AIMS // Atlantic Institute for Market Studies

This article looks at the reasons behind the cancellation of the planned LNG plant in Nova Scotia including comments by AIMS author Angela Tu Weissenberger.

This article in the Chronicle Herald looks at offshore oil revenues and the effect on the economy.

This article in the Telegraph Journal, AIMS President and CEO comments on the planned annoucement regarding regional energy co-operation between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

This article in the Chronicle Herald, AIMS President and CEO comments on the planned annoucement regarding regional energy co-operation between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

As NB Power unveiled its new strategic plan, AIMS president & CEO Charles Cirtwill explained what steps the utility should take to make use of its geographic location and take advantage of private interest.

When the deal to sell NB Power to Hydro Quebec fell through, the Telegraph Journal called AIMS President & CEO Charles Cirtwill to provide an opinion piece.

In this op-ed in the Telegraph-Journal, AIMS author Gordon L. Weil suggests there is a way to improve the porposed sale of NB Power assets to Hydro Quebec. Weil's Commentaries for AIMS have driven much of the policy discussion around the controversial MOU.

This op-ed by AIMS President and CEO Charles Cirtwill appeared in newspapers in New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador. He explains that people appear to be ignoring one issue in the hoopla over the prposed sale of NB Power to Hydro Quebec - it's an MOU. He points out there's still time to clean up the deal, or to get a new offer on the table.

As speculation mounts that Quebec Hydro is going to buy NB Power, AIMS incoming President Charles Cirtwill has a warning. He says while New Brunswick should privatize the utility, selling it to another province's crown corporation would not be good for New Brunswickers.

This editorial in the Calgary Herald uses AIMS' work on non-renewable resource revenues to make its point. AIMS has repeatedly published material that tells Governments revenues from non-renewable resources (such as oil & gas) should not be squandered on day to day operations.

Everyone seems to be raging against the oil companies these days over the price of gasoline. This Commentary by AIMS Founding President Brian Lee Crowley sheds light on the true economics of oil pricing.

Energy consultant William Marshall weighs in on the latest deal to sell NB Power assets to Hydro Quebec.

The modified New Brunswick - Quebec Memorandum of Understanding on NB Power by Gordon L. Weil

At the Annual Meeting of the Canadian Gas Association in St. Andrews, New Brunswick, AIMS President Brian Lee Crowley made the case that while some believe that Nova Scotia and New Brunswick have opposing interests in natural gas, nothing could be further from the truth. Both would benefit more from increased gas exploration and development, and both would be harmed by a premature extension of the national gas distribution grid to uneconomic areas.

Last Friday could have been the start of the end for regulated oil prices in Newfoundland and Labrador says Peter Fenwick, AIMS’ voice on Newfoundland and Labrador. Last Friday Western Petroleum forced the politically appointed Newfoundland oil pricing commissioner to increase the price of a litre of gasoline by 5.8 cents, a full two weeks early. It was only a brief reprieve for the largest independent gasoline chain in the province, but it may signal the end of the Petroleum Pricing Commission. Western Petroleum is a local home grown company that is trying to compete with some of the largest companies in the world. That in itself is difficult. But when you have to take on your own government in the guise of a politically appointed commissioner who wants you to sell for less than your costs, your job is that much harder. Read Fenwick’s commentary to see why, ultimately, the best solution is to eliminate the Petroleum Pricing Commissioner entirely.

As AIMS Fellow on Newfoundland Issues, Peter Fenwick says in this new piece, in 1996 Voisey's Bay discoverers Al Chislett and Chris Verbiski were Canadian prospectors of the year; feted in their home province of Newfoundland, and given honourary degrees from Memorial University. They were the home-grown boys who would lead Newfoundland to prosperity. But that most-favored-son status didn't last long. Today their exploration company, Archean has the dubious distinction of being the highest taxed company in Canada. The two prospectors are now considering moving their company to a lower taxation province.

In an attempt to reserve any new discoveries of offshore natural gas for Canadians, New Brunswick Premier Bernard Lord wants the National Energy Board to only allow the exporting of natural gas to the US, the gas’s chief market, after Canadian needs have been assessed and met. Premier Lord feels oil companies are refusing to sell enough gas to Canadians, and as a result the economic development of some areas, such as northern New Brunswick and eastern Quebec, is being hurt. In this recent CBC Commentary, AIMS President Brian Lee Crowley says “Premier Lord, it just ain’t so”. Gas companies have already made substantial supplies available locally, but are now suffering because so few people have signed up – preferring to stick to more traditional forms of fuel.

The efforts to implement a so-called "Canada First" export strategy for natural gas will seriously jeopardise the future of the natural gas industry in Atlantic Canada. This is the message that AIMS President, Brian Lee Crowley, brought to the National Energy Board during hearings in New Brunswick. According to Crowley, if such a policy had been in place ten years ago there would be no gas for us to fight about today – the Sable Offshore project never would have happened. Similarly, adopting New Brunswick's proposed changes would not only put at risk current developments like the Deep Panuke project, but the future of the industry on the East Coast as well. A policy that restrains gas exports will make large capital investments in Atlantic Canada difficult to justify especially when weighed against other areas of gas exploration worldwide.

In this op-ed energy consultant Gordon Weil explains why Canada needs a regulator for the electricity industry, and he says there is a structure in place that can handle it - the National Energy Board.

AIMS President and CEO Charles Cirtwill explains the value of a panel review of the sale of NB assets to Hydro Quebec. He says it can help the discussion by laying out the advantages and concerns.

AIMS President & CEO Charles Cirtwill is asked to weigh in with academics on the handling by the provincial government of the proposed sale of NB Power to Hydro Quebec.

Energy consultant William Marshall continues his comment on the latest proposal to sell NB Power assets to Hydro Quebec.

The latest Weil analysis of the deal to sell NB Power to Hydro Quebec published by AIMS made it to the floor of the New Brunswick legislature. This story relates the exchange between opposition MLAs and Energy Minister Jack Keir including his opinion of the latest analysis.

Again the Weil analysis published by AIMS of the proposed sale of NB Power assets is used to explain postential concerns with the deal.

Why do politicians so consistently get electricity policy wrong? Economic truth is often politically unpopular, and politicians have been only too willing to pander to voters' desire for artificially cheap electricity and unjustified massive construction projects today by storing up far worse electricity prices and massive debt for tomorrow. New Brunswick is the latest province to have reached a crisis because there are no more quick fixes. The noose is tightening, but the provincial government and New Brunswick Power seem determined to pretend that the rope is nothing but the latest fashion in neckties.

As AIMS President Brian Lee Crowley writes in his bi-monthly newspaper column, everyone hates paying high prices for gasoline and heating oil. They hit the poor harder than everybody else; they wreak havoc with family and business budgets. Perhaps worst of all, they seem to happen without rhyme or reason, like bolts of lightning out of a clear winter sky. Quite understandably, then, these price rises provoke fear, anger and suspicion of the oil and gas companies that are their authors. But before we rush off to embrace the responses that many people propose to solve this problem, we had better be sure exactly what the problem is and what all the consequences would be of, say, letting governments fix the price of gas.

Newfoundland & Labrador’s Royal Commission on Renewing and Strengthening our Place in Canada is popularly known as the Blame Canada Commission. In this column AIMS President, Brian Lee Crowley, outlines how Ottawa could significantly address the areas where it does, in fact, bear an important share of the blame for Newfoundland’s woes.

In its ongoing exploration of the similarities between the challenges Alaska faces and those here in Nova Scotia, the Anchorage Daily News (ADN) has again turned to AIMS for a clear perspective on the hurdles facing both economies. In this article, AIMS President Brian Lee Crowley, tells the ADN in an interview that the key challenge for Nova Scotia is creating something lasting from whatever natural gas is found. That means parlaying it perhaps into an oil-field services industry that can compete for work around the globe. As in Alaska, however, parochial demands threaten to gum up the works. For instance, some Nova Scotians demand that cheap gas be reserved for local homeowners and industries before any is exported, preferably at high prices. If government makes rules to appease those voices, it could repel an industry taking enormous risks.

After two decades, Albertans have not forgotten the many people who lost their homes, their businesses and their dreams as a result of the National Energy Program. The rationale and rhetoric of the old National Energy Program are being echoed on the East Coast today. In a case currently before the National Energy Board, New Brunswick is asking that all future exports of Nova Scotia's natural gas be allowed to reach markets in the United States only "after Canadian needs have been assessed and met." In this Globe piece, Premier John Hamm explains why New Brunswick’s actions place the entire industry in jeopardy and he turns to AIMS to provide a clear, concise account of what would happen if New Brunswick’s policies applied to other industries and what will happen if New Brunswick is successful before the NEB – tremendous damage to Canada as an exporter and to its reputation as a place to invest.

AIMS publishes response to Weil analysis of NB Power MOU

Is gas price regulation worth the millions we pay?

Assertions of “inaccuracies” and “errors” do not stand up under scrutiny

Closer U.S. ties would create jobs, provide more choice, and promote prosperity

Utility still not dealing with substantive issues facing New Brunswickers in power policy

Province simply shifting debt from one pocket to another, does nothing to improve grim financial outlook.

Emphasis on local consumption of gas misguided; focus should be on creating best value for Atlantic Canadians from the gas sector as a whole

AIMS and ECANS present an update on how power markets are evolving, what it means for this region - and which region is the “right” one for electricity purposes.

Three challenges for the Canadian Economy

Former Alberta Treasurer Jim Dinning speaks to AIMS Luncheon about managing the ups and downs of a resource based economy

How will competition, deregulation and privatization in the continental electricity market affect us?

The Hon. Peter Lougheed speech to AIMS 5th Anniversary Banquet

Wendell Cox on HRM Development Freeze, Saint John as test case for urban reform, Charles Cirtwill asks: Are we getting results we should for our education dollar? and Where entrepreneurs rule-AIMS in Toronto Star.

The White House Comes to AIMS: David Frum on Canada-US relations, why educators are blame AIMS for their own problems plus Brian Lee Crowley on natural gas distribution and the danger of opting for cheap pills now versus new drugs tomorrow.

New thinking key to Newfoundland prosperity, an excerpt from Mark Milke’s new book, Tax Me I’m Canadian – Your Money and How Politicians Spend It and Australia looks to AIMS for analysis of Equalization.

AIMS launches ACOA WATCH, AIMS in La Presse on sustainable growth and more.

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.