Thursday, November 09, 2006

Prudent policy

This is a good move which I wholeheartedly support.

12 comments:

Brent said...

Hear, hear. It's something I have long supported also, and something that previous governments missed the boat on.

One of government's roles is to lead and inspire by example. This is a perfect case, and the new government is to be commended for taking this action.

Anonymous said...

What is this changing vehicles every two years with new ones. Will that not cost too much to taxpayers.

nbpolitico said...

Anon - I think what is happening is not what you describe, but that other vehicles in the fleet that are inefficient will be replaced over the next two years.

Anonymous said...

NBpolitico it was in the Telegraph that they want to replace vehicles every two years to keep up with technology and same was reported on CTV. I doubt it that I misunderstood.

Anonymous said...

Actually, if you read the news release closely it says that vehicles can be no more than two years old, not that they have to be replaced every two years:

http://www.gnb.ca/cnb/news/tran/2006e1379tr.htm

Anonymous said...

Sorry! It was in the Gleaner editorial. Here is the quote:

.."Under the new policy, though, executive vehicles must be replaced every two years to ensure they're equipped with the latest technology. We wonder if the expense involved with that purchasing frequency is really necessary..."

nbpolitico said...

Well if the Gleaner is correct then I stand corrected. My read of the release however is that they can't buy used cars (which they can now) not that they will have to perpetually replace their vehicles.

Anonymous said...

NBpolitico it was repeated on CTV news.

scott said...

Sorry Guys,

Not only is it a waste to taxpayers dollars to buy new vehicles every two years, this announcement is thin on policy and nothing more than a public relations ploy. I agree with Brent that government needs to "lead and inspire by example", but what if PM Harper announced that he was going to ban SUVs from his caucus while doing nothing further on the file. Last time I looked, the election was over in September and it is now almost December and this Liberal government is already in stall mode. Shame.

If you want a good example of what we should be doing here, then go read my article from the Telegraph Journal a few months back and you will see that New Brunswick still lags well behind Ontario, Quebec and the prairies when it comes to ethanol production. In the case of Ontario, "Premier McGuinty's renewable fuel plan will reduce carbon gas emissions by 993,000 tonnes per year starting in 2007." This was three years ago when that government began to make huge strides and we haven't even touched on the subject yet.

If you think that the problem will be solved by a few caucus members not driving SUV's, then you should rethink your strategy. This is a stunt that does nothing to reduce overall greenhouse gases [GHG] in NB. Period. We need a comprehensive plan folks, this ban by the Liberals is nothing more than an elementary school recess challenge.

nbpolitico said...

scott, I disagree. This is not just the cabinet but also the entire government fleet (very substantial) will be effected. The government has also pledged to eliminate the HST from hybrids which it obviously can't do until it faces the House.

The government has only been in office for 6 weeks as of tomorrow, the ministers are probably just now starting to get a handle on their files. You can't expect them to be moving heaven and earth!

Anonymous said...

It was in the Gleaner! Then it must be correct.... LOL!

They ran a correction. The vehicles do not have to be replaced every two years.

Anonymous said...

CTV reported the same