Premier Graham Channels 21inc in Globe & Mail

My girlfriend tonight asked if I had read Premier Graham's interview with the Globe and Mail in this weekend's paper. She said that no matter what one thinks of his policies, his last answer was very 21inc. So, of course, I had to read it. She was right. For those who missed it here it is:

Globe: You said at the news conference that good policy makes good politics. But how convinced are you that tough decisions like this bring about good electoral results?

Premier Graham: That's the mindset that people think of their governments - that they're only making policies to get themselves re-elected. ... My goal today is to create a stronger New Brunswick. This is my home; this is where I grew up and this is where I want to stay. We've seen too many of our young people leave, and we can't just continue down the path of the status quo.

Demographic Time Bomb

 

If you're government and are concerned about tax revenues to pay for public services, then you're deeply concerned about an aging population.  The combination of rising health care costs, more people using the health care system, and less people to pay to support that system, is not a healthy one for government balance sheets.

This was the warning on the front page of yesterday's Telegraph.  Joe Ruggeri, a recently retired Professor of Economics at UNB gave this warning.

By the time New Brunswick expects to climb out of four years of deficits, its aging population threatens to plunge it right back into spending more than it takes in for several years, warns a prominent economist.

And neither the Graham government's self-sufficiency agenda nor proposed energy megaprojects worth billions of dollars will generate enough revenue for provincial coffers to change that, argues Joe Ruggeri.

Joe spoke eloquently about these issues when he spoke to the 2008 cohort of 21 Leaders, (Joe is second from right in the photo). Regardless of how government responds, increasing the number of working people in the province is an important priority.  There are few organizations that fill this space like we do, creating opportunities and a community for young people to pursue their professional and personal goals in New Brunswick.