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NB Politics potpourri
April 28, 2011 - 7:55am
The president of the School District 1 education council isn't backing down in his refusal to make budget cuts and is now warning the education minister that if he is forced to cut two per cent, it could mean teacher layoffs and the closure of a school.
Ernest Thibodeau argued on Wednesday that it's unfair to expect the only district in the province that's growing to spend less.
"We are the only district that is increasing in numbers year after year," Thibodeau said. "I welcome them to come and show us where we can cut because we're trying to find it...if we are going to cut $2 million we will have to cut some positions."
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2011/04/28/nb-district...
Film producers say they are cautiously optimistic after meeting with Economic Development Minister and Deputy Premier Paul Robichaud about the government decision to cut the film tax credit in the March budget.
Since then producers have protested the decision, with many saying they would leave the province and move their businesses and their employees elsewhere.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2011/05/02/nb-film-cre...
The NDP made history in New Brunswick on Monday, placing first or second in seven of the ten ridings with a combined total of 29.76 per cent of the vote.
However that increase in votes didn't translate into more seats for the NDP, with incumbent Yvon Godin of Acadie-Bathurst remaining the only NDP Member of Parliament in the province.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2011/05/03/nb-anti-con...The strength of the NDP is being credited to the rise of New Brunswick's voter turnout in Monday' election.
Elections Canada's preliminary statistics show New Brunswick's voter turnout level jumped to 66.1 per cent up from 62.9 per cent in 2008.
New Brunswick's share of registered voters who cast ballots in Monday's election is the third highest in Canada, behind only Prince Edward Island and the Yukon.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2011/05/04/nb-election...
The Progressive Conservative government is expected to introduce a referendum law on Wednesday that will create a framework to allow voters to have a say in important decisions.
Premier David Alward first championed the cause of referendums during his party's fight against the failed deal to sell NB Power to Hydro-Québec. Alward argued voters should have the right to vote for or against the energy deal through a referendum.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2011/05/25/nb-referend...
Premier David Alward is facing questions about whether he approved a special pension for Saint John MP Rodney Weston when he was a cabinet minister in 2003.
Opposition Leader Victor Boudreau pressed Alward on Thursday in question period over the fresh pension allegations.
Weston, who is now the Conservative MP for Saint John, had served for three-and-a-half years as the chief of staff for Bernard Lord.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2011/05/26/nb-rodney-w...Three New Brunswick MLAs could soon be flying to Germany to learn about democracy even though there is a government-wide cutback on unnecessary travel spending for public servants.
Premier David Alward said last fall the province was in a fiscal crisis and his Progressive Conservative government was trying to ratchet back spending to curtail a ballooning provincial deficit.
Teachers were among the first to see their out-of-province conferences cancelled and other trips scaled back.
Finance Minister Blaine Higgs has ordered all government departments to trim their annual budgets. Even after the pledge for fiscal restraint, Higgs still posted a deficit of $448-million.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2011/05/30/nb-mlas-ger...It's time to open the province's books and reveal how many specially approved pensions successive New Brunswick governments have doled out to party supporters, says the province's NDP leader. Accusations have emerged that both Conservative and Liberal cabinets being turfed from power in the last decade have granted special dispensation to political appointees who otherwise didn't qualify for a government pension.
Dominic Cardy says it's time for everyone to shed light on how the deals happened and how much it's costing New Brunswickers.
"It's our money and we should know how it's spent," he said.
"It's shameful. This is why people get turned off politics," said the NDP leader, who earlier this week called on the Liberals and Conservatives to commit to an independent, merit-based process for appointing senior officials to Crown corporations.
Hiding behind cabinet privilege on the pensions issue is unacceptable, he said.
http://timestranscript.canadaeast.com/news/article/1410429Education Minister Jody Carr is lifting travel restrictions imposed on teachers and departmental staff last fall to allow out-of-province trips that benefit teachers and students.
http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/front/article/1410857NB Speaker Dale Graham said
Does that mean 15% of our exports stay in NB?
There are still no midwives in New Brunswick, despite legislation passed by the previous Liberal government to legalize and regulate the profession.
Legislation recognizing midwifery as a profession was adopted in 2008. In 2010, the regulations were set up.
Health Minister Madeleine Dubé said so far no one has applied to be licensed as a midwife in the province.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2011/06/01/nb-midwives...
New Brunswick should revamp some of its oldest legislative and political traditions in an effort to re-engage citizens in democracy and give a voice to smaller parties, according to a new report.
Don Desserud, a political scientist at the University of New Brunswick in Saint John and Cody Waite, a graduate student at the University of New Brunswick, authored a 66-page report to be released Friday in Fredericton.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2011/06/02/nb-desserud...NDP Leader Dominic Cardy is calling for the number of MLAs to be slashed to 38, a move that would save roughly $2 million annually.
Cardy outlined his party's proposals for legislative reform on Friday after Don Desserud, a political scientist at the University of New Brunswick in Saint John, released his 66-page report designed to re-engage citizens in politics.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2011/06/03/nb-ndp-mlas...New Brunswick motorists will have to let the cellphone go to voicemail while they drive, starting Monday.
That's when the province's distracted driving legislation comes into effect.
The Progressive Conservative government passed the new law in December which prohibits the use of hand-held cell phones and the manual programming of GPS systems while driving.
Drivers who break the law will have to pay $172.50 in addition to losing three points from their license.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2011/06/05/nb-cellphon...
The chairman of New Brunswick's largest francophone school district earned applause Monday night for his ongoing refusal to implement a budget cut as ordered by Education Minister Jody Carr.
About 150 parents gave Ernest Thibodeau, the chairman of the District 1 Education Council, a standing ovation for his public fight against the education minister.
The reaction brought a smile to Thibodeau's face. However, the school district chairman said he's been feeling rather lonely in his fight to protect his district against a two per cent budget cut.
Thibodeau said every other district education council in the province should refuse to go along with the cuts.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2011/06/07/nb-district...
never mind
The Progressive Conservatives introduced a bill in the legislature Tuesday that will cut MLA pensions and severance, rolling them back largely to what they were before MLAs made changes to their salaries in April 2008 - a move that dramatically increased their retirement packages.
The move will affect all current MLAs and will be retroactive to 2008, lowering the pensions of MLAs who have been defeated or who have retired since then.
"I made a commitment that it would be dealt with. It is dealt with here today and it is retroactive," Premier David Alward told reporters Tuesday.
Though the changes are retroactive, retired or defeated former legislators won't be expected to reimburse what they have already been paid.
http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/front/article/1413277A South Korean family that is facing deportation because their youngest son is autistic and epileptic has received assurances from the New Brunswick government that it will pay for the child's health and education costs.
The federal Department of Citizenship and Immigration told the Maeng family, which has been living in Moncton since 2003, last week they must leave Canada by the end of the month.
The federal government is arguing that because Sung-Joo Maeng, 15, is epileptic and autistic the costs of his care would be too expensive.
Social Development Minister Sue Stultz presented a letter to the Maeng family Wednesday with a guarantee the provincial government will cover the health-care costs for their son.
Nicole Druckman, the family's lawyer, said the provincial government's support will help the family's bid to stay in the country.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2011/06/09/nb-stultz-k...New Brunswick's premier says he has no flexibility to ease off on cuts to education, despite roadwork in the province possibly costing tens of millions of dollars less than expected.
One school district in New Brunswick is refusing to implement a two per cent funding cut this year and two others say although they've done it this year, they can't next year - when the Conservative government wants another two per cent cut.
Premier David Alward said even if the province's finances improve, the cuts must continue.
"All departments have a responsibility to provide the services that the people of New Brunswick need, especially our children, and in a way we can afford to do it."
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2011/06/12/nb-educatio...
Saint John's city employees could be facing more pain as municipal politicians continue to battle the $129-million pension deficit.
The city had planned to make changes to employee benefits and spread out the pension deficit payments over a longer period of time.
However, the provincial government did not approve the necessary legislation and has asked the city to go further in its own cuts.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2011/06/15/nb-saint-jo...The New Brunswick government has lost a bid to block the Human Rights Commission from investigating the province's abortion policy.
The policy has been a source of controversy for years and is at the centre of an ongoing lawsuit, which was filed by Dr. Henry Morgentaler, Canada's leading abortion activist.
With the Morgentaler lawsuit still in the court system, an unnamed doctor filed a complaint with the Human Rights Commission on two grounds. The doctor argued that, on behalf of women, the provincial government's restrictions on access to abortion are discriminatory.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2011/06/15/nb-abortion...
Natural Resources Minister Bruce Northrup is remaining steadfast in the provincial government's insistence there will not be a ban on hydro-fracking in New Brunswick.
Northrup said in an interview on Wednesday there is no proof to support the concerns raised by many opponents that the shale gas extraction process is harmful to water supplies.
He said there is still time to strengthen the regulatory regime surrounding hydro-fracking in the province
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2011/06/22/nb-northrup...Elizabeth Weir is officially bowing out of public service after spending almost two decades in politics and government.
Premier David Alward announced some minor changes among his senior civil servants on Wednesday, including the departure of Weir as the president and chief executive officer of the Efficiency New Brunswick.
Weir served as New Brunswick's NDP leader from 1988 to 2005 and was the party's only MLA from 1992 until 2005.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2011/06/30/nb-alward-w...
Would love to see her run federally in 2015.
How old is Weir now?
She is 63: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Weir
The New Brunswick government is investing almost $66,000 to help fund three television pilot programs, only three months after killing the province's film tax credit.
Economic Development Minister Paul Robichaud announced the funding for Cine Atlantik Studios in Tracadie-Sheila on Friday.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2011/07/08/nb-robichau...
graft. clientelism. New Brunswick.
Fredericton council is spending $500,000 to buy the North Star Sports Bar, the city's only club that features exotic dancing.
The council will also purchase some property surrounding the strip club that is located on the city's north side.
Some Fredericton councillors say it will be an opportunity to re-develop the space into something more fitting for the area.
Service New Brunswick lists the current assessed value of the property as $364,900.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2011/07/12/nb-north-st...The Progressive Conservative is proposing to delay the planned minimum wage hike until next spring over concerns raised by the business community that the increases were hurting their bottom lines.
Labour Minister Martine Coulombe announced the policy shift in a statement on Tuesday.
The provincial government is required to consult the Minimum Wage Board before it can officially delay the wage increase to April 1 from Sept. 1. The minimum wage was supposed to jump to $10 per hour.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2011/07/20/nb-minimum-...A Liberal MLA and former minister of fisheries is now drawing a salary from a foundation he helped put in place when he was a member of cabinet.
In 2009, Charlotte-The Isles MLA Rick Doucet gave the Atlantic Lobster Sustainability Foundation $200,000 in government money. The organization funds research on lobster stocks and habits.
In March, the foundation hired Doucet to work part time for the group as its executive director. One member of the organization isn't happy about it.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2011/07/28/nb-union-he...