New Brunswick Liberals promise rent cap, tax cuts in first 100 days in office

A rent cap, taxation cuts, and payments to nurses are among the predetermination promises the New Brunswick Liberals accidental they volition fulfil successful their archetypal 100 days successful office.

In its throne code Tuesday, the caller authorities said it volition gain the spot of New Brunswickers by rapidly completing a bid of pledges made connected the run trail, which ended Oct. 21 with Susan Holt and her Liberal squad winning a majority.

Within the archetypal 100 days successful office, the Liberals volition instrumentality a rent cap, region the provincial taxation connected energy bills and caller multi-unit housing, and scrap a “clean substance adjuster” that the premier says adds 4 cents a litre to the terms motorists wage astatine the pump. As well, the caller Liberal authorities volition administer retention payments to nurses to amusement them “the respect and appreciation they deserve.”

“Your authorities understands that spot does not travel easy, but they are acceptable and consenting to enactment hard to gain it,” the Liberals said successful their speech, work successful the legislature by Lt.-Gov. Brenda Murphy.

The authorities says its priorities volition beryllium wellness care, affordability and housing, education, economical development, the environment, and “trusted leadership.”

During the predetermination campaign, the Liberals promised to respire beingness backmost into the ailing health-care strategy by opening 30 assemblage clinics implicit the adjacent 4 years. Community clinics bring unneurotic doctors, nurses, pharmacists and different health-care professionals nether 1 roof.

In Tuesday’s speech, the authorities said it is “committed to support” 10 assemblage attraction clinics successful 2025 — successful Fredericton, Moncton, Saint John, Edmundston, Campbellton, Carleton North, the Acadian Peninsula, St. Stephen, Sussex, and Sackville. The Liberals said their extremity is to unfastened clinics successful Woodstock, the Kennebecasis Valley, Blacks Harbour, and Blackville “into 2026.”

The authorities said it would widen operating country hours to guarantee hospitals “are utilized to their fullest potential.” Another health-care committedness is to make centralized wait-lists and connected integer records absorption systems.

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Looming implicit the Liberals galore promises is the province’s fiscal outlook, which dimmed past week erstwhile the caller concern curate projected a shortage of $92.1 cardinal for the existent fiscal year, a reversal from the $40.9-million surplus budgeted past outpouring by the Progressive Conservatives. René Legacy blamed the shortage connected higher-than-expected spending successful the wellness department, peculiarly connected backstage nursing companies.

Legacy said the authorities volition look for ways to shrink the deficit.

Tuesday’s throne code included notation of First Nations, galore of which had been captious of the erstwhile government. The Liberals said they volition invitation First Nations leaders to make a forum for “culturally harmless and equitable wellness care” for Indigenous people.

And the caller authorities said it would make the presumption of intelligence wellness advocate, who volition assistance radical struggling with intelligence wellness to navigate the attraction network.

The Liberals besides said they would grow entree to intelligence wellness tribunal — which is portion of the provincial tribunal successful Saint John, and deals with cases involving radical with a intelligence unwellness oregon intelligence disability. Increased entree to the court, the Liberals said, volition beforehand “alternative pathways for justice” and trim the complaint of radical re-entering the justness system.

This study by The Canadian Press was archetypal published Nov. 19, 2024.