New Brunswick Politics

Yeah I know, this make 2 federal stories in as many days, however, this one is VERY important to the country. It hits to the very core of our system. Political corruption brought right out into the open. I am anxiously awaiting this report. Who's gonna "swing" in this report do you think? How bad does Chrétien get implicated? And maybe most important at this stage.....is our current Prime Minister going to get some blame? I see Chrétien recieved a "Section 13" which is a warning that there may be negative findings about him. I bet the "little guy from Shawinigan" fights it to the end. What do you think?? I'll update this one tommorrow after we've all had some time to digest the report.

Blog On.........

Posted by PoliticsNB at 11:13 PM | Permalink | |

Ok, I've added a new Poll. Who's going to win the by-election. Be intresting to see how close the numbers are on the 14th. I moved the other one down the page for now. The new one will be up until the 14th. Make sure to vote.

Posted by PoliticsNB at 10:59 PM | Permalink | |

Wondering what people think of this idea. Obviously taking a page out of the American book.


Copy and Paste From http://www.liberal.ca

Prime Minister Paul Martin to Launch National Weekly Radio Address with Discussion of Softwood Lumber

October 28, 2005


OTTAWA – October 28, 2005 – Prime Minister Paul Martin will launch his first national weekly radio address on Sunday, October 30, 2005, with a two minute discussion of the softwood lumber trade dispute with the United States. This will be the first of what are planned to be regular addresses by the Prime Minister on radio covering a variety of topics.

Given that there may be occasion to speak to political matters, the Prime Minister has instructed that the cost of these broadcasts be borne by the Liberal Party of Canada.

The address will also be made available Sunday via the party Web site at www.liberal.ca.

Below is a list of stations that will be broadcasting the address every Sunday at approximately 10:58 AM (local time unless otherwise indicated):


Newfoundland VOCM
PEI CHLQ
Nova Scotia CKPE, CHFX
New Brunswick CFQM, CIOK
Quebec CITF, CFQR, CITE, CJAD
Ontario CJMJ (10:44), CIMF, CJEZ (10:54), CHRE (10:42)
CFCA, CIQM, CIDR (10:46), CJMX, CFRB
Manitoba CHIQ (10:26)
Saskatchewan CIZL, CFMC
Alberta CKRY (10:40), CKNG (10:26)
British Columbia CKLG, CIOC, CFSR, CICF

For further information, please contact:

Steven MacKinnon
National Director
Liberal Party of Canada
(613) 783-8404

Posted by PoliticsNB at 7:24 PM | Permalink | |

So now that the by-election is underway in Saint John, what are your thoughts? Have you changed your thinking on what the outcome will be? What about all the trips Premier Lord has made to the city since the campaign started? Or the rumor that he's going to be in the city for Rememberance Day this year. (A first since Lord has been Premier, if it happens....coincidence??) Lets hear you.....especially if you live in this riding. Who will it be? Hooton? Doherty? Robichaud?

Posted by PoliticsNB at 8:52 PM | Permalink | |

Ok, lets take a crack at this one. Of course, everyone is still talking about the famous (or infamous) Tax incentive that Irving received in Saint John. Right up front i'll say I disagree with how this deal was handled, at the municipal, and provincial level. It was much to large, for the few jobs it will create. In other words, the council, "sold the farm" and the province helped them all the way.

My own personal feeling is, in order to bring investment into the province with new companies and factories, we need to have incentives to make it attractive to set up shop here. However, my belief is the size of the incentive needs to be in line with the Long term jobs created. Yes with any new company there is a short term spin off with construction, and setup, but the tax rebate comes around each year. That amount should be reasonably in line with the amount of new jobs created, and the pay scale of those jobs. More good paying jobs obviously means more tax money in the provincial coffers. Hopefully enough to offset the rebates given to create those jobs. I'd personally rather see tax incentives than loan guarentees. If the company goes bust we're all on the hook for those. Look at St.Anne Nackawic. Look at the yarn mill's if they don't re-open.....millions in loans from the government. Should we be giving incentives to companies who want to set up shop in New Brunswick?? What types of industry and business do we want?? What should our governments at all levels be doing on their part to help with attracting new business??

Posted by PoliticsNB at 8:24 PM | Permalink | |

So, no more junk food being served in New Brunswick schools. I personally think it’s a great idea. But I have to wonder how much of an impact it will have, as realistically, you’re only talking one meal a day. If parents would do the same at home, maybe it would really make a difference. I fear however, that kids will simply bring their snacks and “unhealthier” food from home, or buy it at the local convenience store, or take out restaurant. Either way I think the Government did the right thing with this decision at least.

Now on to what really concerns me, the fundraising issue. This will have an impact of fundraising for sure. In my opinion, the schools wouldn’t have to do fundraising to the extent they do in the first place, if they were getting the proper funding from the government. Why oh why, are we turning our children into little beggars??? Education is the future, and I’ll be damned if I think that our kids should have to be running around the street trying to get people to buy chocolate bars, magazines etc, simply so they can have the things they should all ready have!!! The government blew this one by only doing half the job. The children of this province should be concerning themselves with getting an education, not honing their salesmanship skills.

To the Lord government…..first you (and the governments before you) force the children of this province to the streets, hawking goods, to try and raise money towards their education. Then, you take away some of that, by banning the sale of things like chocolate bars. Don’t you think it might have been a good move to also add some extra funding so the system wouldn’t be taking yet another hit???? I guess education isn’t that important to the Tories. Why am I even surprised!

Posted by PoliticsNB at 9:54 PM | Permalink | |

Bernard Lord was in the city today on a visit to Moosehead Brewery. It seems Lord has struck a deal with Moosehead, and Labatts to come through with some cash, to make up for the deal given to Molson in Moncton. No figure released yet, but it'll be in the millions for sure. Now, I figured this would happen at some point, but I find it to be a big coincidence that it just happens to be made at the same time the Tories are trying to win the by-election in Saint John. I think Lord has made more announcements in the city in the last week than he made in the last couple of years, at least since the last election. I'll bet this isn't the last trip to the port city he'll make before the election, and not the last "big announcement" he'll make. Yeah,yeah, I know Spinks will tell me "that's politics, get over it" but it leads me to wonder when governments are going to stop trying to buy our vote, and more importantly, when will the people stop falling for it?? It's always the same thing, nothing for 4 or 5 years, then right before an election the purse gets busted open and the money flows. Are people really that naive, or have we grow so used to it, that we think "that's just the way it's supposed to work." Maybe it's time for a wake up call at ALL levels of government. Time to let them all know we can't be bought. We are all important to our government for the full term of a office or kick them to the curb.

Am I wrong on this?? Should we just sit back and wait for an election of some sort, to receive the things that we need for our communities? It is our money he's spending after all. Think about that for a second. The government, buys your vote, with your money, and then we are grateful we were thought of at all.......

Posted by PoliticsNB at 11:22 PM | Permalink | |

You know, the more I think about this, the more pissed I get. Bernard Lord not only chases Hooton, to get her to Run in this by-election, but he promises her a cabinet position that should rightfully go to Trevor Holder, the Saint John Portland MLA. From what i've heard about Holder, he's actually been a good representative of his constituency. So I guess it's not about what you know or what you've done, but how you look in a skirt that matter in Lord's government.I thought we were starting to get to the point in society, where women actually recieved rewards the same as men for working hard. Michelle Hooton sure knocks that concept down a notch or too. Flash Bernie a little leg, and he gives her what she wants. If that isn't a sad commentary i'm not sure what is. Maybe we have'nt come as far as we thought on the equality and gender issue. You can't say she got this spot on merrit, cause i'll be damned if I can think of ANYTHING she has done in her long ,what is it, year and half on council?????

Posted by PoliticsNB at 11:18 PM | Permalink | |

I was flipping through my bookmarks, and found Rick Mercer's blog. Definetly worth a read. He's always good for a laugh. I added it to the links section.

On another note, wondering if anyone has anything they would like to see a discussion on. This blogging is hard work sometimes, lol. Especially on weekends when things are fairly quiet on the political front. Since it's your blog as well, feel free to email me with suggestions. Politicsnb@hotmail.com
If you want, write up your thoughts and send it to me. If it's a good topic of discussion i'll post it, even give you credit if you want.

Posted by PoliticsNB at 11:27 AM | Permalink | |

On October 18th the Fraser Institute released it’s report on Hospital wait times.(in this case meaning- waiting time between referral from a general practitioner and treatment) Very little surprise that New Brunswick is at the bottom of this list with some of the longest wait times in the country.(24.5 weeks) The only province that was worse than us was Saskatchewan, at 25.5 weeks, and to their credit they have actually improved a lot, as they are down 7.8 weeks from last study. On the other hand N.B. is actually getting worse. So much for the Lord government constantly telling us how well they are dealing with our healthcare situation.

Here is the Executive Summary from the study:

The Fraser Institute’s fifteenth annual waiting list survey found that Canada-wide waiting times for surgical and other therapeutic treatments fell slightly in 2005, making this the first reduction in the total wait for treatment measured in Canada since 1993. Total waiting time between referral from a general practitioner and treatment, averaged across all 12 specialties and 10 provinces surveyed, fell from 17.9 weeks in 2004 back to the 17.7 weeks last seen in 2003. This small nationwide improvement in access reflects waiting time decreases in 5 provinces, while concealing increases in waiting time in Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland.

Among the provinces, Ontario achieved the shortest total wait in 2005, 16.3 weeks, with Manitoba (16.6 weeks), and Alberta (16.8 weeks) next shortest. Saskatchewan, despite a dramatic 7.8 week reduction in the total wait time, exhibited the longest total wait, 25.5 weeks; the next longest waits were found in New Brunswick (24.5 Weeks) and Newfoundland (22.3 weeks).
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Now I actually do remember my political history, and remember how the McKenna liberals screwed with the healthcare, and cut, and slashed it. However, you’ll notice Bernard Lord and his tory government have done nothing to fix it. Indeed it continue’s to deteriorate. What’s your opinion??
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If reports with lots of charts and graph’s is your thing you can see the full report Here

Posted by PoliticsNB at 7:43 PM | Permalink | |

So it would appear all the Candidates are in for the by-election in Saint John Harbour. Deputy Mayor, Michelle Hooton had her official "coronation" last night by the conservative party. Tonight it is expected that Dr.Ed Doherty will become the official Liberal candidate. The NDP have chosen a gentleman by the name of Dan Robichaud. Anyone know anything about him? This will be an intresting race to say the least. Looking forward to blogging along with the campaign.

Posted by PoliticsNB at 6:35 PM | Permalink | |

I'm not going to write much about this. Gonna leave it up to you folks. I think most people are aware that the price of home heating fuel is high, and many will have a tough time putting oil in their barrel this year. It's hard enough for the average working Joe, or Jane to be able to buy Heating oil, and pay all the other bills associated with running a household nowadays. But what about the low-income Canadians who barely scrape by now. What do you thing the government should or can do on this one?? What about Ottawa's plan for a $250 rebate for low-income earners? How about the talk of removing the GST from Heating oil and electricity bills?

Posted by PoliticsNB at 7:45 PM | Permalink | |

Well, well, let me stick my hands all the way into the hornets nest. (lol)

The leader of New Brunswick's official opposition Liberal party, has stated that he and his party are in favor of building Pt. Lepreau 2. In the last few years their have been studies, and reports that show the province being short of energy within the next decade. Personally I don't see many other "realistic" alternatives. Yes wind, and solar are fine as supplemetry power, but cannot generate the amounts that will be needed to run this province in the future. Fossil fuels, are getting more expensive, as the supplies are depleted, and lets face it, they are not the cleanest source as far as air, and water pollution. Now, on the flip side of the coin, Nuclear, in the past in New Brunswick, has shown itself to be expensive when it requires maintenance, or even more expensive for unscheduled shut downs. My hope, (and so far in places like Ontario, it seems to be the case with the new refurbed reactors) is that much has been learned about this technology over the years, and some of the issues, that lead to problems with Lepreau have been resolved. Also, lets not guild the lily here, there is the problem of the spent fuel rods, and the long term storage and disposal. Do we have another choice?? Do you think this is the right way for the liberals to be heading? Do you support Lepreau 2, and if not what would you suggest as an alternative.

CBC had a story today about it:Click Here


Statistics Canada has reported that Canadian's energy use has continued to rise in the past year to record numbers, so the conservation message obviously isn't doing the trick. To me it only seems prudent to plan for the future.
More on this : Click Here

I'm intrested in hearing people's thoughts on this one.

Posted by PoliticsNB at 7:32 PM | Permalink | |

Just added a tag board to the page. Give it a try. Kinda like a mini chat room. Just type a name of some sort into the top box, then type in your comment in the second box, and hit the go>> button. It is set to auto refresh itself every 45 seconds, but I can change that if need be. Let me know what you think.

Posted by PoliticsNB at 8:39 PM | Permalink | |

Ok this one has been on my mind for awhile.

Back when Bernard Lord was first elected, his major platform was to get rid of the Highway tolls. Personally, I was for the tolls, as I believe a user pay would have been the fairest way to go. The example often used by people is the toll on the highway in Nova Scotia. Personally I don't mind paying that toll one bit. That piece of blacktop is such a sweet ride. Anyone who ever travelled the old highway, knows what i'm talking about.

Anyway, the point is, Bernard Lord took the tolls off and added that debt to the list of things that our tax money is paying for. Now, In the last few years there has been a movement afoot to get rid of VLT's. I'll say up front that i'm not a believer in these bandits. Normally it is the people who can least affoard to use them who pay, and pay dearly. However, the question remains, if VLT's are removed what are we going to replace that revenue with?? What Party has the best platform on how we deal with them? I believe (correct me if i'm wrong) that Graham has said he will "look at it", well not good enough in my opinion. If we get rid of them we also get rid of $50 million or so yearly out of the provincial coffers. What do we cut, or downsize to recover that shortfall? What about 1 or 2 casino's in the province? At least people would have to make a Conscious Decision to go to where these machines are. I want to know what you think, about what the government, or the party who forms the next government can and should do to deal with this issue.

Posted by PoliticsNB at 10:41 AM | Permalink | |

From time to time I will be posting stories from the federal side of politics as well, especially when they relate to New Brunswick. In this case I think ethics in government at every level should be examined by Canadians . I would say some drastic overhaul's are in order to stem the tide of electorate cynacism.

Here is the story according to CTV:
NDP's Broadbent unveils federal ethics plan

Is it workable? Does it stand a chance in the house? Does it go to far? or not far enough? Remember, that the NDP is currently proping up the Liberal government, so I think it actually stands a hope, perhaps in some revised form. Depends on how bad the Liberals want to stay alive. Considering how their poll numbers have been slipping, I doubt they will want to take a chance on an election any time soon.
These are the 7 main points of the proposed legislation taken from the above story:

The seven-point NDP package proposes:

-MPs should not be permitted to change parties without resigning and running in a byelection.
-Election dates should be fixed and held every four years.
-Reforming the electoral process by combining proportional representation with the current first-past-the-post system.
-There should be spending limits and transparency conditions on leadership contests within political parties.
-Tougher laws to end unregulated lobbying and political cronyism.
-A fair process for government appointments to end unfair and unethical patronage practices.
-Better access-to-information legislation to make government more transparent

I especially like the first two and the last one.

Posted by PoliticsNB at 9:36 PM | Permalink | |

Over the next few days I will be adding many topics. This seems like a good one to start with though. Michelle Hooten has been recruited by the New Brunswick Conservative party. She is to be their "Star" candidate for the by-election, of the Saint John Harbour Riding, left vacant by the departure of Elizabeth Weir. What do you think? Can she win? Who might be the liberal candidate? What about the NDP? Can they hold this riding without Weir, or was her stronghold on this riding her personal popularity, and not the NDP platforms. What do you think?

Posted by PoliticsNB at 3:42 PM | Permalink | |

Welcome to a new forum for discussing New Brunswick politics, as well as National politics. Lets delve into the real workings and disect it all. Or maybe just have lots of debate. You decide. This is your forum. I will start the topics. You choose where the discussion goes from there. I'll not curtail the discussion. However, I do ask that you exercize judgement. While you are free to disagree, and criticize politicians and each other, watch that you neither defame, or personally attack others. Adult discussion and debate does not mean name calling and childish things of that sort. I reserve the right to edit of remove ANY post I feel breaks these rules.

Let the games begin!!

Posted by PoliticsNB at 3:24 PM | Permalink | |