I believe New Brunswick needs to start thinking bigger about its economic future.

I’ve been a New Brunswicker for over 40 years. I’ve lived in many parts of the province, from Grand Manan Island to the northern community of Dalhousie, to Miramichi, Carleton County and Saint John. Over that time, I’ve watched our province experience changes, face challenges and struggle to realize its potential.

I’m increasingly concerned that we’ve developed a habit of approaching big economic ideas with suspicion rather than possibility. Too often, when a major investment or new initiative is proposed, the conversation seems to begin with why it shouldn’t happen and how it can be stopped.

We’re seeing that recently with the proposed Lorneville data centre and renewed discussions about natural gas exploration and fracking.

These are very different proposals, with very different considerations. But they raise an important question: have we become so accustomed to identifying reasons something might not be good that we’ve lost our willingness to consider what benefit might be possible?

What Could New Brunswick Become?

Economic growth is about more than jobs and tax revenue. It’s about creating a province where people have opportunities to learn, grow, innovate and build meaningful lives.

It’s about giving young New Brunswickers reasons to stay rather than feeling they have to leave to pursue their ambitions. It’s about strengthening our universities and colleges, encouraging research, attracting investment and building an environment where entrepreneurs and businesses can compete beyond our provincial borders.

Imagine a New Brunswick recognized as a centre for emerging technologies, advanced energy, research and innovation. A province where international companies and institutions see opportunities to invest and collaborate, and where our own businesses develop products, services and expertise that compete globally.

Imagine the skilled workers, supporting businesses, research partnerships and new industries that could grow around those investments.

Why shouldn’t we aspire to that?

We don’t have to accept every proposal that comes our way. But we should be asking ourselves whether we’re doing enough to position New Brunswick for the opportunities ahead.

We’ve Been Here Before

The shale gas debate of the early 2010s brought that tension between economic opportunity and public opposition into sharp focus. Exploration activities in Kent County generated significant protests, particularly among members of Elsipogtog First Nation and surrounding communities. The controversy eventually contributed to the provincial government’s decision to impose a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing in 2014.

But the story is more complicated than simply a community rejecting an economic opportunity.

Research by Stewart Fast and Laura Nourallah, published in the academic journal Case Studies in the Environment, examined public trust in environmental decision-making in Kent County. Their research included interviews and a survey of 500 people.

They identified significant concerns about confidence in government authorities, regulatory capacity, previous controversies and Indigenous representation in decision-making.

Their findings demonstrate that public opposition can reflect a genuine lack of confidence in the institutions responsible for protecting the public interest.

That confidence must be earned.

But we should also be careful not to allow past failures to define every future opportunity. We need better processes, stronger oversight and greater transparency, not an assumption that nothing can ever be done responsibly.

Responsible Development Requires Responsible Oversight

We’re seeing similar tensions surrounding the proposed data centre near Lorneville.

The project has generated considerable public opposition, with residents raising questions about electricity demand, water consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, noise, wetlands, old-growth forest and the consultation process.

A particularly detailed investigation by The Narwhal documented residents’ concerns and examined the history of the proposed development, including questions about transparency and environmental protection.

These concerns again deserve serious attention. We shouldn’t dismiss them simply because a project promises economic benefits.

Governments, businesses and regulators have an obligation to do their homework. That means conducting credible environmental assessments, listening to affected communities, providing transparent information and establishing meaningful, enforceable protections.

We should expect evidence, not assurances. We should demand accountability, rather than simply taking someone’s word that everything will be fine.

Where potential harms cannot be adequately addressed, we should have the confidence to walk away.

But there is another side to that responsibility.

The public also has an obligation to approach opportunities with an open mind. If the questions have been answered, the risks properly assessed and the necessary protections established, and the evidence demonstrates that a project will benefit New Brunswick without compromising the things we value, we should be prepared to accept that.

We should do so excitedly!

We cannot demand that governments and businesses do the work, answer our questions and demonstrate the public interest, only to move the goalposts when they have done so.

There is a difference between responsible scrutiny and reflexive opposition. One makes projects better. The other risks making progress impossible.

We Need to Think Beyond the Next Election

There is another obstacle to building a stronger economic future: our expectations of government.

Major economic investments, infrastructure projects and industry development don’t necessarily fit neatly into a four-year electoral cycle. They can take years to plan, approve, finance, construct and deliver meaningful benefits.

If we want governments to think beyond the next election, we also have to be willing to look beyond the next election when evaluating their work.

That doesn’t mean giving governments a blank cheque or abandoning accountability. Governments should be expected to demonstrate progress, manage public resources responsibly and explain their decisions.

But we also need to recognize that meaningful progress requires patience, consistency and continuity—and occasional missteps that are acknowledged and corrected.

We cannot reasonably expect a government to develop a long-term economic vision, begin implementing it and deliver all the results before the next election. Nor should every change in government automatically mean abandoning initiatives simply because they were started by someone else.

In New Brunswick, it feels like we’re creating a political environment where governments spend more time reversing the decisions of their predecessors than building on them.

If we continually prioritize short-term political considerations over long-term provincial interests, we shouldn’t be surprised when progress becomes difficult to achieve.

The Cost of Standing Still

New Brunswick has some economic challenges that deserve our attention.

Research published in 2023 by the Centre for the Study of Living Standards examined six decades of investment trends in the province. It found that New Brunswick’s overall investment performance had weakened considerably, particularly since 2008.

The research doesn’t establish that public opposition is responsible for this decline. But it does illustrate why attracting investment and strengthening our economic capacity deserve serious attention.

The world isn’t standing still while New Brunswick debates its future.

Data centres are being developed around the world. New technologies are transforming industries. Other jurisdictions are competing for investment, developing expertise, creating employment and positioning themselves for the opportunities ahead.

We don’t have to accept every proposal that comes our way. But if we continually convince ourselves that the risks of participating are too great, we shouldn’t be surprised when those opportunities go elsewhere.

The consequences extend beyond the immediate loss of a particular investment.

We risk losing the businesses, research partnerships, skilled workers, supporting industries and knowledge that could have grown around it. We risk becoming consumers of an economy that other jurisdictions are building rather than participants in creating it.

There is also something to be said about the confidence that comes from being a province willing to pursue ambitious ideas.

Investment attracts investment. Expertise attracts expertise. A province that demonstrates it is prepared to consider new opportunities, work through legitimate concerns and make informed decisions sends a very different message than one that seems perpetually reluctant to move forward.

We should want New Brunswick to be a place where people see possibility.

The Courage to Say Yes

I don’t believe New Brunswick needs to embrace development simply for the sake of development. Some projects will be wrong for us. Some proposals won’t withstand proper scrutiny. Some environmental or economic risks will simply be too great.

But we need to become better at distinguishing between opportunities that genuinely shouldn’t proceed and opportunities that make us uncomfortable because they require us to think differently, accept change or take a calculated risk.

We also need to accept that not every worthwhile initiative will succeed exactly as anticipated. Sometimes adjustments will be necessary. Sometimes we will get things wrong. That’s part of trying something new.

The responsible approach is to understand the risks, establish appropriate safeguards, monitor the results and be prepared to change course (or even abandon a project) when necessary.

But we also have to consider the alternative.

What happens if we never try? What happens if we allow other provinces and countries to pursue the opportunities we’re unwilling to consider?

New Brunswick’s future belongs to all of us. We all have a responsibility to help shape it.

That means asking difficult questions, demanding accountability and protecting the things that make this province worth living in. But it also means recognizing that protecting our future isn’t simply about preventing things from changing. It’s about creating the conditions for something better.

The greatest risk facing New Brunswick isn’t that we occasionally get something wrong by trying. It’s that we become so afraid of getting something wrong that we stop trying altogether.

It’s time we started thinking bigger about what New Brunswick can become, and accepting that building that future will require us to be willing to say yes.