Same Old New Brunswick.

The much-awaited New Brunswick Budget came down the pipeline last week. If you ask the current Liberal provincial government, they would tell you that it was a very fair approach to reducing this province’s embarrassing deficit and a step in the right direction toward re-establishing financial stability in a province on the cusp of bankruptcy.

To listen to our government, it’s a road map that should show us that tightening our belts will result in a better life for us all down the road. It’s a budget filled with well thought out decisions and carefully planned cuts that are ensuring that we, as New Brunswickers, are treated fairly across the board and that we’re all expected to contribute equally to getting this province out of its financial quagmire.

Well, except if you’re a child.

Yes, in a province that leads the country in illiteracy rates (at least we’re number one in something), it was deemed necessary to eliminate 249 teaching jobs. Citing declining enrollment in schools - probably because fed-up parents are moving their families out of here – the government explained to us plebes that less students simply equals the need for less teachers. If our education woes could be summed up in a sixth grade math equation, this would be a fine way of looking at things. Sadly, they can’t.

There are far more things to be considered in New Brunswick’s education picture than student/teacher ratios, but the brain trust in Fredericton simply looked at some numbers out of context and slashed one of our most important resources in the fight to improve overall education in this province. Those teachers could be used to assist struggling students in some smaller classes, as well as launching some credible literacy programs that aren’t staffed by largely unqualified volunteers.  We’ll put money into segregating English and French kids on different buses, but we can’t pay teachers to help improve the literacy rates of our children?

I have always largely judged governments on their approach to education and this new Liberal government led by Mr. Brian Gallant has shown me that it couldn’t give a fiddler’s fig about how our kids are being educated now and in the future. It’s an embarrassment.

What’s a little bit of illiteracy among our children when everyone else is treated so fairly in this new budget, right? Oh, sorry – I forgot about those senior citizen folks.  They’re also getting some governmental screws put to them as well.

The previous cap for provincially subsidized nursing home care in this province used to be set at $113 per day. The new budget eliminates that control that was previously in place and more than doubles the maximum to $233 per day – but only towards those who can “afford to pay”. How is that designation arrived at?  Well, any life savings or investments these folks may have had will no longer be considered off limits when calculating an individual’s ability to pay. That meagre inheritance that you may have been saving for your children is now within reach of the government’s clutches and will likely be snapped up to help pay for your required care.

If you managed to stay out of a nursing home, though, don’t think you’ve been forgotten by the folks in Fredericton! There are some nice increases of ‘unspecified amounts’ coming to your Medavie Blue Cross prescription drug plan. If your heart rate increases at this news, you also need to be prepared to pay a previously waived fee of $130 for an ambulance ride to the hospital.

There goes Moncton’s recent ranking as one of the best places to retire in Canada.

Alright, so aside from the kids and the seniors, everyone else is getting a fair shake, right? Perhaps; unless you’re forgetting about those recent post-secondary graduates who were receiving a financial break to stay in New Brunswick after they finished their schooling. That’s being scrapped as well.

There was a $20,000 maximum tuition rebate for graduates who decided to remain in this province after graduation and work in their chosen field. It was a great incentive for young, bright minds not to take their talents westward and stay here to contribute to our economy. Now that the rebate is being scrapped, there isn’t much enticement for these graduates not to ply their trades elsewhere in the country. 

The government felt that the rebate only helped students who were already collecting salaries and did nothing for students trying to enter the workforce in the first place. Well, good news for those new graduates trying to break into the workforce – there will be lots of positions available when people start leaving this province in droves to work elsewhere!

So our kids, our seniors, and new entrants to the skilled workforce have all been hit by this new budget. They left no stone unturned when it came to reaching into our pockets – and just in case we weren’t reeling enough, we got nailed with a new gas tax and people in professions that make between $150,000 and $250,000 a year will see their personal taxes raised by roughly 5%. That should do wonders for the number of doctors and professionals that decide to continue practicing in our province.  Oddly, there were no sweeping changes to big corporate taxation policies.  I’m not surprised.

As a non-native New Brunswicker, these cuts are sheer madness to me. Most people I have talked to, however, have simply resigned themselves to accepting these changes because that’s what the residents of New Brunswick have become used to. You’ve almost come to expect the abuse and the best you can hope for is that it doesn’t leave as big of a bruise when the next blow comes from the people we elected to office.

Masochists:  Be… In This Place.

Soon, they’ll be the only folks able to stand it.