Addressing the health-care and cost of living crises will be priorities for the Liberals if they are elected.
Leader Susan Holt unveiled her party’s platform during a campaign stop in Fredericton on Thursday.
“This plan has specifics in terms of health care, the cost of living, the education system, our economy, the environment, and the type of leadership that you can expect from me and our team,” Holt told reporters.
Among the commitments are nurse retention payments to address staffing shortages, establishing at least 30 community care clinics and cutting wait times for mental health services.
The Liberals also plan to cut the provincial tax off power bills, remove the provincial sales tax on new housing construction, introduce a rent cap and reform the province’s property tax system.
Holt said a Liberal government would also balance the budget in each year of its mandate.
She said the platform commitments will cost around $1.2 billion, or $300 million each year.
“Significantly less than the single platform commitment or promise that [Progressive Conservative Leader] Blaine Higgs has made that adds up to more than $1.7 billion,” she said, referring to his party’s plan to cut the HST by two percentage points.
Progressive Conservatives promise money for addiction treatment
Elsewhere on the campaign trail on Thursday, Progressive Conservative Leader Blaine Higgs reiterated a promise to introduce involuntary rehab legislation.
The party had planned to introduce the Compassionate Intervention Act in the legislature this past spring but later announced that more time was needed to develop the legislation.
Under the proposed legislation, judges and hearing officers could order treatment “in extreme cases” for those struggling with addiction and “unable to meet their own basic needs.”
Higgs also announced that his party would earmark $45 million over four years to improve addiction treatment.
That includes a previously announced 50-bed rehab facility to provide long-term treatment and recovery services for those suffering from addiction.
The party also announced it would create a “therapeutic living unit” at the new provincial jail in Minto, which would offer treatment-focused programs for people involved in the criminal justice system due to addiction.
In addition, the Tories would launch a virtual opioid dependence program to provide faster and more accessible treatment options.
“While the opposition focuses on enabling addiction through supervised drug injection sites, we are committed to a treatment-based approach that helps people recover, not remain trapped in a cycle of dependency,” said Higgs.
“This is especially important for New Brunswick’s largest urban centres — Fredericton, Moncton, and Saint John — where the addiction crisis has hit hardest.”
Greens commit to universal school food program
Meanwhile, the leader of the Green Party is promising to create a universal school food program.
David Coon said he expects the program would cost taxpayers up to $50 million each year.
Coon said they help pay for it by ending subsidies large forestry companies get for herbicide spraying and tree planting, which he said add up to $20 million.
“We will also negotiate with the federal government to get New Brunswick’s share of their funding for school meal programs which, on a per-capita basis for New Brunswick, will be at least $4 million per year,” he said.
Coon said he has often heard stories about teachers who have spent their own money to ensure students in their classes do not go hungry, which is unacceptable.