Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Cabinet Shuffle You Say....

It appears our Nova Scotia neighbours are getting ready to weather a storm both economically and politically.... Premier MacDonald seems to be stepping up to bat and making some sound decisions and getting some good advice.... Today he shuffled his Cabinet and back in December he put together a blue-ribbon group of business operators as advisors and if you look close at the Cabinet changes and the tone of direction of the Government it would appear that he is taking their advice. Just recently Premier MacDonald “jumped-in” to a fight in Downtown Halifax where some Heritage activists were not being reasonable in working with the Armour Group to get a new development off the ground.... We do a lot of business in Nova Scotia and I started the 2009 year out with meetings first thing Monday in Halifax and although the mood of most people I met was "cautious" there still seems to be optimism in the Nova Scotia economy.... Nova Scotia has a business development agency called Nova Scotia Business Inc. (NSBI) and if you check out the following web site http://www.novascotiabusiness.com/en/home/aboutus/default.aspx
it will give you a pretty good insight into what I believe is probably one of the best models of partnering Government with Business.. a lot of this has come about under the direction of Stephen Lund the CEO who reports to a private Board.... NSBI has brought a lot of new business to Nova Scotia include Research In Motion (RIM) with about 3,500 jobs.... Premier MacDonald seems to be following in the footsteps of Newfoundland’s Premier Danny Williams and taking an aggressive stance for his Province and his Business Community…..
From Nova Scotia's Government web site, January 7, 2009
There are some big changes to Premier Rodney MacDonald's provincial cabinet. Twelve ministers have new roles in the cabinet, one person is leaving, and another is joining executive council. The biggest change sees Pat Dunn become the new Minister of Health Promotion and Protection. Jamie Muir, who announced over Christmas that he will not reoffer in the next election, is leaving cabinet, but will continue to sit as MLA for Truro-Bible Hill. Premier MacDonald says the changes will bring new ideas into some departments, but still provide overall stability within government.
Back in early December Premier MacDonald announced the following,
A collection of blue-ribbon business folk have been appointed as advisors to Premier Rodney MacDonald’s new Economic Advisory Panel.

The 14-member group comprise business leaders from retail, infrastructure, agriculture and economics, and collectively employ thousands of Nova Scotians.

The advisory panel, which the premier called a who’s who of business people, will be in place for two years and will meet quarterly.

The panel will provide feedback, information and advice on general economic conditions in NS and around the world, including trends and opportunities, said a government news release.
Panel members include
Joe Shannon, Seaboard Transport/Shannex
John Risley, Clearwater Seafoods
Colin Dodds, Saint Mary’s University
John Bragg, Oxford Frozen Foods
Irving Schwartz, Schwartz and co.
Paul Sobey, Empire Co. Ltd.
John “Nova” Chisholm, Nova construction
David Hennigar, Annapolis Basin Group Inc.
Tim O’Neil, former executive Vice President, Bank of Montreal
Dianne Kelderman, Nova Scotia Co-op Council
Valerie Payn, Halifax Chamber of Commerce
JP Deveau, Acadian Seaplants LTD
Wadih Fares, WM Fares and Associates
Al MacPhee, NS Automobile Dealers association

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