Fredericton – In just one year, New Brunswickers will return to the polls to determine who will form New Brunswick’s next government. Based on the record and vision of Brian Gallant and his government, Liberal deputy house leader Lisa Harris says the choice is clear: a re-elected Liberal government.
“I am extremely proud of our government’s record of supporting economic growth and investing historic amounts in education and healthcare.” said Harris, “And to imagine we have accomplished all of this while lowering the deficit and beating our targets each and every year.”
- New Brunswick’s economy has grown in 2015 and 2016 and is projected to grow again in 2017 after years of decline under the previous government;
- The Liberals have invested record amounts in education, adding 100 teachers to our schools and creating a free tuition program for low- and middle-income New Brunswickers;
- Under Brian Gallant’s leadership, dozens of doctors have been added to our health care system and hospital cuts and closures have become a thing of the past.
Roughly three years ago to the day, New Brunswickers voted to entrust Brian Gallant and his Liberal team to lead the province to a future of economic growth, improved patient outcomes, and a better educated province.
Brian Gallant, a young bilingual lawyer from Shediac Bridge, had a vision of creating a better New Brunswick through enacting progressive policies and investing strategically in what matters most to New Brunswickers.
In short order, this vision for the province will be tested in an election against a Conservative Party that has moved to the extreme right-wing of the political spectrum under its new leader, Blaine Higgs. Higgs, a former PC Finance Minister and oil executive, has repeatedly shown his preference for extreme budget cuts and an inability to spur economic growth. In fact, under Higgs watch, the former Conservative government became the first on record to lose jobs over the course of a mandate.
Premier Brian Gallant and his Liberal Government have put us on path to balance the budget by 2020 by cutting the salary of the premier and cabinet ministers, eliminating government waste and increasing taxes on the richest New Brunswickers and big corporations, while also taking the tough choice to raise the HST to protect education and health care. Blaine Higgs would prefer to cut deeper and faster to balance the budget sooner. Blaine Higgs increased income taxes across the board impact those making as little as $10,000 per year while cutting funding to education, while he missed every financial target to reduce the deficit.
Premier Brian Gallant and his Liberal Government will continue to make sizeable capital investments in hospitals across the province, recruit family physicians, raise the minimum wage and bring in a new Family Day holiday. Blaine Higgs and his PC team voted against these investments and says we have to spend less on health care and that businesses can’t afford Family Day or a higher minimum wage.
Premier Brian Gallant and his Liberal Government will continue to build schools across the province, hire up to 250 new teachers, and will provide post-secondary students with a reduced tuition burden through the Free Tuition Program and the Tuition Relief for the Middle Class Program. Blaine Higgs has opposed nearly every education related initiative this government has put forward and cut $30 Million from the Department of Education in his last budget.
“While your Liberal government continues to move New Brunswick forward with a balanced approach that is seeing results,” added Harris “Blaine Higgs and the Conservative Party are hoping to return to the policies that have failed New Brunswick in the past.”
When New Brunswickers will head back to the polls next year, they will be faced with a simple choice: to continue the progressive policies and strategic investments under the Gallant government, or a return to the regressive politics and dangerous budget cuts preferred by Opposition Leader Blaine Higgs and the Conservatives.