Saturday, July 11, 2009

Local Take on General Motors Bankruptcy

A business professor at the University of New Brunswick says the General Motors soap opera is about to begin.Barry Boothman tells us, GM has been able to emerge from bankruptcy protection much faster than anticipated, but is unsure what the public is going to think about it.Boothman says eliminating brands now, and experimenting with greener automobiles is coming a little late. He says brands such as Pontiac should have been phased out 10 to 15 years ago.Boothman says it's going to be hard for GM to pay back their government loans quickly because their debt was in the area of $172 billion dollars including assets

Small Optimism Dipped Slightly In New Brunswick

Business optimism among Canada's small business owners dipped last month despite hopeful signs earlier this year.The Canadian Federation of Independent Business shows decreases in provincial business optimism for the month of June.New Brunswick only slipped slightly going from 66.9 percent in May to 66.4.This province is showing the third highest level of optimism in the country coming in behind Prince Edward Island, and Saskatchewan.

Hache Getting Used to New Position

Still new to the porfolio, Education Minister Roland Hache says he's easing his way into the position.Hache tells us, he spent a long time as Minister of the Environment, and is enjoying the challenges with his new post.Hache recently announced $2.9 million dollars going towards reinstating educational support staff, and says next on the agenda is the transportation file.Hache says he is confident a solution can be figured out.