Canada has a productivity problem but many of the diagnoses, such as blaming immigrants, are not compelling. Dr. Heather Exner-Pirot, Senior Fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, makes a strong case that a main reason for our weak productivity has been a sharp decline in investment into Canada’s resource sectors including oil and gas, mining and electricity production. David talks with Dr. Exner-Pirot about her thesis on this week's Insights podcast. They talk about the national challenges but also zoom in on Atlantic Canada, Nova Scotia, it turns out, is one of the worst places in the world for mining according to the Fraser Institute. David and Heather discuss how places like Nova Scotia and New Brunswick can become mining-friendly jurisdictions while still maintaining a rigorous environmental and regulatory regime.

This episode features a really interesting conversation with Regis Duffy, the founder of Chemical Diagnostics Limited in Prince Edward Island. The business was partly sold to Sekisui Chemical, a Japanese chemical company in 2007, while the remainder of the company turned into Biovectra, a company with 700 employees and a new mRna vaccine manufacturing facility that opened in 2023. The company also has operations in Nova Scotia. Sekisui Diagnostics has nearly 200 employees on the Island. Regis has been called the Godfather of Biosciences in PEI and was instrumental in the establishment of the PEI BioAlliance, serving as its first Chair of the Board. This sector now accounts for over $600 million of mostly export revenue for PEI and over 2,200 jobs. It is likely that there would not be a biotech cluster on the Island without Regis Duffy. Regis is likely not that well known outside of PEI, but it is yet another example of the amazing entrepreneurs in the region. He continues to be involved in start-ups and mentorship with the PEI BioAlliance and is an active philanthropist on the Island. This is an inspiring podcast.

This episode of the Insights Podcast offers something a little different as we take a look at the world of a political cartoonist and the related challenges of the print media. Our conversation with award winning Michael De Adder is wide ranging and looks at the challenges of getting political cartoons approval in this era of political correctness. De Adder currently works for the Toronto Star, the Hill Times and the Chronicle-Herald. He also worked for a time as a cartoonist for the Washington Post and talks about the differences of doing political satire in the US versus Canada. He is well known for his cartoons about Trump and talks about the amount of criticism associated with doing these cartoons. He is currently exploring a new channel for his cartoons using Substack, partly in response to the challenges and the uncertain future faced by the print media and offers his opinions about the future for political cartoonists.

Damon Goodwin and Jeff White are tired of New Brunswick being the least research-intensive province in Canada. Damon, the CEO of Research NB, and Jeff, the CEO of the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation, join Don and David on this week’s Insights podcast to talk about recent changes to the innovation ecosystem in the province and how the new model should accelerate research investment and innovation. The Conference Board of Canada gave New Brunswick a D- on its provincial innovation report card. Damon and Jeff have ideas on how we can start bringing home better report cards in the future.

This week we present a special edition of the Insights podcast. Don and David recorded a conversation with Michelle Robichaud, President, Atlantica Centre for Energy live at the Canada's Ocean Supercluster event in Saint John. Held on May 14th, the Supercluster folks are pitching Ambition2035, a plan to grow the output associated with Canada's ocean economy from $40 billion in 2019 to $220 billion by 2035. Almost half this growth is expected to come from the energy sector. Robichaud walks us through the various opportunities from oil and gas and offshore wind to tidal energy and green hydrogen. Want a primer on ocean-related energy opportunities in Atlantic Canada? This is well worth an hour of your time.

On this week’s Insights podcast, Don and David talk with the Honourable Margaret Johnson, Minister of Agriculture, Aquaculture and Fisheries in New Brunswick about agriculture, food production and the opportunities for growth in the province and region. Agriculture and food production (excluding fish and seafood), is the second most important export industry in New Brunswick supporting nearly 17,000 jobs and $1.9 billion in export revenue. The sector has been growing rapidly in recent years and Minister Johnson tells us why and what is being done to exploit future growth opportunities.

This week's Insights Podcast features a revealing interview with oil & gas veteran, Phil Knoll who has held senior roles with major companies like AltaGas and Duke Energy as well as Maritime & Northeast Pipelines and Corridor Resources (now Headwater Exploration) in the region. Knoll was CEO of Corridor Resources when the Gallant Government in New Brunswick imposed a moratorium on shale gas exploration. Headwater Exploration is the only company still producing natural gas in Atlantic Canada from its field near Sussex. He talks about shale gas exploration and its safety records over decades in terms of environmental impact. He also provides an estimate of the size of gas reserves in New Brunswick which would be sufficient to supply the current needs in the region for the next century. Currently Atlantic Canada imports hundreds of millions of imported natural resources, money that could benefit the region if the gas from the region was developed. Knoll also points out that natural gas will be needed for the foreseeable future in the transition to green energy in order to ensure sufficient baseload to meet peak demand, especially during the heating season. This is a conversation that everyone should listen to in order to better understand the transition to a green economy.

There are 140+ financial technology (fintech) firms located in Atlantic Canada ranging from small startups to Verafin with more than 900 employees in St John’s. Fintech employs over 4,000 people in Atlantic Canada. Why is this sector thriving in Atlantic Canada? This week Don and David talk with Lori Weir, Co-Founder and CEO of Four Eyes Financial about fintech and why so many firms are choosing Atlantic Canada. Four Eyes is a rapidly growing firm based in Saint John with 50+ employees and ambitious plans to expand their business into the United States and the United Kingdom. What is the value proposition? What can we do to support this growing cluster of firms? Lori, Don and David answer these questions and more.
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