What Is to Be Done?

Inadvertently marginalized, alternately castigated and pitied for its seeming dependency, the Maritime region has stumbled into the 21st century as the near-perfect example of Ottawa’s ineptitude. After billions of dollars in transfers and decades of well-meaning programs, those three provinces perched on the Atlantic periphery have little to show for the federal government’s fitful efforts. So when Paul Martin called New Brunswick sage Donald Savoie, out of the blue, in 2002, to ask for a diagnosis of the problem and the solution, the governance expert found himself in a fascinating, albeit irresolvable, discussion. He was hooked.

Two years later, when Conservative leader Stephen Harper swanned through New Brunswick, he made the evocative vow that, some day, the province would be “less a place where you visit your grandparents and more a place where you visit your grandchildren.” Intrigued by the future prime minister’s promise, Savoie now had his title and the...