According to finance minister Tom Marshall, estimated growth in the province’s population is due to people flocking home to find work.
“More people moving to Newfoundland and Labrador represents a further sign of confidence in our economy, way of life and the plan the Williams Government has put in place to continue along a path of stability and prosperity,” said Minister Marshall.
Okay.
They are being drawn to the province by its supposedly buoyant economic prospects, right?
Well, if that’s the case, the good spin-doctor of finance might want to explain why the employment levels in the province in November were actually lower than they were the year before.
Wait.
Don’t bother asking.
The answer is readily apparent.
People are leaving places like Alberta because there are fewer job prospects there than there used to be.
That’s a trend some people have noticed for some time now. In other words, the growth in the provincial population over the last year and a half or so is actually not due to all the splendiferous tax cuts and other budgetary bunkum the provincial government spin machine claimed.
Even if some bank economists have been fooled - badly – the reality is something other than what the provincial government claims and the conventional media dutifully reports.
-srbp-