Globe on why MSAs are worth a look and why poor quality social programmes breed dependency.
AIMS On-Line – Special Health Care Reform Edition
The debate over Medical Savings Accounts
N.S. and N.B.: stop squabbling, think big
Nova Scotia and New Brunswick are currently butting heads before the National Energy Board over whether offshore natural gas will be sold in the US or consumed in Canada. But bigger than the benefits of consuming gas, or selling it on to US consumers, is the benefit that comes from expanding the supply of offshore gas. By some estimates, the offshore industry has spent less than $2-billion in exploration development and infrastructure construction to date. But if we get a few breaks and the potential reserves offshore turn out to be real, the spending can reach as much as $50-billion. That’s economic activity too large to be contained by just one province in our small region; it will have powerful spill-over effects into New Brunswick and PEI, as well as into northern New England and eastern Quebec. But it is precisely this impressive potential growth that is threatened if the oil and gas industry becomes convinced that they will not have full access to the US market for the gas the
Solomon supports AIMS view on MSAs in the Post
In the ongoing MSA debate in the pages of both of Canada’s national newspapers (a debate sparked by AIMS reaction to a recent study by Evelyn Forget, Raisa Deber and Leslie Roos) Lawrence Solomon, an influential voice in the national debate on health reform, published an aggressive response to the characterization of MSAs as ‘zombies’ unworthy of serious consideration. Solomon argued that Deber and her colleagues “created a system of medical savings accounts so stupid in design that it would be guaranteed to fail.” Referring to an actuarial study of MSAs for Canada done by “Milliman & Robertson, one of the world's premier actuarial firms”, which showed that the approach would indeed work- and work impressively, Solomon went on to detail just one example of what a real MSA plan would look like. All Canadians -- young or old, sick or healthy – would receive a tailor-made health-care allowance from the government that would be more than they'd ordinarily need to meet their routine heal
MSA Opponents React to AIMS Criticisms with another Globe article
In this piece from the Globe, the authors of a recent study on MSAs respond to criticisms raised by AIMS President Brian Lee Crowley and AIMS Summer Intern Brett J. Skinner. Raisa Deber and her colleagues reiterate the findings of their original study and emphasize their argument that no matter how MSAs are designed they will not work. Referring to MSAs as a ‘zombie’ of Canadian health policy, they argue that: “If people are not spending much money for medical care in the first place, one cannot expect "incentives" to economize on their use of care to generate meaningful savings…Our results hold for all age groups, and hold whether you are considering all publicly funded health expenditures or physician services only. Given the extreme skewing of the distribution of health expenditures, our results suggest that, no matter how you formulate MSAs, these accounts are not cost saving, unless coverage is cut to the extent that they no longer constitute insurance.”
AIMS shows Globe readers why medical savings accounts make sense
In defending the idea of Medical Savings Accounts in the Globe and Mail from some recent published attacks, AIMS president Brian Lee Crowley and AIMS intern Brett Skinner write: "With MSAs, users of the system become accountable partners in health care decision making. If they spend the money in their account wisely, they get to save the balance at the end of the year. If they think about going to the doctor for the everyday complaints we all face, they have to face the fact that medical services cost money, something our system pretends isn't so. And if they fall really sick, they get exactly the same level of tax-provided care they're entitled to today. In other words, people are rewarded for using health care services sensibly, rather than penalized for using them appropriately." Publication: G&M, July 24, 2002