Tom Young

Back in the day when Bill Gates ran Microsoft, would the following have made any sense?

If Microsoft produced some well done television commercials that told viewers about some great product Microsoft had created – and then played them only to employees at Microsoft, do you think it would make any sense?

Do you suppose General Motors would produce some well done TV commercials about the the great cars that GM makes and then play them only for General Motors employees?  Of course it wouldn’t make sense.

Do you think Irving Oil would make some well produced TV commercials about their long list of products and then play them only to Irving employees?  Of course not.

Do you think it’s likely Sobey’s would do the same thing?  Of course not.  Or how about IBM?  Bombardier?  What about any other well run company that has to answer to it’s shareholders?  Nobody in the world would do that right?  If you agree with this, you’d be dead wrong.

Now the story about the government of New Brunswick. Someone in the bureaucracy has come up with the following scheme.  They’ve earmarked 300-hundred thousand dollars of taxpayer dollars to produce some slick contemporary television ads extolling the virtues of living in New Brunswick. 

So far it sounds like a pretty smart idea — however there is a fly in the ointment. 

You probably want to know where these New Brunswick ads are going to be played, perhaps in Alberta you say?  That’s where many New Brunswickers have moved in recent years to seek fame and fortune.  Wrong.

Maybe in Ontario?  Where many other New Brunswickers have moved to seek fame and fortune?  Wrong.  Or how about in Manitoba even, a pretty boring province to live in — in the hopes that it may attract some of their residents into our area?  Wrong again.

The decision has been made and these commercials telling people what a great place New Brunswick is in which to live will be played on TV stations only in New Brunswick.  Isn’t this a classic case of preaching to the converted?  We already know what a great place it is in which to live, raise our families and work.  Why keep telling us what we already know?

Maybe the provincial government has concluded that we have a huge inferiority complex and these ads might help us work our way through it.

Fredericton?

I’m Tom Young.

Frank McKenna, the former New Brunswick premier will not run for the leadership of the federal Liberal party.

Get over it folks, he won’t run — and why would he?

At the present time he’s a Vice President with TD Bank, and while I have no idea what kind of a salary he’s taking home, I can assure you it’s more than what Stephen Harper is taking home.  Why would one want to go from McKenna’s cushy job to one of absolutely the worst jobs in the entire country?

Stephane Dion has just proven the leadership of the federal Liberal party does not automatically mean the movers are taking your furniture to 24 Sussex Drive, and I’m sure McKenna is not interested in simply being leader of the opposition.

The federal Liberals are badly in debt and there are all kinds of fractures running through the party.  They have to learn to be an effective opposition before they can ever become an effective government.  Do you really think McKenna would aspire to a job where a small percentage of the people think you’re doing a good job, a little larger percentage of the people think you’re doing a fair job, and far and away the majority think you’re doing a terrible job?

It’s not likely that more doors are open to Canada’s prime minister than they would be to a VP of one of our major chartered banks.

Frank is now 61 years old, meaning he’d be an old age pensioner when the next election comes in four years, maybe — and then more four years in opposition would make him 69.  The numbers simply don’t add up.

I’ll bet you bottom dollar, Julie McKenna, his wife, just cringes every time she hears the speculation that he’s going to toss his hat in the ring. 

Then there’s the political consideration.  If you take a look at his ten year record as premier of New Brunswick, you would have a hard time believing that Frank McKenna is a true Liberal.  I think you would best describe him as being a “Conservative Liberal,” and if that description doesn’t work for you, you could describe him as “a Liberal Conservative.”

He’s been out of politics for more than ten years and on a daily basis, he’s hobnobbing and rubbing elbows with the movers and shakers — not just in this country, but in the U-S as well. 

He appears to relish it.

Mark my words — Frank McKenna will not run for the leadership of the federal Liberal party.

I’m Tom Young.

Every city, town and village from coast-to-coast in Canada should have at least one Arthur Miller.

Art, as he was known — passed away earlier this week in his 85th year.  He was born in Rothesay, New Brunswick into a large family when formal education wasn’t as necessary as it is today.  At a very early age, he learned that if you take care of the pennies, nickels and dimes, the dollars would look after themselves.  He was a custodian of those pennies, nickels and dimes.

If you can leave your municipality in better shape than you found it, you have been a success — few did that any better than Art Miller.

I understand he purchased his first house when he was under twenty years of age, and for the next sixty years or so, he kept purchasing houses and apartment buildings and in the process, he became a very large land owner.

There are some things we know about what he did, there are hundreds and maybe thousands of other things that we maybe don’t know about.  He recently donated one-million dollars to the town of Rothesay for the building of two world class soccer facilities located on land which he also donated to the town.  Nobody will ever know how many times he took a handful of 100-dollar bills to the local supermarket because he had heard about stocks at the local food bank reaching crisis levels.

We’ll never know how many young men who were graduating from the local high school and didn’t have a new suit to wear to the graduation, who through Art, suddenly had one.  I’ve heard stories that there are people who live in some of his apartments, living in the same units for more than forty years.  Surely, that says something about the kind of landlord he was.  Anybody who knew Art Miller for any length of time could add more “feel good” stories to this blog than can I.

He didn’t want his name up in lights, he didn’t do it because it made him look good — he did it because it made him feel good.  He is going to be sadly missed in his home town of Rothesay, but the town is certainly far better off because of the late Art Miller.

He will be sadly missed.

Although small in stature, Arthur Miller stood tall, he was a man.

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In case you missed our Thursday show, we had health promoter, personal trainer and provocational speaker Bruce Krahn join us on our show.  Bruce is the author of the book: “The Fat Fighter Diet — Think Yourself Thin”

Bruce is also the president of eBodi.com, and is a key note speaker this weekend at the Halifax Health Show, (October 18th and October 19th)

For more info on his book and how to benefit most, visit: www.thefatfighterdiet.com

I’m Tom Young.

Researching information on bridges in Canada is a bit difficult, so I’ve got far more questions in this blog than I have answers.

Forty years ago, to much fanfare, the Saint John Harbour Bridge, connecting West Saint John with the city centre, became a daily occurrence in the lives of many Saint John residents and commuters.  Over that 40 years, millions of cars and trucks have paid for the right to make daily crossings in both directions.  Over the same 40 years, the bridge has managed to accumulate a debt of about 22-million dollars.

There is no way on God’s Green Earth that tolls will ever come close to paying off today’s accumulated debt. 

A question needs to be asked — How long do bridges like the Harbour Bridge last before they need major repairs?  And, by major repairs, I’m talking about MAJOR REPAIRS.

It has been brought to my attention that the decking on the bridge, (the area in which we drive) has just about reached the end of it’s life span.  If so, this is a major repair.

I’m hearing something in the order of 35-million dollars.  To do these major repairs will require one lane of traffic in each direction for possibly as long as two years. 

In plain terms, one side of the bridge will be closed while the deck is replaced, closing those two lanes and when completed.  The other side of the bridge would have it’s decking repaired later, and that would necessitate the closing off the other two lanes.

If what I’m hearing is anywhere near the truth, 22-million dollars plus 35-million dollars adds up to to somewhere around 57-million dollars.  I have been unable to ascertain if there is another bridge in Canada that owes even 22-million dollars, let alone a possible total of 57-million.

If the tolls can’t pay the 22-million, where in the world is the money going to come from to pay for the 57-million?

What a perfect time to find out the answers. 

Candidates are running around all over the city, asking for your vote and party leaders must be questioned.  The question might be:  “If elected — What is your party prepared to do to pay off the debt of the Saint John Harbour Bridge?”

Candidates are always willing to tell you what their issues are and what their parties issues are, maybe it’s time for them to listen to what your issues are?

If you live in Saint John or use this bridge regularly, make this one of YOUR election issues.

On Friday’s show, we had the opportunity to speak with Ted Rogers, the President and CEO of Rogers Communications Inc. and also the owner of our three maritime all news radio stations among about fifty others.  His book, which is an autobiography of sorts, details his start in broadcasting and follows the many challenges leading up to the communications giant which he oversees today.  It’s titled: “Relentless — The True Story of the Man Behind Rogers Communications” and is available in hardcover where ever books are sold.

Also Friday, we spoke with author David Cravit, who is Executive Vice President of Zoomer Media.  David is a leading expert on marketing to the Baby Boomer generation.  His book explores how Boomers are creating a revolution — in everything including employment, education, business, housing, careers, care-giving, health, beauty, travel, and of course, sex.  Mr. Cravit’s book is entitled: “The New Old — How the Boomers Are Changing Everything Again” and is also out now at your local book store.

I’m Tom Young.