in that part of New Brunswick. Apparently Irving Oil had looked at putting a tank farm in the area. We drove by the now all but empty Atlantic Industries factory complex. Then he told me about all the potential that still exists for development. The fibre optic hub, the natural gas connection point, the tourism potential, agricultural opportunities, potential ways to leverage the prison for new economic activity. The First Nation down there could be a partner in new investment opportunities.

Who is working on all this?

Nobody. A few volunteers trying to muster some basic information.

Another friend of mine took a part time job related to economic development in the Woodstock region. Within weeks he had identified multiple projects that could possibly have been sources of significant new investmentof economic stagnation in New Brunswick in recent history. And, they have caused the provincial labour market to start shrinking after decades of strong growth and, to top it off, they are responsible for New Brunswick having the most turbulent provincial political environment among the 10 provinces across Canada over the past 15 or so years.

That’s right. You may not have looked at it recently, but no other province has had the most unstable politics since the early 2000s. We haven’t had a Premier serve two full terms since Frank McKenna did it in the late 1980s and early to mid 1990s. He was elected three times. Bernard Lord had to call an election early in his second term because Peter Michaud quit politics triggering an election. Shawn