The New Brunswick government announced the first part of their Economic Growth Plan Thursday, hinting at what will be seen when the full document is released in the coming weeks.
Entitled “New Brunswick’s Economic Growth Plan: Why growth is imperative”, the document is said to outline five main themes: People, Innovation, Capital, Infrastructure, and Agility.
“The details of the plan will come up in the next few weeks,” minister of economic development Francine Landry said. “We’ll announce some models for growth in some sectors.”
In preparation of the plan, 22 opportunity summits were held between September and April to consult with stakeholders and leaders throughout the province.
“We wanted to make sure we got it right so there was a draft developed a number of months ago, but there was also these opportunity summits that we were doing to make sure we had feedback,” explained David Cameron, NB Jobs Board Secretariat chief economist.
“It’s probably the most comprehensive engagement of New Brunswick businesses and key sectors and stakeholders probably in history.”
But the lack of details released today brought concern from the opposition who say that acting now is in the best interests of New Brunswickers.
“We need a real plan and a plan has got to have deliverables and action items and a timeline,” said Fredericton West-Hanwell MLA Brian Macdonald. “This is a thematic plan but not a concrete plan.
“We need an action plan.”