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 [...]
Radio: CETA Trade Deal
In 2016, Canada and the European Union signed the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, or CETA. CETA is a political achievement from successive federal governments, which overcame resistance to trade in some European regions. The value of this trade deal for Atlantic Canada is tremendous. For decades, our industries have operated with hampered [...]
Radio: Ed Hollett Appointment
The fiscal reality of Newfoundland and Labrador is dire, and the 2016 budget did very little to correct the structural spending built into government during the last decade. There are numerous policy solutions to correct the province’s fiscal troubles; elected officials need to seriously consider and implement them. To this effect, the Atlantic [...]
Radio: Newfoundland and New Brunswick’s Budgets (2)
New Brunswick: New Brunswick's government promises to get its fiscal house in order while maintaining services. Unfortunately, its 2017 budget veers off from the plan of correcting public finances. Expenditure continues to grow, increasing by 3.5 percent and producing a deficit of $192 million. Meanwhile, government takes in more revenue from a higher [...]
Canada’s Urban Areas: descent from affordability
By WENDELL COX (Principal of Demographia) Canada is a nation of wide open spaces, yet it has high urban area densities recently driven higher by a redefinition of urban area criteria (Note 1). Canada's largest urban area (population centre) is Toronto, with a population of 5.4 million continues to be the densest of the 59 with [...]
A bank called Costco
By SYLVAIN CHARLEBOIS (AIMS Senior Fellow) Troy Media, March 9, 2017 The Guardian, March 9, 2017 Summary: Costco now has 10% of the food retailing market in Canada, and is going to charge you more to have access to its products, as of June. Given its solid success over the last few years in Canada, higher [...]
Only a growth agenda will make Island prosper
By JACKSON DOUGHART (AIMS Research Coordinator) The Journal-Pioneer, March 2, 2017 The Charlottetown Guardian, March 7, 2017 Summary: More outside capital and greater productivity are the keys to greater prosperity on Prince Edward Island. With the greatest dependence in Canada upon federal transfers to finance government, it is vital that the province better develop its own sources [...]
The Size and Cost of the Public Sector in Western Canada
The Size and Cost of the Public Sector in Western Canada authored by Rodney A. Clifton, Jackson Doughart, and Marco Navarro-Génie, examines the provincial and municipal public sectors in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan. For 2015, the authors draw data from Statistics Canada and examine the share of the overall workforce in the [...]
Radio: Atlantic Canada on Education Investment (4)
Nova Scotia: Citizens and their elected officials often say that education is the most important investment in our future. Certainly, preparing children for adulthood with literacy and numeracy is a priority. But we must not lose control of the costs. Public education is becoming more expensive, even as enrollment declines. Data show that, [...]