Premier Brian Gallant today said tomorrow’s Throne Speech will layout an agenda which is collaborative and pulls ideas from all political parties in order to build a common agenda for New Brunswickers.

“New Brunswickers, for the first time in a century, did not give any of the political parties a mandate to govern alone. By providing the minority government situation, New Brunswickers have asked us to work together, more so than ever before, to improve the lives of families in our province.”

Supporting families and communities is at the heart of the government’s speech from the throne.

“We are committed to putting more money in the pockets of New Brunswickers to help families that are struggling to get ahead. That’s why we will be committing to raising the minimum wage and advancing pay equity in the private sector.”

The vast majority of commitments in the throne speech have been raised by two or more parties in their platforms. Raising the min wage and advancing pay equity were raised by other political parties.

The paramedic shortage has had an impact on all New Brunswickers, particularly those in rural areas and it will be specifically addressed in the throne speech as it has been called for in all political parties’ platforms.

“Every political party has recognized the need to act swiftly and aggressively to strengthen ambulance services and address the paramedics shortage in New Brunswick. BY working together, there’s no doubt we will be able to improve the ambulance services for all New Brunswickers, including in rural parts of our province.”

The use of the herbicide glyphosate is another matter that will be addressed in the Speech From the Throne as it was apart of almost all political parties.

“It is clear based on how people voted in the election, New Brunswickers want action to be taken with regards to the use of the herbicide glyphosate. We acknowledge this and we are ready to work with other political parties to take concrete action.”

When the budget should be balanced was discussed and debated by the political parties in great depth during the campaign. The Speech From the Throne will layout an earlier timeline for balancing the provincial budget.

“We are committed to continuing to hit and surpass our deficit reduction targets by focusing on growing the economy and investing more in education and health care. We have listened to the feedback of New Brunswickers during the election campaign and to the other political parties, therefore, we will be laying out a plan for a balanced budget by 2020/2021.”

New Brunswickers have sent a message from the election results that they want all MLAs to focus less on politics and more on the substantial issues that we are facing as a province. All MLAs are asked to base their support, or lack thereof of the throne speech, based on its content.

“New Brunswickers have sent 49 women and men to Fredericton to put party politics aside and work together to the benefit of all New Brunswickers. To respect the wish of New Brunswickers, we call on a free vote on the progressive and collaborative agenda that will be laid out in the Speech From the Throne.”