Feedback from our readers

[twitter]
RE: Kudos
@UinvitedU Really enjoyed @AtlanticBus while I was in town. Liked how every article has Twitter accounts and a hashtag!

@Billy_weld Chilling in the @mapleleaflounge and catching up on @AtlanticBus heading to good ol’ #Edmonton

[atlanticbusinessmagazine.com]
RE: Spirit of Torngat
Eric Watton Excellent article. I have been to the Torngats twice. It’s certainly one of the greatest places in Canada.

Janine O’Keefe Wow! Just made Torngat Base Camp #2 on my bucket list. Great article Stephanie [Porter].

Pat Royle A very informative, enjoyable and perfect read. Thanks Stephanie.

RE: On the up and up
Farial Mahmod A very useful article indeed! Those who think only Toronto-Montreal are industrially booming must come to a halt after reading this highlighting article. Thanks to Atlantic Business and Sarah Sawler.

RE: Mr. Killjoy
Bil Trainor The article about convention centres overlooks one very important point. The Internet makes it unnecessary to wait for the release of new products or ideas. In days gone by many companies timed their competitive announcements to coincide with industry-related events. Today, the news is released immediately. The convention and trade show business is an inefficient, setting sun. Faster, more widely available bandwidth is the ticket.

[email]
RE: Shop class
Peter Studer I first encountered Terry and Kathy Malley when they were located at their shop at the old Moncton Supply Depot. That was the start of a 10-plus year relationship, during which I had the privilege of supporting them, while I was working for ACOA. The article completely captured the reasons for their success: vision, leadership, nerves of steel and an excellent product. Companies like Malley are the backbone of Canada’s SME community, and Atlantic Canada has these companies in abundance. Having said that, companies can only grow and prosper because of people like Terry and Kathy. Most importantly, they are two of the nicest people you could ever meet.

RE: Four solitudes
Jim Taggart While in Saint John last week for my father-in-law’s funeral, the Telegraph Journal carried several articles on New Brunswick’s looming demographic implosion (Nova Scotia is in the same boat, as are the two other Atlantic provinces). The Globe & Mail has also produced similar articles this fall on the same issue. Immigration continues to be seen as the saviour, at least through the eyes of New Brunswick bureaucrats and politicians. Sure, it’s a key element in any strategy to address the steadily changing composition of the province’s population. But there are many more elements that need to be linked together to stop, in this case, New Brunswick’s downward spiral. Witness the disgraceful state of the province’s roads. Driving in Saint John is a kidney-pounding exercise. The province’s four-lane highway (spiriting tourists to P.E.I. and Nova Scotia) is falling apart. This was once a state-of-the-art highway. Implementing a much-needed toll system doesn’t seem to be on anyone’s radar.

The brain drain of bright, enthusiastic young people continues unabated. Before I retired from the federal government, I never ceased to be impressed with the caliber of young Atlantic Canadians who had moved to Ottawa to build their careers. When does this pipeline of young people to Ontario and the West stop, especially when placed in a demographic context?

Canada, as a whole, has slid on a number of indicators over the past several years. Its competitiveness on the world stage remains wobbly, along with innovation, science and technology. Canada does not even rate in the top 10 countries for end of life care. That is disgraceful. And the country’s economic forecast for 2016 looks very lackluster.

Unfortunately, the have-not provinces (including Ontario due to past fiscal mismanagement) will be facing a new reality sooner than later. Unless the Atlantic provinces pay attention to the ideas coming from such people as Alec Bruce and John Risley, there may come a day when a little province such as New Brunswick becomes a ward of the state.

Paul Robinson Ideally, the four Atlantic provinces working in unison would be surreal. Practically, I would settle for the three Maritime provinces coordinating policies and practices in a united front. Regrettably, from the time of the valiant efforts of Louis Robichaud and the Deutsch Commission to the present, I’ve been a frustrated observer, a sometime participant (Maritime Education Commission on textbooks and publishing, circa 1980s) and most recently a jaded senior trying to reconstruct the life of one premier who did try to alter the direction of only one province and was crucified for his efforts. In my next life I plan to apply for the Yarmouth-Bar Harbour ferry contract (in all of its juicy details) and sail far away, preferably where it is warm all the time. Keep writing and ignore my pessimism. The cover alone of your current issue is quite sufficient to lift the spirits!

RE: Let’s hear it for the small minded
Keith Simpson Your spring column (“Warning, content may offend”), while entertaining, rang true with me. It reminded me of how I have felt since returning from away after a 33-year absence pursuing a progressive and rewarding corporate automotive career everywhere but here for 31 of those years. My personal quote would be “if you want to feel as though you haven’t achieved a thing in your life, come home to the Maritimes. They will put you in your place.”

I too have often suggested to anyone who would listen, that with the merger of the four Atlantic provinces, three legislatures could be dispensed with and the facilities, personnel, legislators and gold-plated salaries, benefits and pensions that go with it. At the very least, the three Maritime provinces should be merged. Newfoundland could be a Hong Kong or Singapore. Just add gambling to the offshore oil. Just think of the efficiency and resources that could be applied to actual value for the taxpayers. But the entitlement runs deep down east. It’s a bit pathetic that a point of pride is being the umpteenth generation living in some berg and never having stepped outside one’s comfort zone.

[correction]
In our Nov/Dec 2015 issue, the description of how Eastern Siding and Window World achieved fastest-growing status was incorrect. Atlantic Business Magazine apologizes for the error. Here is what should have been printed: How they did it: “The local market has had a major impact on revenue growth but we have also made many changes over the last few years. We have constructed our own building and now stock a large majority of our products. We have implemented tighter control on job sites in regards to product and labor. We have also retained our best staff who have a common goal in providing unparalleled service.”