Public Finances

I don’t normally spend a lot of time taking reports from the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies (AIMS) as gospel. The think-tank — a registered charity — describes itself as providing “a distinctive Atlantic Canadian perspective on economic, political and social issues.” I mean, I read AIMS reports — I read everything — but it often seems to me that while the scholarship is fine, the choice of what’s to be studied seems to suit a particular business-based world view. Which probably isn’t surprising, given its funders. (Those same funders get income tax receipts, even in this world where charities that try to affect public policy — at least the ones whose work doesn’t dovetail with the federal Conservatives — seem to get quickly and mysteriously selected for audits by tax authorities). But more on that another day. This week, AIMS released a report on golf courses in P.E.I., and the thrust of the research essentially proves a bit of a truism about government investment in bu

A new report says P.E.I. taxpayers have lost millions of dollars because of the provincial government's investment in the golf industry. Tourism and Culture Minister Robert Henderson says the provincial government will continue to promote and market the golf industry on P.E.I. (CBC) The Atlantic Institute of Market Studies report released today said the investment in golf made in the 1990s did not have the expected economic impact. Public policy consultant Ian Munro prepared the report for AIMS. He said the provincial government is still deeply in debt 25 years after spending millions of dollars to build and operate golf courses. "The strategy may have seemed compelling but a combination of bad luck and strategic missteps resulted in a policy failure," said Munro.

In an interview with News 95.7 host Sheldon MacLeod, AIMS author and independent economic and public policy consultant Ian Munro discusses his most recent study, “Short of the Green,” which analyzes PEI’s golf tourism strategy and argues that it left provincial taxpayers on the hook unnecessarily.