If you want to understand the provincial government’s mining policy, look no further than Joe Smallwood and a speech he gave to the local chapter of what was then the Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy in 1979. At the start of the speech, Smallwood quotes from his 1931 book,
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The Sir Robert Bond Papers: Some help for the St. John’s Board of Trade #nlpoli
…who have suddenly discovered that the provincial economy is in serious need of diversification: a 2010 series called the Fragile Economy. Staying the course (March 2010) Reductio ad argentum (April 2010) …and two steps back (April 2010) Now three steps back and loving it (April 2010) If they really want
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: The politics of logic and history #nlpoli
“Government does not work on logic,” a wise man once told your humble e-scribbler. “It works on the basis of history.” When faced with a new problem, people tend to do what they did before, not what might make sense in the new circumstances. You can see that the preference
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Government cash give-aways #nlpoli
CBC’s Rob Antle has updated work done over the past couple of years on government give-aways to private sector businesses in the name of economic development: The Newfoundland and Labrador government has funnelled more than $20 million into grants, loans and the direct costs of business-attraction initiatives that have provided
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