Plan for growth
Published Thursday July 2nd, 2009
The Conference Board of Canada believes the Atlantic region will avoid a recession this year and draw workers back from the west. This is an accomplishment New Brunswick can build on.
To become a beacon for people leaving Ontario, Quebec and the west, this province must do what Alberta did not - plan for sustainable development. New Brunswickers should be striving to build a diversified economy and more efficient government. These gains will outlast the national recession and any short-term building boom.
The province has budgeted millions to expand community college and apprenticeship programs and is building a Centre of Excellence in Energy and Construction to support the energy hub. But it has fallen short of the mark in managing the public resources that make a province worth living in. The government needs to build a framework of public policy capable of supporting community growth, if it hopes to attract workers who stay, buy homes and raise families.
To translate its new economic advantages into long-term growth, New Brunswick must focus on:
*Efficiency in government. A rationally organized, cost-effective public service would leave more money in the budget for deliberate investment. If government does nothing, the bureaucracy will grow with the economy, eating up any increase in provincial revenue.
*Quality-of-life support. Thousands of people will come for the jobs the energy sector creates. Whether they stay, and where, will depend on the state of health care, schools, community recreation, culture and the environment. New policies will also be needed to maintain quality of life for vulnerable residents such as low-income seniors, as population growth drives up the demand for rental housing.
*Economic development from the ground up. New Brunswick needs an economy in which everyone can participate. This requires good public policy. Government must do more to promote literacy and provide skills training for low-income residents. It must also raise the minimum wage to a living standard. This would give more people the resources to support themselves and expand the workforce, while reducing demand for welfare.
New Brunswickers want growth and greater economic prosperity. They don't want the chaos that has accompanied rapid growth in Alberta. The provincial government must learn from the west, if it hopes to become a star in the east.
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Comments (6)
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The voter needs an independent report card before every election, local or provincial. Low voter turnout is partly because the voter really has little information except for the misinformation put out by the politicians and their media friends. Most people can recognize bs and the end result is that they stay home. The other is that they either vote on name recognition, their favourite school teacher or bus driver or for a narrow self interest.
The one good thing this paper has done in regards sj is to get people interested in local politics.
The next best thing this paper can do for EVERYBODY, is to push the Graham gov't to force all communities to come up with a pre-election detailed report on their term in office, not just promises for the next time. We've all seen what such promises are worth.
GET THE VOTER THAT REPORT CARD AND THE SYSTEM WILL FIX ITSELF.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/commentary/amid-the-panic-stricken-a-model-of-cool-restraint/article1203113/
The media and the Liberal/NDP/Bloc coalition convinced the public and the polls showed it, so Harper started to spend and then that same bunch did a flip/flop. Anybody who would quote the G&M doesn't know his papers as it's the leading liberal paper and this paper can't be far behind,(in it's support of the Liberal party). SR should have taken time to read some of the comments following that article by Liberal Reynolds. I can only add to the first comment by saying that Graham just followed Paul Martin's lead in down loading. Martin did it on the provinces, Graham is doing it on the back of the home owners who will see their property taxes soar. If a bloated gov't isn't cut, the money has to come from somewhere.
Like I stated above, I usually read and consider what the “experts” have to say, not the ones who rashly mouth off in the comment section without any firm facts but their own misguided ideals.
Maybe you would prefer something out of the National Post (which backed the Tories in the 2006 election, by the way). Here’s the Editorial of March 19, 2009.
“Bravo to the Liberal government of New Brunswick Premier Shawn Graham. Almost alone in the Western world, the Graham government has chosen to make personal and corporate tax reduction a pillar of its economic stimulus plan amidst the current global downturn.”
As for Reynolds, he had been a supporter of the New Democratic Party in earlier years but he entered politics as the Libertarian Party of Canada's candidate in the 1982 by-election in the riding of Leeds—Grenville. Not the same party as the grits. Free lesson and you're welcome.
At least I can quote a newspaper LM,