One of the things I (and many others) complain about is government ‘targets’. I am concerned about economic and demographic targets but this applies to any target set by government (e.g. we will reduce surgery wait times by x). I…
Continue ReadingA tip of the hat to entrepreneurship: Where is the next Wes Armour?
I used to say there are two kinds of entrepreneurs: a) someone with an idea who becomes an entrepreneur or b) an entrepreneur who goes out and finds a good idea. My former boss at ShiftCentral, Mario Theriault, was the…
Continue ReadingToday’s New Brunswick youth: Few, footloose and fancy free (and Campbell’s 1.5 Principle)
The former head of Opportunities New Brunswick, Stephen Lund, wasn’t particularly interested in demographics when he first took the job at ONB. At our first meeting after I joined the Jobs Board he told me it wasn’t his business. His…
Continue ReadingThe importance of NB airports will rise post-pandemic
A few years ago I was asked to a meet with a client in downtown Toronto. The meeting took place at 9 am. I left on the 5:30 am flight from Moncton, arrived at the airport in Mississauga at 6:30…
Continue ReadingPopulation growth: The one time I’m glad Statistics Canada got it wrong
I spend a lot of time roaming around Statistics Canada’s website and data. In fact, it is critical to my consulting practice (thanks guys!). However, occasionally they do make mistakes. I have found instances where the data seemed a little…
Continue ReadingInstead of snarky tweets, why not do something good with your time?
I don’t usually follow threads on social media but someone I appreciate posted something that I would describe as moderately controversial a few days ago and they got over 10,000 tweeted responses. So, bracing myself, I started to read the…
Continue ReadingShould we be striving for inclusive and sustainable economic growth?
Of the (limited) negative comments I get to my writing on this blog, probably the top theme is a condemnation of my obsession with economic growth. Even when I was Chief Economist in government, I would have colleagues questioning why…
Continue ReadingNBers spending more on pets, booze, cigs and health care. And less on charity. Here’s to us.
New Brunswickers are spending a lot more more on pets, booze, cigs, RVs, personal care services, home repairs, garden supplies, trucks, financial services and health insurance. We are spending a lot less on child care, cars, mortgage payments, education, charitable…
Continue ReadingSorry, Halifax is not Canada’s 2nd fastest growing municipality. It’s not even 2nd fastest in NS.
According to a recent Global News headline “Halifax rated Canada’s second fastest growing municipality”. Nope. Halifax is not even Nova Scotia’s second fastest growing municipality. Setting aside what the word ‘rated’ means, Halifax actually ranks sixth among Nova Scotia municipalities for…
Continue ReadingAfter 2040 in New Brunswick: There be dragons
In the last few months I have been thinking more about the longer term in New Brunswick. By the longer term I am talking about after 2040. This actually doesn’t seem that ‘long term’ given that many of us were…
Continue Reading