As the first full week of campaigning begins, New Brunswick’s three major political parties are set to make announcements.
Conservative Leader Blaine Higgs was scheduled to make an announcement this morning at a Jean Coutu pharmacy on University Avenue in Saint John.
The Green Party declared they would end deep poverty by creating a guaranteed livable income for all working-age adults who are living on social assistance. Coon said they would get it done by the end of his first four-year term, if he wins the election, and they would work get some of the necessary funding from the feds.
The goal of a guaranteed livable income is to eliminate “deep poverty.” That’s people with an income 50 per cent below the poverty line.
If someone in New Brunswick is single and considered employable, and if their income is only about $19,000 a year, then they’re considered in deep poverty, according to a report by the Maytree Foundation, an Ontario-based non-profit.
But he said that program would take some time to implement, and people need help now.
If the Greens are elected, they would immediately increase income assistance rates by 20 per cent, Coon said.
“The efforts by Liberal and Tory governments to tackle poverty in New Brunswick have failed. It’s time to do something that will actually work to reduce poverty in this province, and that is exactly what a green government will do,” he said.
In Saint John, Liberal Leader Susan Holt said she would create a 3 per cent rent cap, if elected.
She said they would reevaluate the cap based on the vacancy rate of apartments.
She said the province would also have to look seriously at rent evictions. Some people in the province can’t find a new place to live when their landlord evicts them to renovate, she said.
“We need to make sure that we have a predictable and stable housing market in New Brunswick and that new Brunswickers have the ability to pay for a roof over their heads,” Holt said.
The province doesn’t currently have a rent cap.
The first major debate for the election is set for Wednesday night at 6 p.m. on CBC TV and will happen at the Capitol Theatre in Moncton.
More to come…