Former MP among tenants shocked by rent more than doubling in Kent County apartment building
Notices arrived shortly after expiry of rent cap in New Brunswick
One tenant in Beaurivage, a newly merged municipality in Kent County, says her rent is going up 85 per cent next fall, and her neighbours are getting a hike of 102 per cent.
"It makes no sense. It's not reasonable," said Angela Vautour, who is a former MP for Beauséjour-Petitcodiac.
The provincial government implemented a temporary rent cap last year when some tenants were getting rent hikes as high as 55 per cent. The New Brunswick government used the consumer price index to decide what the cap should be.
Tenants
of this building on Acadie Street in St-Louis-de-Kent say they've been
notified of rent increases of 85 to 102 per cent taking effect later
this year. (Radio-Canada)
In November, Jill Green, the minister responsible for housing, announced that it would not be renewed for 2023.
Instead, if someone complains to the Residential Tenancies Tribunal about an increase in rent, the landlord has to prove the new rent is "reasonable" compared to other units in the same geographical area.
A legislative amendment passed in December removed an exception that used to allow an increase if it was for all units in a building.
Through another amendment, tenants whose rent is going up by more than the consumer price index — now at 6.9 per cent — can ask the tribunal to make the increase gradual, over a period of two or three years, depending on the size of the increase.
'Someone has to speak about it'
Vautour now pays $622 a month for rent and another $350 a month in winter for heat.
In a letter that arrived Jan. 11, she was informed she'll have to pay $1,150 in rent starting next November.
Her neighbours currently pay less than she does and their rent will be more than doubling.
"I know we aren't the only ones," said Vautour. "Someone has to speak out about it."
Vautour was elected as a member of the New Democratic Party in 1997, then crossed the floor to join the now defunct federal Progressive Conservative Party in 1999. She ran for the PCs in 2000 and the Conservative Party in 2004, losing both elections to Liberal Dominic LeBlanc.
Jill
Green, minister responsible for housing, says legislation is in the
works to require landlords to apply when they wish to raise rent beyond a
certain percentage increase. (Shane Fowler/CBC News)
She is now retired and has been living in her apartment for almost six years, a 16-year-old, single-story building with six units.
The building's former owner understood that most of the people living there were on fixed, low incomes, she said.
A new owner, who lives in Western Canada, bought the place last year.
Some of the former tenants, who'd been there for a long time, moved out after the change of ownership because they knew a big rent increase would be coming, said Vautour.
Decision of the building's owner
The landlord set the rent for new tenants at $1,400, she said, but no one around can afford that.
Several tenants have come and gone since, she said, and there is one vacant unit.
The roof of the building has been fixed, she acknowledged, but "nothing justifies the amount he's asking for."
Vautour said she doesn't even know who her landlord is, so CBC News contacted the property manager, Etienne Melanson.
He said he was not in a position to comment on why such a large rent increase was happening at Vautour's building, other than that it was the decision of the building owner, to whom he would forward the request for comment.
He declined to provide the owner's identity, citing privacy concerns.
"Our money is going to British Columbia," said Vautour. "It's not even helping the New Brunswick economy."
Word of the upcoming rent increase has been upsetting, said Vautour, who at 62 is the youngest person in the building. She and her neighbours, one of whom is 74 years old, have decided to challenge the increase through the Residential Tenancies Tribunal.
Vautour doesn't really agree with the way that system has been set up.
"All of the burden is on the tenants," she said.
She'd rather if landlords were required to go to the tribunal to get approval for any increases they want.
There's no guarantee Vautour and her neighbours will be successful, but they feel they have to try this route.
Otherwise, said Vautour, "the majority will be forced to leave."
'Housing is a right'
In her opinion, the problems New Brunswickers are facing with large rent increases can be chalked up to "greed" and a lack of government regulation.
Landlords are out of control, she said.
"One of my neighbours said yesterday, 'I paid all my life to live in New Brunswick. At 74 years old, I have nowhere left to live.'
"That makes no sense when we have a government that could put a law in place to protect us," said Vautour.
"Housing is a right, not a privilege. They need to understand that and they need to bring the cap back to protect us."
In December, the minister responsible for housing and Service New Brunswick, Jill Green, said she planned to introduce amendments to the Residential Tenancies Act in the spring that will force landlords to apply for rent increases above a set limit.
With files from Radio-Canada
The health crisis has been brewing for the last 30 years, across the entire country. Whats you easy solution to this?
BEAUSEJOUR, NOT BAY STREET
By CHRIS MORRIS / The Canadian Press
No matter what campaign buttons were pinned on their lapels, hundreds of New Brunswickers who had never met Angela Vautour pinned their hearts on their sleeves for her.
She personified the election in Atlantic Canada - the unknown little person standing up to political nepotism, privilege and unpopular government policies.
"I made only one election promise," Vautour said Tuesday. "I'm going to represent the people to Ottawa, not the other way around."
Vautour won the New Brunswick riding of Beausejour-Petitcodiac for the NDP by defeating Dominic LeBlanc, the Harvard-educated son of Gov.-Gen. Romeo LeBlanc.
It was social drama at its headiest: the well-groomed scion of an influential Liberal challenged by a woman whose background includes an abusive former husband and a history of seasonal work and unemployment.
If there was one constituency fight that could be singled out to exemplify the remarkable showing of the NDP in Atlantic Canada - and the region's anger with Liberal policies - it was Beausejour.
"People everywhere were rooting for Angela because Beausejour epitomized the David and Goliath situation," said provincial NDP strategist Joan Weinman.
The New Democrats came out of Monday's election with a record eight seats in the 32-seat region, including two in New Brunswick.
Beausejour is in southeast New Brunswick and has been Liberal for more than 70 years. It was where Jean Chretien parachuted in 1990 to return to the House of Commons after becoming Liberal leader.
The other big New Brunswick win for the NDP came further north in the largely francophone riding of Acadie-Bathurst where Defence Minister Doug Young was clobbered by union organizer, Yvon Godin.
"A political career is always something that begins and something that ends," the often abrasive Young said in a gracious thank-you to campaign workers.
Vautour's victory was especially sweet for New Democrats.
Pleasant-faced and plain-spoken, the 37-year-old Vautour looks nothing like a giant killer. She has an easy smile, a kindly manner and the courage of her convictions.
"People felt they weren't being represented anymore by the Liberals," she said. "It was all Bay Street, not Beausejour."
The Liberal undoing in Beausejour began in 1996, when then-Liberal member Fernand Robichaud hotly accused Vautour of being a welfare bum who had moved back to New Brunswick from Prince Edward Island so she could mooch off unemployment.
Although Vautour is from New Brunswick, she lived and worked on the Island for several years. She returned to New Brunswick in 1990 to escape her physically abusive ex-husband who was threatening her and their son, Mathieu, now 11.
Robichaud made his comments during a televised debate on unemployment cuts.
Vautour tearfully and eloquently defended herself and, suddenly, she was in the spotlight and the Grits looked like oafs. "His whole party lost respect because of that encounter," she said.
Dozens of LeBlanc's campaign signs were defaced during the election campaign. On many, the horns and pointed beard of the devil were scribbled on the smiling face of the 29-year-old lawyer from Ottawa.
Vautour said it was Liberal policies that won the day for the NDP - an assessment even Liberals accept.
VAUTOUR SKETCH
Age: 37.
Birthplace: Saint Louis-de-Kent.
Education: Monsignor Marcel Francois Richard High School, Saint Louis-de-Kent; studied to be bilingual stenographer, Community College, Moncton.
Employment: Secretarial jobs with federal departments in N.B. and P.E.I. since 1981. Seasonal employment since 1991 with Parks Canada. Currently, park attendant at Kouchibouguac National Park near Bouctouche.
Marital Status: Married Gilles Cormier, construction worker, in 1996. They have 18-month old daughter, Melissa. Vautour also has 11-year-old son, Mathieu from earlier marriage.
New Democrat MP Vautour moves to the right
The Progressive Conservatives and NDP are now tied for number of seats in the House after MP Angela Vautour announced she is leaving the New Democrats to join the Tories.
Vautour, MP for the New Brunswick riding of Beausejour-Petitcodiac, made the announcement Monday with Tory leader Joe Clark in Bouctouche, N.B.
She said it was a positive step for both her and her constituents, offering her more than just an opportunity to criticize government policies.
She said she'd also have an opportunity to better represent New Brunswickers by working with active riding associations within her province.
A Conservative Party spokesman said earlier that Vautour had become frustrated with the NDP for not moving to the centre quickly enough.
Another Tory member said Vautour was persuaded to make the move after talking to two friends in the Conservative Party.
Vautour acknowledged this at the news conference, saying a few Tory friends and some of her constituents had asked her about joining the caucus.
Vautour met with Clark on Saturday and made her final decision Sunday, when she broke the news to leader Alexa McDonough and the NDP.
In a statement McDonough said she was "profoundly disappointed."
"By taking this decision Ms. Vautour dismissed the trust that people placed in her as a New Democrat," McDonough said.
Clark has welcomed Vautour as a new caucus member and says she will be part of the his party's effort to present a different choice to Canadians in the next election.
Vautour is the second MP this year to switch parties. In August, Conservative MP Bill Matthews left the Tories to join the Liberals. The Newfoundland MP said Atlantic Canada couldn't "afford a far-right agenda."
Vautour's move puts the NDP and the Conservatives both in fourth place in the House, with 19 members each.
Liberals gain three seats in NB
New Brunswick voters are welcoming back the Liberals and soundly rejecting the Canadian Alliance.
The Liberals gained three seats in New Brunswick Monday night, at the expense of the Tories. And despite high hopes in some ridings, the Canadian Alliance was shut out.
Liberals began beating up on the Tories early Monday night. In Beausejour-Petitcodiac, Liberal Dominic Leblanc celebrated his crushing win over Tory MP Angela Vautour.
"When I see the size of the victory tonight it's quite humbling," he said.
In Tobique Mactaquac, Liberal Andy Savoy defeated Tory Gilles Bernier, and the Canadian Alliance candidate who was widely thought to be the favourite.
In Madawaska-Restigouche, Liberal Jeannot Castonguay beat Tory Jean Dube.
Despite the losses in this province, Elsie Wayne put on a brave face. Wayne was re-elected in Saint John Monday night, one of just three Tory MPs left in the province. "We're going to make sure we make this government accountable to the people of Canada," she said.
In Acadie-Bathurst, the NDP's Yvon Godin hung on, defeating Liberal hopeful Bernard Theriault and Alliance candidate Jean Gauvin.
"The message we need to send to government: it's time that they start to look after the people," said Godin.
Godin will be the lone New Democrat representing New Brunswick in Ottawa.
In Fredericton, NDP candidate Michael Dunn had hoped to join Godin, but lost to Liberal Andy Scott.
Dunn admits many New Democrats voted Liberal to keep the Alliance out of Atlantic Canada and he says he's okay with that.
"Atlantic Canada can't endorse that party and I'm proud of Atlantic Canadians for having done what they've done," he said.
Moncton tenants dodge 94% rent increase shortly after N.B. rent cap expires
Landlord still seeking increase of 55 per cent
If implemented, it would have been a 94 per cent increase.
"My partner and I looked at it and we were like, this can't be legal," said Wallace.
"We were shocked."
This week Wallace's landlord, Moncton developer Stephen Gallant, rescinded the increase and in an interview called it poor judgment on his part. He still plans to raise rent on Wallace's unit to $1,395, a 55 per cent increase.
Stephen
Gallant issued rent-increase notices to tenants of his mixed-use
Robinson Street building, including one at 94 per cent. This week he
rescinded the notices and apologized, but is still asking for
double-digit increases in most cases. (Michel Nogue/Radio-Canada)
He and Wallace disagree on whether it is a one or two-bedroom unit, but in Gallant's view a 94 per cent increase would fairly bring Wallace's rent up to market rates in Moncton. Still, he said he accepts that 94 per cent was too much to impose at once.
"In business you don't always make the right decision," said Gallant.
The notice to Wallace, and notices for differing amounts to other tenants in his downtown Moncton building that he also rescinded, signal the start of what could be a tumultuous year for renters in the province.
It's cutthroat out there
- Leigh Johnson, Moncton tenant
On Jan. 1, New Brunswick ended a one-year hard cap of 3.8 per cent on rent increases, implemented to protect tenants from excessive price spikes.
Instead, the province is counting on the marketplace, responsible landlords, new rules and more powers for government tenancy officers to help keep rent increases fair.
But with inflation high and vacancy rates low, what landlords will be asking for, and what the province will accept as being fair if tenants object, is not entirely clear.
Leigh Johnson is Wallace's neighbour in the same building and is facing that dilemma. She initially received a rent increase notice from Gallant of 41 per cent — from $800 per month to $1,125.
Leigh
Johnson, left, and her sister Bailey, each rent an apartment in the
same Robinson Street building. They were both looking to move after
getting 40 per cent rent-increase notices, but are rethinking that after
the increases were cut in half. (Vanessa Blanch/CBC)
"It really shook me," said Johnson, who works in the service industry.
"We're just going to keep seeing prices go up and up, and that to me is very scary. This is just another example, like 'oh my gosh am I going to be homeless next month.'"
Johnson immediately contacted the province's Residential Tenancies Tribunal to object. She said no one got back to her on that, but on Tuesday, Gallant retracted the $325 rent increase on his own, apologized in person for issuing it and replaced it with a rent hike of $175 to take effect next summer.
Johnson is happy with the improvement, but it's still a 22 per cent increase and she is not entirely sure how to react to that.
New rules allow provincial tenancy officers the discretion to require a landlord to spread an increase over two years if it is double the rate of inflation and over three years if it is triple inflation or more.
Jill
Green, the minister responsible for housing, announced in November New
Brunswick was ending its one-year experiment with hard rent-cap
protections for tenants. Instead the province adopted new rules about
how and when increases can occur and how tenants can object. (Shane Fowler/CBC News)
But there can be exceptions. If a new, higher rent will still be lower than what other similar apartments in the area rent for, a large increase can be allowed to proceed all at once.
A brief look at Moncton's current rental market convinced Johnson a 22 per cent increase may still leave her paying less than others in that city. That, and the non-response she got from her initial complaint to the tenancies tribunal has her considering accepting the new amount without a fight.
"It's cutthroat out there," Johnson says about renting in Moncton.
Melanie Wallace has a similar decision to make about whether to accept or dispute her 53 per cent rent increase. She said being a renter has become "scary and uncertain" in the last couple of years, especially for those with limited incomes.
Tribunal 'overworked' says advocate
Jael Duarte is a lawyer with the New Brunswick Coalition for Tenants Rights.
She said she isn't surprised by the size of the rent increases being faced by Wallace and Johnson and fears a wave of others like them in the wake of the rent cap ending.
And she has doubts the tenancies tribunal has the resources required to properly police a large number.
"They are overworked at the tribunal," said Duarte.
New
Brunswick Coalition for Tenants Rights lawyer Jael Duarte expects a
large number of tenants to be hit with major rent hikes in 2023. (N.B. Tenants Rights Coalition)
"They are already responding slower than before."
Figures do show applications to the Residential Tenancies Tribunal for help with a rent increase jumped to 44 in December. That's up 29 per cent from November when the end of the rent cap was first announced.
But Duarte expects that number will grow.
Under new rules, landlords must give six months' notice of a rent increase and tenants have 60 days to ask the tenancies tribunal for a review, both changes the province says will help tenants in the absence of the rent cap.
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N.B. plan on housing crisis to come by June, while opponents say action needed now
'It's a big body of work. And we're getting to work,' says Bruce Fitch
Bruce Fitch says his government has been reviewing the 50-page report that civil servants recently released, which lays out challenges renters are currently facing, along with calling for "better protections against unreasonable rent increases."
"It was 90 days it's been given to government, and I've been tasked with the distinction of pulling the various departments that are impacted," said Fitch, speaking as part of the CBC Political Panel.
"It's a big body of work. And we're getting to work, and I hope to respond within the end of the month, by the end of the month on the go-forward from the government."
Speaking to reporters following the report's release, Executive Council clerk Cheryl Hansen said despite the report calling for better protection for tenants against unreasonable rent increases, it's not calling for "across the board" rent controls.
Speaking on the panel, Shediac Bay-Dieppe Liberal MLA Robert Gauvin criticized the report as not doing anything more than offering an overview of a problem that's already known to exist.
He said his party already has a solution, and it plans to introduce a bill in the legislature that would see the amount of any rent increase not exceed the percentage change in the consumer price index in New Brunswick.
Robert
Gauvin, Liberal MLA for Shediac Bay-Dieppe, says he'd like to see rent
control that would tie rent increases to no more than the percentage
change in the consumer price index. (Ed Hunter/CBC)
"And if [landlords] want to raise the price after that, they can go and plead their case in that bill that we have," he said.
"And in this, we aren't reinventing the wheel. Here is something that works well in other provinces and should work well here in New Brunswick."
Green Leader David Coon also said the government needs to act immediately based on the findings of the report, adding he plans to have a second reading of his bill in the legislature next week, which calls for rent control.
Green
Party leader David Coon said he'd like to see rent control that
prevents landlords from imposing substantial hikes in tenants' rents
without justification. (Jacques Poitras/CBC News file photo)
He said his bill would ensure landlords can't raise rents more than once in a year, and "ensure that unacceptable rent increases do not occur by providing for a mechanism to control those rents while enabling landlords to apply for increases beyond that, if they can be justified to the residential tenancy folks."
Target the double tax, says Austin
Also speaking on the panel, People's Alliance Leader Kris Austin said he's against rent control, as he fears it could discourage developers from creating more housing.
"You've already got developers that are refusing to build affordable housing in New Brunswick because they can't make enough profit because of the double tax. So you add rent controls onto that, they're even less likely to build," he said.
People’s
Alliance Leader Kris Austin says he's against rent control, but would
like to see the province eliminate the so-called 'double tax.' (CBC News)
Instead, he said he wants the government to eliminate the so-called "double tax," which levies a provincial tax on top of the municipal tax for buildings like rental properties and cottages.
"Developers aren't paying the double tax and landlords [aren't] paying the double tax. Tenants are paying for it because they're passing it on.
"But yet, in a 50-page review that was put forward here by government, the double tax got three lines out of a 50-page review. And you know, to me, it's just disingenuous because that is the real crux of the issue."
With files from CBC's Political Panel
" assessed value of the building." ....
Cardy says other ministers frustrated with Higgs should quit, too
Former minister to sit as Independent after clash with premier, expulsion from caucus
Former education minister Dominic Cardy says he hopes other frustrated members of the Progressive Conservative cabinet will consider quitting like he did.
Cardy said he was not the only minister who had a problem with Premier Blaine Higgs's leadership style.
"I know that this is certainly the experience of other folks in cabinet, in other departments," Cardy said on Information Morning Fredericton.
"There is simply pressure based on what the premier is feeling on that day, standing in the way of getting what he wants done in government."
In a subsequent interview Friday, Cardy said he hopes those ministers will think about how to register their objections.
"All you really have in politics in the end is you've won a seat, you're there, you get to make decisions. You have to decide where your values and principles align with the direction that you've been given," he said.
"If you feel you're being pushed over the lines, I hope that others would take the steps that they think are appropriate."
Cardy made the comments Friday morning before the PC caucus met and voted to expel him. That means he'll now sit as an independent member of the legislature.
"As a group we found your conduct and your actions most notably over the last few days to be inexcusable," Higgs said in a letter to Cardy released to the news media.
(PDF 34KB)
(Text 34KB)CBC is not responsible for 3rd party content
Cardy resigned Thursday with a scathing two-page letter to Higgs that accused him of meddling in decisions, ignoring data and evidence, and impulsive decision-making he compared to "a wrecking ball."
He said the premier replaced elected health authority boards with appointed trustees in July without consulting his cabinet or caucus.
Higgs has taken the same approach in deciding to rush the implementation of a recommendation to eliminate French immersion by next September, Cardy said.
"You have a premier who often talks about intentionally creating chaos as a way to catalyze change. That may work in some contexts in the private sector but it can be pretty disastrous in the public sector."
Cardy says some cabinet members agree with him. (Jacques Poitras/CBC)
Higgs acknowledged Thursday he was looking for quick action on those issues.
He told reporters that he informed Cardy in a meeting he would be shuffling him out of cabinet and that Cardy already had a resignation letter drafted.
But Cardy disputed that version of events Friday morning, saying he took the initiative to resign in his meeting with the premier.
"I said 'I think it's time for us to part ways,'" Cardy said.
Higgs's letter to Cardy expelling him from the PC caucus called the letter "vindictive and misleading."
The former minister, a former provincial NDP leader first elected as a Progressive Conservative MLA in 2018, confirmed Higgs's assertion that he has threatened to resign from cabinet several times before.
Each time, Cardy said, he managed to convince the premier and his cabinet colleagues "to move in my direction" enough to stay in cabinet.
He said Friday before the caucus vote to expel him that he had no plans to resign his seat and would remain an MLA and vote in a way consistent with the party's philosophy.
Higgs said Thursday he will ask the PC caucus at the legislature to expel Cardy, which would force him to sit as an independent MLA.
Cardy said he wants the chance to make his case for staying to the caucus and hopes any vote on expelling him will be by secret ballot.
"It is usually not the premier's prerogative to make those calls," he said.
Liberal Leader Susan Holt says there's no room for Cardy in her party. (Jacques Poitras/CBC)
Expelled or not, he said he has no plans to resign his seat before the next election and would support the Higgs government's legislation that conforms to its election commitments.
"I was elected as a PC MLA for Fredericton West-Hanwell and I'm going to continue to do my job based on that," Cardy said.
"I will continue to sit and represent the values and the platform that I was elected to implement and vote accordingly. I've got no plans on going anywhere."
He said he would not run for the PC leadership if Higgs retires and has no interest in running for the federal Conservatives.
He also ruled out joining the Liberal or Green caucuses, saying he opposes floor-crossing on principle.
Liberal Leader Susan Holt tweeted Friday morning that her party wouldn't welcome Cardy even if he were interested.
"We discussed it as a caucus and agreed it was not something we will pursue," she said.
David
Coon, Green Party leader, says if sitting MLAs want to join the Greens,
they would have to resign and run as Green candidates in a byelection. (Mrinali Anchan/CBC)
And Green Party Leader David Coon said the only way a sitting MLA could join the Greens would be to resign and run as a Green candidate in a byelection.
Whatever his status in the legislature, Cardy said now that he is free of the requirement for cabinet solidarity, he'll continue to raise his concerns about Higgs.
"Clearly there's a much broader world outside the four walls of that building, and as an elected official, it's my job to talk about public policy and issues and my perspective on them," he said.
"MLAs are elected to use their judgment to analyze the issues of the day and I'm going to continue to do that in my new role the same way I did in my old role."
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https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/new-brunswick-firsts-higgs-tax-first-nations-1.6713596
We're No. 1? The good, the bad and the debatable
From only bilingual province to highest rent hikes: A few places where N.B. stands out
New Brunswick is unique in Canada, according to Premier Blaine Higgs, in having tax-revenue-sharing agreements with First Nations.
He argues that's one of the reasons the deals should not be renewed when some expire this month and others at the end of the year.
So is the province's unique stance a good argument for stopping it?
That question suggests other ways New Brunswick is a national standout, some of which have drawn varying degrees of pride and concern from the Higgs government.
New Brunswick is the only province in Canada that:
Is officially bilingual.
The Official Languages Act was adopted in 1969 (a few months ahead of the federal government adopting the national version). It set out that English and French are the two official languages of New Brunswick and recognized the fundamental right of New Brunswickers to receive services in the official language of their choice from the provincial government.
The
government of former premier Louis J. Robichaud passed the New
Brunswick Official Languages Act in 1969. (New Brunswick Provincial
Archives P57\71)
Doesn't cover abortions in private clinics.
In New Brunswick, surgical abortions are covered by Medicare only if they're performed in a hospital. Abortion services, however, are only performed at three hospitals — one in Bathurst and two in Moncton. Those performed at a private clinic, such as the former Clinic 554 in Fredericton, would not be covered.
For years, this private clinic in Fredericton struggled to received
aborton funding from the provincial government. (Jon Collicott/CBC)
Oversees hospitals and nursing homes from separate departments.
It used to be that Health and Social Development were one big department that spent about half the entire provincial budget. In those days, says health consultant Ken McGeorge, the civil servants responsible for hospitals and long-term care were on the same office floor and would collaborate every day.
Meanwhile, the health research chair in aging at St. Thomas University isn't sure the separation matters, "given how poor nursing homes are elsewhere in Canada." More relevant to the quality of care, said Albert Banerjee, is being non-profit and able to secure additional funding for creative endeavours and additional staffing.
New Brunswick was the first province in Canada to:
Begin relaxing restrictions put in place to control the spread of COVID-19.
After a little over a month of being largely forced to stay home with immediate family, two-household bubbles were introduced on April 24, 2020.
On
April 24, 2020, the two-household bubble was announced during the first
weeks of the COVID pandemic. From the left, former Liberal leader Kevin
Vickers, former People's Alliance leader Kris Austin, Dr. Jennifer
Russell, the chief medical officer of health, David Coon, Green Party
leader and Blaine Higgs, premier. (CBC News)
Introduce community planning legislation.
An Act Relating to Town Planning was enacted in New Brunswick in 1912, dealing with the layout of streets, buildings, open spaces and the provision of water, sewer and lighting.
Build an asylum for the mentally ill.
The "roots of Canada's mental health care" can be found in Saint John, writes UNB archivist Leah Grandy in Atlantic Loyalist Connections. An asylum for the mentally ill was built at the corner of Wentworth and Leinster streets in 1835. It was meant to use "more humane methods' of dealing with mental illness.
New Brunswick was the first province in Canda to build an asylum for the mentally ill. (Provincial Archives Item P514\4)
Legislate inclusion for students with a disability.
Changes to the Schools Act were passed in 1986. "It was remarkably progressive," said Donna Gates of Inclusion N.B., "and put New Brunswick ahead of any other province in Canada, and among leaders in the world."
Start an Extra-Mural health-care program.
For a long time it was the "go-to" province for other jurisdictions developing their own programs, said Claire Johnson, an assistant professor of health management at the University of Moncton.
New Brunswick ranks highest in:
Rent increases.
Average rents in the province were up 7.9 per cent over the last 12 months ending in October, according to Statistics Canada. That was significantly above the average national rent increase of 4.7 per cent over the same period, and second highest among provinces behind Prince Edward Island.
Tenants
of this downtown Moncton building were hit with substantial rent
increase notices over the New Year holiday of 94 per cent. The
building's owner has since walked back such a large hike. (Pierre Fournier/CBC)
Diabetes rates.
According to Diabetes Canada, 35 per cent of New Brunswickers live with diabetes or pre-diabetes; 19 per cent are diagnosed cases of Types 1 and 2. Those rates tie with Newfoundland and Labrador above any other province.
Older population.
The proportion of the population aged 65 years or older in New Brunswick was 22.8 per cent in 2021, according to Statistics Canada. That was second only to Newfoundland and Labrador at 23.6 per cent, and it has big implications for the labour supply.
New Brunswick is at the top when it comes to having an aging population. (Shutterstock)
Spending restraint.
A study by the Fraser Institute last fall ranked Higgs number one among the premiers for fiscal management, based on keeping the pace of growth in government spending below the rate of economic growth, declining debt as a share of the economy and reduced taxes in last year's budget.
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