New Brunswick Election
 

Which of the two, main party leaders have the better vision for the future of New Brunswick?

Maybe you should ask who will win instead. :)

Visionaries are sometimes dangerous.

There is a fine line between genius and insanity.

I think Susan Holt's Liberals will win, because they have a far more positive platform for our future than Blaine Higgs and the Progressive Conservatives do.

I wouldn't go as far as calling Susan Holt a visionary just quite yet. :haha: Though I would say Higgs is a great example of a dangerous visionary. He envisioned a province more politically divided than the one that existed before his premiership, and that's exactly what he delivered.

Steve Jobs once said those who are crazy enough to believe they can change the world are the ones that actually do. Though, again, I wouldn't exactly say Susan Holt has been promising any sort earth shattering changes as part of her party's platform... would you?

Should add the Green and NDP. For stat purposes haha

I considered, but let's be realistic, there's only two party leaders that have a legitimate chance at becoming the next premier.

Imo, this is more interesting for stat purposes, since would be Green/NDP/PANB voters must chose between "the lesser of two evils". :superwhip :evil:

I used to think a Liberal minority government with the support of the Green Party would be the most desirable outcome for the future of NB, but I'm no longer so sure about that. It would certainly be the most interesting outcome, though!

The PCs are campaigning hard on balanced budgets and how the Liberals will run deficits due to out of control spending. COVID was a gift to the PCs: No one could have predicted our population growth, most of which are working class people which offset our rapidly aging population. That means way more revenue and way more people working – definitely a very positive outcome.

However, it's very obvious that we are experiencing growing pains. The diehard PC supports brush those issues off saying they exist across the country. While true, that doesn't mean we shouldn't try to solve them. The current government's housing record is absolutely abysmal for instance. They've made some token policy changes and promised money for public housing but there's no sense of urgency. Meanwhile people are legitimately struggling.

I don't think that the Liberals have any magic bullet solutions but I certainly think they have a more positive vision for the province.

What lasting impressions have the last few liberal governments in NB left us today? Did anything good come from either aside from a very expensive interchange in one Premiers riding?

I dont like any of the options to be honest but i have such a lingering distaste for anything liberal at this point i couldnt bring myself to vote for them. At least with Higgs the provincial finances has improved significantly but on the other hand that has largely been on the backs of citizens and exorbitant property tax increases ( but not for Irving though ). He did say that property tax reform is in the cards after the election but do we trust him ( or any politician for that matter ) to follow through given the half billion dollar surprise surplus this year?

I feel like its a common theme in politics these days. You look at the candidates and are left mumbling to yourself something to the effect of “ is this really the best we can come up with to lead us?”

A very good point. Gallant and Graham were financially incompetent leaders who ruled by graft and porkbarrelling in the northern and eastern Acadian ridings. Higgs at least has been giving us surpluses to pay down the provincial debt.

I dislike Higgs social conservatism however, and, there should be more money spent on needed infrastructure, new schools and enhanced health care. Is this enough to make me vote Liberal? Probably not. The Graham/Gallant era cannot be repeated. Holt may be a different beast, but, by and large, it will be the same old gang in the back benches. This makes me nervous.

I think all this campaigning on the balanced budgeting could be turning into a bit of a quagmire for them - constantly projecting deficits and then posting massive surpluses while everyone is crying for help. People are starting to think either stop BSing with these boy who cried wolf projections, OR they actually just really suck at projecting revenues. I know it's not this simple but it's turning into the perception for many.

I always find it assuming where Higgs and his team get credit for being budget balancers and getting these so-called wonderful surpluses. They've been pretty awful at creating a budget, based on the continuous $500M to $1B surpluses each year. This is even after they have budgeted for payments down on the provincial debt.

Sure, you can blame a single year on extenuating circumstances, but it's a theme with this government, they can't accurately predict a budget, which is ironic as they claim to be fiscal gurus. They've just been very lucky their inaccurate predictions have been surpluses.

I'd probably be more interested in their party if they weren't so busy trying to appease the fundamentalists vote.

That wasn't the question though... it was about vision. Just make the poll "who is gonna win" otherwise... :D Or at least have a "neither".

I think vision will end up being a major factor.

Also, lol at all the targeted Susan Holt ads on this site now lol :haha:

Is the number of immigrants moving into the province in the coming year known before the budget is tabled? Legit question because i dont know. Is there any way the government can predict the price of goods and services especially fuel? Nobody could’ve predicted the direction of housing prices the last 3 years leading to pretty well a doubling of property taxes.

The clear difference between a conservative and a liberal is that a conservative knows how to control spending. Revenues are something that is harder to predict and quite frankly i think you complaining about that is amusing ( not assuming ).

What fundamentalist vote are you referring to?

I think any Liberal government will have a strong majority of MLA's from those Acadian ridings where the tradition of old fashioned porkbarrel politics is strong. I worry that we would have a repeat of the Graham/Gallant wild spending years whether Holt wanted it or not.

Neither "leader" has a vision. We haven't seen a visionary leader in decades (arguably since the McKenna era). The general populous has no patience for vision anymore, it's all "What can you do for me now?"... thus you'll see more sugar-coated promises like a reduction of sales tax, and almost no "This is what our province will be, and this is how we'll get there together" visions.

Unfortunately in this world, a solid vision does not equate to votes. Far too many broken politicians in the past have soured the voting citizens to visions.

Holt is still an Anglophone and former business woman. Yeah, she speaks French well and is the leader of the Acadian party of choice, but she’s not going to win this election based on sucking up to Acadian ridings and special interests. She’ll win this election by convincing enough Anglophone ridings to vote for her party and its candidates.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/44/Nb1995.PNG

It seems NB was a lot less linguistically divided under Hatfield and McKenna, when both Anglophones and Francophones voted for the same party in large number. If only we could get back to that. Anglophones getting more involved with the Liberal Party seems like the logical place to start, and this election is probably a good time to start.

Maybe you’ll consider knocking on some doors this time around and convince some fellow boomers to vote Liberal? :haha: The ones they sent around my place weren’t nearly as fun arguing with as you lol, I think you’d do a much better job than them! :notacrook:

Heard an interview on CBC this AM - Prof from Dal I think - talking about how there are 3 provincial elections on the go.

Basically said all these folks want them done before federal election so they can campaign on "blame Trudeau" rather then the real issues.

Lets be honest, the Trudeau brand isn't shining brightly these days. If he was to show up to help Holt it would probably sink her.

Notwithstanding the PC trying to link Trudeau and Holt; Trudeau used the Gallant NB election as prep for his national run; how times have changed.

Under-promise and overdeliver.

What you describe as problematic, I consider a virtue.

See you at the ballot box. I won't forget to vote, you?

I am worried about the liberal promises. They seem expensive and also seem unattainable based on our current situation. I am a undecided voter, not a party line follower..so the the liberals make me the most uncomfortable. While Higgs isn't popular, we see a lot of highway work, New schools and other infrastructure projects. Just little with actual Healthcare. I am paying attention.