New era in Atlantic Canada
Region’s premiers share common approach to issues
Over the last 50 years, there has been an ebb and flow between which political parties hold power in Atlantic Canada.
Except for the one-time government of Darrell Dexter's NDP in Nova Scotia, power has moved back and forth across the four Atlantic provinces between the Progressive Conservatives and the Liberals. Only four years ago, the Liberals held power in each of the provinces. Today, all but Newfoundland and Labrador are governed by the PCs.
David Campbell and I had the opportunity recently to have an extensive conversation with each of the Atlantic premiers for our podcast. We came away feeling encouraged and more optimistic about the future of our region.
OPTIMISM
Despite the differences in party affiliation, what was perhaps most reassuring from the premiers was their common approach to issues facing their provinces, the clear understanding of the challenges they face and the opportunities that present themselves.
It is worth noting that none of the current premiers were in office four years ago and two, Tim Houston in Nova Scotia and Andrew Furey in Newfoundland and Labrador, have been in office less than two years.
What is perhaps most interesting is that none are lifetime politicians, each running for the leadership of their parties without previously holding office.
Furey does come from a political family. His father is Speaker in the Canadian senate.
Furthermore, their backgrounds, except for Furey, who is an orthopedic surgeon, are all in the private sector.
COMMON PRIORITIES
In conversation with them, it was clear they shared some common priorities despite party differences. Perhaps more importantly, the premiers agreed that demographic and population growth was a high priority.
Furey was especially clear on this given his province's aging and stagnant population. Indeed, his government has established a population growth strategy of 5,000 annually by 2026. The previous government had a target of 1,700, which was inadequate to ensure a replacement workforce.
Dennis King of Prince Edward Island credited his predecessor, Wade McLaughlin, for recognizing and starting the population growth strategy for the island. It is unusual for any politician to give credit to another politician, particularly one from another party. This attribute distinguishes King, who campaigned and won on a promise to be more collaborative and has acted on that promise since being elected.
Houston has continued the population growth strategy of his predecessor, Stephen McNeil of the Liberals, and has mused about increasing the population to two million by 2060 but he recognizes that rapid growth in population has stressed the housing market, especially in Halifax.
In New Brunswick, Premier Blaine Higgs has mounted an aggressive population strategy with a long-term goal of growing the population to one million.
The three Maritime premiers recognized that population growth, particularly in their largest centres, was putting pressure on the affordability and availability of housing. Another challenge facing all four is the uneven nature of population growth, especially in terms of attracting immigrants.
Based on our conversations, there is not yet any clear strategy by any of the premiers to address the challenges of population growth outside major urban communities.
Another priority that was clear was related to the need to address the delivery of primary health care. All the premiers endorse a more collaborative version, recognizing that the old model of everyone having their own doctor is no longer possible and that the new generation of family doctors prefer to have more life balance and practice in a group setting.
The future will increasingly be focused on access to primary care professionals that would include increased use of nurse practitioners and be combined with mental health professionals rather than access to an individual family doctor. There is also a consensus that telehealth is here to stay, thanks to the pandemic.
All Atlantic premiers have provided more resources to rebuild their hospitality and tourism sectors, and all also acknowledge the learning gap created by the pandemic but none have a plan to address this.
DIFFERENCES
Each premier appears to have a clear understanding of the economic opportunities that exist in their provinces, but clearly, those economic opportunities are very different.
King would like to duplicate the success of the P.E.I.'s bio-sciences sector by focussing on tech. In Newfoundland, Furey makes the case for diversification of the economy away from its dependence on oil and gas (currently 25 per cent of its gross domestic product, while taking advantage of its location and oil resources to help break the dependence of Russian oil in EU countries).
There are major differences among the provinces in terms of their fiscal situations, with New Brunswick surprisingly expecting a balanced budget for the coming year while Newfoundland and Labrador continues to wrestle with huge deficits and debt. Meanwhile, P.E.I. continues to lead the region in economic growth.
In New Brunswick, Higgs, who has often been questioned on his support of bilingualism, offered a practical solution to reinforcing the province's official language status by indicating that the school system must do a better job producing bilingual students.
In Nova Scotia, Houston's plan to reform health care remains a work in progress, but his government is undertaking a review of all Crown corporations responsible for economic development, something other Atlantic premiers should emulate.
CO-OPERATION
The pandemic may have showed the value of regional co-operation and it appears there is a renewed desire for more. One near-term opportunity is the proposal for a regional equity tax credit to increase the availability of venture capital for early-stage startup companies. The premiers have expressed interest.
This would be a good chance to prove their desire for regional co-operation. In the meantime, we can take some comfort that all four premiers appear to be focused on the right priorities.