Nova Scotia Liberal Fred Tilley quits to join governing Progressive Conservatives

FREDERICTON – Susan Holt says it hasn’t sunk in yet that she is New Brunswick’s premier-designate.

The day after her Liberal Party won a convincing majority in Monday’s provincial election, Holt says she feels grateful for the opportunity to serve, and that she recognizes the seriousness of the responsibility — and the amount of work ahead.

“There is a lot of big challenges that need to be tackled, and now it’s on me and my team to deliver and to help make lives better for New Brunswickers,” Holt said in an interview.

Winning 31 of 49 seats, the Liberals denied a third term in office for Blaine Higgs’s Progressive Conservatives, who won 16 seats. The Green Party finished with two.

Now comes the hard part.

One of the party’s central election promises is to open 30 health-care clinics across the province over the next four years. It’ll be sometime next year before the first clinic opens, she said, under the Liberal model of “collaborative care” that puts nurses, doctors, pharmacists and other health-care workers under one roof, operating from at least 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

“It’s going to be in 2025 because there are some that are on the verge of happening, or are close to happening under the old model that the previous government was using,” Holt said.

“We believe we can take some of that work and transform the model within …. Vitalité and Horizon (health networks) are really keen to advance this.”

Other promises that New Brunswickers can expect to see realized next year include cheaper electricity bills — Holt’s party pledged to remove the provincial sales tax on power, which she said will reduce bills by 10 per cent. That should happen by April, she said.

One of her first tasks will be to send a letter to the Canada Revenue Agency to remove the provincial sales tax on electricity. It takes about 120 days for the agency to make the change, which can be implemented the following quarter, in time for April 1, she said.

She said she would “like to challenge” that waiting period, however, to ensure people have lower bills during the coldest time of the year in December, January and February. “We’re going to find out whether there’s any wiggle room with Canada Revenue Agency and the 120 days and the quarterly adjustment.”

Another election promise is to implement a three per cent cap on rent increases. Holt said she is aiming for the cap to be in place by Feb. 1 but will consult with the civil service to see whether that can be done sooner. “We give landlords time to adjust to changes like this … but we want to be able to put it in place quickly.”

Jamie Gillies, a political science professor at St. Thomas University, called Holt the “change premier,” adding she can expect a honeymoon period, but not a long one.

“I think on a number of files, particularly health care, that is going to be something that is going to take some time. And so the honeymoon period will last, but then it will end quite quickly.”

One of the ways to make sure she delivers on her promise to improve health care would be to collaborate with researchers, physicians and nurses, especially in rural areas, he said.

But expectation on health care will have to be tempered because that kind of change doesn’t happen overnight, Gillies said. “Trying to diminish expectations a little bit is, I think, going to be part of that.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2024.

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HALIFAX – A man who died trying to save three people trapped by floodwaters is among eight Nova Scotians awarded the province’s Medal of Bravery.

On July 22, 2023, Nicholas Holland, 52, and three others were driving through heavy rainfall near Brooklyn, N.S., when their vehicle was swept off Highway 14 and filled with water.

Holland, who was from Ellershouse, N.S., freed the people trapped inside, but he and 14-year-old Terri-Lynn Keddy did not survive the ordeal.

The bravery award for Holland was presented posthumously by Premier Tim Houston during a ceremony in Halifax.

Halifax firefighters Kevin Corkum and Conor Scott were also recognized for rescuing a man from his home on May 28, 2023, as an intense wildfire raced across Hammonds Plains and Upper Tantallon.

As well, 14-year-old Alexander Munroe of Windsor Junction, N.S., won an award for defending his mother and two younger brothers from a dog that attacked them on March 6, 2023.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2024.

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LONGUEUIL, Que. – A Montreal suburb began an operation on Tuesday to kill white-tailed deer in one of its local parks after years of legal battles with activists seeking to save the animals.

A spokesman for the City of Longueuil confirmed that Michel-Chartrand park is closed to the public while hunters armed with air rifles reduce the size of the herd.

“The city confirms that the deer overpopulation control operation is currently underway,” Raphaël Larocque-Cyr wrote in an email. “In order to ensure safety and ensure the smooth running of the operation, Michel-Chartrand Park is closed until further notice.”

The city just south of Montreal has been trying to carry out a cull since 2020, but it faced a strong backlash and legal challenges from animal rights groups over the fate of the deer. Earlier this month the administration said it had received a provincial environment department permit to proceed with the operation, the final step needed to begin the cull. The meat from the deer is expected to be distributed to community organizations.

The city has repeatedly said the population of white-tailed deer has grown far beyond what the space can support, damaging the park’s ecosystem and contributing to an increased risk of road accidents and Lyme disease. As well, city hall says the cull is needed to restore “ecological equilibrium” to the park as the number of white-tailed deer there has tripled in recent years — from 32 in 2017 to 114 as of this year. It has previously said the park can support around 15 deer.

Authorities said the number of deer found dead in the park has risen, from 28 in 2021 to 52 in 2023.

The announcement of the planned cull in 2020 led to a petition, protests, and even threats against the city’s then-mayor.

Animal rights activists lobbied for the city to relocate the excess deer to a refuge rather than killing them, but a veterinary ethics committee deemed the strategy unsafe for deer and humans alike. Other options, including sterilization or birth control, were also rejected.

Some groups challenged the plan in court, but their efforts were ultimately rejected last year by Quebec’s Court of Appeal, which found the city was within its rights to authorize the cull. Last year, city officials said they were hopeful the cull would be a one-time operation, and that they would be able to employ different methods to control the population once the herd is reduced to a manageable size.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2024.

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