Atlantic Canadian Politics Thread

[sailor734]

I agree it's mostly a symbolic decision for political purposes.

[lirette]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Hardly worth the effort for only $10.4M in annual revenue. This is less than 1% of the anticipated annual deficit.

I am not in favour.

Hot take...they should raise HST 1%

*ducks*

[sailor734]

I think the real question we have to start looking at is this..... "Is NB just too poor to provide all the services it's people seem to expect?"
If we can't afford to provide 21st century level modern health and quality senior care today what are we going to do in a few years when the average baby boomer is 75-80+ and the percentage of the population who are tax paying workers has declined.

[Dengler Avenue]

Originally Posted by sailor734

I think the real question we have to start looking at is this..... "Is NB just too poor to provide all the services it's people seem to expect?"
If we can't afford to provide 21st century level modern health and quality senior care today what are we going to do in a few years when the average baby boomer is 75-80+ and the percentage of the population who are tax paying workers has declined.

And that seems to be the case. Maybe New Brunswick should wait for Halifax to become utterly unaffordable so that people move to Moncton instead, at which point the tax base may become big enough to provide these services in good quality.

[sailor734]

As Margaret Thatcher said...."The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money." NB seems to be on the road to that point.

[Ozabald]

Originally Posted by sailor734

As Margaret Thatcher said...."The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money." NB seems to be on the road to that point.

I guess Suzy will have to go to Ottawa with cap in hand to beg Mark for more equalization dollars. A record $3.36B payment for NB is expected for 2026-27 FY.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by Ozabald

I guess Suzy will have to go to Ottawa with cap in hand to beg Mark for more equalization dollars. A record $3.36B payment for NB is expected for 2026-27 FY.

Blaine Higgs may have been a parsimonious old SOB, but he knew how to balance books.

If only he has steered clear of the culture wars he might still be in power.

[bingun]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Blaine Higgs may have been a parsimonious old SOB, but he knew how to balance books.

If only he has steered clear of the culture wars he might still be in power.

He may have balanced the books, but he also deliberately deferred some costs, and most of those have caught up with us now. It is cheap to maintain a house if you don't do any repairs.

Looking at social media, the answer is so simple: if we just tax Irving, we won't have a problem. No one seems to specify how exactly we are going to tax them without taxing all other businesses.

Originally Posted by sailor734

I think the real question we have to start looking at is this..... "Is NB just too poor to provide all the services it's people seem to expect?"
If we can't afford to provide 21st century level modern health and quality senior care today what are we going to do in a few years when the average baby boomer is 75-80+ and the percentage of the population who are tax paying workers has declined.

This is spot on. A great example is the debate about small schools. Everyone starts howling at the idea of closing schools with fewer than 100 pupils. It will affect their experience! Little Timmy loves his class with 6 people in it! Operating a school is not cheap, and the tiny tax base in most of these towns is insufficient. Yeah, it sucks if they have to spend an hour on a bus every morning, but you can't expect the rest of the province to subsidize education like this.

[Ozabald]

Originally Posted by bingun

He may have balanced the books, but he also deliberately deferred some costs, and most of those have caught up with us now. It is cheap to maintain a house if you don't do any repairs.

Looking at social media, the answer is so simple: if we just tax Irving, we won't have a problem. No one seems to specify how exactly we are going to tax them without taxing all other businesses.



This is spot on. A great example is the debate about small schools. Everyone starts howling at the idea of closing schools with fewer than 100 pupils. It will affect their experience! Little Timmy loves his class with 6 people in it! Operating a school is not cheap, and the tiny tax base in most of these towns is insufficient. Yeah, it sucks if they have to spend an hour on a bus every morning, but you can't expect the rest of the province to subsidize education like this.

Agreed. "Sacred cows" need to be looked at. I know there has been some recent municipal amalgamations in NB; perhaps more are needed. Does NB really need the ANBL? Let the private sector incur the costs of selling liquor and the gov't still earns its cut on the taxation side. Sell off NB Power; maybe Emera or Fortis will buy it. Having Ottawa continually increasing equalization payments does not create any fiscal discipline for NB and other recipient provinces.

[sailor734]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Blaine Higgs may have been a parsimonious old SOB, but he knew how to balance books.

If only he has steered clear of the culture wars he might still be in power.

^ This!

[Mud]

Much is said about these "deferred costs" but can anyone give me some examples of these?

Are we sure, in Higgs' defense if we can call it that, that the PCs weren't just letting some things rot away because they truly couldn't be afforded anymore? And where that's not the case were the savings in debt servicing engendered by deferring some spending and running surpluses outweighing the added costs?

NB and I think all of Canada to some degree is in for a rude awakening when it comes to the services it can actually afford with the current tax regime when immigration is brought down to sustainable levels.

[drewber]

Originally Posted by sailor734

As Margaret Thatcher said...."The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money." NB seems to be on the road to that point.

The problem with the Thatcher quote is that socialism isn't about "taking other people's money." Thatcher is turning the Marxist criticism of capitalism – that the profit margin is the result of extracting as much labor out of the workers as possible while paying them as little as possible – on its head and throwing it at socialists. It's an old CANARD

We are no where near the level of socialism that exists in ​Denmark, Norway, Sweden, ​Finland or Iceland to name a few. And its certainly not a liberal vs Conservative issue as plenty of provinces under Conservative governments are also facing record breaking debts. Maybe look at the bigger picture and stop blaming 1.5 years of Holt for decades of problems.

[bingun]

Originally Posted by Mud

Much is said about these "deferred costs" but can anyone give me some examples of these?

Are we sure, in Higgs' defense if we can call it that, that the PCs weren't just letting some things rot away because they truly couldn't be afforded anymore? And where that's not the case were the savings in debt servicing engendered by deferring some spending and running surpluses outweighing the added costs?

NB and I think all of Canada to some degree is in for a rude awakening when it comes to the services it can actually afford with the current tax regime when immigration is brought down to sustainable levels.

Healthcare is the clearest example, although I could have a think about some others.

Both the physicians and the nurses needed new collective agreements, and Higgs put those off for as long as he could. From what I understand from the nurses, he made no serious attempt to offer them anything until just before the election, when he thought it might benefit his re-election chances. I know this isn't unusual, but given the strain healthcare was under and the inflation that was experienced in those years, massive numbers were at play.

You can put those contracts off and avoid increased costs, but then you have to back-pay everybody once a new contract is finally agreed. A huge part of this deficit is tied to increased healthcare costs, much of which is due to wages.

[MonctonPerson]

Originally Posted by Mud

Much is said about these "deferred costs" but can anyone give me some examples of these?

Are we sure, in Higgs' defense if we can call it that, that the PCs weren't just letting some things rot away because they truly couldn't be afforded anymore? And where that's not the case were the savings in debt servicing engendered by deferring some spending and running surpluses outweighing the added costs?

NB and I think all of Canada to some degree is in for a rude awakening when it comes to the services it can actually afford with the current tax regime when immigration is brought down to sustainable levels.

Collective agreements would be one example. Higgs was pushing lower pay increases, and some locals were threatening to strike. Holt came in and the province offered more favourable terms, new contracts signed with back-pay.

[MonctonPerson]

Originally Posted by Ozabald

Sell off NB Power; maybe Emera or Fortis will buy it.

NB Power is terrible, but one only has to look at Nova Scotia to see how much worse things could be when privatized.

[Ozabald]

Originally Posted by MonctonPerson

NB Power is terrible, but one only has to look at Nova Scotia to see how much worse things could be when privatized.

There's Fortis. A St. John's based company which many decades expertise in the private utility space in Newfoundland (over 100+ years), BC, Alberta, PEI, Ontario, the US and the Caribbean. NB Power would be a nice addition to its portfolio. Haven't heard anything negative about Fortis.

[CharlotteCountyLogan]

Monday is the beginning of the nomination period for the municpal election. Do you think there's any big name candidate we haven't heard from yet.

[bingun]

Build Canada Homes Accelerates Affordable Housing in New Brunswick

https://www.canada.ca/en/housing-infrast...affordable-housing-in-new-brunswick.html

The Government of Canada, through Build Canada Homes, and the Province of New Brunswick are partnering on a major affordable housing partnership to accelerate the delivery of up to 1,200 shovel‑ready affordable homes, with the potential to scale to 1,500.

Build Canada Homes intends to contribute up to $150 million to support these 1,200 homes, prioritizing projects that deliver deep affordability, use modern methods of construction (MMC), and leverage additional investment to maximize public value. Together, New Brunswick and Build Canada Homes will work to attract additional municipal, private, and philanthropic partners to expand towards the 1,500 homes target.

New Brunswick intends to contribute up to $150 million in combined capital and operating funding to support long‑term affordability, including funding for transitional and supportive housing.

[sailor734]

Originally Posted by CharlotteCountyLogan

Monday is the beginning of the nomination period for the municpal election. Do you think there's any big name candidate we haven't heard from yet.

I haven't heard anything around town so if there is he or she is keeping a tight lid on things.

[CharlotteCountyLogan]

Looking at the candidate list for the election it looks like Greg Norton and John Mackenzie are running for re-election to council in Saint John. Also running are 2024 PC candidates Paul Dempsey and Adam Smith. And a few others in Eric Savoie, Ryan Moore and Mohammed Elazab. For mayor so far it's Barry Ogden and Blaine Harris.