Budget 2020-21. Follow our thread for live tweets. 
There is just no future in sending hard-earned tax dollars to the big banks, in the form of interest payments. That road can only lead to a cliff which we don’t want to see.
Today’s budget strikes an important balance between paying down debt, improving and delivering high-quality public services, and putting money back into the pockets of New Brunswickers.
We have gone from a province that saw its labour force shrink by over 11,000 people between 2013 and 2017 to a province that has added 3,700 to the labour force over the last two years. The best result in a decade.
This budget is designed to continue on our path to save New Brunswick, not to save government.
Why is a surplus important? It’s similar to running a household. We cannot continually spend beyond our means.
Now more than ever, New Brunswickers need proven leadership and a steady hand at the wheel.
$1.5 million will be added to our provincial vaccination program so that all New Brunswickers will have access to free flu shots to protect themselves and their families.
All certified advanced care paramedics will be allowed to practice to their full scope to enhance response capabilities across the province.
We will create a dedicated operating room at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Saint John and increase capacity across other sites in the province to enable more orthopedic surgeries.
A new surgical suite will be opened at the Dr. Georges-L.-Dumont University Hospital Centre, increasing their number of operating rooms and decreasing wait times across all specialty areas.
New Brunswick women who participate in the Breast Cancer Screening Program will now get breast density information directly, along with the results of their screening mammograms.
Over the next four years, our government will allocate nearly $3.5 million to make New Brunswick a destination of choice for professional nurses.
We will be strategically placing 26 nurse practitioners in emergency departments and clinics around the province.
Eighteen of these nurse practitioners will be in clinics in Saint John, Moncton and Fredericton. These clinics could take up to 18,000 people off the waiting list for a primary health care provider.
Government will replace the billing number system with a joint Physician Resource Plan, which will include a $5-million rural incentive program.
Social assistance rates will now be indexed to growth in the Consumer Price Index, which will benefit approximately 15,000 New Brunswickers.
Our government will allocate $5.5 million to mental health programs in social development, health care, and education.
Government will provide nearly $4.2 million this year to increase wages for workers in ADAPT agencies, community residences, and home support services.
We will invest $7.1 million to hire more teachers for the upcoming school year.
Our government will also provide an additional $6.1 million to address the growth in demand for educational assistants across the province.
The research is clear – students cannot learn if they are hungry. With this budget, that will change. We are investing $200,000 in a pilot school food program.
Our government will provide $1.3 million to work with 12 schools to create new opportunities for learning French as a second language.
We recognize the importance of early childhood education and will provide a further 75 cents per hour wage increase for early childhood educators.
In the 2021 taxation year we will start reducing the property tax rate on residential non-owner-occupied properties over a four-year period.
We have chosen to lower the provincial non-residential property tax rate.
Combined, these measures will return nearly $100 million to the New Brunswick economy.
Our government will lower interest rates on the provincial portion of student loans from the prime rate plus 2.5 per cent to the prime rate. This change will mean that an individual with a $10,000 provincial student loan will save nearly $1,300 over a 10-year period.
Our government will leverage federal funding of $464,000 to support the creation of sustained, healthy, and respectful workplace environments for women working in construction.
Working with the federal government to increase immigration to 10,000 people per year by 2027.
Standardizing economic development funding to reduce duplication, improve oversight, and maximize results.
Climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our time, and our citizens deserve forward thinking and strong leadership.
The net proceeds through the price on carbon will see an estimated $36 million invested in climate change initiatives.
We are committed to meaningful municipal reforms across New Brunswick. We want to encourage regional collaboration and cooperation.
We will not let the City of Saint John fail.
We are undertaking a review of the assessed value of large industrial facilities to ensure that the property taxes these facilities pay reflect their market value.
We will increase funding to the Arts Development Trust Fund by $500,000, a 70 per cent increase over the 2019–2020 level.
With a $500,000 increase, the Sports Development Trust Fund will be doubled over the 2019–2020 level.
Government will be investing an additional $1.6 million in the NBLASC (legal aid).
Government will better recognize the increasing costs associated with raising children by providing a 25 per cent increase in the rates paid to foster caregivers.
The province has budgeted $800,000 to ensure core funding for resource development consultation coordinator positions within First Nation communities.
We can live within our means.
We can provide improved and better services to the people of New Brunswick.
We are back on track. But there is more to do.
