New Brunswick’s premier says her first few weeks in office have been nothing short of incredible.
Susan Holt was sworn in as New Brunswick’s first female premier during a ceremony on Nov. 2.
It came just weeks after her Liberal Party won a 31-seat majority government in the Oct. 21 election.
In a year-end interview with our newsroom, Holt said the swearing-in ceremony was one of the many highlights for her so far.
“Having the whole team there and having family, having all the former women MLAs there, having Indigenous leaders and my old buddy David Myles there. That was a really special moment to kick this off,” said Holt.
While the Liberals have only been in power for a few weeks, Holt said she is proud of what they have been able to accomplish so far.
That includes a 10 per cent rebate on residential electricity bills starting Jan. 1, a three per cent rent cap effective Feb. 1 and a 15 per cent HST rebate on new rental housing.
“We made some progress, but you know, not as much progress as I would have liked to make on the conversation about getting the clean fuel [adjuster] four cents off of the price of gas, and so we’re going to pick that up and push it in the new year,” said Holt.
The government introduced legislation to remove the adjuster after its throne speech in November, with a goal of having it removed by mid-December.
However, the Liberals decided to send the legislation to committee in order to allow for public hearings on the matter.
“But for 48 days of work, I think I’m really proud of what our team has done and how quickly this new government has hit the ground running and delivered results to make life more affordable for New Brunswickers,” said Holt.
New Brunswick’s newest premier said she was also humbled to represent the province at a recent meeting of the Council of the Federation, which is made up of all 13 provincial and territorial premiers.
“It made me so proud to represent the province that I love alongside other provincial leaders and to be able to work with them in New Brunswick’s best interest, but also to convey the kind of strength that Canadians need right now as we face a major tariff threat and a lot of uncertainty in Ottawa,” said Holt.
Looking ahead to 2025, the premier said one of the things she is looking forward to the most is opening the first 10 collaborative care clinics.
Her government has committed to opening 30 such clinics throughout the province over the next four years.
“Starting that transformation of both how we care for the people who are caring for us and how we stop the bleeding and stop the growth of the waitlist so that we can actually get more New Brunswickers access to health care and primary health care than they have now,” said Holt.
