The Big Budget Question
Where is spending on health care going in the next three years?
Tomorrow is Budget Day, the second for the Holt Liberals, when we’ll find out just how tough a fiscal manager the premier is.
The Liberals have been teeing up potential cuts for some time now, but with some diffidence.
A rather large, obvious question therefore came into focus last Thursday when journalists were invited to the above event; it was a chance to put the question to the premier.
You can click on my resulting story right here.
The Future Isn’t Here Yet, But It’s Coming
The mining strategy unveiled by the Holt government on March 2 was the latest example of aspirational overload in the Trump era, a big, bold plan that promises great things somewhere down the line.
I looked at this not-very uncommon practice in an analysis story last week, and for a bit of perspective caught up with this guy, the all-time champion of long-term government strategies:
The Utility of Public Hearings
The Energy and Utilities Board held hearings last week into N.B. Power’s proposed rate increase for the coming year.
The week got off to a bad start for the utility. Point Lepreau came up, and so did future rate hikes. We learned that your monthly bills aren’t the only things that are higher than we’d like.
The CBC’s Robert Jones also had this little amuse-bouche on why the EUB process is among the province’s most democratic.
Hello, Yellow Stained Road
The chemical spill in Fredericton raised a lot of questions, according to Green Party leader David Coon. The province finally answered some of them a week after the spill happened, but others remain.
‘Dead.’
It wasn’t a political story, but on the Miramichi this week, Topic No. 1 was the death of serial killer Allan Legere. Deputy Police Chief Randy Hansen kind of summed up the mood there. Rick MacLean’s headline suggestion (borrowed in the heading above) can be found here. And the CBC’s Savannah Awde had this look at Legere’s victims.
Much of the above was covered on Friday’s Café Politique:
In Other News
Bridges were back in the news — are they ever out of the news in this province? — in Miramichi and in Sussex.
A new nursing home was the subject of a government announcement but is unlikely to put much of a dent in the provincial wait list.
A storied building in Saint John is going to come down.
A municipal administrator is going to court over a resident’s social media comments.
Canadian potatoes could be on their way to Mexico under a new trade agreement.
The practice of non-voting votes in the House of Commons is on the rise.
Radio Robichaud
Last week, I mentioned Donald Savoie’s new book on Premier Louis Robichaud. Savoie appeared on the This is New Brunswick podcast last week to talk about Robichaud and the book; you can listen below:
Big Week for the Calendar
Tuesday is Budget Day, kicking off two weeks of legislative sittings that will likely see that mining legislation introduced. The legislature will adjourn March 27. The N.B. Power review is due by March 31. There are no sitting days in April but committees will be at work on bills. Three federal by-elections are scheduled for April 13; Mark Carney could have a majority government when the results are in. New Brunswick Progressive Conservatives pick their new leader on Oct. 17. The deadline for candidates to file their paperwork is June 19.
Thanks for Clicking
Substack gives authors all kinds of metrics, and one trend I’m happy to see is more subscribers clicking on the links to stories. The stories, after all, are what this is all about. Thanks for reading, and stay tuned on Budget Day — if I can, I’ll send out a brief edition with links to CBC’s budget coverage as soon as I possibly can.
I'm going to laugh every time I hear Elton John's song now because I'll be singing "Hello, yellow stained road!"