NB Politics Potpourri 2-All the little dirty secrets revealed.
Grand Manan residents have voted in favour of having the new village council ask the Alward government to live up to its election promise and remove fares on the island's ferry.
A plebiscite on the issue was held during Monday's municipal election; the only plebiscite in the province.
Of the 1,169 ballots cast, 556 people said council should ask the Department of Transportation to remove fares on travel to and from the mainland, while 511 people said no.
Under the Referendum Act, "if more than 50 per cent of the ballots validly cast in a referendum are cast for the same response to the referendum question and at least 50 per cent of all qualified electors cast votes in the referendum, the result is binding on the government that initiated the referendum."
There are 1,741 eligible voters on the island. Voter turnout was 67.14 per cent.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2012/05/14/nb-grand-ma...
Outgoing Saint John mayor Ivan Court has alleged a group of undisclosed donors bought Mel Norton's mayoral victory in Monday's municipal election.
But there are currently no limits on municipal campaign spending in New Brunswick and no requirements to report where campaign donations come from, said chief electoral officer Mike Quinn.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2012/05/15/nb-election...Byelection time!
Margaret Ann Blaney resigns to take up Efficiency NB role
That is an incredibly safe Tory seat. I'm not sure running Cardy there would be a good idea unless it is solely designed to raise his profile. That's the second MLA appointed to head Effeciency NB. Seems to be becoming a retirement pasture.
New Brunswick firearms dealers will no longer be required to record purchase information on long-guns, Public Safety Minister Robert Trevors announced on Wednesday.
And the provincial government's chief firearms officer and inspectors will no longer inspect such records, he said.
"Our government is aligning our approach on firearms, to be consistent with the spirit and intent of federal Bill C-19, which eliminated the long-gun registry," Trevors said during ministers' statements.
Firearms dealers will be instructed to start new ledgers, which include information only on prohibited and restricted firearms, he said.
The changes take effect immediately, he said.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2012/05/16/nb-long-gun...
NDP support was about 8% there in the last election. It could make sense to run there and try to raise the popular vote and come in second and generate some publicity/profile.
I'm sure Dom is considering his options. This might be the most affluent riding in NB. The Libs are still leaderless so a 2nd place finish is not out of the question. Alward's Finance Minister is in an adjoining riding.
The New Brunswick government is proposing 116 different changes to the regulatory framework that oversees the oil and gas industry and in particular the controversial process of hydraulic fracturing.
Natural Resources Minister Bruce Northrup and Environment Minister Bruce Fitch unveiled the changes to the rules governing the oil and gas industry in the legislative assembly on Thursday.
The new changes include overhauling the royalty framework that would ensure more money flows into the provincial coffers and is sent to property owners and communities where mining activity is taking place.
The new provincial regulations will set out strict rules on protecting the environment.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2012/05/17/nb-shale-ga...
Federal Fisheries Minister Keith Ashfield says the Harper government's planned reforms to the Employment Insurance program are not intended to force people to leave their communities to find work.
Ashfield was clarifying the federal government's planned changes to the Employment Insurance program and what they will mean for New Brunswickers.
Ashfield said people will no longer be able to turn down job opportunities within an hour's drive if they expect to collect benefits.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2012/05/22/nb-ashfield-ei-changes-935.html
Ashfield represents Fredericton.
The New Brunswick government is spending $38 million to improve the province's early childhood system by boosting the number of daycare spaces and the amount workers are paid.
"We are making history in our province by changing the system as we know it into an innovative model for early childhood services that is unique in Canada," Education and Early Childhood Development Minister Jody Carr said in a statement on Thursday.
The provincial government will add 10,000 new childcare spaces at a cost of $16.7 million.
Under the plan, the provincial government is setting aside $4.1 million to increase wages subsidies for childcare workers.
The wage top-up for trained staff will go to $5 per hour from $4.50. As well, Carr announced the $2.75 per hour wage subsidy for untrained staff will be re-established.
The Day Care Assistance Program will have an injection of $4.4 million, which will help make daycare more affordable.
The new cash will mean people earning $55,000 can qualify for some childcare funding, up from $30,000. The cutoff for full childcare funding is increasing to $30,000 from $20,000.
And the daily maximum subsidy will increase to $4 per day for infants and $1.75 per day for pre-school children.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2012/06/07/nb-carr-chi...
Seems like the PCs under Alward are actually quite a bit more progressive than the Liberals were under Graham...not that that's saying much.
Premier David Alward is continuing to hold a wide lead in party support, according to the latest political poll.
Corporate Research Associates released its quarterly political poll on Thursday showing 44 per cent support Alward's Progressive Conservatives.
The Liberals are in second place with 32 per cent support and the NDP remain in third spot with 19 per cent.
The Greens have five per cent and the People's Alliance of New Brunswick registered zero per cent support for the second consecutive month.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2012/06/07/nb-cra-poll...Most definitely. Some highlights of the Graham Liberals:
- Flat taxes
- An attempt to eliminate French immersion
- The elimination of rural snow removal services and ferries
- Charging for ambulance rides
- Large increase in user fees
- No consultation announcement of the sale of NB Power
- No strings attached leases to hydraulic fracking companies
- Point Lepreau $1 billion cost over-run boondoggle
- A massive (over 100%) bipartisan salary and pension increase to all MLAs
- Secret, exceptioonal, severance packages for political appointees worth hundreds of thousands of dollars
- Massive deficits, $1 billion+ in new debt
and the beat goes on...
More from the New Brunswick Liberals' anti-progressive highlight reel link
A provincial consultation tour asking for feedback on proposed shale gas regulations ran into stiff opposition to the controversial mining practice of hydro-fracking during a meeting in Durham Bridge on Monday.
A steady stream of opponents walked to the microphone and explained to Louis LaPierre, a professor emeritus in biology at the University of Moncton, who is leading the shale gas panel, why they opposed shale gas exploration.
The opposition also came from a former Progressive Conservative cabinet minister.
Tony Huntjens, who retired from politics instead of running in the 2010 election, said he was "flabbergasted" by his former colleagues' decision to move forward with shale gas exploration and, in particular, hydraulic fracturing.
"I belonged to the party that is now in power and I was always of the opinion that they listened to the people before they acted," Huntjens said.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2012/06/12/nb-shale-ga...
Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency Minister Bernard Valcourt has been banned from practising law in the province for failing to meet specific criteria laid out by the province's law society.
Valcourt did not meet the Law Society of New Brunswick's minimum requirements for continuing education and professional development in 2011, said Marc Richard, executive director of the society.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2012/06/19/nb-bernard-...
New Brunswick's unemployment rate rose to 9.5 per cent in June as the provincial economy shed 1,900 jobs, according to Statistics Canada.
The jobless rate edged up marginally from 9.4 per cent in May, according to the latest labour force survey that was released on Friday.
There were 354,800 people employed in the province in June, a reduction of 1,900 from the previous month.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2012/07/06/nb-july-job...A New Brunswick entrepreneur is setting up the province's first 3T magnetic resonance imaging unit in a private clinic in Moncton.
The Department of Health faced a controversy earlier this year over its decision not to fund a 3T MRI in Saint John.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2012/07/18/nb-private-...
The federal riding redistricting proposal has pretty much failed to address the northern depopulation and communities of interests in New Brunswick. There seems to be a concerted effort to protect Madawaska Restigouche from needed changes. I think its either to try and save Valcourts weak majority from either being lost to the Libs or to the NDP that are strong along the entire border there with Quebec.
Something that might happen if Grand Falls was returned to the northern riding it used to be a part of. Whats telling is that the provincial tour of the commisssion will not come to the northwest for its consultations (2nd link).
http://www.redecoupage-federal-redistribution.ca/content.asp?section=nb&dir=now/proposals&document=part2&lang=e#p1
http://www.redecoupage-federal-redistribution.ca/content.asp?section=nb&dir=now/hearings&document=index&lang=e
IMO this is shameful. Ive written my complaints to the commission as former NDP candidate for Tobique Mactaquac in the 2011 Federal election and invite anyone concerned to do so.
nb@rfed-rcf.ca
The union representing about 120 Acadian Lines employees says it is willing to work with the company to keep the bus service running in the Maritimes.
Acadian Lines announced Tuesday that it would cease operations in the region by the end of November. The company said it has been losing money on the operations for several years.
Scott Webber, president of CAW local 725, said the company might be able to survive if provincial governments will allow it to modify the service it provides.
"Our biggest problems that we know of is they're not letting the company change some of the runs that they wish to change, which is costing them money," he said.
"We've got runs that we're running two and three people on the road. You can't afford to keep a bus on the road when you've only go two or thee passengers."
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2012/08/08/ns-acadian-lines-union-reaction.html
The Alward government's ability to reduce departmental spending for the first time in more than a decade allowed the deficit to come in below expectations, Finance Minister Blaine Higgs said on Tuesday.
Higgs released the audited financial statement for 2011-12 on Tuesday, which showed the deficit came in at $260 million, which is $188 million lower than expected.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2012/08/14/nb-higgs-financial-statement-1151.html
The Progressive Conservatives dropped six percentage points in the last three months, meanwhile the New Democratic Party saw its support rise by five percentage points to 24 per cent.
Despite the increase in the NDP's popularity, the Liberals remained in second place with 32 per cent support, according to the CRA poll.
New Brunswick's three main political parties are now separated by 14 percentage points in a province that has not always been kind to third parties. The NDP has not had a seat in the legislative assembly since 2005.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2012/09/06/nb-cra-poll-tories-slip-126.html
Being at 24% provincewide for the NDP seems consistent with getting 27% in a so-so riding like Rothesay in the byelection...if the NDP actually gets in to the mid-20s in popular vote in 2014 - we would be looking at least half a dozen seats.
A legislative committee is studying the Official Languages Act away from the glare of the public.
The Select Committee on the Revision of the Official Languages Act, which is made up of Progressive Conservative and Liberal MLAs, has agreed to hold the meetings in secret.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2012/09/18/nb-official-languages-committee-review-secret.html
Despicable! I anm not sure what Cardy is going to have to say about this situation.
Opponents of shale gas development in New Brunswick say they're confused by the Alward government's recent cabinet shuffle, which involves Craig Leonard overseeing the industry again, despite his sister's role as a lobbyist.
Leonard had been Premier David Alward's first energy minister, but was sent to the Department of Government Services earlier this year after his sister, Angie Leonard, became a senior natural gas advisor for the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2012/10/01/nb-shale-leonard-minister-conflict.html
The financial challenges being faced by New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island should revive the concept of Maritime Union, according to a public administration expert.
Donald Savoie, the Canada research chair in public administration at the University of Moncton, said the three Maritime provinces are each confronting immense financial pressures and unification may make sense.
“What I mean by it is — full union — is to have one government for the three Maritime provinces,” Savoie said on Thursday.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2012/11/22/nb-savoie-maritime-union-126.html
When hell freezes over. Last time we discussed Maritime Union those Canadian twits crashed the party.
The newly-elected mayor of the Village of Charlo has resigned over a disagreement with councillors regarding the consumption of alcohol while discussing village business.
Jason Carter claims some council members and the village administrator regularly consume alcohol at the village office after public meetings — all on the taxpayers' dime.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2012/12/05/nb-mayor-charlo-alcohol-resigned.html
I read a recent article where N.B. was the most in debt of the three provinces and had the second highest unemployment rate out done by PEI by .01 percentage point.
HINT::: New Brunswick government the ONLY Conservative government out of the three.
GO FIGURE EH?
The article:::
http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/idea-of-merging-maritime-provinces-revived-despite-lack-of-political-support-1.1062693
New Brunswick is currently grappling with a $10-billion debt, a $356-million deficit and an unemployment rate of 11.6 per cent -- the province's highest in nearly a decade.
In P.E.I., the 2012-13 deficit is projected to come in at $79.6 million, while the Nova Scotia government has promised to balance the books by next spring, despite a deficit forecast of $211.2 million.
New Brunswick Conservative government!!! A huge oil deposit discovery in N.B. would help it helps most Conservative governments EXAMPLE Alberta and N.F.
Welcome back, Lambchop.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2013/02/14/nb-lamrock-cardy-1036.html
A late report on the April 15th Kent by-election where the NDP did well, beating the PCs by a substantial margin and increasing their vote by 11.6% to 26.9% of voters.
"NDP vote growing
Liberal Leader Brian Gallant may have won the Kent byelection but his victory may be foreshadowing problems for the province’s two traditional parties.
The Progressive Conservatives lost 985 votes compared to the 2010 general election and the Liberals lost 274 votes. By contrast, the NDP saw the party’s vote total increase by 575.
This is the second byelection in the province where the NDP failed to win a seat, but improved on its vote total.
NDP Leader Dominic Cardy finished third in 2012’s Rothesay byelectionwith 1,158 votes, an increase of 623 votes. The Tories held the seat but saw their vote total drop by 1,749 votes and the Liberals finished second but lost 366 votes.
While the NDP has performed well in the two byelections, it still trails the two main parties in recent public opinion polls.
Corporate Research Associates issued a poll in March that showed a three-way race with the Liberals at 35 per cent, Tories at 32 per cent and the NDP at 26 per cent."
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2013/04/17/nb-kent-bye...
The Finance Minister and the health Minister seem to be teaming up to guarantee they will be members of the second consecutive one term government. I'm not sure the last time NB had back to back one term governments.