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Shawna Richer

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When the provincial government released its latest branding campaign earlier this year, it was with a single, low-key news conference and little fanfare. It was apropos of the soft, spiritual sentiment behind the tag line: "In New Brunswick you can be yourself, belong and be better."

A few months later, commercials recollective of a summer tourism drive began showing on television - footage of the province's glorious landscape, and people who appear as though, if given a choice, they would be frolicking nowhere else on Earth.

The campaign's convictions are simple. New Brunswick affords people opportunities to examine and embrace who they are, seize personal freedoms and celebrate differences. New Brunswick offers ties to robust and resilient communities of all kinds - from clubs to teams to theatre troupes and, of course, families - and there is much that connects us to one another. New Brunswick offers the chance for an authentic life in a spiritual place that inspires us to find better ways to live, learn and work.

Those are the words of the province, conceptualized by Stuart Baker of the consulting firm Imprint Inc., who developed the original campaign. As presented by the province, the concept is simple enough and easy to digest. It caught on here and there.

But as a newspaper, we thought it was the beginning of something with a far bigger spirit, something that, if delved into, would put who we are and where we live and where we are going into perspective. With that as a starting point we began our search for the deeper meaning of what it means to be in this place.

As a newspaper, our function is to help readers understand the present and prepare for the future. Thomas Jefferson, the third American president and author of the Declaration of Independence, once said that were it left to him to decide whether to have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, he would not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter, but would ensure every citizen receive the papers and be capable.

With this in mind, we decided to put the government's campaign to the test. Do the concepts hold up under scrutiny? Is there more to it than meets the eye? And what does it mean to you?

When the idea first emerged, back in late winter, we thought it might make an interesting section in the newspaper. But as we talked about it, we began to like the idea enough that we decided to devote an entire edition of the Telegraph-Journal to the notion of what it means to be in this place, and all that might possibly spring from that.

Thus was born our Be Project, covering provincial news, business, city, sports, and, for this issue only, re-branded sections called adventure, culture and the way we live.

It was essential to publish on New Brunswick Day. When we launched Salon, our national-award-winning weekend arts section in January 2007, we envisioned the province's particular and precious culture as a microcosm of the country. But New Brunswick Day is ours - a perfect opportunity to consider and celebrate this corner of Canada, what defines it, all it offers and what the future holds.

It has been decades since the province faced such encouraging times. Rich, vast energy projects - LNG and a new oil refinery - are in the offing. Saint John's population is expected to rise 30 per cent in the coming few years. The north shore is reinventing itself economically. Fredericton has positioned itself in the IT industry as one of the most intelligent cities in the world.

But there are challenges, too. The population has been dwindling and the province has struggled to attract immigrants. Workers are fleeing to Alberta and our wages lag far behind the national average. Tax reform, for individuals and businesses, is badly needed. There is little buzz about New Brunswick outside its borders.

There is no better team in the province to address these issues than our photographers, writers and a special roster of guest columnists - ranging from Lt. Gov. Herménégilde Chiasson to the artist Richard Flynn to chocolate maven David Ganong - who are experts on a wide range of subjects and sentiments. The Telegraph-Journal has a long-established interest and attachment to this place. Through all the province's ups and downs, we have been here.

Our front page features an essay by the novelist David Adams Richards, who writes that New Brunswickers too frequently judge themselves by how our more notable visitors see us, and what a shame that is. It is a privilege as an editor to entrust page one to the most treasured observer and interpreter of all that is New Brunswick.

Dedicating an entire issue to a single topic - even one as emotional as the place our readers call home - is an unusual initiative. We trust that today's edition of your provincial newspaper will be educational, entertaining, and promote smart, spirited conversation about all that it means to be in this place.

Shawna Richer is editor of the Telegraph-Journal. After beginning her journalism career at this newspaper in 1989 and leaving in 1994, she returned to this place in 2007.