Law, strikes and the public interest
The Nova Scotia government's decision to forestall by legislation strikes in the health care sector and to impose a settlement on their workers raises the thorny question whether public sector workers in essential services should be allowed to use the strike weapon. In his regular column, AIMS President Brian Lee Crowley says that, while there are arguments on both sides, on balance the public interest is better protected by a no-strike rule. But that doesn't mean that governments should be able to do just whatever they please -- if workers lose the right to strike, the government must also give up the right to impose wage settlements unilaterally.
Is geography destiny for Atlantica?
A wedge of territory, which some are now calling Atlantica, has been outside the charmed circle of North American prosperity for years but now faces the end of an economic era and the opportunity to seize control again. This corner of North America encompasses not only Atlantic Canada but also embraces the sliver of the United States that reaches from Maine through New Hampshire and Vermont and into northern New York State. AIMS President, Brian Lee Crowley, suggests that continental free trade and globalization may put an end to the isolation of Atlantica. The east west axis for development of North America is being supplemented by a drive to stitch back together the old north-south trade routes that had flourished across the continent before 1867. If Atlantica is to escape the role of geographic backwater to which the last century relegated us, a new cross-border coalition must be built. Many American politicians, including both New York senators, have endorsed a call for Washington
Brian Flemming on Regulatory Reform
Media commentator, businessman and policy analyst Brian Flemming is one of the country’s leading voices on the future of government regulation in the age of the new economy, the Internet, globalization and consumer empowerment. Below you will find a continuing series of articles that touch on all aspects of regulation, how it affects our lives, the forms that it is likely to take in the future, and the forces shaping regulatory reform in Atlantic Canada and elsewhere
Equalization and natural resources: Bill Watson on AIMS’ paper
William Watson has taken a thoughtful look at a recent AIMS paper on equalization and offers his positive comments in a National Post column. In addition to being a regular columnist at the Post, Watson is the editor of Policy Options, the magazine of the Institute for Research on Public Policy, and a professor of economics at McGill University. In his article, Watson explores each of Boessenkool's arguments in favour of excluding nonrenewable natural resource revenues from the equalization formula. Watson is the latest in a series of national writers to enter the debate that has been sparked by "Taking off the Shackles: Equalization and the Development of Nonrenewable Resources in Atlantic Canada", by Ken Boessenkool.
AIMS and Labour Mobility
AIMS President Brian Lee Crowley recently addressed the newly formed Laissez-Faire Society in Calgary and discussed several of the artificial barriers to economic growth in Atlantic Canada and Canada as a whole. One of his themes, the need to reform EI, is picked up in this column by Nigel Hanneford as he discusses the need to eliminate the barriers to work in Canada. Hanneford argues that leaving EI as it is and failing to eliminate provincial labour mobility barriers will result in a sad state of affairs where it will be easier for a foreign tradesperson or professional to work in Alberta, than somebody from Nova Scotia.
Taking off the Shackles
This enlightening study by Kenneth J. Boessenkool, a senior policy analyst now based in Ottawa, outlines a win-win strategy to reduce the overall cost of equalization and put more money into the hands of the provinces in the long term.