Newfoundland and Labrador faces fiscal crisis, other provinces should take note
By Ben Eisen and Alex Whalen Among the many challenges emerging from the COVID-19 crisis, a worrying story has emerged from Newfoundland and Labrador and other provincial governments across the country should take notice.On March [...]
Employers must be allowed to temporarily lay off workers during COVID crisis
Appeared in National Newswatch, March 27, 2020 By Alex Whalen and Niels Veldhuis Aside from the enormous health-related challenges due to the COVID-19 virus, employers and workers are feeling major economic pain with job loss, [...]
New Brunswick budget tackles debt but eschews meaningful tax relief
Appeared in the Fredericton Daily Gleaner, March 16, 2020 By Jake Fuss and Alex Whalen Last week, the Higgs government tabled its 2020 budget. While the future of this government remains unknown, the budget highlights [...]
Federal government making up fiscal rules on the fly
Appeared in Calgary's Business, January 5, 2020By Alex Whalen and Jake Fuss Last month, before the holidays, the Trudeau government released its fall economic update, which revealed—among other issues—that Canada’s federal debt-to-GDP ratio increased, meaning Canada’s [...]
Nova Scotia’s health-care wait times among longest in Canada
Appeared in the Chronicle Herald, December 24, 2019By Bacchus Barua and Alex Whalen Nova Scotians are worried about health care—and rightly so, as the province’s wait times are among the longest in the country. According [...]
New Brunswick’s high level of education spending produces relatively poor student performance
Appeared in the New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal, December 22, 2019By Tegan Hill and Alex Whalen Policymakers in New Brunswick too often take the mistaken view that more spending on education means better results. In reality, the [...]
The Size of NL’s Public Sector
AIMS' study The Size and Cost of Atlantic Canada's Public Sector was referenced in a CBC Newfoundland article by former Premier Brian Peckford on federal assistance for the province. "...our spending is out of control, [...]
Vaping and Teen Health: How Kids Got Hooked and Schools Got Caught Off-Guard
By Paul W. Bennett (AIMS Education Fellow) A New Brunswick principal, Brad Sturgeon of Fredericton’s Leo Hayes High School, has broken the silence and rung the alarm bell over the rapid spread of vaping among [...]
To keto or not to keto?
By Sylvain Charlebois (AIMS Senior Fellow) Are you on the ketogenic diet? Apparently, many people are, or have tried it in the last year or so. It is possibly the most popular dietary trend in [...]
Finding Your Personal Health Information
By Dr. David Zitner (AIMS Senior Health Policy Fellow) Most businesses encourage clients to electronically access their own information because consumers value the efficiency and convenience of electronic access. Unfortunately, the Nova Scotia Department of [...]
Economists Say Subsidy For Student Jobs Shouldn’t Vary So Greatly Across The Country
News outlet Huddle quoted AIMS Vice President Alex Whalen in an article discussing the release of our study Rethinking Student Job Subsidies: The Case For Regional Equity in the Canada Summer Jobs Program. Read the [...]
Beyond coffee?
By Sylvain Charlebois (AIMS Senior Fellow) Bean-less coffee is a thing now and could hit the market as early as next year. Our summer was marked by key announcements from major food chains who have [...]
AIMS Canada Summer Jobs Paper quoted in Calgary Herald
AIMS' study Rethinking Student Job Subsidies: The Case For Regional Equity in the Canada Summer Jobs Program was quoted in an article from the Calgary Herald discussing federal grant money allocation. Read here: https://calgaryherald.com/news/politics/study-argues-alberta-short-changed-by-canada-summer-jobs-funding-allocation
Reform is needed to the Canada Summer Jobs
AIMS VP Alex Whalen joined the Sheldon MacLeod Show to discuss AIMS' latest study Rethinking Student Job Subsidies: The Case For Regional Equity in the Canada Summer Jobs Program and why the Canada Summer Jobs [...]
Celebrate labour, not labour unions
By Matthew Lau (AIMS Author) Labour Day is a day, as its name suggests, to celebrate labour. This is entirely appropriate; labour is a necessary input for the production of goods and services on which [...]
Rethinking Student Job Subsidies: The Case For Regional Equity in the Canada Summer Jobs Program
The Canada Summer Jobs Program is the federal government’s primary initiative for subsidizing work for the student-age population during off months at educational institutions. Recently, the program has come under scrutiny for Ottawa’s decision [...]
AIMS VP comments on Saint John road toll proposal
AIMS Vice President, Alex Whalen, expressed views on the Saint John road toll proposal in the Telegraph Journal. Read the article here: https://tj.news/greatersaintjohn/101024609
Eliminating bridge toll bad public policy, says AIMS VP
In an article by CBC PEI, AIMS VP Alex Whalen was quoted in regards to the Confederation Bridge's toll, saying any change in the contract with the company that operates the bridge would likely be [...]
Is the kitchen stove the next sewing machine?
By Sylvain Charlebois (AIMS Senior Fellow) For many of us, the kitchen has been a sacred place in our home. In fact, it has been referred to as the heart of the home. But it [...]
Should the Confederation Bridge keep the toll?
AIMS Vice President Alex Whalen discussed his views on the Confederation Bridge's toll with CBC PEI, contending that maintaining the toll for users was the fairest way to fund the bridge. Listen here:
Gouging, government policies blamed for B.C. gas price spikes
The Atlantic Institute for Market Studies was referenced in an article from the Vancouver Courier in regards to how "regulated prices in four Atlantic provinces have resulted in consumers in Atlantic Canada paying more for [...]
Drugs coming out of Canada are Reimportation
AIMS' 2007 study Drug Re-importation in North America and Europe: An Overview by Brian Ferguson was referenced in an article by the Epoch Times discussing the reality of drug imports from Canada to the United [...]
Tolls the fairest way to fund the bridge
By Alex Whalen (AIMS Vice President) The recent campaign to remove tolls on the Confederation Bridge is a popular policy topic where rhetoric has become misguided. Prince Edward Island Senator Percy Downe has pushed to [...]
The Cashless Food Economy
By Sylvain Charlebois (AIMS Senior Fellow) According to a recent survey by Payments Canada, 42 per cent of consumers use cash fewer than four times a month when purchasing food. A year ago, it was [...]
Rigid focus on seniority hurts teachers and students
By Michael Zwaagstra (AIMS Fellow) Imagine you are a public school principal. You need to hire a teacher and you have two applicants who meet the basic job requirements. The first applicant has ten years [...]
