Education: It’s how you spend, not how much you spend, that matters most
Statistics Canada has reported that Nova Scotia ranks last in per pupil funding, but that is not the whole story. AIMS author Charles Cirtwill says the province must balance "...what they have to spend, on what they need to do." Strategic investment is critical. Spending in specific areas - like literacy, numeracy and improved accountability and testing - deliver significantly better returns on a dollar for dollar basis than other expenditures. Nova Scotia has done this, and should see some long-term gains as a result. In fact, Statistics Canada said in this latest report that student to educator ratios had been improved and per pupil spending was not only up but that its growth has exceeded the rate of inflation (not only in Nova Scotia but in every province except Ontario - where they were already among the highest spenders on education, with little comparative success).
Tuition fees: Let those who benefit, pay (NS)
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, and see data from Nova Scotia, click on this link.
Tuition fees: Let those who benefit, pay (NB)
To find out the argument behind these conclusions, and see data from New Brunswick, click on this link.
Tuition fees: Let those who benefit, pay (PEI)
To find out the argument behind these conclusions, and see data from Prince Edward Island, click on this link.
AIMS tells Post governments hold key to offshore’s survival
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.
CBC Radio ask AIMS about national pharmacare
As Ottawa and the provinces debate the scope of a national drug coverage programme, CBC Radio asked AIMS President Brian Lee Crowley to comment on whether a national Pharmacare programme is a good idea.