The province of New Brunswick is poised to post a $79-million surplus. AIMS acting President Charles Cirtwill says that money will be best spent paying down the provincial debt and ensuring that tax rates won't need to be hiked again.
Immigration continues to be an important public policy issue for the Atlantic region because of its declining population. AIMS acting President Charles Cirtwill says one of the major barriers to increasing immigration is a system that seeks "ideal" candidates instead of trying to match people to open poisitions.
The latest Statistics Canada report shows Nova Scotia has doubled the number of immigrants in just over a decade. However, AIMS acting President Charles Cirtwill says that's not enough and more must be done in order to replace workers in an aging province.
Canada's labour shortage is no more critical than in Atlantic Canada where an ageing population is compounded by high out-migration and low immigration. AIMS acting President Charles Cirtwill says while more immigrants are attracted to Nova Scotia, the province needs to do even more.
In his fortnightly column, AIMS acting President Charles Cirtwill dispels some of the baseless fears that pop-up whenever the government even suggests partnering with private industry. He notes that so-called P3s allow the government to tackle projects it wouldn't otherwise be able to contemplate without raising taxes or cutting jobs.
In his fortnightly column in the Chronicle-Herald, AIMS acting President Charles Cirtwill takes aim at a lethargic Nova Scotia. He notes that too often habit drives the political process. As a result we get stuck in a rut instead of pioneering new solutions. He says that we all have to stop looking for other people to give us the answers and start coming up with them ourselves.
A proposed port in Maine could see major economic benefits in Saint John. AIMS acting president Charles Cirtwill notes that although ports in Halifax, Sydney and the Strait of Canso may see a new port as competition, projected container traffic from Asia will likely keep all the area's ports busy.
A new political party in Atlantic Canada is again raising the idea of the political union of the four Atlantic provinces. It prompted a reporter at the Charlottetown Guardian to review the possibility, and he turned to AIMS Director of Research Ian Munro for comment. Munro suggests the concept is politically unrealistic and wouldn't necessarily provide any economic benefits.
When dissecting the details of the $634-million federal infrastructure announcement the Cape Breton Post turned to AIMS acting President Charles Cirtwill. The result is this editorial, in which Cirtwill points out that the federal government is re-using some of its past promises.
Comments by AIMS once again sparked debate and led to this editorial in the Halifax Daily News. AIMS acting President Charles Cirtwill noted that many of the federal government's recent infrastructure promises have been delivered to Nova Scotia before.