Government receives failing grades ahead of State of the Province

Fredericton (January 24, 2024) – The New Brunswick Liberal Party published a report card today grading the current government’s progress on key files including healthcare, housing, cost of living, and education. The report card was compiled using data from community sector organizations, a survey of stakeholders, and third-party research.

 

“Ahead of the State of Province address, we felt it was important to provide New Brunswickers’ perspectives on the current state of four key sectors in our province,” says Susan Holt, Leader of the New Brunswick Liberal Party. “The Premier likes to paint a rosy picture, but the data tells a bleak story about the state of our province.”

 

The report card shows failing grades across all four sectors. Government progress on healthcare, cost of living, and education were all in the low 30s, due to the increasing number of New Brunswickers struggling to access care, rising costs, and decline in student academic performance. Housing fell the furthest short at 22%, with high vacancy rates, construction delays, and a sharp increase in those experiencing homelessness.

Sources:

• After a ‘decade of decline’ in healthcare, Canadians not convinced that money is enough to solve the crisis, Angus Reid Institute, August, 2023.
• Blast radius: Satisfaction with provincial governments crashes after years of COVID-19, cost of living crisis, Angus Reid Institute, January, 2024.
• Health Care and Social Assistance: Atlantic Region, Government of Canada, 2023.
• Singh, J., Poon, D. EO., Alvarez, E. et al. Burnout among public health workers in Canada: a cross-sectional study, BMC Public Health 24, 48 (2024).
• Rudderham, Hannah. “N.B. nurses union doesn’t want public misled by rosier numbers of registered nurses” CBC News. August 23, 2023.
• “New Brunswick Provincial Health Plan – Public Report”, New Brunswick Health Council, 2023.
• “Access to Surgery in New Brunswick; what we have learned”, New Brunswick Health Council, 2023.
• “Canadians short on access to care for mental health and substance use”. Canadian Institute for Health Information. August 2, 2023.
• Housing stock in unit by institutional sector, housing type, dwelling occupation, dwelling type, and tenure type. Statistics Canada. November 30, 2023.
• Shelter-cost-to-income ratio by tenure: Canada, provinces and territories, census metropolitan area and census agglomerations. Statistics Canada. 2022-09-23.
• “New Brunswick Point-In-Time Count: Key Highlights – 2023 Homelessness PiT Counts in New Brunswick”, Human Development Council, 2023.
• Discussion paper series for the 2023 provincial housing strategy. Housing Hub of New Brunswick.
• New Brunswick Student Wellness and Education Survey. 2022-2023 Edition. New Brunswick Health Council.
• Government of New Brunswick, Education and Early Childhood Development, Provincial Reports, 2023.
• Gouvernement du Nouveau-Brunswick, Éducation et Développement de la petite enfance, Le bulletin provincial 2022-2023 : Nouveau-Brunswick Francophone, 2023.
• Canada’s Food Price Report 2023. 13^th Dalhousie University, The University of British Columbia, University of Guelph and university of Saskatchewan.
• Canada’s Food Price Report 2024. 14^th Dalhousie University, The University of British Columbia, University of Guelph and university of Saskatchewan.
• Poverty Report Cards, Food Banks Canada, 2023.
• TransUnion Industry Insights Summary: 3^rd Quarter 2023.
• Consumer Price Index, by geography, monthly, percentage change, not seasonally adjusted, provinces, Whitehorse and Yellowknife. Statistics Canada. January 1, 2024.
• Insolvency statistics in Canada – Third quarter of 2023 (Part 1). Government of Canada. 2023.