New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt announced 15 targets of measurement across five different departments at the 51st annual State of the Province Thursday night.
These measurements were announced by her assembled team of five ministers.
Holt said these target measures are being announced publicly to ensure that New Brunswickers continue to hold the government accountable.
“We are committed to being the most accountable and transparent government New Brunswick has ever seen,” said Holt during her presentation at the Fredericton Convention Centre.
The measurements presented were targeted at improving healthcare, affordability and housing, education, the environment and the economy.
There were announced targets for each department with specific goals that her team aims to achieve by 2028.
“We want to make sure that folks can align on those 15 key measures and help in the work that’s going to move those needles,” said Holt.
She characterized healthcare as her team’s “number one priority.”
Led by Health Minister John Dornan, the team set goals to increase the percentage of the province with access to a doctor or nurse practitioner, reducing the time it takes people to get access to a doctor, as well as steadying the number of people in the waitlist for nursing homes.
David Coon, MLA for Fredericton South and leader of the province’s Green Party, said that he would’ve liked to see more ambition out of these targets.
“People want to know that they are actually going to have a doctor and simply increasing the number of people who have doctors by 5 per cent isn’t going to make a lot of people happy,” said Coon.
“Everyone wants to see that they actually have access to healthcare providers and so I think there’s a lot of work to be done there and we have to think creatively about how to get there.”
Despite this, Coon said that he was pleased to hear the plan from a “Premier who is enthusiastic about New Brunswick’s potential and has commitment to turn negative trends around.”
Housing Minister David Hickey led the presentation of targets for housing and affordability and he doubled down on his optimism for their goals, which include increasing housing starts and their affordability as well as decreasing chronic homelessness.
“There’s no question that the hill we need to climb in this province is steep,” said Hickey. “We need to rise to the occasion to make sure that we are building the most homes in Atlantic Canada per capita.”
While Fredericton announced a new out-of-the-cold shelter on Jan. 21, Hickey believes that “they’re inefficient,” leaving much more to be done to help solve the homelessness crisis in the province.
“We need to have a long-term shelter strategy that sees shelter options for every community in New Brunswick at every point in the year so that we can get people into sheltered housing,” said Hickey.
Claire Johnson, the province’s minister of education and early childhood development, announced targets to increase literacy rates and attendance at schools while improving math outcomes for students.
Kelly Lamrock, the child, youth, and seniors advocate and former education minister, is glad that declining literacy rates were acknowledged.
“It’s a priority for our office,” said Lamrock. “In 2010, New Brunswick was at 83 per cent literacy. We’ve obviously fallen a long way, the minister acknowledged that today and hopefully there’s a sense of urgency.”
Other targets announced included increasing energy efficiency, improving indoor air quality, as well as increasing the growth rate of average weekly earnings and the amount of 20-29 year-olds who are engaged in education, employment, or training.
“These numbers on the screen aren’t just measures for government work. They represent whether your family has access to a clinic. They represent whether your kids can find an affordable apartment,” said Holt.
“We are going to deliver [on] what we said we were going to do. We’re gonna ask you to hold us accountable. Now is the time for bold transformation.”
