Backwater: Nova Scotia's Economic Decline

by Peter Moreira

This hard-hitting but fair assessment of Nova Scotia and the Maritimes will shock and surprise many Maritimers who have been conditioned to think that the east coast of Canada is one of the most liveable regions in the country. Author Peter Moreira, a native Maritimer who returned home after working overseas for more than a decade, offers a straightforward analysis of why the region has fallen so far behind the rest of the country in terms of most economic and social indicators. Backwater is not an attack on the place we call home, but rather a wide-ranging and timely examination of the region's flawed policies and thinking. The book makes bold recommendations for fixing the Maritimes' current problems, citing many leading professionals and politicians in the region, including Nova Scotia premier Darrell Dexter.

166 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2009

About the author

Peter Moreira is the author of The Haight Crime Series, in which Lieut. Jimmy Spracklin investigates crimes in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district in the late 1960s.

The series is the result of Peter’s love affair with Haight-Ashbury, which began when he hitchhiked twice to San Francisco from Vancouver in 1981. He adored the history, the friendly people, the romance of the setting. Throughout his career in journalism – which included postings in Ottawa, Hong Kong, Seoul and London – he kept mulling over the idea of a mystery set in Haight-Ashbury. He wanted to produce what he called a whodunnit with hippies.

As an author, Peter began with non-fiction, starting with Hemingway on the China Front in 2006. After a few non-fiction titles, The Haight was published in 2017 and The Haight Mystery Series was launched. Today it comprises several acclaimed novels, and Peter is always at work on the next one.

Reviews

[Kelly Greenwood]

Dated now (published in 2009), but still has relevant suggestions.