Market prices for coal, oil and natural gas have fallen nearly 50% in the last two years, prompting a decline in electricity rates across North America, except in Nova Scotia where electricity rates continue to rise and we continue to pay among the highest rates on the continent. Allowing electricity rates in [...]
Across Atlantic Canada education costs are on the rise. Between 1999 and 2010, per student education costs increased by more than 70% in all four Atlantic provinces. One reason for this phenomenon is that even as school enrollment has been declining over the past 15 years, the number of educators in our school [...]
Quebec’s $7/day rate structure for childcare is often touted as a model for Canada because it supposedly makes childcare affordable for Quebecers. In reality, it masks the costs with subsidy, and defers the cost onto others. Childcare operators can survive on $7/day, because they receive as much as five times that amount in [...]
The development of the internet has challenged our traditional way of thinking about many things. Among which are wealth, value and entrepreneurship. Today, adventurous entrepreneurs are unlocking value from unused portions of their households or unused times for their vehicles. Naturally, we're referring to eBay, Uber and Airbnb. They have taken chunks in [...]
Canadians want better healthcare, but their participation in health reform is difficult. Ordinary citizens don't readily have useful information about waiting times, results of care, the rate of preventable mistakes in their local facilities or even their own health information. The way forward and the most immediate, actionable way would be to promote [...]
Innovating portions of the public service can result in big savings, which can be put towards paying down debt or lowering taxes. Four provinces have already made changes to their registry services, achieving good outcomes for tax payers, government revenue and public sector workers. Governments of different stripes introduce such beneficial changes. The [...]
No matter how well-intentioned governments are, when it comes to resource revenue they and the people who elect them, tend to spend now and think later. We need a better model to avoid large swings that affect our budgets. Saving resource revenue and using the earnings pays off, no matter what governments want [...]
Canada's energy sector has maintained this country inside the lines of economic prosperity at a time when the rest of the world has suffered through a severe economic crisis. Our policies need to reflect that the Atlantic region can gain significantly from energy development without sacrificing environmental standards. Yet radical environmentalists continue [...]
Bill Black discusses the economics of the Yarmouth ferry deal.
In this AIMS commentary, Bill Black looks at the crackdown on in-store winemaking, taxation, and the role of the Provincial Government.