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Jesus, what a gong show.
Victor Boudreau has been named the interim Liberal leader, replacing former New Brunswick premier Shawn Graham.
His first priority is to form a strong opposition when the legislature returns later in November, the Shediac-Cap-Pelé Liberal MLA said in a news release on Wednesday.
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/2010/11/10/nb-liberal-leader-victor-boudreau-911.html#ixzz14u0qLJla
Has Yvon Godin commented on Roger Duguay's decision to leave the party? I understood Godin to have been a strong supporter of Duguay. Or will Godin be following suit?
Duguay is quitting politics altogether after having been defeated in his fourth attempt to win a seat. Godin is the NDP whip and has a seat in parliament for as long as he wants it - I suspect he's probably disappointed that Duguay didn't do better, but has far bigger fish to fry in Ottawa.
New Brunswick Progressive Conservatives are enjoying a post-election honeymoon of support, according to a Corporate Research Associates poll.
Premier David Alward's Tories opened up a wide lead with New Brunswick voters, according to the latest Corporate Research Associates poll. (CBC)The quarterly political poll shows 61 per cent of decided voters support the Tories, followed by 25 per cent for the Liberals and 10 per cent for the New Democratic Party
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/2010/12/06/nb-cra-poll-tories-gain-support-214.html#ixzz17R9M4XCo
New Brunswick's Progressive Conservative government is asking some civil servants to take voluntary unpaid leave over the period between Christmas and New Year's.
Finance Minister Blaine Higgs told reporters Wednesday that government workers who are employed in non-essential services have been asked if they would take the leave.
It's the latest in a series of austerity measures ushered in by the Tory government to cut the province's $820-million deficit. Higgs has already instructed departments to trim one per cent from their budgets this year and prepare for a two per cent reduction next year.
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/2010/12/08/nb-higgs-civil-servants-unpaid-vacations-1227.html#ixzz17Y4AnnyJ
The Progressive Conservative government has slashed its capital budget significantly as it attempts to contain its burgeoning deficit.
Finance Minister Blaine Higgs unveiled a trimmed down $592.9-million capital budget on Tuesday, down from the $940.4 million spent by the former Liberal government in 2010-11.
Higgs had already warned government departments that budget cuts were looming as he tries to wrestle down the deficit, which he said could reach $1 billion next year.
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/2010/12/14/nb-capital-budget-1245.html#ixzz1878T1wtU
New Brunswick's Liberals still have not decided if they will elect a new leader in 2011, but one name has already surfaced as a potential candidate.
The Liberals were left without a permanent leader when former premier Shawn Graham resigned following the Sept. 27 electoral drubbing.
While a date has not been set to select a new leader, there is growing speculation over who will be in that contest.
Former cabinet minister Mike Murphy is among the crop of potential contenders.
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/2011/01/04/nb-murphy-liberal-leadership-620.html#ixzz1A4d3FyTj
Irony??
The organizer of a private campaign to convince New Brunswick politicians to take the deficit seriously has left behind an unpaid bill, says a Saint John businessman.
John Ainsworth has launched a small claims court action alleging he wasn't paid for printing services he supplied to the deficit campaign.
The campaign that took place last fall during the provincial election was organized by Rothesay businessman David Bishop.
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/2011/01/05/nb-deficit-campaign-bill.html#ixzz1AGCj4e8M
En Nouveau-Brunswick, plus ca change, plus ca meme chose.
Progressive Conservative Premier David Alward's pick to lead his government's new automobile insurance committee is overshadowing the delayed review.
Michel Leger, a Shediac lawyer and a long-time Tory, was appointed on Tuesday as the chairperson of the eight-person working group that will examine the $2,500 cap on court awards for soft-tissue automobile injuries and the definition of those injuries.
Leger, who has been a key figure in recent election campaigns, dropped out of the party's leadership race in 1995 because of his connection to a case of insurance fraud.
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/2011/01/12/nb-michel-leger-insurance-523.html#ixzz1ApQ1dTyc
Premier David Alward is defending his government's controversial choice of Michel Leger to lead a provincial auto insurance review committee.
Leger worked on the Tory campaigns in several recent elections and was hired by the former Bernard Lord government to lead a review of the province's health system
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/2011/01/13/nb-alward-michel-leger-547.html#ixzz1AvI1P5Sj
Lying dogs!!!
Premier David Alward is opening the door to raising the Harmonized Sales Tax as a way to cope with the massive deficit his Progressive Conservative government inherited.
The Tory government has estimated the deficit could hit $820 million in 2010-11 and it has warned the deficit could top $1 billion in the upcoming budget if urgent action isn't taken in this year's budget.
Alward has remained steadfast against raising the HST for months, even promising in the fall election campaign that he would not hike the consumption tax.
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/2011/01/20/nb-alward-hst-promise-922.html#ixzz1Bb2qnFXF
Former Liberal cabinet minister Kelly Lamrock is questioning some of the decisions made by the Shawn Graham government, a move that is jump-starting the debate within the party ahead of its upcoming leadership race.
Lamrock, who was defeated in the September election, said he believes it is a mistake to cut taxes for wealthy New Brunswickers during times of fiscal restraint.
Instead, Lamrock said the better choice is to raise taxes on those who can afford it.
But Lamrock was a senior minister in Shawn Graham's Liberal government that aggressively cut taxes, contributing to the big deficit.
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/2011/02/17/nb-lamrock-liberal-renewal-555.html#ixzz1EDaejglM
The Department of Finance is being pressured to cut spending and increase taxes to eliminate the province's $820-million deficit, according to results of a questionnaire released on Thursday.
Almost 3,000 New Brunswickers responded to a questionnaire sent out by the provincial government that asked for feedback on how they felt Premier David Alward's government should balance the budget.
The results show 46.2 per cent of respondents want the Alward government to cut government spending and increase specific taxes.
Spending restraint was backed by 42.9 per cent, while 10.8 per cent favoured simply boosting taxes, fees and other revenue.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2011/03/04/nb-finance-budget-survey-1045.html
The David Alward government is continuing to enjoy a high degree of public support as it heads into a tough budget that could result in cuts to a wide number of programs, according to the latest Corporate Research Associates poll.
The CRA quarterly poll show 62 per cent of respondents were either completely or mostly satisfied with the Alward government, up from 46 per cent in November.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2011/03/07/nb-cra-poll...
N.B. budget about to be tabled in the Legislature.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2011/03/21/nb-higgs-budget-1026.html
-tax increases on gasoline and diesel
-increased tax on cigarettes $10.50 per carton
-instruct NB liquor to make more money.
-tuition allowed to go up $200 per student per year.
-parents' income will now be counted again in NBSL calculations.
$220 million in spending cuts.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2011/03/22/nb-budget-m...
Increased taxes on those earning over $127 000 effective July 1, 2011. Approximately 11 000 NBers.
New Brunswick's New Democrats responded to the 2011 provincial budget with praise for the governments' implementation of NDP cost-reduction initiatives, but expressed real concern over the continuation of ineffective handouts to businesses.
The New Democrats' provincial leader, Mr. Dominic Cardy, commended the government for addressing the provincial deficit, acting on several initiatives called for by the New Democrats, including an increase in tobacco taxes, closing the Capital Commission, reviewing the government's vehicle policy and ending unbudgeted end-of-year government spending, so-called "March Madness".
http://www.nbndp.ca/node/476"During the 2010 election campaign, the NDP provided New Brunswick with an accurate and honest picture of the fiscal challenges we face as a province. I am pleased to see that many of our ideas have been adopted in this budget." Cardy said. "However, this Conservative budget is the political equivalent of a no-fly zone: it's a first step, but it's not going to get the job done."
While optimistic about some aspects of the budget, Cardy took aim at the Tories for their cutting of funding for the Advisory Council on the Status of Women. "This is a worrying indicator of this government's future direction," he said.
The Opposition Liberals have launched a blistering attack on Premier David Alward's first budget over what they call a significant broken election promise.
The Progressive Conservative government is being criticized by several groups hurt by Tuesday's budget.
Women's groups have protested the plan to fold the arm's-length Advisory Council on the Status of Women into government. Film producers have said the cancellation of a tax credit will kill the province's industry.
Liberal Donald Arseneault reminded Alward of the Tory election pledge to hold the line on taxes that impact ordinary New Brunswickers.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2011/03/25/nb-higgs-ar...One of New Brunswick's leading film and television producers is pulling up stakes and moving to Nova Scotia after losing an industry tax credit in the latest provincial budget.
Frank Savoie, who runs Connections Productions in Moncton, said the elimination of the credit is jeopardizing the future of New Brunswick's multi-million-dollar industry.
"One line in a 40-page budget," Savoie said Monday. "No preamble - film tax credit cut. A, a slap in the face. B, we're going to Halifax."
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2011/03/28/nb-savoie-tax-credit.html
Interim Liberal leader Victor Boudreau said when the Alward government cut funding to the Advisory Council on the Status of Women, it broke the law.
The opposition critic on women's issues said the government was silencing the province's only independent critic on women's issues.
Boudreau said it all comes down to an act from 1975.
"If you go look at article 9.2 it says very clearly that the minister must provide funding to this organization."
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2011/04/01/nb-womens-c...
Seriously. The NB election was months ago. Most of these last 30 posts or so could have been new threads in their own right. And if people had thought the new messages were about something besides long stale election results, they might have resulted in the odd, I don`t know, conversation.
Cutting the advisory council on women was a disturbing move. Any idea what the "justification" was? I think I saw a CBC report that suggested it was settling old scores from a period of acrimony during one of the Lord governments. Anybody know anything more substantial?
Malcolm, I'm trying to avoid thread proliferation. NB topics don't get much traction. Maybe a mod can change the thread title to reflect it is general NB political topics.
Anonymouse, I only know the PC line that it had a choice of cutting this or front-line workers working with women who have been abused.
Start a new thread in which to occassionaly post. Give it a general name- something obvious like Current New Brunswick Politics.
This one will just drop out of sight, so it's not thread proliferation.
I agree that thread proliferation (ie, multiple current threads on overlapping or even identical topics) is unhelpful. But the NB election results discussion was over six months ago (last on topic post Oct 1). Of the posts since then, there was enough diversity of subject matter for between two and four threads (one of which - NBNDP Leadership Race - eventually did migrate to a discrete thread).
The fact that NB is smaller than Ontario hardly justifies the suggestion that all NB politics discussions be gathered under one meandering thread. It's not like three shorter threads are going to everwhelm the board or the moderators.