Part 1: Holding the environmental movement to account  – breakfast event in Sydney with author Paul Driessen

Atlantic Canada has its share of economic opportunities that have become entangled with environmental activism: examples would include offshore oil and gas exploration, the Sydney tar ponds clean-up and aquaculture. As a result, many people believe that economic and environmental progress are incompatible. Paul Driessen, author of “Eco-Imperialism: Green Power, Black Death”, disagrees. He has written extensively on how environmental groups and their idealism and ideologies can prevent genuine environmental improvements and impose standards that are all but impossible to meet.

“Ecology, economy and justice: holding the environmental movement to account” is the title of the presentation Paul Driessen will make on Monday, October 4 at 7:30 AM for complimentary breakfast and 8:00 AM for the speaking event at the Royal Cape Breton Yacht Club in Sydney, Nova Scotia. Driessen argues that the environmental movement has moved from a grassroots beginning to become an 8-billion dollar a year big business that is marked by a convergence of ideology, activism, marketing and politics with scant regard for the real costs of its policies and no requirement for honesty, transparency, ethics or accountability.

To register, or for further information, go to  www.aims.ca/events.asp?cmPageID=316
Or, contact Wanda Barrett, 902 446 3332, [email protected]


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Part 2: Cities don’t need federal bail out: new AIMS paper

The federal government has no constitutional right to give cities access to new revenue sources and financing instruments, and should not participate with cities in revenue-sharing programs concludes Professor Harry Kitchen, author of Financing City Services: A prescription for the future, the latest paper in AIMS’ Urban Futures Series.

Cities have become increasingly important players in the competitive global economy and have seen a dramatic increase in reliance on own-source revenues over the past 12 to 15 years. The result is the current call for a massive influx of federal dollars under a renewed national “cities agenda”, but Kitchen concludes that there is much the cities could do to put their own houses in order including changing assessment practices, improving development charges and replacing provincial gas taxes with municipal charges. Read his full paper to discover how cities can make it on their own.
 
To read “Financing City Services: A prescription for the future” go to:  www.aims.ca/aimslibrary.asp?ft=1&id=1008


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Part 3: Risk, Regulation and Reality – AIMS event in Toronto

AIMS, in partnership with Tech Central Station and the Toronto Insurance Conference, is hosting “Risk: Regulation & Reality”, a conference exploring the role and influence of risk in our society.

Join us as we hear from leading experts who will help shed light on some of the ‘risk myths’ facing Canadians today. Topics covered will include: Border Security, Health & Harm Reduction Strategies and Global Climate Change. Feature speakers are from the US Consulate General, the Cato Institute, and the Harvard Institute. For more information, full event program or to register go to: www.aims.ca/events.asp?cmPageID=305

Risk: Regulation and Reality, 8:00 am to 1:45 pm, Thursday October 7, 2004 Four Seasons Hotel, 21 Avenue Road, Toronto


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Part 4: Governments hold key to offshore’s survival, AIMS tells Post

The persistence of an onerous costly regulatory and tax regime combined with poor exploration results to date in the Atlantic offshore make further exploration a hard sell to industry executives who can drill in basins around the world. Yet more exploration is vital to producing a viable, long-term industry. Oil and gas is the greatest opportunity Atlantic Canada has known in a generation, but if its current loss of momentum reaches the tipping point, it may take another generation to come back. Yet the same governments that claim to want nothing more than to help Atlantic Canada escape from under-development cannot seem to find the will simply to get out of the way.

Read this article to find out more about what governments need to do to lift the regulatory roadblocks to a more robust offshore, click: www.aims.ca/oilandgas.asp?typeID=4&id=1004&fd=0&p=1.


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Part 5: Tuition fees: Let those who benefit, pay

In his fortnightly column, AIMS President Brian Lee Crowley observes that the beginning of the academic year is marked, yet again, with both much self-congratulatory rhetoric about the inestimable value of university education to society, and much hand-wringing about rising tuition fees. Both attitudes are hugely overblown. Enrolments are up, not down, despite tuition fee rises. Moreover, low tuition fees are a socially regressive policy. The average taxpayer does not have a university degree, and certainly has a lower income than the average university grad. By getting a university degree, students capture for themselves a large private benefit – much larger than that generated for the taxpayer. There’s little evidence that higher fees restrict access, and lots of evidence that the value of the education more than compensates students for the cost.

To find out the argument behind these conclusions as they apply to Nova Scotia, see: www.aims.ca/education.asp?typeID=4&id=1006

For New Brunswick, go to: www.aims.ca/education.asp?typeID=4&id=1007


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Part 6: CBC Commentary: AIMS on auto plant subsidies

The Ontario and federal governments are proposing to give hundreds of millions of dollars to Ford Canada to encourage that firm to build a new car plant in southern Ontario. But do these subsidies produce real value for consumers and taxpayers, or do they enrich companies, their managers and their employees at everyone else’s expense? At the invitation of CBC Radio, AIMS President Brian Lee Crowley argues, in this national Commentary piece, that these special deals lower our standard of living and distort the economy, while the main benefit goes to American consumers.

The full commentary can be found at: www.aims.ca/regionaldevelopment.asp?typeID=3&id=1002&fd=0&p=1


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Part 7: Reflections on our common continental home – AIMS 10th Anniversary Dinner

Be sure to set aside Tuesday, November 9, 2004 for AIMS’ 10th Anniversary dinner entitled “Reflections on our common continental home: A blueprint for security and commerce in Atlantica and the whole of North America”

Our featured speakers will be former United States Senator and former Secretary of Defense, William Cohen, and former Prime Minister of Canada, the Right Honourable Brian Mulroney.

Canada’s relationship with the United States has at times appeared strained since the events of September 11, 2001. Canada’s position on the war in Iraq, the softwood lumber dispute, the BSE crisis in the cattle industry, security lapses and other issues have all served to highlight the importance of our relationship with our closest ally and greatest trading partner.

What is in the future for this relationship? Join us for a rare glimpse into Canada’s relationship with the United States and help AIMS celebrate ten years of contribution to the Canadian public policy debate.

Tickets are CDN $250 per seat, $2,500 for tables of ten.

To register, or for further information, go to www.aims.ca/events.asp?cmPageID=294
Or, contact Wanda Barrett, 902 446 3332, [email protected]

ALREADY REGISTERED? Confirmations are sent within 72 hours of receiving registrations. If you have not received a confirmation note from AIMS, please contact the office immediately – [email protected] or  (902) 446-3332.


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