Media Clippings 2008

There’s mixed news regarding the quality of life in Nova Scotia during the past decade, according to a Halifax research firm.

A new report paints a bleak picture of the farm economies of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.

For the past 10 years, Nova Scotia’s farm businesses have been subjected to immense pressures that continue to drain much of the vitality and creativity from the industry and place them in an uncompetitive position.

In August, GPI Atlantic released a report on Farm Economic Viability in Nova Scotia and PEI...

A lot of Nova Scotians complain they work too much. Now they’ve got science to back them up.

A new study says Nova Scotians are working more hours than ever as their free time shrinks.

Along the way growing up we’re taught not to waste time, to keep busy and remember that idle hands are the devil’s workshop.

The Environmental Goals and Sustainable Prosperity Act. Now there’s a piece of legislation begging for an acronym. Tongue twister or not, this law certainly has Nova Scotians talking about what it means for the province.

The president of Maple Leaf Foods sat in front of a TV camera a couple of weeks ago to deliver a sombre apology.

The wealth gap is widening in Atlantic Canada, and one-quarter of households would not be able to pay off their debts if they sold every asset they owned, according to a report released yesterday.

The poorest households in Atlantic Canada are dropping into an ever-deepening financial hole, according to a report released Thursday.

There are 77,000 households in Atlantic Canada whose debts exceed their assets, a sign of the growing gap between the rich and poor, says a new report by GPI Atlantic.

A new study on household debt, financial security and the wealth gap in Atlantic Canada suggests things have grown worse for the region's poor over the past decade.

Farmers in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island are now earning less than at any time in the last four decades—so little in fact that rural communities in both provinces are at serious risk.

We are not unique here in Kings County. The unimaginable thought that Canada is running out of prime agricultural land is causing municipal authorities elsewhere to make decisions like county council did earlier this month against development.

Net farm income dropped precipitously in New Brunswick from 2006 to 2007, according to Statistics Canada.

N.B. producers face challenge to pay their debts while competing against cheaper foods from other countries.

Farmers in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island are now earning less than at any time in the last four decades, so little in fact that rural communities in both provinces are at serious risk.

Farm incomes in Nova Scotia and P.E.I. have hit rock bottom, according to a report released yesterday that shows farmers are sinking further into debt every year.

Herman Berfelo and his family have tended to thousands of hogs on their sprawling farm in central Nova Scotia for more than five decades.

A new report says farm income in Nova Scotia and P.E.I. has hit rock bottom with farmers in both provinces now earning less than at any time in the last four decades.

This Canadian Press story also appeared in Aliant News, Canada East, Shaw, Winnipeg Sun, Cape Breton Post (lead front page story), New Brunswick Daily Gleaner, Guelph Mercury, Yahoo News, and CTV News, and in other media, as well as in radio news items on CFRB Radio. The story was also featured on CTV and Global TV, both of which interviewed lead author Jennifer Scott and Nova Scotia farmers.

Farmers are not only at the beginning of the consumer food chain - in Nova Scotia and P.E.I., at least, they're at the very bottom of it.

Farmers in Nova Scotia and P.E.I. are earning less than they have at any time in the last four decades, according to a new study released by GPI Atlantic.

Farmers in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island are now earning less than at any time in the last four decades, so little in fact that rural communities in both provinces are at serious risk.

A new study on farm economic viability in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island finds the two provinces' farmers "now earning less than at any time in the last four decades."

Farming in Nova Scotia has never been an easy occupation, and these days it seems to be more challenging than ever.

No seats will be hotter than those in the Kings County council chambers Tuesday night.

Nova Scotia needs to protect its farmland, according to a new report.

The tides slowly licking away at Nova Scotia’s shorelines can’t be any worse than the loss of farmland to development.

For several months, danger warnings regarding the inability of Nova Scotia farmers to compete against the flood of cheaper imports have been sounded.

Nova Scotia may have enough prime farmland to feed its population, but it’d be a squeeze, says agro-ecologist Jennifer Scott.

A report prepared by a Halifax-based non-profit research group suggests that Nova Scotia has the capacity to feed itself, if it does more to protect farm land.

A report prepared by a Halifax-based non-profit research group suggests that Nova Scotia has the capacity to feed itself, if it does more to protect farm land.

If Nova Scotians don't use their farmland, the author of a new report fears they just might lose it.

A report released today says Canadians are spending more out of their own pockets on health care than they were 25 years ago, increasing the risk for financial crisis during illness.

Canadians are spending more out of their own pockets on health care than they were two decades ago, increasing the risk for financial ruin among low-income earners, a new report says.

"The Nova Scotia Gaming Corporation wants to feel the love.

"Relationships, of course, outweigh wealth, Nova Scotians tell researchers."

The hearings on the future management of most of Nova Scotia as a physical entity...have ignited something.

Go beyond brain-dead accounting. Use the Genuine Progress Index.

The province needs to see the forest for the trees, a non-profit research group warned Wednesday.

The Halifax-based research group GPI Atlantic says much more needs to be done to counteract decades of over-harvesting, clear cutting and other bad practices.

"I can protect myself from my enemies; may God protect me from my friends."

When it comes to transit, Haligonians overwhelmingly support it---for somebody else.

Traffic gridlock in Halifax is wasting both time and money for motorists and businesses, according to a new report from GPI Atlantic.

Halifax's traffic jams aren't just costing drivers precious minutes on their way into town each day.

An upcoming rural express bus service will help make the route from Hammonds Plains a road less travelled, says the area councillor.

Education is a complicated undertaking and there is nothing simple about assessing it well.

The recent release of the GPI Atlantic report, which asked "How Educated are Nova Scotians?" reminded me of my favourite quotation from communications guru Marshall McLuhan. "School is the advertising agency," McLuhan wrote, "which makes you believe you need the society as it is."

One of the greatest intellectual skills is the ability to ask good questions, which is a prerequisite for discovering good answers. Nobody asks better questions than GPI Atlantic.

"In Nova Scotia as in Canada, there's never been more, nor more expensive, education. And yet, there's no indication that levels of knowledge are increasing. In fact, "basic literacy is stagnant and there is evidence of low knowledge levels in areas like politics, health and the environment."
The quotation is from a big report, three years in the making, by GPI Atlantic, that was released this week but didn't get much ink or air time - perhaps a function of the complexity of the issue, and our confusion about it."

"Supplying our wants by lopping off our desires is like cutting off our feet when we want shoes."

University students from less affluent backgrounds are burdened with a disproportionate amount of student debt, a new report says.

"Group spends three years putting all the facts together, and concludes it's hard to tell."