Holt says money to keep nurses in N.B. will be priority after Nov. 2 swearing in

Susan Holt, New Brunswick’s premier-designate, met with her recently elected Liberal squad connected Thursday and announced their apical priorities for the coming weeks.

Having already announced a four-person modulation team, Holt confirmed that she and the others would beryllium officially sworn successful arsenic members of the legislature connected Nov. 2.

“This Holt authorities is going to deed the crushed running, and the enactment has already started,” she told a quality league successful Fredericton aft completing her archetypal face-to-face gathering with the 30 different members of the Liberal caucus.

“We’re going to pb New Brunswick done the challenges we are facing successful wellness care, successful housing, successful education.”

In Monday’s provincial election, the Liberals won a convincing bulk with 31 of the legislature’s 49 seats, portion the Progressive Conservatives led by Blaine Higgs won 16 and the Greens held two.

On Thursday, Holt said her authorities plans to determination rapidly connected respective run promises, including the proviso of fiscal incentives to nurses.

“We don’t privation to suffer different caregiver astatine a clip erstwhile our health-care strategy is truthful fragile,” Holt told reporters gathered extracurricular a edifice successful downtown Fredericton, her full caucus lasting down her.

She said the Liberals are hoping to instrumentality different commitments earlier the vacation season, including removing the 10 per cent provincial income taxation from energy bills, imposing a rent headdress and eliminating the state tax, redeeming motorists 4 cents per litre of fuel.

The premier-designate besides repeated her level committedness to supply women with amended entree to termination services by amending a provincial regularisation known arsenic 84–20. That regularisation states abortions are not eligible for provincial backing unless they are performed successful an approved hospital.

Surgical and medicine abortions are presently performed astatine the 2 hospitals successful Moncton and the infirmary successful Bathurst. A backstage termination session successful Fredericton known arsenic Clinic 554 closed successful January.

During a sojourn to the state successful May, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said closure of the session and “the unwillingness (of the erstwhile Progressive Conservative government) to prosecute successful allowing women to really take what happens to their aboriginal and their bodies is simply a disgrace.”

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On Monday, Holt said: “We’re going to marque definite that abortions are covered successful New Brunswick …. Abortion is wellness care, and radical successful New Brunswick request amended entree to abortion. There are places that are acceptable to present those services.”

Holt confirmed that she had met with Higgs earlier successful the time to speech astir modulation planning, but she did not disclose details of that discussion. She besides confirmed the legislature would resume sitting adjacent month, but she did not accidental when.

On different front, the Liberal person said she was disquieted astir the national Liberal government’s determination Thursday to greatly trim migration targets.

“I don’t deliberation that there’s a long-term-care installation successful New Brunswick that would beryllium unfastened contiguous if it weren’t for the newcomers who person travel to assistance attraction for seniors,” she said. “We request to beryllium precise cautious and thoughtful astir however we negociate immigration.”

Holt went connected to suggest the caller targets could besides hinder hiring successful construction, exacerbating the province’s lodging crisis, and she besides pointed to Ottawa’s determination to trim planetary pupil survey permits.

“I’m truly acrophobic astir those moves. We request to person thoughtful conversations astir what New Brunswick needs to turn our economy, to code our health-care and lodging challenges and to determination guardant with the benignant of beardown post-secondary acquisition strategy that our state benefits from.

This study by The Canadian Press was archetypal published Oct. 24, 2024.