Nova Scotia has a lot going for it. The challenge as you mentioned, David, is generating a vibrant and strong demographic of young professionals. They will help pay the taxes but more importantly provide the innovation that puts the entire province back on the map. While there are many ways to achieve this - I don't believe social services such as child-care and transportation are the answer to that. It's a bit of a chicken and the egg because those services will help keep people in the city once they're there, however, it won't bring them in droves. Ultimately, money will. That's why Alberta added 50,000 Canadians in one year alone.
The goal needs to be getting people there to begin with and then using those generated tax dollars to keep them there. My understanding is the government could use some leaning, especially with the decreasing population. Attracting business is another issue altogether and I don't think low taxes is the best way to achieve that. Make Halifax the next Waterloo - a city of innovation that at one point hosted the world's most successful mobile business, however, failure to adapt has since lead to its demise. The Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics is world-renowned and contributes greatly to Waterloo's reputation as having the highest IQ in the country. Give Dalhousie the talent it needs to become an epicentre for excellence which will naturally bolster R&D and in turn generate world-class businesses that young professionals will want to work for.
You can make Nova Scotia a great place for those who live there but it won't necessarily attract the young professionals you want. You can lure entrepreneurs and fuel artists 'til the cows come home but it won't be the foundation of world class business and young professionals the province needs to be competitive. The biggest problem I see is that "between 2006 and 2012, those over the age of 45 absorbed all of the net employment growth in the city." Sounds like an old boys club... and the only way to fix that is with new R&D fuelled business attracting young talent.
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The goal needs to be getting people there to begin with and then using those generated tax dollars to keep them there. My understanding is the government could use some leaning, especially with the decreasing population. Attracting business is another issue altogether and I don't think low taxes is the best way to achieve that. Make Halifax the next Waterloo - a city of innovation that at one point hosted the world's most successful mobile business, however, failure to adapt has since lead to its demise. The Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics is world-renowned and contributes greatly to Waterloo's reputation as having the highest IQ in the country. Give Dalhousie the talent it needs to become an epicentre for excellence which will naturally bolster R&D and in turn generate world-class businesses that young professionals will want to work for.
You can make Nova Scotia a great place for those who live there but it won't necessarily attract the young professionals you want. You can lure entrepreneurs and fuel artists 'til the cows come home but it won't be the foundation of world class business and young professionals the province needs to be competitive. The biggest problem I see is that "between 2006 and 2012, those over the age of 45 absorbed all of the net employment growth in the city." Sounds like an old boys club... and the only way to fix that is with new R&D fuelled business attracting young talent.
- Melon head out!