November 2002
What makes Canada great isn’t what you think
Canada has its flaws, and from within it can often seem that our governments are too insulated and unaccountable. But that’s not how others, less lucky than we are, see it. At this year’s Diplomatic Forum (An event organized each year by the Department of Foreign Affairs to bring together the majority of ambassadors posted to Ottawa and take them to a provincial capital outside central Canada.) ambassador after ambassador stood up to express their admiration for Canadian governmental accountability. What sparked these accolades was a debate between Stephane Dion, federal Intergovernmental Affairs Minister, and two local commentators, historian Brian Cuthbertson and AIMS President Brian Lee Crowley. In his regular column Crowley remarks on the two things about this session that struck the ambassadors forcefully. The first was that, in the vast majority of the world, ministers cannot be called to account for what they do with power.
St. Anthony, The Town That Roared
When the crab fishery resumes next April, the Northern Peninsula town of St. Anthony plans to impose a tariff on shellfish landed in their harbour and shipped out to other Newfoundland centres. It is the latest in a series of attempts by the province to shield workers from having to compete with the rest of the world on a level playing field. While individual provinces have tried to bar workers and other companies from competing in their internal market, we now have a town attempting to secure work for its citizens by levying a tariff on fish that is shipped out of town. Peter Fenwick, AIMS’ voice on Newfoundland and Labrador, explains in this commentary why, in the end, this protectionist approach impoverishes the entire rural sector of the province and prevents capital formation that could be used to expand the economic base of rural Newfoundland.
The Kyoto Accord and Newfoundland – AIMS on St. Johns’ radio
In this radio commentary, Peter Fenwick, AIMS voice on Newfoundland and Labrador, looks at the potential impacts of the Kyoto accord for Newfoundland. Take a look at the full commentary to see why Fenwick believes Newfoundlanders will see “…a dollar a litre for gas, twenty cents more for home heating oil…a marked drop in offshore oil exploration, and a dismal decline in our rate of growth.” Publication: November 1 2002
In Canadian Health Care Insurance
AIMS Senior Fellow Dr. David Zitner argues the government’s ability to play a regulatory role effectively is hampered because, as the ultimate provider of health care services, government is actually being asked to regulate itself – an impossible conflict of interest.
October 2002
AIMS On-Line for late October 2002
Rags to Riches How "The Regions" can lead Canada's productivity growth, Dr. Michael MacDonald on how the New Cape Breton starts at home, AIMS at Acadia University on the meaning of sustainable development and Brian Lee Crowley on proportional representation.
Globe uses AIMS Study to Assail Harmful Effects of Patronage
In taking a critical look at patronage and its negative economic impacts, the Globe and Mail turned to a study released earlier this month by the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies. The study assailed equalization transfers, employment insurance and "the activist economic development policy" that have been the mainstays of Canada's "regional development tool kit." All one has to do is examine what's happened since 1995, when federal budget cuts began taking their toll on transfers, and Atlantic Canadians began screaming that the cuts would destroy their economy. The exact opposite has occurred. Despite slower population growth or none at all, job creation has hit new highs for four years running, and significantly outstripped the gain in Canada as a whole. Read the full editorial to see why patronage is an awfully inefficient and ineffective development tool that tends to direct money where it could be most politically beneficial rather than economically productive.