I will skim through and post some analysis shortly.
UPDATE
Having looked through the platform, here are my thoughts broken down into various areas I have classified in four categories.
Good old ideas
- A renewed pledge to make the New Brunswick Investment Management (crown) Corporation invest a modest portion of their monies in New Brunswick
- More money for tourism
- Civics education in our schools
- Bring back the New Brunswick Games
- Improve wages for day care workers and establish a centre of excellence to provide innovations and top quality day care
- Develop more energy generation capacity with an eye on exporting power for top dollars
- More nuclear power!!!!!
- Have the premier take the lead on physician recruitment
- Incentives for doctors to set up shop in New Brunswick
- Massive road improvements and construction
- Bring in a minimum of 5000 immigrants per year by 2015 coordinated by a "Population Growth Secretariat"
- Combining Agriculture & Aquaculture the latter having more in common with farming than fishing
- Return standardized testing to measure results
- A minimum of 150 minutes/week physical activity in schools
- $2000/home for energy conserving retrofits
- Involve local Regional Health Authority reps on a new province-wide New Brunswick Health Council
- Create a "Minimum Wage Board" to advise government on how to set the rate
- A fixed calendar for the legislature including fall and spring sittings
- Collaborate with other Atlantic provinces on energy and transportation
- A cabinet committee on forestry modernization
- Creating separate departments for 1) Agriculture & Aquacultrue; 2) Fisheries
- A royal commission on post-secondary education
- Appoint a minister responsible for Seniors' Issues
- Appoint a minister responsible for Housing
- A $2000 grant to first-year university students
- Satelite heart lab in Moncton by 2008
Posts
11 comments:
"Satelite heart lab in Moncton by 2008" What does that mean?
It means they will commit to have a satelite heart cathaterization (sp?) lab open in Moncton by 2008.
There was some controversy last year as the PCs opened an additional heart lab in Saint John (only place where there is one) and this was very unpopular in Moncton. However, the experts said that a lab in Moncton would be bad for care.
I agree. Bad idea. For a heart lab to succeed you need all the other supporting services which are currently available in Saint John only.
I dont agree with nuclear power, feel too much money been spent already, its a dead horse also dont see the the need for more cushy minister positions nor commisions for post sec education The bad ideas are just bribes for more votes. Am not sure if this liberal platform is what nbers want. I do appreciate Grahams honesty compared to lords... Oh well keep up the good work
Debate was a yawn just like the overall campaign so far. Shawn Graham had a slight edge over Lord and Brewer.
"..auto insurance, Orimulsion, and low scores on tests".
Alflucky, Those issues are quite important to many NBers plus he did talk about healthcare. Lord was a total sleeper and a broken record in every since of the word. Brewer was too busy reading from her notes but she took some good swipes at Bernard Lord.
All in all not very exciting debate and no knock out punch but winner Shawn Graham with slight edge.
Lemme rephrase that:
The immigration goals are laudable (although the target of 5,000/year is ambitious given current numbers!) but the "Population Secretariat" sounds like its mandate would be identical to the current, recently-created "Immigration and Repatriation Secretariat".
A name change would merely mean $$$ for reprinting stationery and such.
It would be better keep I&R and just set more ambitious goals (and a wider net - a new emphasis on recruiting skilled tradespeople - carpenters, plumbers, etc. - as immigrants, in spite of our crying need for them. Currently the focus seems to be on Business Class.)
brian - my typo... suppose to be minutes. Good eye, I'll fix it.
I hafta agree with anon 9.21AM, while the debate was a sleeper - Graham did have a slight edge on orimulsion, auto-insurance and low test scores.
Reading stuff off paper simply means you haven't had time to rehearse. I'd prefer a politician like that anyday. To say where the government is going wrong is not negative campaigning, if you want to see that, you should get satellite and watch state races down south. You definitely won't call this negative campaigning again! Not to be offputting, but thats usually a sign of a weaker argument to state that opponents shouldn't be talking about certain themes.
Graham said plenty about their plans, and referred frequently to their platform which was just released. If you want something positive then just take a gander at it.
As I've often said, nuclear power is just to keep the Fredericton industry in business. Canadian reactors are of such poor quality there are no international clients anymore (except poor countries who are bribed into buying in exchange for admittance into trade arenas), and as PEI has proven, wind power is now cheaper than nuclear and could easily satisfy the needs of New Brunswick.
The whole point to nuclear is to be able to 'sell it', but what happens when somebody sells it cheaper? Are we going to have "stop conserving" advertisements?
Or of course it simply means that New Brunswick will take all the risks and subsidize other people's energy. Maine or Nova Scotia are not going to pay more for nuclear power if they can get it elsewhere, and power costs do not cover construction, storage and take down costs.
The one thing nobody is commenting on is the 'fair market price' for small woodlot owners. This is something they've been calling for, because the cheap government wood will put most of them out of business. Some details would be nice, and some comments from that industry would be interesting. There are 40,000 small woodlot owners and their incomes support their families and a good part of their locality, that's definitely an issue that THEY will be excited about. I'm still not sure what kind of issues people are expecting to be 'exciting'.
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