FREDERICTON — One week into the first election campaign in Canada since the COVID-19 pandemic, the big issue is how the next New Brunswick government will manage the province’s economy through the crisis and after it.
During past election campaigns, parties fought over polarizing issues that drew public outcry such as fracking or skyrocketing auto insurance rates. But this time, it’s all about rebuilding the COVID-ravaged economy, according to J.P. Lewis, political science professor at the University of New Brunswick.
“We have the pandemic,” Lewis said in an interview Monday. “Especially with the two more competitive parties, there could be two very distinct ways to how they are going to govern the next few years in light of a recession and in light of government revenues down.”
Lewis said Progressive Conservative Leader Blaine Higgs is promising stability and to keep government spending under control. Liberal Leader Kevin Vickers, Lewis said, believes more spending is needed to stimulate the economy.
Lewis described the first week of the campaign as “sleepy” and said he was looking forward to seeing some polling numbers.
On the campaign trail Monday, Vickers said a Liberal government would leverage more money from the federal government to pay for infrastructure projects across the province.
During a stop in Riverview, N.B., he said the infrastructure cutbacks imposed by Higgs’ Tory government could contract the province’s economy.
Vickers said Ottawa in 2018 set aside $673 million over 10 years for projects across New Brunswick, but 78 per cent of those funds remain unallocated.
“My government will not leave hundreds of millions of dollars on the table when they are needed by New Brunswick business people and our citizens,” Vickers said. “We have to invest to get our economy going.”
Vickers would not say how much he planned to spend, but said it would be “sufficient to ensure our economy is growing and the people of New Brunswick have hope and opportunity.”
Higgs responded Monday by saying he wants federal funding, but needs flexibility on how to spend the money.
“I just don’t want federal dollars prescribing to me that I must spend taxpayer dollars on something that we don’t need,” he said.
Higgs said he knows New Brunswick needs improved services and repaired highways. But, he continued, the province also needs a clear, financially sustainable path forward.
On a campaign stop outside St. Joseph’s Hospital in Saint John, Higgs promised to reduce wait times for hip replacement and knee replacement surgeries province-wide if he’s re-elected.
The goal, he said, is to reduce wait times for those surgeries by 50 per cent by March 2021.
“We’re not just saying we’re going to throw money at it,” Higgs told reporters. “We’re going to organize it differently and we’re going to work with people who know how to make it happen, to make it happen.”
Higgs said the health system needs to increase capacity, improve scheduling and leverage technology.
“By March 31, 2022, we’ll ensure that 85 per cent of hip replacement surgeries and 75 per cent of knee replacement surgeries will be done within the 182-day national standard,” he said.
Green leader David Coon said Monday a Green government would redesign senior care in the province.
Speaking at a seniors home in Fredericton, Coon said he would allow residents in nursing and special care homes to name a family caregiver to their care team.
He also called on the chief electoral officer to reserve the first two hours of polling days for seniors and other vulnerable people so they can vote in a safer environment.
“This will help reduce the stress and anxiety they may face having to choose to vote in person in a provincial election during a pandemic,” Coon said.
People’s Alliance leader Kris Austin said Monday his party is pushing for greater use of remote health care.
Austin said in a news release that New Brunswickers have come to count on the medical services provided by doctors through virtual visits via video conferencing services.
“Virtual care is health care reimagined,” he said. “Virtual Care can take mental health and addiction services out of our ERs and put them in our homes, school and work.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 24, 2020.
OTTAWA – Canada’s unemployment rate held steady at 6.5 per cent last month as hiring remained weak across the economy.
Statistics Canada’s labour force survey on Friday said employment rose by a modest 15,000 jobs in October.
Business, building and support services saw the largest gain in employment.
Meanwhile, finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing experienced the largest decline.
Many economists see weakness in the job market continuing in the short term, before the Bank of Canada’s interest rate cuts spark a rebound in economic growth next year.
Despite ongoing softness in the labour market, however, strong wage growth has raged on in Canada. Average hourly wages in October grew 4.9 per cent from a year ago, reaching $35.76.
Friday’s report also shed some light on the financial health of households.
According to the agency, 28.8 per cent of Canadians aged 15 or older were living in a household that had difficulty meeting financial needs – like food and housing – in the previous four weeks.
That was down from 33.1 per cent in October 2023 and 35.5 per cent in October 2022, but still above the 20.4 per cent figure recorded in October 2020.
People living in a rented home were more likely to report difficulty meeting financial needs, with nearly four in 10 reporting that was the case.
That compares with just under a quarter of those living in an owned home by a household member.
Immigrants were also more likely to report facing financial strain last month, with about four out of 10 immigrants who landed in the last year doing so.
That compares with about three in 10 more established immigrants and one in four of people born in Canada.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
The Canadian Institute for Health Information says health-care spending in Canada is projected to reach a new high in 2024.
The annual report released Thursday says total health spending is expected to hit $372 billion, or $9,054 per Canadian.
CIHI’s national analysis predicts expenditures will rise by 5.7 per cent in 2024, compared to 4.5 per cent in 2023 and 1.7 per cent in 2022.
This year’s health spending is estimated to represent 12.4 per cent of Canada’s gross domestic product. Excluding two years of the pandemic, it would be the highest ratio in the country’s history.
While it’s not unusual for health expenditures to outpace economic growth, the report says this could be the case for the next several years due to Canada’s growing population and its aging demographic.
Canada’s per capita spending on health care in 2022 was among the highest in the world, but still less than countries such as the United States and Sweden.
The report notes that the Canadian dental and pharmacare plans could push health-care spending even further as more people who previously couldn’t afford these services start using them.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
As Canadians wake up to news that Donald Trump will return to the White House, the president-elect’s protectionist stance is casting a spotlight on what effect his second term will have on Canada-U.S. economic ties.
Some Canadian business leaders have expressed worry over Trump’s promise to introduce a universal 10 per cent tariff on all American imports.
A Canadian Chamber of Commerce report released last month suggested those tariffs would shrink the Canadian economy, resulting in around $30 billion per year in economic costs.
More than 77 per cent of Canadian exports go to the U.S.
Canada’s manufacturing sector faces the biggest risk should Trump push forward on imposing broad tariffs, said Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters president and CEO Dennis Darby. He said the sector is the “most trade-exposed” within Canada.
“It’s in the U.S.’s best interest, it’s in our best interest, but most importantly for consumers across North America, that we’re able to trade goods, materials, ingredients, as we have under the trade agreements,” Darby said in an interview.
“It’s a more complex or complicated outcome than it would have been with the Democrats, but we’ve had to deal with this before and we’re going to do our best to deal with it again.”
American economists have also warned Trump’s plan could cause inflation and possibly a recession, which could have ripple effects in Canada.
It’s consumers who will ultimately feel the burden of any inflationary effect caused by broad tariffs, said Darby.
“A tariff tends to raise costs, and it ultimately raises prices, so that’s something that we have to be prepared for,” he said.
“It could tilt production mandates. A tariff makes goods more expensive, but on the same token, it also will make inputs for the U.S. more expensive.”
A report last month by TD economist Marc Ercolao said research shows a full-scale implementation of Trump’s tariff plan could lead to a near-five per cent reduction in Canadian export volumes to the U.S. by early-2027, relative to current baseline forecasts.
Retaliation by Canada would also increase costs for domestic producers, and push import volumes lower in the process.
“Slowing import activity mitigates some of the negative net trade impact on total GDP enough to avoid a technical recession, but still produces a period of extended stagnation through 2025 and 2026,” Ercolao said.
Since the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement came into effect in 2020, trade between Canada and the U.S. has surged by 46 per cent, according to the Toronto Region Board of Trade.
With that deal is up for review in 2026, Canadian Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Candace Laing said the Canadian government “must collaborate effectively with the Trump administration to preserve and strengthen our bilateral economic partnership.”
“With an impressive $3.6 billion in daily trade, Canada and the United States are each other’s closest international partners. The secure and efficient flow of goods and people across our border … remains essential for the economies of both countries,” she said in a statement.
“By resisting tariffs and trade barriers that will only raise prices and hurt consumers in both countries, Canada and the United States can strengthen resilient cross-border supply chains that enhance our shared economic security.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.
