Health-care, housing and the shortage of teachers were among the topics in the latest New Brunswick leaders debate.
The hour-long debate, hosted by Rogers TV, featured the leaders of the Liberals, Green Party and NDP.
The Progressive Conservatives and People’s Alliance declined to participate in Wednesday’s televised event.
Moderated by Andrew Holland and Silas Brown, leaders were asked a series of questions on a number of topics.
Health care dominated the discussion, with leaders being asked how they would address wait times in the province.
David Coon said a Green government would invest more to hire staff for the province’s emergency rooms.
“It’ll take less than Blaine Higgs’ HST tax cut which is about almost $500 million. We say the investment, a generational investment, will be about $380 million,” said Coon.
Both NDP Leader Alex White and Liberal Leader Susan Holt said improving primary care is key to helping address issues in the health-care system.
White said his party would build 40 collaborative care clinics in communities throughout New Brunswick.
“The strain on our ER is extreme. You have people going for things simply because they don’t have family care,” said White.
The Liberals have also committed to building 30 such clinics throughout the province — an investment Holt reiterated during the debate.
She also said one of the other challenges is the fact there are 550 seniors in need of long-term care who are currently waiting in hospitals.
“Our team has proposed really boosting the home care system with better wages for people who are delivering home care, recognizing and valuing the care work that friends and family and informal caregivers are doing with a $250 a month informal caregiving benefit,” said Holt.
White said the NDP would immediately invest in creating 250 more long-term care beds, but Holt cautioned against promising more beds, noting many existing beds currently sit empty due to a lack of staff.
Housing challenges
Leaders were also asked what their plan is to help the province develop new housing inventory to meet growing demand.
Both Coon and White said their parties would drive the development of non-market housing to help improve affordability.
Holt said the Liberals would put a rent cap in place — similar to a promise made by the Greens — and would overhaul the property tax system.
One of the challenges of getting more housing in New Brunswick is a lack of skilled trades to construct the buildings.
Holt said her party would introduce focused grants to help get more New Brunswickers into the trades.
“We also need to really focus our immigration strategies on people that are going to come and help us build the homes that New Brunswickers need,” she said.
Coon, meanwhile, said a Green government would fast-track certification for tradespeople to get more people working.
Teacher shortages
When it comes to teacher shortages, all three leaders agreed that teachers need more stability in the classrooms and less political involvement.
“We have to return some of the ability of teachers and administrators to manage their schools, to manage their classrooms,” said Coon.
“Teachers are the experts. The education system is full of experts. We need to listen and hear them when they say what’s making them leave,” added White.
Leaders were also asked what they would do to help reduce poverty throughout New Brunswick, with the living wage now calculated to be $24.62 per hour.
Both White and Coon committed to raising the minimum wage to more than $20 an hour over the next four years.
There were also promises by all three leaders to raise rates for New Brunswickers receiving social assistance.
Voters will head to the polls on Oct. 21. Advance polls will be held on Oct. 12 and 15.
You can watch the full debate below.
