The Liberal opposition is encouraging Premier Higgs to step up for New Brunswick and identify projects that could benefit from the funding being offered up by the federal government for infrastructure and job creation in the province.

The Federal government is making the infrastructure funding available to help provinces rebuild their economies after the Covid-19 pandemic. This funding could be used for important municipal projects, flood mitigation, upgrading broadband in rural areas, renewable energy projects and much more.

“Premier Higgs has been very critical of this funding in media, but the federal government has been great to New Brunswickers since this crisis began and have shown a willingness to be flexible,” said Francine Landry, Opposition Liberal Infrastructure critic.

Based on a report published by Scotiabank on Monday, New Brunswick is the Canadian province providing the least amount of fiscal support to date to help mitigate the impacts of Covid-19 on the economy.

“The Premier doesn’t appear to want to invest any provincial money. He has left hundreds of millions of dollars from the previous infrastructure program on the table and it looks like he is not interested in new infrastructure dollars either,” said Landry. “Now is the time to focus on economic recovery. This federal program could provide much needed help to help stimulate the economy, put people back to work and generate more provincial revenues.”

Last week, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe stepped up for his province by announcing a $7.5 billion infrastructure program to fix aging infrastructure and help municipalities.

“Other Premiers are welcoming this federal support and they are stepping up for their provinces, whether it be through infrastructure funding or providing other provincial programs to supplement what the federal government is doing,” said Landry.  “Saskatchewan currently has a Conservative government, but they put partisanship aside to find a way to use the federal money for the good of their province. New Brunswick surely can do the same.”