Do not be misled. Western Australia is one-third of the country, also one third the size of the USA. The Shire of Dundas in length eclipses any county in Texas, but the town of Norseman is the entire population (check out the population distribution at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shire_of_Dundas )

The solution of the shire buying a supermarket differs in no way from the Bonavista council buying a supermarket.

This strikes me very much as a Co-op in the UK sense of the 1950s.

Saturday, December 09, 2023

"And when you've got more people in work, working more and earning more, then that has implications for the tax take. We want people to earn more. That has implications for the budget but our primary reason for wanting that is so that people can meet the cost of living and provide for their loved ones."

So was quoted Jim Chalmers, Australia’s federal treasurer in Interest rate hikes are hurting households but there’s a way bigger drain on our finances going unnoticed — your tax bill

Saturday, January 06, 2024

Modern fisheries crises present special cases of the boom-and-bust cycles common to natural-resource-dependent communities. The Faeroe Islands, an affluent North Atlantic society that is among the most fisheries dependent on earth, experienced a crisis during the 1990s after resources became depleted through a combination of over fishing and environmental stress. Unemployment and business failures ensued; out-migration, mainly by young adults, altered the size and composition of the islands' population .

Tuesday, January 16, 2024

While researching in a different field I came across this article about the closure of the BHP steelworks in Newcastle NSW. The BHP Newcastle was my first paid job in computing 1968-1970. Make what you will of the two images below.

Christopher Greaves NewcastleBHP_01.png

Christopher Greaves NewcastleBHP_02.png

There is a full article in PDF form here .

The year I started work (1968) was the year that the Western Australian boom in iron and related ores took off. Today Western Australia accounts for 98% of Australia’s iron ore exports. For the past fifty years iron ore has been shipped to Asia to make a quick buck, and Asia’s efficiency at converting ore to steel has undermined the Australian steel industry so much as to close it. (in the late 60’s I was told that BHP was Australia’s largest private company, with its financial worth exceeding that of the state of Victoria)

You can draw parallels with the 1992 cod moratorium, but Newcastle today appears to be booming. Why is Newcastle different from Newfoundland?

Wednesday, January 17, 2024

Public school education costs provides figures of $ AUS 92,000 “Putting a child through public school from prep to year 12 in a major city is now estimated to set families back more than $92,000, according to new data from Futurity Investment Group. These estimates blow out to more than $195,000 for Catholic schools and more than $315,000 for independent schools.”

	Public (“free”)	Catholic	Independent
	92,000	195,000	315,000
p.a. (13 years)	7,100	15,000	24,200

At time of writing, one Canadian dollar was the equivalent to 1.12 Australian dollars. So:-

	Public (“free”)	Catholic	Independent
	92,000	195,000	315,000
p.a. (13 years)	7,100	15,000	24,200
$cdn	6,300	13,400	21,600

Note the $6,300. My first estimate of high school costs is $5,000 per student per annum for capital costs, not personal expenditure by parents.

Wednesday, February 07, 2024

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-02-06/short-term-rentals-airbnb-housing-crisis/103400820

Thursday, February 29, 2024

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-02-29/japan-cost-of-living-young-people-leaving-for-australia/103520934

Wednesday, March 06, 2024

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-06/bankwest-to-close-60-branches-in-perth-wa/103555124

Wednesday, April 03, 2024

Events planned in Gander for total eclipse of the sun Gander has prepared for the solar eclipse on April 8th; the video says that they are hosting a three-day program April 6th, 7th, 8th. For weeks I have been wondering why Bonavista isn’t hosting. After all, Gander is on the edge of the path of totality, whereas Bonavista promises a full four minutes of totality.

Maberly is, I think, on the centre-line of the path of totality.

The St John’s astronomical society is going to Gander. Why is it not attracted to Bonavista?

Consider not so much the loss of revenue (restaurants, B&B etc) but the lost prospect of Bonavista being “On the map” for years to come.

Tuesday, April 16, 2024

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-04-17/ghost-towns-in-tasmania-gormanston-princess-river/103633078 These towns died, like most mining towns across Australia, because they had a single source of business – a mine.

Diversify! Is the message. A clutch of small businesses offers a better springboard to a town’s success that a single major industry. Bonavista has a Hospital as one of its few major employers. A crab packing plant is the other.

Suppose that for every ten small businesses started, one went on to employ ten people. 180 opportunities suggests employment for 180 people, and that can mean 180 families. Expanded schools, …

Thursday, April 18, 2024

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-04-17/pay-day-mr-luke-springer/103645188

Monday, May 13, 2024

Universal credit claimants must seek 18 hours work

Monday, June 17, 2024

Of the UK's core cities, Birmingham has the highest number of people claiming unemployment support, with 12 per cent of residents relying on government benefits , compared to just five per cent in London.

Saturday, August 31, 2024

Swedish town's attention-grabbing campaign to sell land for price of a coffee could save it

Wednesday, September 11, 2024

Almost a quarter of millennial and Gen Z adults without children say they plan to stay that way. The reason? Money.

“ … with one study finding parents typically spend about $240,000 on each kid from birth to age 18. “.

These are Australian figures (1 CAD = 1.1 AUS)

Wednesday, September 18, 2024

Why it's 'very hard' to find work in Canada

Note the single quotes. Does the article want to say “not REALLY very hard”? If there are no jobs in existing businesses, then the answer must be “create more businesses”; perhaps each business starts off as a two-man team …

Monday, September 30, 2024

Cruise Ship Visiting Corner Brook Today

(1) When was the last time that a cruise ship docked in Bonavista?

(2) Did the ship’s passengers come ashore?

(3) Why don’t cruise ships visit Bonavista?

(4) Would a cruise from St. John’s to Bonavista and back offer a chance to see icebergs, whales?

St. John’s seeing cruise ship “The National Geographic Explorer cruise ship is making another stop in St. John’s today. The ship docks this morning at 6:00 a.m. and will remain in port until 8:00 p.m. It carries 154 passengers and has stops across the Maritimes and Newfoundland.“

In the past five years, where have cruise ships visited (ports) in Newfoundland? Why do they visit those places? Why not have a small-ship that visits (say) twelve coastal locations around Newfoundland?

Sunday, October 06, 2024

Ultima's $1 real estate sale was supposed to boost its population. But did it work? “Mr. Lee said a town needed to have either work prospects, or an enticing aspect for people to come and retire in a town.”

Friday, October 18, 2024

How a rail trail revived the historic gold mining town Lisa Millar grew up in

Our town is dying from the inside out

Sunday, November 17, 2024

Inside highway town Plainland's housing boom after Woolworths set up shop Not an exact image of Bonavista; “ … the tiny town of Plainland on the adjacent Warrego Highway — the main thoroughfare between Brisbane and Toowoomba” is in a different position from Bonavista, which is at the end of Highway 230 that runs the length of the Bonavista Peninsula. Still and all it is worth considering the impact of a Costco or a Wal-Mart in the town of Bonavista. Even a scaled down version, initially, might well attract customers. I’d be there looking for cheap cans of tomato paste.

Sunday, December 08, 2024

Commonwealth Bank unveils account changes that will charge customers $3 'withdrawal fee'

Another reason for having a local currency, sponsored by a local community bank.

Saturday, December 21, 2024

How a tiny village grew into a huge luxury destination “Just how did this small village on the edge of the Lake District establish itself as one of country's leading luxury destinations?”

Saturday, December 28, 2024

Why I Quit Milling Lumber - It’s Not Worth it …

Sunday, December 29, 2024

The first ten and the last five minutes of this video " For $35,000 I'd Expect it to be Perfect " discuss costing, and in particular The Value To The Client.

Sunday, January 19, 2025

How to Break the Cycle of Youth Unemployment

Wednesday, February 12, 2025

The challenges of opening a business in a regional town .

"I just sat out the front with a clicker for a couple of hours a couple of times a week and thought, …” this is known as Collecting Data, as in “Management Measures”

"It's expensive to hire staff, it's expensive to run your business in terms of insurance costs, it's expensive to run your business in terms of energy costs." These are not obstacles; they are advance notice of hurdles. Study these costs and work out how to avoid them in your first one or two years in business. It is GOOD to know about hurdles well in advance of needing them.

Tuesday June 17, 2025

Keep on mowing lawns, just do it as a business!

"Matt" says the grandfather of the teenager, "is making more money than …" and I believe them both. Good for Matt.

I suggest that Matt starts a business. Granddad says "Matt is making more money than …".

Sigh!

I do not want Matt to change the way he makes money. PLEASE continue to cut lawns and bring the grass clippings to me. Please don’t stop.

But think seriously about setting up a small business to mow lawns.

(1) You aren't in a taxable bracket when you mow lawns for cash. The CRA isn't interested in a teenager who makes spending money by mowing lawns.

(2) You will continue to receive cash payments from everyone on your contacts list.

(3) But if you set up a small business (Business plan, Budget, records of accounts, client/prospect contact list, and so on), you will gain experience in running a business.

(4) In a year or two the cash will dry up because you will be at university and you will not be mowing lawns.

(5) But your experience in starting and running a business will stay with you until you are 79 years old, or even older.

Monday, July 14, 2025

For an account of the development of a business Association read chapter 15 of Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain, available at Gutenberg.org as https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/245

Sunday, July 20, 2025

Raising a child in Canada will cost you around $17,000 a year. How to financially prepare for a baby

709-218-7927 CPRGreaves@gmail.com

Bonavista, Saturday, January 24, 2026 10:36 AM

Tuesday, September 30, 2025

When it comes to business, size does matter — and smaller may perform better

Saturday, October 04, 2025

Heritage NL Craft at Risk https://heritagenl.ca/programs/craft-at-risk/ is a link published in Them Days Vol 45 No. 4 2021; "Them Days" can be borrowed from you local Newfoundland Public Library.

Sunday, October 05, 2025

Short term towns/Short-stay towns

"With one of the nation's highest proportions of Airbnbs, some of WA's most popular tourist towns face a dilemma. Tourism is their biggest breadwinner — but with a housing crisis in full swing, short-term stays are pushing more and more locals away."

Friday, October 10, 2025

“Young people are not lazy,” he told The Current. “They are as ambitious and hardworking as any generation has ever been.” https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/youth-unemployment-generational-tensions-9.6933459

Monday, November 10, 2025

"The education system has also become “more skewed towards the acquisition of qualifications” rather than learning the skills that are useful in the workplace, he added." Charlie Mayfield : Being online is keeping young people out of work

Saturday, November 22, 2025

" Rural social enterprises face greater challenges "

"It managed to convince the state government to allow the community to take ownership of those buildings and Bonavista now has a thriving economy built on tourism."

I contest this argument. Tourism is centered on a four-week period, the scheme of "take money off the tourists then go on unemployment for eight months of the year". That's a generalization, but if your business is a restaurant, you are open only for four months of each year.

"the community has been able to push the state government to invest in crucial infrastructure and social systems in Bonavista, including hospitals, schools and roads."

This too is debatable. The hospital emergency service has a tradition of being closed off and on; the town seems to be unable to secure long-term services of GPs (which means residents must establish a new relationship every two years), The large campus of College of the North Atlantic supports only two courses "Plumber" and "Personal Care Attendant". The roads are crumbled with potholes and puddles; I should know; I ride a bicycle.

Bonavista thinks that a Food bank solves a problem; a food bank is a band-aid, not a solution. Better community support by the concept of a Food Factory is a solution, beyond Bonavista's current thinking.

Monday, January 19, 2026

' Credit-score company encouraged me to borrow again when I was nearly debt-free '

Saturday, January 24, 2026

New Zealand's Australia Problem This YouTube video describes the situation down-under. Replace "Australia" with "Canada" or with "North America", and replace "New Zealand" with "Newfoundland" and you have a description of what’s happening here.

Newfoundland's brightest and best, courageous, confident young people are being given away, educated and work-literate, to provinces and states in Canada and the USA.