I have made several presentations recently where I have suggested that these international trade agreements for the most part don’t mean much for New Brunswick. The truth is that other than a handful of firms in forest products and refined…
Continue ReadingThe McAdam resurgence?
CBC is reporting that the Village of McAdam is offering 16 serviced residential lots for $1 dollar. The mayor says he has had requests from out of province to look at the land. My fear is that a few people…
Continue ReadingDeveloping our non-renewable natural resources: A potential new approach
I recently had breakfast with a friend of mine who spent considerable time working at a high level in government on natural resources development files. He is frustrated with the state of natural resources development in New Brunswick because he…
Continue ReadingThe facts of government economic development incentives
The old saying “you are entitled to your own opinions but not your own facts” keeps coming to mind when I read commentary about ‘incentives’ used by government to encourage certain behavior by businesses. First of all, the commentary this…
Continue ReadingThe Upham conundrum
For me the potential gypsum mine in Upham is an ideal example of the challenges we face in this province particularly with rural economic development. As I have stated many times before, I believe there will be cases where a…
Continue ReadingShould NB communities have more control over their destiny?
In 1921, there were 4.3 million acres of farmland in New Brunswick or about 11 acres per person living in the province. By 2016, according to Statistics Canada, the total area of farms had dropped to only 835,000 acres –…
Continue ReadingThe “tell me something I don’t already know” problem
You ever feel like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day? You keep waking up and its the same day all over again? How many times can you read in the paper, hear on the news or read on social media…
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