P U B L I C F I N A N C E & F I S C A L F E D E R A L I S M
All four Atlantic Provinces face serious fiscal challenges. Public debt as a share of GDP is high, and debt servicing costs threaten to further constrain the ability of governments to keep taxes competitive and public services adequately funded in the years ahead.
Our work in the area of public finances and fiscal federalism draws on lessons from our own country’s history and other jurisdictions to identify successful strategies for public spending and tax reform that can help spur economic growth while improving the health of public finances. AIMS will also continue to be a leading centre for research on equalization and fiscal federalism.
POLICY PAPERS & OP-ED COMMENTARIES
Education on Wheels: Seizing Cost and Energy Efficiency Opportunities in Student Transportation
Halifax, NS (13 January 2015): A new AIMS research report, “Education on Wheels,” shows that student transportation costs are rising steadily across Maritime Canada, even as student enrolment declines, and that provincial governments in the region are missing opportunities to achieve cost and energy efficiencies. The authors, Paul W. Bennett and ...
The Size and Cost of Atlantic Canada’s Public Sector
In The Size and Cost of Atlantic Canada’s Public Sector, authors Ben Eisen and Shaun Fantauzzo compare public sector employment rates in the ten Canadian provinces. They show that the public sector employment rates are higher than the national average in all four Atlantic Provinces, and that public sector workers ...
New Brunswick’s Debt and Deficit: A Historical Look
New Brunswick faces a significant public debt problem and spending restraint is the best available solution. These are the central findings of a new research paper, released this morning, by the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies (AIMS). The paper’s title is “New Brunswick’s Debt and Deficit Problem: A Historical Look” ...
This Rose, By Any Name, Stinks
Criticisms of the property tax system are routine and growing. For Nova Scotia, the system of property taxation and assessment dates back to the 1880s. With the property tax system so generally and roundly condemned, the consideration of alternatives obviously becomes necessary. The two alternatives that are most commonly contrasted ...
Put Our Money Where Our Mouths Are
Recently overstretched provincial and federal budgets mean increased spending pressures for municipalities. Coupled with limited taxing capacity and a lack of constitutional authority, municipalities today find themselves struggling to meettheir commitments. With revenue generation limited to property taxation anduser fees, and with provincial transfers unstable, municipalities could well find themselves ...
MEDIA MENTIONS
More needs to be done to trim public service: AIMS
News article quoting AIMS President Marco Navarro-Génie • Chronicle Herald, 23 November 2016 More needs to be done to trim the provincial public service, says the author of a new ...
P.E.I. public sector workforce too expensive, says AIMS
News article quoting AIMS study The Size and Cost of the Public Sector in Atlantic Canada, 2015 • CBC News, 22 November 2016 The P.E.I. government needs to look harder ...
Jackson Doughart on CBC Mainstreet: “The Size of P.E.I.’s Public Sector”
On Nov. 22, 2016, AIMS Policy Analyst Jackson Doughart joined Angela Walker of CBC's "Mainstreet" program on Prince Edward Island. They discussed the size and cost of P.E.I.'s public sector ...
CBC Newfoundland & Lbdr. interviews Marco Navarro-Génie about the size of the Public Sector
On Nov. 22, 2016, AIMS President Marco Navarro-Génie joined CBC Newfoundland's "On the Go" program to discuss AIMS's study, "The Size and Cost of the Public Sector in Atlantic Canada, ...