Earlier this week, the Provincial Government’s Task Force on Self-sufficiency released its second “Report”.

Boiled down, the twenty seven page document would steer the province towards an export strategy driven largely by Saint John’s energy sector.

The core strategy would be supplemented with a push towards innovation, investments in productivity, education and the rationalization of major industries.

The cost could be huge, hundreds of millions of dollars and a sizeable re-orientation of peoples. Perhaps the most significant message in the Report is that investment in such change would have to be quick and whole. There is no mention of where the money might come from but one could imagine.

The Times & Transcript rightly wonders in a Valentine Day editorial how it will be politically possible to implement such a program. Good question! I don’t have the answer but I do know that unless we try, we shall be forever dependent on the federal government.

There is a major tension in the Report visible in the conflict between energy development and a climate change demand for reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.

• Oil refineries emit greenhouse gases.
• Coke-burning electric power plants emit greenhouse gases.
• Coal-fired power plants emit greenhouse gas emissions.
• Zero emission coal technology and carbon sequestration technologies are on the horizon.

If we’re going to adopt energy as our road to self-sufficiency, we have to adopt clean-air technology as the parallel road to development.

There is a second tension in the Report and that is the notion of change and the fear and uncertainty that will grip those who are embraced by the realities of change.

To underline this point, consider Daimler-Chrysler announcement on Wednesday that it will cut 13,000 jobs in North America - including 2,000 positions in Canada - as it embarks on a massive restructuring to cut losses. The job cuts amount to about a sixth of Chrysler's North American workforce.

That could happen in New Brunswick’s forestry industry as it struggles to rationalize sawmill facilities to create economies of scale.

To get a glimpse of the future, contrast Daimler-Chrysler’s restructuring with General Motors announcement that it will build hybrid versions of its Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup trucks in its Oshawa plant to compete with Japanese automaker Toyota. Hybrid engines use both electricity and gasoline as a power source and foreshadow the change and technological innovation that will characterize the new world.

In the restructuring of an economy, logic would suggest that a province with a population of considerably less than a million would have one major airport instead of three. I found no mention of such rationalization in the Task Force Report. It does talk about a multi-modal “Atlantic Gateway” concept but does not explain how it might benefit New Brunswick. Perhaps we could add a pass-through “toll” on container traffic.

Thirty five or more years ago, the Federal Government quietly decided that Halifax should be the capital of Atlantic Canada. Our national banks bought into it. Air Canada heard the message.

The federal public service endorsed it and scores of regional head-offices located in the City, including the oil & gas industry. The result is that Halifax is a major centre (albeit relatively small by world standards) driven by a combination of health, education, military and government institutions and a world-class deep-water port.

Moncton has all of the above except the port but Moncton has something that Halifax is missing and that is critical mass. Moncton is the centre of a market of 1.5 million people, three times the size of Halifax.

The Task Force Report appears biased in favour of Saint John and that’s understandable in the context of energy as primary wealth creator but self-sufficiency will require more than energy.

The Report calls for investment in the here and now. Moncton has been sputtering for years about a downtown convention centre. The other day, City Council deferred a decision on a new downtown coliseum to 2011.

Meanwhile the Legacy Hotels Real Estate Investment Trust has announced that it will invest $6 million in the renovation and upgrade of the Delta Beausejour Hotel. The new Marriot Hotel/Residence complex is under construction. The private sector is on the move.

Where is the public sector?

A convention centre combined with a new downtown coliseum would make our tourism and hospitality industry more efficient, more productive and more profitable. It would draw new people and new business to the Greater Moncton region. If Moncton is to move this Province towards self-sufficiency, we need to make these decisions now and find the money to fund them.

A few weeks ago, I suggested, with tongue somewhat in cheek that the University of New Brunswick and the Provincial Government be moved to Moncton. I would add Aliant (formerly NBTel) to that list. I believe there is a case to be made for the development of Moncton as an international centre of excellence, a mecca of research and development, the manufacturing, distribution and transportation hub of the Maritimes and the cultural heart of New Brunswick.

Moncton with a population of 200,000 plus linked to satellite communities in the north and centre of the province could become the alternative energy in New Brunswick’s quest for self-sufficiency.

When the Task Force delivers its final report, the biggest challenge for government will be found not in what needs to happen but in how it will happen. How will major changes be funded?

How will the general public be convinced that change is both necessary and good? How will it get people to jump on the self-sufficiency bandwagon?

This is a big challenge but I take my hat off to the Task Force for taking it on.

W.E. (Bill) Belliveau is a Shediac resident and Moncton business consultant. He can be contacted at bill.bellstrategic@nb.aibn.com Atlantic Insight is a published Blog inventory of opinion articles published weekly in New Brunswick's print media as written by W.E. (Bill) Belliveau, who is a resident of Shediac, New Brunswick, and small business owner, operating his Moncton-based marketing consultancy, Bell Strategic. He can be reached by e-mail at bill.bellstrategic@nb.aibn.com