FREDERICTON, N.B. – As party leaders and candidates hit the road across New Brunswick campaigning for the upcoming provincial election, Global News will keep track of where they are and what they’re saying in our election notebook.
Read all 2014 New Brunswick election notebooks
Here’s what happened Thursday, August 28.
Liberals: Youth employment and the north
Liberal Leader Brian Gallant was in Moncton Thursday promising to introduce a Youth Employment Fund in the hopes of stopping the flow of young people from the East to the West.
Gallant says the fund would provide six-month placements including training and work experience for unemployed people between the ages of 18 and 29.
He says the program, modeled after a similar fund in Ontario, would ultimately give young people the skills they need to find full-time jobs in the province.
Gallant says a Liberal government would subsidize 1,500 placements a year at a cost of $7,800 per placement.
The Liberals also promised to refocus and create the Northern and Miramichi Infrastructure and Capital Funds. The Northern fund would be set at $20-million/year for six years while the Miramichi fund would have access to $5-million/year for six years.
Gallant says the funds would be meant for projects that hire locally, lowering the North’s 15 per cent unemployment rate.
Green Party: Local food
- Iran fires air defences at military base after suspected Israeli drone attack
- U.S. aid to Ukraine, Israel set to pass. But bills differ in one key area
- Carbon rebate labelling in bank deposits fuelling confusion, minister says
- Conservatives ask interference inquiry judge to rule elections were flawed
The Green Party unveiled their plan to get more New Brunswickers relying on locally grown food.
Leader David Coon was in Saint John Thursday, promising to create a local food security act. He said he would work to engage provincial institutions including schools, hospitals, seniors homes, Crown agencies and government offices into building a provincial food economy.
Coon said he would also direct a local food labeling program so New Brunswickers can easily identify food produced in the province.
NDP: Economic development
NDP leader Dominic Cardy spoke to a Saint John business group revealing his economic development vision.
Cardy says he would close the Department of Economic Development, keeping the elements that worked and putting them under the Department of Finance.
He said he would also introduce a new jobs tax credit to reward companies that create new jobs and increase the New Brunswick Investment Tax Credit cap to $500,000 – making it the highest on the Eastern seaboard.
People’s Alliance: Natural resources
The People’s Alliance of New Brunswick are proposing a forestry ombudsman to work within the Department of Natural Resources who would oversee contracts and deals made between the province and companies.
If elected, they also promise to not allow companies to use wood from Crown land as a so-called ‘weapon against private citizens’ who make their living off of private woodlots.
Comments