Insights with Don Mills and David Campbell- An Acadia Broadcasting Podcast

Health care in Atlantic Canada is under significant pressure on many fronts.  There is a growing shortage of health care professionals, and the talent pipeline is not keeping up. The cost-of-service delivery is rising fast.  Technology is changing how health care is delivered and managed and, to top it off, the region is experiencing unprecedented population growth. Bruce Fitch, the Minister of He...

A Conversation with Canada's Ambassador to the United Nations    On this episode of the Insights Podcast, we turn our attention to the national scene and have a candid conversation with Bob Rae, Canada's ambassador to the United Nations. Rae has had a long and distinguished career as a lawyer, politician, law professor and now diplomat. We talk to him about his time as the first NDP Premier of Ont...

Membertou, An Indigenous Economic Model of Success   In this episode of the Insights Podcast, we have an inspiring conversation with Terry Paul, the long-term Chief of Membertou First Nation (celebrating his 40th Anniversary as Chief this year). Chief Terry is a residential survivor who was recently named as one of Canada's most admired CEOs. He has helped develop the Membertou Model of economic d...

On this week's Insights, Don and David talk with Sean Leet, Managing Director and CEO at World Energy GH2 about their exciting green hydrogen project in western Newfoundland. World Energy GH2 is proposing a $6 billion project that would use 160 wind turbines generating renewable energy to produce green hydrogen, initially to meet demand in Europe.  The Stephenville area is one of the best sites in...

There are many exciting stories of First Nations economic development across Atlantic Canada.  This week Don and David interview John Davis, the CEO of Qalipu Holdings in Newfoundland and Labrador about the potential of green hydrogen and other emerging industries and how the Qalipu First Nation will play a role including ownership stakes in various projects, governance and environmental oversight...

Your latest Insights Podcast features a conversation with Rob Steele, the CEO of the Steele Auto Group, the fifth largest auto group in Canada. He is also the son of legendary entrepreneur Harry Steele. Interestingly, Rob did not join Newcap Inc, his father's company, until he was nearly forty years old. Up until then, Rob was already a successful entrepreneur in his own right and busy building hi...

As the year comes to a close, we felt it appropriate to revisit some of the most important and most popular podcasts of 2023. Below is a recent podcast with the Chair of the Canadian Climate Institute, Peter Nicholson.    A new report called “Catching the Wind” from the Public Policy Forum outlines how Atlantic Canada can become an energy superpower by harnessing offshore wind. On this episode of...

There is something going on in Newfoundland and Labrador.  The province's tech sector is booming.  Real GDP from the IT sector has more than doubled since 2018, IT employment is up 46%.  The number of tech firms is up more than 20 percent just since 2019.  The number of life sciences startups has more than doubled.  On a per capita basis, the province has surged from 9th in the country among the 1...

Forestry Sector in Recovery Mode in Nova Scotia     The closure of Northern Pulp was a significant blow to the forestry sector in Nova Scotia creating a gap in demand for low grade fiber of 1.5 metric Tonnes. Despite this blow, the forestry industry still employs 6,000 workers in the province and generates $1.8 billion of economic activity and remains an important contributor to the economy in Nov...

Glenn Cooke discusses how Cooke Inc. has quietly become the largest privately owned seafood company in the world   This episode of the Insights Podcast features an exclusive and rare interview with Glenn Cooke, the driving force behind New Brunswick based Cooke Inc., which through acquisitions around the world (14 major acquisitions since 2016 worth $2.5 billion) now has annual revenues of $4 bill...

Sean Fraser Outlines Federal Government's Housing Strategy   This episode of the Insights Podcast features a live, in-person conversation with Sean Fraser, the Federal Minister of Housing, Infrastructure & Communities that was held at the "Partners for Progress " Conference sponsored by the Nova Scotia Regional Enterprise Networks in New Glasgow. The Minister presented an excellent overview of...

The decision to appoint someone outside the healthcare community to lead the NS Health Authority was met with considerable scepticism across the healthcare sector in Nova Scotia, yet that was exactly what the doctor ordered to introduce  a series of innovations that is set to transform healthcare, not just in Nova Scotia, but potentially across the country. Using pharmacists to treat and prescribe...

Atlantic Canada Can Become an Energy Superpower     A new report called "Catching the Wind" from the Public Policy Forum outlines how Atlantic Canada can become an energy superpower by harnessing offshore wind. On this episode of the Insights Podcast we talk with Peter Nicholson, the Chair of the Canadian Climate Institute and author of the report about the opportunity to harness the winds for env...

On this week's podcast we talk to the CEO of one of Atlantic Canada's oldest family run companies, Crosby Foods.  Founded in the late 19th Century as an importer of molasses from the Carribean, Crosby's continues to be a family business serving national and international markets.  James Crosby talks to Don and David about the company's long history, the current challenges and how the company is bu...

Medavie, A Company Changing Health Delivery In Canada   Medavie is a company that few in this region would be familiar with, although a third of Atlantic Canadians are covered through benefit programs with Blue Cross which, along with Medavie Health Services, are offered by the company. Medavie's mission is to improve the well-being of Canadians. Our conversation with Medavie's CEO Bernard Lord (3...

Wine Industry Growing in Size and Reputable in Nova Scotia   This week's Insights Podcast features an in depth look at the growing wine industry in Nova Scotia which has become important both economically and from a tourism attraction perspective. We talk with Carl Sparkes, the CEO of Devonian Coastal Wineries, the owners of Jost Vineyards, Gaspereau Vineyards and Mercator Vineyards. Carl's backgr...

On this week's Insights podcast, Don and David speak with Andrew MacLean, the author of Backyard History, a podcast, blog and newspaper column covering interesting stories from across the Maritimes. Since much of Backyard History is about our past economy, MacLean is a great guest to tell the stories but also provide insights we can learn from today. There was the pre-Confederation campaign to att...

The Spatz Family Story Behind Southwest Properties   One of the real privileges attached to doing the Insights Podcast is to learn the back story behind some of the region's most successful entrepreneurs. This is the case with the Spatz family, beginning with the early years of Southwest Properties under family patriarch Simon Spatz and the continuing story of the company under the able leadership...

Jim Irving, co-CEO of JD Irving, Limited, joins Don and David on the Insights podcast this week to talk about the forest products sector, the new forestry plan for New Brunswick and the realities of competing in a highly contested global market for wood products and pulp, paper and paper products.  In New Brunswick, JDI is the largest company in the sector but globally the company is small and com...

New Brunswick is in the middle of an unprecedented population growth trend.  This is leading to record employment but also to growing job vacancies.  Statistics Canada’s Job Vacancy Survey shows nearly 50% more job vacancies in the second quarter of 2023 compared to the pre-pandemic second quarter of 2019.  Minister of Post-secondary Education, Training and Labour Arlene Dunn and Deputy Minister D...

In recent months a number of food and consumer products companies have announced they are pulling well known products out of Canada including Kleenex, Skippy peanut butter, Delissio, Stouffer's and Lean Cuisine. In addition, there have been shortages of baby formula and cough medicine among other important products. This is leading to less competition for your grocery and consumer product spending...

John Risley of Mahone Bay is one of Nova Scotia's most successful businessmen. This week we revisit a conversation John had with Don and David about building and selling Clearwater Seafoods and some interesting thoughts on public policy changes needed in Atlantic Canada.    

Killam Properties is A Real Estate Powerhouse   Since its founding in 2000, Killam Properties, headquartered in Halifax, has become one of Canada's largest landlords and Atlantic Canada's largest landlord. The company has $5 billion in assets, 25,000 housing units and annual revenues of over $300 million. This episode of the Insights Podcast features a conversation with Phil Fraser, the founding C...

Mass Timber Can Shorten Construction Times Significantly   In this episode of the Insights Podcast , we examine a new initiative under development to build the first mass timber manufacturing plant in Atlantic Canada, led by Patrick Crabbe, the President & CEO of the Mass Timber Company and also the Director of Mass Timber for Bird Construction. Mass timber can be used to replace concrete and...

On this week’s Insights podcast, Don and David are starting a series on the forest products sector in Atlantic Canada.   The region’s forests support thousands of good paying jobs and generate hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue for the region’s governments each year.   New Brunswick generates more gross domestic product (GDP) and export revenue from the forest products sector than any...