Hot Internal Trade Summer
The Holt government gets an A grade from the CFIB and an F from lawyers for an Ontario construction company.
It was hot in the Mary Louise Lynch Room at the UNB law school last week — and not just because of the temperatures outside and the lack of AC.
One of Canadian federalism’s defining irritants was the subject of the first-ever hearing convoked under the 2017 Canadian Free Trade Agreement.
Here’s my story on day one, when the company, Julmac Contracting, began presenting its case. And here’s the New Brunswick government’s argument on day two.
Day three was an abbreviated day; on Thursday the two sides submitted closing arguments, hot on the heels of an internal-trade report card.
A ruling is required within 45 days of Friday’s wrap-up, but the panel can give itself an extension.
Also Hot This Summer
The Holt government promised during the spring that the transition to a new virtual care system on July 1 would go smoothly.
Last week, Health Minister John Dornan found himself explaining that “improvements are needed” to the service.
Dornan made claims about prescription renewal data that eVisit then refuted.
As I said on Café Politique on Friday, the Liberals have made health care their number one priority, and Dornan’s candour and credibility has been one of their biggest political assets on the issue. So there’s danger here for the government.
Another moment of note was N.B. Power’s declaration that it could proceed with the Tantramar gas plant without an Indigenous equity investment.
We’ll see if that’s correct legally, but politically, the Holt government has made clear its desire to see First Nations investment in major projects — so we’ll see if that becomes an issue here.
We touched on all of the above on your favourite French-language Friday morning political panel:
In Other News
The CBC’s Hannah Vogan reported that New Brunswick’s population dip is making the shortage for skilled trades worker worse than ever.
Housing Minister David Hickey spoke about two failures in a housing horror story — one of them the government’s.
A new report identified an “alarming” number of infant deaths related to unsafe sleep.
In Nova Scotia, a former premier died last week, and the current office holder got a rough reception in Wolfville. Meanwhile, the province’s deficit appears headed for new heights.
Taxpayers aren’t just going to help pay for Mark Carney’s new oil pipeline — they’re also going to pay oil producers to use it.
Polling Update
A few weeks back I rounded up some recent polling in New Brunswick that looked like trouble for the Holt Liberals.
While I was on vacation, however, Narrative Research released its numbers on New Brunswick voting intentions that showed better results for the premier and her team.
Media News
We like our media talk here at Poitras on Politics, and here’s a big development: the last daily print newspaper in the province, L’Acadie Nouvelle, will produce dead-tree editions only twice a week starting this summer. The paper had been printing from Tuesdays to Saturdays.
And speaking of media, here’s an insightful piece about that old social media warhorse Twitter, and how the Graham Platner disaster in Maine may have been the product of a bit too much living online.
The Calendar Fills In
Two Progressive Conservative Party leadership debates are coming up this week, on Tuesday in St-Léonard and Thursday in Saint John. Tories choose their leader on Oct. 17.
Meanwhile, the Green Party set the date for their leadership vote: Dec. 5. That means both opposition parties in the legislature will have new leaders in place by the end of 2026.
As mentioned above, the deadline for a ruling in that internal trade case is Aug. 31, though the panel can extend it.
Where We’re At
Subscription numbers here are holding steady over the summer; I get the impression that every so often, someone subscribes and then decides the newsletter is not for them. That’s okay! You should still share it with anyone you think may like it.
And if you do like the newsletter — and would like to offer some feedback on what you see here — I would be happy to see what you have to say in the comment below.
Thank you Jacques, for always reporting with clear thinking and insight. Great newsletter.