The Bruce Report

“Nova Scotia has a number of things that New Brunswick doesn’t have,” observed the University of Moncton’s Donald Savoie in an interview. “[It] has challenges and they’re called Cape Breton and rural Nova Scotia. But one thing [it] does have is Halifax and you don’t pull against gravity when you’re in Halifax. It’s got everything.”

Everything except affordable housing, a diverse and entrepreneurial business environment, a nimble and innovative labour market, a port that yields capacity (instead of pulling up the rear among its Northeastern counterparts in the volume of containerized traffic it handles each year), and an open, generous immigration posture (instead of an attitude towards foreigners that would rival Ghengis Khan’s on his best day).

I’m from Halifax, so I tend quibble with fulminations about its perfection. One who obviously doesn’t is Charles Cirtwell, the redoubtable acting president of the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies. Here’s what he told the T-J: “When you look at the relative economic activity that’s going on and the various potential growth opportunities, certainly Nova Scotia has the potential. . .to beat New Brunswick to the finish line in terms of being self-sufficient.”

Them’s fighting words in these here parts, Mr. Cirtwell. Are you sure you wouldn’t like to clarify? Added the Halifax-based policy wonk: “I don’t think New Brunswick has anything to worry about in terms of not being able to achieve that goal. Nothing can beat attitude and right now New Brunswick is talking self-sufficiency and Nova Scotia is talking federal cash.”

So, let me get this straight. Nova Scotia is more prosperous than New Brunswick, and will likely remain so, because the former is home to Halifax, which has yet to live up to its own economic potential let alone any other city’s on the East Coast; and it boasts “potential growth opportunities”, despite the fact that a central plank of its self-sufficiency strategy appears to be dunning Ottawa for more tax dollars.

I call this a conundrum, folks. And nowhere in this tortured logic do I see self-sufficiency for anybody, either sooner or later. The problem is the premise. The question shouldn’t be whether Nova Scotia or New Brunswick will achieve economic independence before the other. The question should be: How can either province hope to compete in the world for jobs, income, business opportunities, and industrial capacity without the collaborative influences of the other?

Cirtwell alludes to this in one of his recent editorials about the so-called “Atlantica” region, whose proponents believe in the historical legitimacy of forging closer trade ties between the Maritimes and New England. For his part, Savoie routinely decries the absurd competition between Moncton and Saint John. “Unless we learn to recognize what’s good for Saint John is good Moncton and vice versa, we’re going to have a problem,” he said recently.

Oddly, though, neither man goes far enough in his public statements, if not his private thoughts. In fact, what’s good for Nova Scotia is also good for New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador, if for no other reason than the Atlantic region is an ink spot on the map of global commerce. To become a blotch worthy of international appreciation, our provincial leaders must dismantle the systemic economic, cultural and social barriers that separate us.

Halifax is important because it is the premier port of the Maritimes. If it suffers, so do the rest of us. Moncton is important because it is an inland depot for trans-modal shipping and high-precision manufacturing. If it suffers, so do the rest of us. Saint John and St. John’s are important because they are energy hubs. If they suffer, so do the rest of us. Charlottetown and Summerside are important because they are centres for aerospace and bio-technology. Again, if they suffer, so do the rest of us.

We don’t suffer when we pull together; we become self-sufficient together. That’s not exactly news, but maybe somebody should alert the media anyway.

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