What he said: Premier Higgs’s State of the Province address

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Here’s Premier Blaine Higgs’s 2024 State of the Province address, delivered at the Fredericton Convention Centre on Thursday night.  

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I thank everyone for being here tonight. I want to say how much appreciate how much you care about New Brunswick, and the leadership you’re providing to build successful businesses throughout our province.

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And I think you’ve all seen that the growth in our province has been unprecedented.

I want to thank New Brunswickers everywhere and acknowledge that we find ourselves in very challenging times.

We are in a period of tremendous growth.

And while it can be exciting to see so much development and interest in our province, it’s also been difficult managing that growth with the impact this is having on housing, health care, and schools.

We are investing more than ever but the reality is that our growth has come very quickly, and we are introducing major shifts that take time.

Just a few years ago we were closing schools, and now we’re seeing soaring enrollments of 6,000 new students since 2019, and we expect to see 6,000 more over the next five years. And it’s important, Lori (NB Power president and CEO Lori Clark) that we keep the lights on because every time we have a power outage, the population goes up.

I know you are seeing it in your organizations too, and that New Brunswickers everywhere are feeling the changes as more people discover what we have to offer right here in New Brunswick.

So tonight, I want to talk about how we are managing the growth and the broader economic pressures, which have been particularly hard this year with high inflation and many struggling to make ends meet.

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Specifically, I am going to highlight four key areas that I know are on everyone’s minds.

First – the performance of our economy and our province’s overall competitiveness, including the energy sector which I believe can deliver significant growth.

Second – affordability and helping New Brunswickers keep more of their hard-earned dollars.

Third – the work we are doing to stabilize health care and build a better system.

And fourth – our housing strategy, Housing for All, which requires skilled trades and industry partnerships.

Our government’s work takes a dedicated and passionate team who is willing to embrace a new vision and confront persistent challenges.

So let me begin by thanking the members of the Legislative Assembly, my colleagues on both sides of the House. Now we’ve had our differences throughout the year, many of you may have heard that, it’s gotten reported in the media. But at the end of the day, we’re all here for the same reason. We’re here to see a better New Brunswick. We’re here to build a better economy, a better future for the kids, and keep them here.

I also want to thank our Chief Operating Officer Cheryl Hansen and the civil service for their dedication. I know that it’s not easy, for many years we were moving back and forth between governments, and the volatility was astounding.

It’s not easy work, and we don’t always agree on complex issues – whether it be with the civil service or our own colleagues –  but we are absolutely united in our mission to deliver the best for New Brunswickers.

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I want to recognize my wife Marcia, my wife of 45 years, we celebrated this past summer. I want to thank my daughter, Rachel, for being here tonight.

I know I couldn’t do any of this without family support, and sometimes I wonder. I will say to Marcia, ‘Well, you know, what about this job?’ And she’ll say, ‘Well, we’re here to serve.’ And when I first ran, I ran on a slogan of ‘it’s time to serve.’ After over 30 years in the private sector, this has become a mission of service.

As we consider the state of New Brunswick, I’m proud of the work our government has done to improve our financial position.

When we came to office in 2018, we went to work immediately to strengthen our financial position, because that’s the foundation of everything we do and contrary to the philosophy of some, the budget will not balance itself.

We started by tackling the debt that was handcuffing us for decades. It was growing faster than our economy, and for years it grew more out of control with costly election promises.

Our unemployment levels were some of the worst in the country, and our economy was being propped up by the public purse – your tax dollars. Remember these headlines? (shows slide).

We were losing out on private investors and there was a sense of despair that was taking over.

With headlines like these, you can’t blame people for feeling a bit hopeless.

Fast forward just a few years and the picture looks vastly different.

This is our pro-growth agenda in action. We’ve cut $2 billion from our debt. That means we’re saving $75 million a year in interest payments or $275,000 a day. That’s taxpayers’ money no longer wasted that can now be directed to priorities for New Brunswickers.

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Our budget this year is $2.3 billion higher than when we put forth our first budget five years ago. Just look at this (shows slide.) Let’s talk about health care. Since we’ve been in office the expense budget is up 26 per cent from where we started. The three biggest departments have all grown substantially with health up 27 per cent, education up 29 per cent, and social development up 35 per cent.

Our government is spending at record levels.

We are dealing with unprecedented growth in expenditures, especially capital costs.

Construction costs for those new schools I mentioned have increased 64 per cent since 2021. We don’t have a choice. We must move forward with these schools, but at the same time, we’re trying to keep taxes low and stay competitive as a province so we can attract new business.

For anyone who thinks we are not spending money, I beg to differ.

I’m proud that we’ve lowered taxes in every personal income tax bracket. We also cut provincial property tax rates, including residential rental housing as well as nursing homes and special care homes.

We cut more than $100 million in regulatory burden for businesses. Last year alone, 90 per cent of government contracts were awarded to New Brunswick companies, New Brunswick suppliers.

We’ve lowered WorkSafe premiums down 55 per cent, from $2.65 and I think it’s going down again to $1.18.

Premiums had skyrocketed before we took office, making our businesses less competitive.

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We’re going to lower them again this year, and I expect we’ll see that soon.

Private investment is now $1 billion higher than public investment, the opposite of where we were when we started. And we’re attracting major firms with excellent salaries and career opportunities like Thales, Marshall and Walmart’s Atlantic distribution centre.

Expansions are underway at the Port of Belledune’s Green Energy Hub and with DP World at the Port of Saint John.
Irving Oil’s Operation Ram was one of the largest private capital investments in Atlantic Canada. J.D. Irving invested record amounts in mill operations, and Cooke Aquaculture continues to strengthen its position as the largest privately held seafood company in the world.

Job growth is hitting record highs.

Exports have also hit records in recent years, supported by seafood and our farming sector that reaches over 71 countries.

Average hourly wages have risen 23.6 per cent since 2020.

Our population is booming and we are getting younger as a province – for the first time in about 50 years we’re getting younger. We’ve gone from an average age of 46 to 45.

And thanks to our increased investment in tourism, U.S. vehicle entries are up 42 per cent over last year and overseas visitors were up 44 per cent. Restaurant sales are at their highest ever, and CNN just named Saint John as a top destination for 2024 – the only Canadian place on their list!

Tourism is once again an economic powerhouse for our province. People are finding New Brunswick for the first time. They’re looking at where New Brunswick is, because we’re on the international scene.

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After hosting the World Juniors in Moncton and delivering $8 million in economic spinoff activity, we got the attention of the Super Bowl and that opened the door to the PGA Tour Americas which is coming to Mactaquac this summer as only one of two new spots they are adding to the tour – the other is Brazil. Little old New Brunswick, the province that can.

And plans for our provincial museum in Saint John are well underway – we are going to tell the history of this great province, the importance of what it meant to securing Canada as a nation. And what we’ve been, what we are, and what we’re going to be. We are proud of being New Brunswickers, and I’m proud to be supporting a museum that’s going to tell all about our wonderful province.

Our parks are back in full force and we’ve been proudly investing to make them more accessible and attractive. Tonight, we’re inviting you all to explore our parks with a season pass you can pick up at our booth – so get out there, share your selfies, and Explore NB, because this is your chance.

And you know, I’d say we’ve reached a pinnacle here. You know how many times we get people saying, ‘Well we’re going onto P.E.I., we’re just driving through New Brunswick.’ We’ve got a tourism strategy that says you know, you spend a day, two days, three days, you travel through here. Even our roads strategy was making highways fit to stay on rather than bypass. So we’re broadening roads throughout New Brunswick, not around and pass New Brunswick.

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But, as we often say, imitation is the best form of flattery, and now – did you notice recently – P.E.I. has a new logo: Explore P.E.I. Who knew? So I’ve got to call Dennis (P.E.I. Premier Dennis King), and say, ‘You know, this is patented.’ Well I’ll actually check and see if it was patented.

These are all tangible examples of the economic turnaround that has put New Brunswick back on the map.

There’s another area where our government believes New Brunswick can make its mark. Energy.

It’s important at the outset that I clear up some recent headlines that were taken a little out of context, which is unusual, actually.

For the record, I believe our New Brunswick has an excellent energy strategy. It’s ambitious, and it’s designed to position us to reduce our dependence on greenhouse gas emitting fuels while also creating significant economic development opportunities for our province.

The federal energy strategy is where I have concerns, because in many ways it’s not practical or realistic. The question is: is it realistic? Is it affordable in the timelines that are being suggested? That is the question. That is the issue.

We have reduced more greenhouse gas emissions since 2005 than any other province, and our electricity supply is already up to 80 per cent clean.

We know that over the next decade demand for energy will nearly double, and we’re ready with a 12-year roadmap to guide us as we continue to address climate change and work within the parameters of the federal government’s timelines.

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Our strategy: Powering our Economy and the World with Clean Energy – Our Path Forward to 2035, aims to further reduce greenhouse gas by as much as 43 per cent by 2035. It includes leveraging our nuclear capability and doubling our baseload nuclear generation through SMRs; increasing wind and solar capacity by almost five times; adding new energy sources like hydrogen and biofuels; and phasing out coal by 2030. That is our plan.

The Neweg Energy Project announced last week for wind is already a strong sign of progress.

The partnership between NB Power, Natural Forces and eight Mi’kmaq communities highlights the important role and opportunity for First Nations in energy development in our province. In fact, in all sectors I believe we cannot do it without First Nations support, co-operation, and the benefit they can truly see of being part of an energy solution for our province.

Soon we will release our Hydrogen Roadmap, outlining how we will grow and incubate this new energy source, including supporting the creation of hydrogen hubs in Belledune and Saint John for both export and domestic use.

Port of Belledune is now negotiating a lease agreement with Cross River and NextEra for a multi-billion dollar hydrogen facility to begin production in 2028. We expect to see a comprehensive plan submitted for environmental approval and their project office is expected to open its doors this spring.

Momentum is building. In fact, MacLean’s magazine just profiled Belledune in their top 10 science and technology developments to watch in 2024.

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We have so many advantages with our direct access to the U.S. and international markets, along with our rich natural resources including wind, minerals, water, forestry and natural gas. That’s where I believe we have tremendous opportunity to punch above our weight and really impact global emissions.

Just consider this: the federal government plan will see almost $45 billion invested, yet its impact on global emissions is negligible, as you can see from the slide (shows slide). We are operating our plan, environmental planning, in a bubble. We are 1.5 per cent of world emissions. New Brunswick is 0.004 of Canada’s emissions.

By comparison, our local liquefied natural gas could be a critical transition fuel, particularly in Europe where they’re operating 250 coal plants, producing 730 million tonnes of CO2 annually.

China has 1,100 coal plants, building 90 to 100 a year.

If we shipped 600 million cubic feet per day, we could displace 5.5 per cent of the coal generation in Europe, or shut down the equivalent of 14 coal plants and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20 million tonnes annually, which is 1.7 times the entire GHGs produced in our province.

We can punch well above our weight. We can make a difference worldwide. We just have to think bigger, outside of our borders, and that’s what I say is the power of New Brunswick. It goes beyond our borders, it goes beyond our nation. We can make a difference.

We’ll give money to Ukraine, to fight the war. We gave, I think, federally, $600 million not long ago – $200 million a year. And when I was in Europe last spring, the (comment) was, ‘We cannot believe that we’re not seeing any energy from Canada.’ 

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So here we are giving money to Ukraine on the one hand, but on the other hand we’re forcing Europe to buy energy from Russia. So you could say we’re supporting the war from both sides, when we have an opportunity to do much, much better.

This could easily be a solution to our current affordability woes. And the royalties would benefit every New Brunswicker. Rather than take it out of your tax dollars, we’ll take it out of the ground. We’ll make an opportunity here for those royalties to go into the people of this province’s pockets, and reduce the cost of living here in New Brunswick. This is the power of New Brunswick.

A core principle of our energy strategy is affordability.

We’ve been very clear that the negative energy policies of the Trudeau government are driving up the cost of everything right across the supply chain – from unrealistic costs for our farmers to the price of food on the shelf. And it’s all being done in the name of climate change, but if we think bigger and better, we can have an impact worldwide. Not just in our own little bubble.

I’m pleased that we’ve seen some movement on those policies recently for rural New Brunswickers who were being unfairly penalized with the carbon tax.

In the last two years we’ve allocated $100 million to help more New Brunswickers install heat pumps and better control their energy consumption. So we’ve continued to focus on reduction of energy use.

NB Power has been forced to address rate levels and reduce operating costs, but there are much larger structural issues beyond salaries and overhead that we cannot ignore.

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Point Lepreau continues to struggle and we need consistent high levels of performance from the station. We are exploring partnership opportunities to achieve this. We want to have strategic alliances, so we’ll be better together as a nation.

Affordability extends beyond energy.

It’s been a focus for our government since we took office. In fact, every single year we have expanded supports for New Brunswickers and our most vulnerable.

The point I want to emphasize is that we have never spent more money as a government. We’ve never invested in any activity more than we have done in the last six years. And we’ve done it without raising your tax level. And that’s the big difference.

We have increased minimum wage, increased social assistance rates, reduced personal income tax and property tax rates, lifted the interest on provincial student loans, cut child-care fees in half, invested in two rounds of emergency food and fuel benefits. We’ve helped social assistance clients keep more money while transitioning to work, reduced harmful claw backs.

A single parent can now share housing costs, transportation and even take a night shift knowing that the kids at home are being looked after – all without losing their benefits.

And we just announced an increase to the Low Income Seniors Benefit by 50 per cent, tied to the cost of living in future years.

We’re reducing the burden on seniors who fund residential care for their partner to leave more income with the individual living at home.

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And given the rising costs of food, and the high poverty rates in some areas of the province, we know some kids are coming to school hungry. And that’s why under our government, every school now has a food program.

To further help with making ends meet, I’m pleased to announce an affordability measure for low-income working New Brunswickers. This is a one-time payment of $300 for families with a net income of $70,000 or less, and could impact around 250,000 families. An anticipated cost to the province of $75 million.

More details will be coming in the near future, but I am pleased to be able to provide additional support during these challenging times.

As you can tell, lowering taxes has been a bit of priority for us. Our government believes you should keep more of your hard-earned money.
Property tax assessments recently went out, and we know that many who will be paying more as a result were upset. And we all may feel that our property is worth what it’s assessed at, but none of us want to pay more taxes.

I know it’s not necessarily about the assessment, it’s about the more money each homeowner will be spending.

In case I haven’t been clear enough, tax and spend is not exactly my focus. It hasn’t been the focus of our government.

Although Service New Brunswick issues the assessment, the province actually doesn’t get any of that residential, owner-occupied property tax money. The full amount goes to municipalities, and it is used to cover the cost of the services they provide.

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And I admit, every municipality is faced with higher costs, just like we are as a province.

Like the provincial government, local governments have incurred rising costs as well, but I want to take a moment and sincerely thank those who looked at the costs they are incurring, measured it against the extra money, and were still able to lower property tax rates.

Our people are struggling right now, and each level of government can play a role in making life more affordable.

Let’s turn now to one of the toughest challenges we are managing – health care.

We understand the frustration. We certainly saw the challenges at the Fredericton hospital over the Christmas period.

We understand the frustration, whether you’re trying to access care or if you’re working in the sector every day.

The problem we are facing is that our health-care system is not a system at all. It is a patchwork of services offered by different organizations and providers, often with mandates that are unclear to New Brunswickers.

Two years ago, we released our health-care action plan. It called for a complete mindset shift to put the patient first. For far too long, other agendas have come before serving the needs of the patient, and that has to change.

As I showed you earlier, we have allocated historic levels of funding to nearly $3.9 billion. That’s up 27 per cent since we took office – more than $800 million. It accounts for 32 per cent of our total budget. The current health care budget is over, which means we’re almost spending $1 billion more a year on health care.

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If we think money is going to solve our health care woes, we need to think again.

To put the patient first, we are going to need higher levels of collaboration and innovative approaches. To fully harness all of the opportunities, we’ll need even stronger management of the system as a whole.

A good example is the work we have been doing on collaborative care clinics. We have the highest percentage of siloed physicians in the country and we have been shifting to a model where they can practice alongside other professionals and – as a team – offer better access and services. Today, we have 64 collaborative care clinics in the province.

At the same time, we’ve hired 40 per cent more nurse practitioners to improve the system, and they have among the highest scope of practice in the country.

We launched NB Health Link to connect over 52,000 patients to a primary care provider. That’s down from a high of 74,000 patients on the waitlist, or 70 per cent.

We know that health care is changing. We know that there will not be a family doctor for every patient until it is needed. In some cases they may have a family doctor, in some cases they may not. But we need a system of primary care access that allows the chain to follow to a family doctor when it is needed.

We introduced another option for care through eVisitNB, and have funded almost 345,000 online visits so far.

We also increased the role of paramedics, allowing them to assess a situation on site because conditions like blood sugar levels or sprained ankles, don’t require transportation to the hospital. That change alone has avoided up to 1,000 unnecessary transports per month.

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Similarly, we worked with pharmacists to increase their scope and they can now assess and treat up to 12 different conditions, like eczema and pink eye. So far, we’ve funded more than 355,000 patient services through pharmacists. Those are New Brunswickers who would have waited much longer to get care under our old model.

And let’s remember, through all of this, our population has gone up 10 per cent. So we have more people trying to access the current system. We need to be innovative in more ways.

To improve access to surgeries we moved cataract procedures out of hospitals with a new pilot program that started in Bathurst. Three thousand surgeries have been completed and no one there is waiting longer than the national benchmark.

We’ve since opened similar clinics in Miramichi and Fredericton. Not only can people enjoy life with better vision, but we are also reducing the risk of falls and injury in older adults.

We needed new solutions to cope with the rising mental health crisis and we’re delivering on that too.

Our one-at-a-time therapy has slashed wait times by 60 per cent. The new help line we introduced for people struggling with substance use, gambling or mental health concerns is seeing strong uptake with 2,000 calls in December, up from 400 when we launched it in April. It’s good to have that option, but it’s certainly concerning.

And we put 51 new full-time resources in emergency departments to help the teams with individuals who need specialized care during times of trauma or crisis.

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Our action plan also focused on more nurses and doctors.

We guaranteed a job for every nurse entering their first year of post-secondary education. We set up a new three-year nursing program at UNBSJ that shaves a year off training time. We’ve dedicated 100 new nursing seats at Beal University in Maine. And last year we introduced a new pathway to nursing that supports personal support workers and licensed practical nurses who are interested in upgrading to advance their nursing skills.

In total, our government is on track to double opportunities to train as a nurse. And I think the number has doubled, from 888 to 1,600. So we indeed have been recruiting, but we know it’s a challenge.

On the doctor front, we repatriated 10 medical seats from Memorial University and added four more seats in Moncton. We have hit an all-time high of 74 provincially-funded medical school seats. And overall, we’ve seen a net increase of 125 doctors since we took office.

On the human resource front, we’re also tackling governance. When we look at the health-care system, the opportunity we have is a better managed network of health in this province.

While elected governing bodies have been well-intentioned groups, there were countless stories of their frustrations with not being able to drive improvements. Instead, we recruited board members based on competency and experience in the fields of health care and business.

In addition, we have created a collaborative board with equal membership from Vitalité and Horizon to co-ordinate health decisions in the best interests of all New Brunswickers. Utilizing our assets throughout the province in both Vitalité and Horizon to get better results for the citizens of this province, the patients.

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Ultimately, what we’re trying to do is strengthen governance and co-ordination on a multi-billion dollar business: that is, health care, with lives at stake.

New Brunswickers will never have access to the health care they deserve as long as our two health authorities, Vitalité and Horizon, compete against each other. We saw it in COVID. We saw an emergency situation in health where we worked together to get the best results. And we can do it every day.

Working together, I am convinced that with the assets we have, we can have the best health-care system in this country.

Health care in New Brunswick should be just that – patient-centered care in all of New Brunswick, making the best use of our collective resources. When we collaborate and work together, we deliver excellence.

We all have heard incredible stories of our cardiac, stroke, and trauma programs. Those are great examples where the system works as one for the benefit of the patient.

When it matters most, we come together. We need that kind of collaboration every day for other services New Brunswickers depend upon.

For example – labs.

We’re struggling with recruitment of lab technologists. We have duplication of some high-capacity equipment. What we don’t have is agreement on how to optimize our system. But what if we worked together to ensure that emergency tests could be done in every lab, but less urgent or complex tests were centralized and co-ordinated?

This has been attempted many times, but it’s all failed, and it’s usually failed because of political reasons. I don’t believe at this point that anyone thinks I’m happy with the status quo. Because we can be better, and we need to challenge all of us to do just that.

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We are determined to improve.

We deserve a better system that we can rely on, and New Brunswickers deserve results in a secure and timely manner.

Here’s another example – MRI access (shows slide).

Look at the differences in the wait times on this chart. You’re pretty fortunate if you live in Miramichi, but what if you live in Fredericton or Edmundston?

Today, physicians don’t have access to wait times so they can’t routinely give patients options if they’re willing to travel. We need a co-ordinated system that is transparent for patients and physicians. And we need to hit those national benchmarks – not as an option, but as a reality.

The same logic would apply to surgeries. And we are certainly making progress in hip and knee surgeries, but we need a fully co-ordinated system that gives patients options and timely care.

We’re serious about getting this right. So serious, that we are looking at a guarantee for specific procedures – identified by the medical professionals, which is critical – which will mean a patient is guaranteed to get a procedure within an established benchmark of time. Which will mean when you need care, you’re going to get it. Not because we’re not willing to look outside of our own little area, because we think we can offer it anywhere in this province. They may have to travel, but we’ll make sure the service is available.

We fully intend to keep building on this progress, and that includes giving health-care professionals the tools they need to be more efficient and make better decisions. Right now, we’re working on a new clinical management system, and that is a huge expense. The estimate is $1 billion to $1.3 billion. But that ties our health network together, and it allows us to access patient care and understand the opportunities anywhere in the province.

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And tonight, I am very pleased to announce that we are launching a new app – an app that was put together by our very own tech company in Fredericton, Verosource.

This app will give patients more information than ever before. MyHealthNB will let you see test results and vaccination records. Soon we’ll add dashboards for ER wait times as well as diagnostic imaging.

Here’s what it is (shows slides).

Imagine, your records at your fingertips. Your lab results will get to you earlier than they get to the doctor’s office, and you will be able to look online about availability. The whole idea is over the next six months, that we create even more access to this so you’ll be able to look across this province and see opportunities that exist.

But as I said, we have a long way to go in regard to having a clinical management system that will tie it all together. But we’re prepared to put the money in to change. We want transformational health care change, yes we have to put the money in it, and put it where it makes a difference – and where it makes a difference to patients.

Housing is another area that needs massive transformation.

(Higgs pauses to tell a story about his family’s housing situation, focused on how his daughter and son-in-law have moved into his house, and how he and Marcia have moved into the basement).

Our government is looking at the entire spectrum of housing, which is why we reestablished the New Brunswick Housing Corporation. As of November, 5,500 housing units are under construction, which is the highest level on record dating back to 1990.

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In June we released our Housing Strategy, committing $500 million over three years.

Our goals are clear:
• 6,000 new housing starts per year.
• Cut the waiting list for subsidized housing from over 10,000 to 7,500 by 2026.
• Reduce the number of New Brunswickers who spend over 30 per cent of their income on housing.
• Create the market conditions to hold annual rent increases at an average of 2.5 per cent, and the annual percentage change in average home prices to 4.8 per cent.

The plan is comprehensive – and here are the highlights (shows slides).

We must fix what we have.

We’ll spend $105 million over the next three years to complete major repairs to housing stock, be it provincially owned, non-profit, or to help New Brunswickers make repairs to their own homes.

For rural communities, we will launch a Rapid Rural Workforce Housing Pilot with $10 million to develop 220 units to support workforce needs.

Already, we partnered with Habitat for Humanity for up to 10 new homes per year, Rising Tides for 162 units, and Kaleidoscope Impact for 39 new affordable homes.

We’ll incentivize development. We are creating a Housing Working Capital Fund for municipalities and non-profits to
provide $2.5 million in working capital per year.

We have increased funding for developers to build affordable units in mixed-income buildings. We will increase the funding for subsidized housing to encourage 130 new units each year around this province.

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We are helping the most vulnerable.

Our new Rent Bank invests $3 million over the next two years to reduce the risk of eviction due to overdue payments of utility bills.

We will also help thousands more people keep their homes by investing $22 million annually in a direct-to-tenant rental benefit.

These are game changers, but there’s another key part of the spectrum that I know you all see, and that’s homelessness.

We must address homelessness. No one has ever said, “When I grow up, I want to be homeless.”

For a variety of reasons, too many people in today’s society have found themselves in this very unfortunate situation.

It’s tied to the rising levels of mental health and addiction.

It’s destroying families.

It’s hurting businesses.

And it’s driving up crime.

We are taking several steps right now to deal with the crisis near term:

– Investing $16 million to better support permanent and emergency shelters and
provincial outreach teams.
– Working with our three major cities in establishing 24/7 hubs.
– Housing chronically homeless New Brunswickers, building on the 333 individuals we already helped in 2023.
– Investing in supportive housing options, like the 12 Neighbours Community.

I’m pleased to announce tonight that we will be doubling capacity in the province for adult addiction rehabilitation. And the challenge is how do we get individuals on the road to recovery? How do we find a path that everyone wants to be on? So our goal is recovery.

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We will start on a new program that will offer four to six months of rehabilitation. It will start with 50 new beds, and over the long-term, it will treat 100-140 individuals each year depending upon the length of stay.

Our goal is to help individuals re-establish ties with their families and provide social integration, skills and tools to help them cope with everyday life. We are currently finalizing details around the implementation and will have more to announce this spring.

Still on the topic of housing, given the latest news from the federal government about international students, we’ll need to continue to work together to make sure New Brunswick isn’t swept up in national policies that aren’t right for us.

Just like the carbon tax, we are now seeing solutions applied everywhere that are really targeting issues in large urban centres, and it doesn’t make sense for New Brunswick.

Our institutions have been responsible with their intake levels and we are working closely together to meet the recent challenges. The fact remains that our labour market needs workers. Our post-secondary enrollment still has room to grow, birth rates are low and we need newcomers to replace our aging population.

If this policy goes forward as intended, we will pay the price for problems that exist in other parts of the country, and set our province back on enrollment growth, capable new talent, while shrinking the labour market. So I urge you to take a close look at the impact of this on your operations and your organizations, both short and long-term.

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Education must continue to evolve, not shrink.

And that’s especially true for K-12.

Over the last two years, we’ve added over $300 million to education and early childhood, and expect the budget to continue to grow. While much of the money is supporting enrollment growth for new teachers, bus drivers and support staff, we are making strategic investments to achieve better outcomes.

Safety is another issue that has worsened. Both students and teachers deserve a school that is free from violence. That’s why we’ve increased behavioural mentors by 25 per cent, added 100 new academic support teachers, and have 15 more schools rolling out the Positive Behaviour Intervention Supports program.

We must create an atmosphere free of continual disruption for both our students and our teachers.

We’re also very focused on class composition and basic skills like literacy. We want our children reading at grade level by the end of grade 2.

We are determined to close that gap through targeted interventions, just like we did on the economy. We are determined to bring our kids back to the best in the country, not the lowest in the country on their academic achievement.

We’ve taken many steps to reshape the services New Brunswickers depend on every day.

When you look at our financial picture and our economic performance, there is no question we are much stronger than ever.

We’re also prepared to tackle the tough issues – like revoking AIM’s license, the pension bill, and defending parents’ rights.

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We have a firm grip on the tough issues, and we’re not shying away.

Our vision is clear. So I want to recap.

With NB Power, we’re addressing Point Lepreau through strategic alliances to ensure that it delivers reliable non-emitting energy as part of our provincial fleet. And I’m proud to say the CEO, Lori Clark, is focused on an NB Power that brings the results New Brunswickers expect and need. And we’re focused on supporting the organization to achieve that.

It will bring fundamental changes to maybe the organization and how we have alliances, but what we can do to deliver better results, and meet the green economy that’s in front of us. And that’s the SMR technology. That’s developing and researching the best technology for us to move forward.

I mentioned education. We will close the gap on basic reading and math scores. We will fix classroom composition and create a learning environment that is safe and welcoming for students and teachers.

Economic opportunity: we will create opportunity to offset coal generation that helps New Brunswickers participate in the revenue sharing from our natural resources, while making a major impact on global emissions. This is the single-biggest economic opportunity the province has had for generations. We can help the word, in developing it, to make a difference, and reduce emissions.

Mental health: we will create new programs to effectively address addiction and homelessness because living in isolation and desperation on the streets should not be a way of life for anyone in New Brunswick.

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The patient first strategy: we will continue to stabilize health care and create an entire network that utilizes all of our resources, not a patchwork by community. This includes giving New Brunswickers a guarantee for critical care within established benchmarks, and giving physicians the modern tools and systems, they need to do their jobs.

New Brunswickers can be confident that we will continue to confront areas of weakness, listen to people and develop clear plans to take action to help them to move forward in their lives.

There’s no question. There’s a lot more to do.

There’s no question that this province is stronger than it’s ever been, for generations.

And there’s no question that the population growth has indeed created new challenges, which I’ve attempted to outline here tonight.

But you know, that’s what we thrive on – challenges. And that’s the focus that I have, that’s the focus my team has, in delivering a better New Brunswick. It’s a New Brunswick that will continue to shine outside of our borders. It’s a New Brunswick that will make it affordable to each and every New Brunswicker that lives here, comes here, and wants to be home.

You remember the days when our kids were leaving, to go elsewhere to work? Well, many of them are coming home, and many of them never leave to begin with, because the opportunities are right here.

And now that living and having a lifestyle is certainly now more important than it ever was, we have a province that is an example to the world, an example to this country. And I don’t want to lose the opportunity for us to continue to grow.

Whether it’s me or somebody else, we need to stay focused on the opportunities we have in this province, and keep them real. Keep everyone being part of the solution, keep us all focused on better outcomes, better results.

And every single one of us play a role in it. So it’s not about ‘give me more money and I’ll do better,’ it’s about, ‘I’ll do better, and this is how I’m going to measure it, this is how I’m going to do it.’

If we need more money, we’ll deliver it. But we want results. You deserve results on the dollars that you spend. We all do.

So let’s be part of the solution.

Thank you.

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