Here’s an excerpt from a recent Star Phoenix article – not pretty:
It [Saskatchewan’s population] was the biggest decline in the country. Only three other regions saw population drops in the quarter: Newfoundland and Labrador (413 people), New Brunswick (339) and the Northwest Territories (60).
In year-over-year numbers (July 2004 to July 2005), Saskatchewan was one of only three provinces to see a decrease — with a net loss of 174 people — along with Newfoundland and Labrador and New Brunswick.
Alberta led the way in that category as well with a 1.6 per cent, or 52,036-person, increase, while Manitoba had a jump of 0.6 per cent, an increase of 7,327 people.
I had to swallow hard when I say that Manitoba had a population increase of over 7,000 people. Cripes, Manitoba is only slightly larger than New Brunswick by population. Imagine if our population increased by 7,000! They’d be dancin’ in the streets.
As John Candy so eloquently stated in Planes, Tranes and Automobiles: “You’d have better chance playing pickup sticks with your butt cheeks…..”
PS – Did anybody read about this in the local paper? I certainly didn’t see it but, in my opinion, that constitutes ‘news’. Here are some of the Times & Transcript stories that beat out New Brunswick’s population decline for coverage:
*Metro goes soccer mad
*Moncton post office gets new look
*N.S. to encourage breastfeeding
*Chimney serves as a blast shield
*Sailor charged for porn
I am fairly certain that for at least a small segment of T&T readers, New Brunswick’s population decline is at least as important as the Moncton post office face lift. But I may be overestimating things.