“One of the things that we continue to see, unfortunately, is conservative politicians who believe that the best way to grow the economy is through failed throwaway theories,” Trudeau said Tuesday, speaking to reporters in Oromocto. Trudeau’s first comment came in response to a question about Higgs’ request that the federal government increase the amount of money it gives to New Brunswick to help fund health care — a request made at the same time the prime minister is investigating the reducing income taxes. His second remark followed a question about Higgs’ appointment of former People’s Alliance leader Chris Austin, now a Progressive Conservative minister, to an internal task force of MLAs tasked with deciding how – or whether – to update the Act on the Official Languages. “You don’t put someone who has spent his entire career attacking official bilingualism and questioning the need to protect French in New Brunswick or elsewhere on a panel designed to protect bilingualism in New Brunswick,” Trudeau said. “It doesn’t make sense and it’s definitely something I’ll mention to Premier Higgs when I see him in about an hour.” Trudeau was at 5th Canadian Divisional Support Base Gagetown in Oromocto for a wreath-laying ceremony to mark Remembrance Day, which is Friday, and to announce new spending to bring high-speed internet to rural Canada. (Ed Hunter/CBC) Trudeau was at the 5th Canadian Divisional Support Base Gagetown in Oromocto for a wreath-laying ceremony to mark Remembrance Day on Friday. He also used the visit to announce his government will spend an additional $475 million on the Universal Broadband Fund, which aims to bring high-speed internet to 98 per cent of Canadians by 2026. The announcement included an additional $17.6 million specifically for New Brunswick, following an earlier announcement that the province would spend $55 million to provide high-speed internet to more than 27,000 homes. The final item on Trudeau’s itinerary for the day included a private meeting with Higgs.
The province puts all the necessary money into health, says Higgs
Last week, the Progressive Conservative government announced it would raise $70 million less in income thanks to income tax cuts for New Brunswickers earning more than $45,000 a year, although the highest cuts would be for those earning $142,534 to $162,383 a year. Meanwhile, Higgs and other Canadian premiers have criticized Ottawa for not spending enough on Canada Health Transfer payments to help pay for health care costs in their provinces. WATCHES | Trudeau says tax cuts favored by Higgs don’t help people on lower incomes
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau questions Prime Minister Blaine Higgs’ plan to cut taxes on high earners
Trudeau is responding to a question about Higgs seeking more federal money for health care while planning to cut taxes on the wealthy. “Yes, the federal government will be there with more money,” Trudeau said Tuesday. “But we also know that the provinces have a lot of money that they can invest in health care as well.” In a late-afternoon Zoom press conference, Higgs said the issue of health care transfers to Canada was not discussed when he met with Trudeau earlier in the day. Responding to Trudeau’s criticism of the tax break, Higgs said simply spending more money on health care wouldn’t solve every problem, but argued he wants to see Ottawa and New Brunswick share its costs equally. Premier Blaine Higgs said while he believes Ottawa should increase the amount it gives New Brunswick for health care, he doesn’t believe simply spending more money will improve the system. (Zoom/CBC) “We put as much money as necessary into health care and all I’ve said is any service that can deliver better outcomes for the citizens of this province, we’re going to invest in it,” Higgs said. “But if you just say, ‘Give me more money,’ but nothing is going to change, what does that accomplish? And that’s been happening in health care for a long time.” Higgs added that the province’s last budget included a $300-million increase in health care spending and that Ottawa is being asked to increase the share it pays in health care, which is currently about 22 per cent. “It was supposed to be 50-50. All we’re saying is it should go up to at least 35 percent. This is just a case of equity share between the feds and the province, which was always part of the original formula.”
He defends Austin’s appointment
Higgs confirmed that Trudeau mentioned Austin’s appointment to the committee during their meeting earlier in the day, adding that he was “surprised” he did so considering “all the issues we face in our country,” including inflation and high fuel prices. “I’m kind of surprised that assigning a cabinet member to an ad hoc committee would be of national concern,” Higgs said. Higgs had previously defended Austin’s appointment to the committee looking at changes to the Official Languages Act and did so again on Tuesday. Higgs said there was “no debate” that the Official Languages Act was important and that his government had an obligation to uphold it. Public Safety Minister Chris Austin has been named to a committee of Progressive Conservative MLAs looking at potential changes to the province’s Official Languages Act. (Ed Hunter/CBC) “It’s all well established and we’re all fully 100 percent supportive, and that includes Kris Austin, so there’s no debate about any of it. “This is something we all hold dear as residents of this province and any conversation we have is how do we strengthen that capacity? How do we ensure that service deliveries continue to improve? How do we ensure that more people actually and officially speak Languages?” Higgs said other issues he discussed with Trudeau included the possibility for New Brunswick to export liquid natural gas, reducing the use of coal-fired power plants and strategies to reduce carbon emissions.
