Eastlink Lauches Cell Service in Atlantic Canada - Can It Compete?

Eastlink has officially launched it's cellular service in Atlantic Canada, entering a market dominated by telecommunications giants, Bell, Rogers, and Telus. The Maritime based company will attempt to build on it's current success in the region as a cable and internet provider by offering bundles with its already existing services. We discuss the whether the company will set it's prices to aggressively compete with it's bigger competition or whether it will stick to the status quo.

Nova Scotia NDP frame the past four years in a new video

The scent of an election is in Nova Scotia’s air as Darrell Dexter’s NDP government approaches its fourth year in office since being elected to a majority government in the June 9, 2009 general election. Dexter and his team have led the first NDP government in Atlantic Canada and looks to become the first NDP government re-elected to another majority as it launches its new video advertisement campaign.

While the government legally has five years in power, it’s expected in the Canadian system that an election will be just before or shortly after the fourth anniversary in office. Speculation places the next election either this spring, or more likely in the Fall of 2013. The three major political parties in the province have begun releasing video advertisements to better establish themselves, criticize the government, or in the case of the NDP, list its accomplishments.

The recently released NDP advertisement is oddly refreshing. After months of witnessing the vitriolic attacks that dominated the 2012 U.S. Presidential campaign, viewing a relatively positive advertisement from the NDP is like a breath of fresh air. Absent are vicious swipes at the opposition parties. At its surface it is an oddly upbeat video heralding the past four years as progress that must continue, and can only do so under their guidance.


The entire premise of the NDP’s new video is that things are better off today than they were four years ago. The effectiveness of this new advertisement relies entirely on if Nova Scotians truly feel this way. The NDP are claiming responsibility for or associating with the ‘good times’ over the past 4 years, but this also means that they must be responsible for ‘the bad.’

A bleak image of Nova Scotia prior to the NDP being elected is painted at the beginning of the video. A picture of Rodney MacDonald who looks like a scolded child is flashed on screen followed by a truck driving into the sunset as the voice-over refers to jobs leaving the province. “But Nova Scotians believed things could be better” and voted NDP.

The emphasis on the Premier throughout the video is interesting as it reasserts him as the face of the party. Dexter is seen glaring at the camera with a foggy Halifax Harbour in the background, breaking ground at a construction site, and announcing that Canada’s ships start here in Nova Scotia. All of this is used to frame Dexter as the leader to bring Nova Scotia forward. After a CRA poll in late 2012 which found only 23 per cent of respondents saw Dexter as the best leader to be premier, this framing is certainly necessary.

What’s most interesting about this advertisement is the premise that Nova Scotians are better off than they were four years ago. There are plenty of those who would contest this, or who feel that the difference is minimal. With the unemployment rate in the province at 9.3 per cent in December of 2012, plenty of Nova Scotians remain out of work. Asking Nova Scotians if they are better off than they were in the midst of the worst recession since the Great Depression may not be fair or a difficult benchmark to beat.

As always, the question heading into this election is which party is most capable to lead this province for the next four years. If the NDP want to hammer in that Nova Scotians are better off now than they were four years ago, they had better be confident that is indeed the case. If not, it will remind the person who is to blame and this government may see the hammer flying back at them.

This article was originally published on the Symmetry Blog. Visit the website at www.symmetrypublicrelations.com.

Nova Scotia Power: Why ending the monopoly isn't a magic fix

The concept of economies of scale refers to the ability of an enterprise to lower its average cost per unit through expansionary measures. Quite simply, a company becomes more efficient at producing goods when done on a large scale. When a business is able to buy product in bulk, they’re able to reduce their overhead costs. For example, if a factory needs 1000 units of a product, they’re often able to purchase at a significantly lower per-unit cost than were they to only order 50. The saying “go big or go home” is certainly valid in business as the big players can reduce overhead, allowing them to be more competitive in the market or increase profit, depending on the characteristics of the market.

Another basic economic concept is the natural monopoly. This refers to markets where a monopoly occurs due to the characteristics which result in favouring a single firm, minimizing the ability of firms to compete. One primary example of such a market are utilities such as water and electricity. For a firm to start a utility such as one which creates and sells electricity, significant capital investment and planning is required. More so, significant co-ordination is required to build a successful transmission network that multiple firms would have difficulty achieving successfully. The requirements for large sums of capital investment as well as the nature of the market limits the amount of competition that the market can maintain, naturally creating monopolistic-type conditions.

Nova Scotia Power maintains a monopoly on providing electricity to a majority of Nova Scotians, with the provincial government regulating technicalities and profit margins. A recently requested increase in rates by Nova Scotia Power has led to a significant public outcry, with some calling on the government to end NS Power's monopoly.

It should be addressed that simply ending Nova Scotia Power's monopoly would not result in a decrease in rates, as it is unlikely competition would increase. As mentioned, the barriers to entry into the market are remarkably high requiring significant capital investment to get started. If the aforementioned policy were enacted, what would need to be considered by the government is whether or not new competitors would be able to utilize the currently established electrical distribution network (the lines). Would they be able to freely distribute electricity across the established infrastructure, rent the lines from NSPI, or construct their own independently?

Of course, if a company was required to erect its own electrical lines the costs would be astronomical. Were it to rent the lines from NSPI, it would need to make up the increased expenditure in efficiencies elsewhere in order to compete as this rent would be a fixed cost that NSPI would not need to contend with.

In most markets, there is a degree of product differentiation that a firm can engage in to make their product more attractive to consumers, even if the good is priced the same or slightly higher than the competition. An example of this can be seen with smart phones, where many will have the same specs, the design and interface will vary in an attempt to garner a wider market share.

The electricity market is one which suffers from a near complete inability for producers to differentiate their product. This means that demand for a product is derived solely from the price of the good. Some are suggesting that the government simply removing NS Power's monopoly in Nova Scotia will lead to lower prices due to increased competition in the province. Yet, they fail to appreciate the characteristics of such a market, along with the significant economies of scale that accompany it. While advocates of such a policy have been sparing on details, it should be clear to all: simply removing NS Power's monopoly will not bring increased competition and lower prices.

Bizarre Anti-Obama Advertisement Frames him as 007

American Crossroads, an association which promotes the election of Republican candidates has released a bizarre video attacking President Obama by framing him as a 'James Bond'-like figure.

The advertisement focuses on Obama's comments to Russian President Medvedev where he said that following the upcoming election he would have more flexibility with regards the implementation of missile defence systems.

The American Crossroads organization has in turn released a video that attacks the President as being a foreign spy, yet at the same time frames him as a "007".

The video looks and sounds like a piece of satire, yet its goal is apparently to discredit the President. Considering that when one thinks of James Bond, they tend to think of a bad-ass, its rather bizarre that they chose to frame Obama as a 007 in an attempt to discredit him. If anything, it would have been more effective to fall back on a 'Manchurian Candidate' style attack.

Event: Why Political Science Professors Make Inept Leaders

Come to Seton 404 at 2PM on Friday, March 30 to hear a lecture from MSVU's Dr. Jeff Macleod and NSCAD's Nick Webb titled, "Why Political Science Professors Make Inept Leaders".

The presentation is expected to last between 30-40 minutes, all are welcome to attend!

For further details, see here.

City Vs. Transit Union

I'd like to present you all with an article written by one of our very own Mount students: Robin Young.

As most (if not all) of you know, Metro Transit recently ended a rather long, drawn out strike. Robin presents some interesting perspectives on the strike as a whole in this article, and takes a look at the tactics used by HRM in order to "win" the negotiations. I won't spoil the whole thing for you, so take a look for yourself.

City Vs. Transit Union

Rick Williams in Attendance at MSVU

Rick Williams, the current Deputy Minister for the Policy & Priorities Office in the Government of Nova Scotia, will be in attendance at Dr. Jeff MacLeod's class; People, Power & Politics in Canada, on Tuesday March 27th. The class is located in room 501 of Seton Academic Centre, and takes place from 1:30 - 2:45 pm.

Dr. MacLeod has graciously opened his door to any and all students who wish to attend this class for this period. This is a phenomenal opportunity, and we would encourage you to attend if you are able.

Take a look at his biography here.

Dalhousie Summer Course Offerings

The Dalhousie Department of Political Science has several very interesting course offerings this summer. Topics include: Freedom & Government, World Politics, Canadian Provincial Politics, Sport & Politics, Structures of Canadian Parliamentary Government, and Corruption in World Politics, to name a few. Take a look if you're interested.

2011 - 2012 Summer Course Offerings
 And
Politics 3810: Corruption in Politics

Internship Opportunity: CFIB Policy Analyst

"The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) is a non-partisan, not-for-profit advocacy group representing the interests of 108,000 small and medium-sized businesses in Canada for more than 40 years. It was born in reaction to a piece of public policy that, at the time, would have been devastating to the Canadian independent business sector.In conjunction with Scotiabank, we are offering a four-month Public Policy and Entrepreneurship Internship in our Halifax office. The position will run from early May to late August."

For more information on this opportunity, click the link below:
http://www.cfib-fcei.ca/cfib-documents/nb1038.pdf

Event: Halifax Roundtable: Current significance of the repatriation of the Canadian constitution in 1982

Dalhousie University will host a round table discussion titled, "Current significance of the repatriation of the Canadian constitution in 1982"on Monday, March 19 from 4 to 6 PM at University Hall, MacDonald Building.

The round table will feature:

Alain-G. Gagnon (Université de Quebec à Montreal)
"From Creative Tensions to Mounting Distrust. Canadian Federalism in its Post-Patriation Era"

Jim Bickerton (St. F.X.)
"A Tarnished Legacy? The Unfinished Agenda of 1982"

Michael MacMillan (Mount Saint Vincent University)
"Entrenching Language Rights in the Charter: Problem or Solution?"

Dianne Pothier (Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University)
"Muted Legal Impact of Quebec's Non-Acceptance of the Constitution Act, 1982".

[Click for PDF]