Spring is around the corner, and as the Easter Bunny prepares to wow little ones with brightly coloured eggs and a wealth of chocolate, some provinces are poised to unveil a goody basket of their own. For Nova Scotia, however, the occasion may be marked by restraint, not celebration.

In anticipation of what is expected to be a “bad news” budget, Nova Scotia’s largest chamber of commerce has released a pre-budget report of its own. And the forecast is bleak. According to the Halifax chamber’s 13-page submission to the province’s minister of finance, the government should be alarmed. “The fact is, even by our own low standards of economic growth, Nova Scotia’s economy is underperforming,” the report states.

The chamber puts that underperformance into a Maritime context. The report points out that since 2010, Nova Scotia’s real gross domestic product (GDP) has grown by “a lamentable” 0.18%.

Nova Scotia’s economic situation does not improve even when per capita GDP growth, which does not include population growth, is used as the barometer. Since 2010, the province’s per capita GDP has risen by only 0.15%, earning the province a second-to-last-place finish, barely ahead of New Brunswick.

The chamber report cautions against concluding that Nova Scotia’s and New Brunswick’s financial woes are simply destiny – an unfortunate mix of aging demographics and weak economies that cannot be reversed. That supposition can be supported only if what is happening on Prince Edward Island is ignored.

Like the other Maritime provinces, P.E.I. is struggling with an aging population, an exodus of youth and an economy that lags well behind its Canadian counterparts. “Yet, over the past few years, P.E.I. has not succumbed to the economic stagnation and decline that have plagued Nova Scotia and New Brunswick,” the Halifax chamber’s pre-budget submission notes. Indeed, since 2010, P.E.I.’s economy has grown by 6.8% overall and by 3.5% on a per capita basis.

P.E.I. and New Brunswick stand in stark contrast to each other, and the question for Nova Scotia is in which of those directions may its future lie. The chamber report has put forward 11 recommendations in five key areas that it believes will get the province back on a stronger economic footing. Among those recommendations is a call to transform the tax system to help address demographic challenges and achieve a balanced budget for 2016.

The chamber report also called for the government to report publicly on the size of the regulatory burden in Nova Scotia and take tangible steps to reduce it, as well as eliminate or improve the capped assessment program, which places a limit on the amount that residential property assessments can increase year-over-year. Finally, the chamber wants the government to “entrench an ‘open for business’ attitude at all levels of government” – although what this means or how the government could achieve it is not explained.

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