New Brunswick Election

[Taeolas]

For me, balancing the budget and the budget spending in general isn't a factor for me unless it gets REALLY bad (and to date, I don't think any party has ever spent so badly I'd consider it that far).

On the other hand, Higgs has cut back or not invested so much on basic and essential services through the years (education and health being the biggest but other areas as well), that these "Surprise! Suddenly Surplus!" are just salt on the wounds when he's been claiming poor to avoid hiring teachers and nurses and raising salaries of unions an appropriate amount.

The social tactics he's been doing especially in the past year or two as well have also greatly soured me to him and his party. I've got a number of trans friends (none in province) and a gay sister, and the tactics he's been using to stomp on those rights just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

So yeah, as far as I'm concerned, I'm an ABC vote at the moment, that will probably be Liberal in the end.

[NB_ExistsToo]

Originally Posted by J81

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?

Sorry, I meant "fundamentalist voter". Essentially his red hearings and investing government funds to a religious rehab organization.

Regarding the budgets, maybe it's not so much a Higgs issue more of Ernie Steeves issue. I think maybe Higgs should have looked into a new Finance Minister. Also you're saying "no way to predict". It's literally their job, maybe Higgs would have been more receptive to spending on things such as Healthcare if he knew how much additional revenues were pouring in.

I'd be on board with the current conservative government if they weren't heavy in their social agendas.

[TitleRequired]

Originally Posted by NB_ExistsToo

I'd be on board with the current conservative government if they weren't heavy in their social agendas.

I call shenanigans on that. You'll always find an excuse not to vote conservative.

Stephen Harper suggests the person who votes fiscally conservative and is socially liberal doesn't exists in any number. (ref Right Here Right Now)

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

Originally Posted by TitleRequired

I call shenanigans on that. You'll always find an excuse not to vote conservative.

Stephen Harper suggests the person who votes fiscally conservative and is socially liberal doesn't exists in any number. (ref Right Here Right Now)

That sounds exactly like something that the Chairman of the World federation of right-of-centre/conservative political parties would say.

I call shenanigans on Harper’s suggestion.

[NB_ExistsToo]

Originally Posted by TitleRequired

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?

"under promising" isn't beneficial when you cry poor in one breath (regarding every negotiation under the current government) then parade a giant surplus in the next breath. Also saying you can't afford to pay for more nurses/doctors then realize you easily can.

This can be caulked up to Higgs being fed poor information. Or maybe a tactic to be able to privatize some of the healthcare industry.

Like every premier, I think he he's made mistakes, but I think he's made some good decisions too. And I don't honestly really know anything about Holt. I know the PC campaign has been pushing Trudeau/Holt comparisons which I don't even know if it's true/false.

[adamuptownsj]

Gotta wonder if the PCs will spend time knocking doors in less... progressive... immigrant communities this time, particularly the slightly more-established and thus citizen-heavy Arabic-speaking ones. Could make the difference in Portland-Simonds and IIRC Moncton Centre. Not sure where in Fredericton Muslim voters are concentrated.

[sailor734]

Originally Posted by Taeolas

For me, balancing the budget and the budget spending in general isn't a factor for me unless it gets REALLY bad (and to date, I don't think any party has ever spent so badly I'd consider it that far).

On the other hand, Higgs has cut back or not invested so much on basic and essential services through the years (education and health being the biggest but other areas as well), that these "Surprise! Suddenly Surplus!" are just salt on the wounds when he's been claiming poor to avoid hiring teachers and nurses and raising salaries of unions an appropriate amount.



The social tactics he's been doing especially in the past year or two as well have also greatly soured me to him and his party. I've got a number of trans friends (none in province) and a gay sister, and the tactics he's been using to stomp on those rights just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

So yeah, as far as I'm concerned, I'm an ABC vote at the moment, that will probably be Liberal in the end.

IDK about your point on deficits. I think Gallant had us close to the edge……or at least on the slippery slope to the markets saying “sorry, no more”

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

Originally Posted by sailor734

IDK about your point on deficits. I think Gallant had us close to the edge……or at least on the slippery slope to the markets saying “sorry, no more”

If only Gallant had the courage to bring about comprehensive tax reform while he was in office. That tuition free post secondary education program wasn’t going to pay for itself.

[darkharbour]

Originally Posted by KnoxfordGuy

Should add the Green and NDP. For stat purposes haha

Agreed.

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

Originally Posted by darkharbour

Agreed.

Consider it an exercise in strategic voting

[TitleRequired]

Originally Posted by adamuptownsj

Gotta wonder if the PCs will spend time knocking doors in less... progressive... immigrant communities this time, particularly the slightly more-established and thus citizen-heavy Arabic-speaking ones. Could make the difference in Portland-Simonds and IIRC Moncton Centre. Not sure where in Fredericton Muslim voters are concentrated.

Just arrange to drop by after Friday prayers. Would probably be the first provincial candidate to cast a shadow on the door sill.

[CharlotteSJ]

I'll be voting Liberal this election. Higgs has hijacked the PCNB party with right-wing zealots, driving out middle-ground conservatives like me out. I'm not a fan of Trudeau, but Holt has the ONLY chance of getting Higgs out. Voting Coon or anyone else just divides the Anti-Higgs vote, allowing Higgs to run wild, further.
Holt for me.

[TitleRequired]

Originally Posted by CharlotteSJ

I'll be voting Liberal this election. Higgs has hijacked the PCNB party with right-wing zealots, driving out middle-ground conservatives like me out. I'm not a fan of Trudeau, but Holt has the ONLY chance of getting Higgs out. Voting Coon or anyone else just divides the Anti-Higgs vote, allowing Higgs to run wild, further.
Holt for me.

Can you define "middle-ground conservatives"


Can you point out any legislation that you found to be too "right wing" for your moderate conservatism.

https://www.legnb.ca/en/legislation/bills/60/3

The ugly secret is that 99% of bills passed in the legislature are non controversial. The 1% of bills make up 100% of cbc airtime.

I would argue that anyone suggesting to be "middle ground conservative" to exclaim that they are not voting conservative is neither middle ground nor conservative.

[CharlotteSJ]

Originally Posted by TitleRequired

I would argue that anyone suggesting to be "middle ground conservative" to exclaim that they are not voting conservative is neither middle ground nor conservative.

Not all conservatives are religious.
Not all conservatives think Higgs' education policies are justified and have the best interests of citizens in mind.
Not all conservatives think Higgs' forced addiction treatment is the answer.
Not all conservatives think our recent budget surpluses truly reflect the state of our government's ability to be fiscally responsible and fund needed healthcare, education and other social programs effectively.
There are many reasons why provincial conservatives are turning away from the party as long as Higgs is running the show.
Ask any MLA or cabinet minister why they bailed.
Go read this for a small taste..
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-b...bers-1.7319980

[Sunnybrae]

Originally Posted by TitleRequired

The ugly secret is that 99% of bills passed in the legislature are non controversial. The 1% of bills make up 100% of cbc airtime.

It's journalism. It was the same in the old days, can't sell a paper without a headline. Now its called clickbait.

[TitleRequired]

Originally Posted by CharlotteSJ

Not all conservatives are religious.
Not all conservatives think Higgs' education policies are justified and have the best interests of citizens in mind.
Not all conservatives think Higgs' forced addiction treatment is the answer.
Not all conservatives think our recent budget surpluses truly reflect the state of our government's ability to be fiscally responsible and fund needed healthcare, education and other social programs effectively.
There are many reasons why provincial conservatives are turning away from the party as long as Higgs is running the show.
Ask any MLA or cabinet minister why they bailed.
Go read this for a small taste..
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-b...bers-1.7319980

The conservatives interviewed reflect the sour grapes crowd that supported someone else at the last of leadership race; and failed leadership review. Nothing else.

And my point stands 😂.

I keep hearing from people that somehow consider themselves tolerant, until it comes to a politician religion. Somehow it immediately disqualifies them from holding any political office. Mumblings about fundamentalist something or another; but the end result is the same. How fundamentalist-lite do you have to be to qualify for public office I wonder?

[CharlotteSJ]

Originally Posted by TitleRequired

I keep hearing from people that somehow consider themselves tolerant, until it comes to a politician religion. Somehow it immediately disqualifies them from holding any political office. Mumblings about fundamentalist something or another; but the end result is the same. How fundamentalist-lite do you have to be to qualify for public office I wonder?

You must be naive to think his political policies have been totally mutually exclusive to his own personal ones. Not shaped or influenced at all, nope. All those former members and ministers must be closeted liberals.
LMAO.

[Taeolas]

Originally Posted by TitleRequired

Can you define "middle-ground conservatives"

The ugly secret is that 99% of bills passed in the legislature are non controversial. The 1% of bills make up 100% of cbc airtime.

It's basically a variant of Sturgeon's Law.

Out of necessity for a well running government, the vast majority of the bills they pass will generally be 'acceptable' bills that are needed just to keep the lights on and the buses running. They are also bills that pretty much any party (unless they are really, Really, REALLY extreme) would be passing just as part of normal governance; maybe with a few little wrinkles based on the party's policies but nothing too objectable.

What you need to pay attention to is the minority of bills that a government pushes that tends to get a lot of push back. The bills they sneak in by attaching to other bills, or that the opposition really raises a fuss about. The ones that are generally the signature policies of a government, meant to push the status quo in the direction they're after. That's what you usually need to pay attention to, to figure out, "Does this government deserve my support? Are they doing things that I'm fine with? Are they taking us in a direction I want?"

And in that respect, Higgs has certainly gone in areas I do not support and am not comfortable with; in how he's treated the unions, how he's not focused on education and healthcare, with his attitude to LGBTQ+ issues, and more. So yeah, I'm an ABC voter (probably Liberal) at this point because of that.

[OliverD]

I'd like to see a historical record of predicted budgets and actual numbers, and see how far off the various governments were.

[new kid in town]

The rhetoric the PCs have about the budget like there's only 2 extremes (surpluses or deficits) and not a middle ground where we also get desperately needed services and infrastructure for health, housing and education is ridiculous.