Higgs on the defensive during debate, accuses Liberal leader of making things up

Progressive Conservative Leader Blaine Higgs, taking the stage in an election debate Wednesday, defended his management of health-care problems in New Brunswick, while two other party leaders promised to do a better job.

With just over three weeks to go until the Oct. 21election,Higgs, Liberal Leader Susan Holt and Green Leader David Coon faced off in Moncton over a range of subjects,including health care, housing, education, Indigenous title claims, and the gender identity policyfor schools.

Throughout the debate, Higgs was on the defensive and during the health-care discussion,accused Holt of lying about thenumber of New Brunswickers waiting for a family doctor.

New Brunswick Votes 2024: Leaders on the Record was moderated by CBC New Brunswick host Clare MacKenzie and provincial affairs reporter Jacques Poitras.

Higgs accuses Holt of 'falsehood'

On health care, Higgs pointed to his promise to expand the scope of practice for nurse practitioners, nurses and other health-care professionals, and said he wants the province's two health authorities to collaborate more.

Higgs called out Holt several times for what he called inaccurate numbers, mainly after Holt said there are 180,000 people in the province without access to a doctor, which he called an "absolute falsehood."

Numbers shared by the PC Party saythat the number of people registered on New Brunswick Health Link, without access to a doctor, was 38,446. An additional 62,940 New Brunswickersare registered who don't have a doctor but receive primary care services through existing clinics.

However, a Liberal Party spokesperson said the 180,000 number comes from a study by the New Brunswick Health Council from June, which found that only 79 per cent of New Brunswickers had access to a primary care physician in 2023.

Statistics Canada estimated that 834,691 people lived in New Brunswick in 2023, and21 percent of that, which according to the Health Council study does not have access to a primary care physician, would be 175,285 people.

Higgs also said his government tabled the largest health-care budget in the province's history.

Safe-injection sites

On the issue of safe-injection sites for people using drugs,Holt did not answer when asked if shewould fund any more safe-injection sites.

She said that she isnot aware of any new applications for them and that the province needs more treatment beds for people with addictions.

Higgs said there will be no more safe-injection sites if his government is re-elected. Instead, he pushedthe proposed Compassionate Intervention Act, which would have allowed the government to force some people into treatment.

"I don't know how much longer we can continue just to walk on by individuals that need our help, that are crying for help in many cases and think it's okay to keep them on drugs and have that be in existence," Higgs said.

The act was shelved by the PC government in May.

Higgs also cited British Columbia Premier David Eby,who he said "basically reversed" his stance on safe-injection sites and adopted an involuntarytreatment method. British Columbia does allow involuntary treatment, but Eby reversed his government's decriminalizationof drugs, not safe injection sites.

Holt also said Higgs shouldn't talk about forcing people into addictions treatment when treatment beds are already in short supply.

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Responding to Higgs, Holt acknowledged he wants to "help people help themselves" but said he hasn't taken any action, including creating new rehab beds, to make this possible.

Coon said he would never prohibit safe-injection sites, but they are only part of a larger picture solution to issues around addiction.

"Safe-injection sites ensure that someone's mom, someone's dad, someone's daughter, someone's brother doesn't die," he said.

Coon also reiterated his promise to spend $380 million annually on health carefor four years.

Higgs defends record on building schools

On education, Holt said theHiggsgovernment has been too slow building new schools, and Coon echoed her sentiments, saying there's been a lack of planning as the population has grown.

"Once it was clear that our population was going to start growing, we needed to hit the ground running and ensure that the infrastructure, the services that we needed to serve everyone that was coming," Coon said.

Higgshit back and said he's proud of the province's growth, adding that schools were closing six years ago because of a population decline.

"The pain of progress is real," Higgs said. "And to suggest that we should have had schools just waiting is not real, and to suggest we can build them overnight is not real.

Higgs said about 10,000 new students enrolled in the school system this year and that the province currently has plans to build 10 new schools.

"So yes, we have challenges in housing, we have challenges in school construction and it's based on a province that's growing."

Liberals, Greens stick to housing promises

On housing, Coon reiterated his promise to change the mandate of N.B. Housing to be able totieproperty tax rates to how affordable landlords set their rents.

"So a low rent would pay low taxes. Apartments with high rent, the owners would pay higher taxes," he said.

Holt again mentionedher pledge toremoveprovincial taxesfrommulti-unit buildingsto spur new development.

Coon said there should be a rent cap, a promise that was also made by Holt, who said rents should be cappedthreeper cent.

Higgssaid his government would be for"rent control, rent changes, affordable subsidized housing." However, rent control only existed briefly in New Brunswick,during the pandemic in 2022, and was then allowed to expire by his government.

Higgsdefends promise to cutHST

When asked how his promise to cut theHSTto 13 per cent could be achieved without cutting services,Higgscircled back to his promise of better utilizing the entire health-care systemby expanding the scope of practice of health-care professionals. He also took a jab at opposition party plans to spend more on health.

"To think we're going to spend infinite money on health care and it's going to all of a sudden get better, it's not realistic," he said.

Holt responded by saying Higgs'sproposedHSTcut is the most expensive campaign promise made so far, more than all of the Liberal promises combined.

The estimated cost of theHSTcut would be $450 million. The total amount needed for promises made so far by the Liberals isabout $90 million.

"We can't afford that. NewBrunswickerscan't afford it, and the health-care system can't afford it," Coon said of theHSTcut.

"When we project tax cuts, we believe that actually people can spend money better than government," Higgs said of his plan.

Holt followed up by claiming this comment meant Higgs was suggesting the health-care system is moving toward privatization, to which he said there was "no foundation for that whatsoever."

Coon, Holt promise to negotiate, not litigate with First Nations

On the Indigenous title claims filed in court against the province by both the Wolastoqey andMi'gmaq, Coon said he would negotiate instead of litigateand spoke of the importance of respecting treaties.

Holt also said she would negotiate instead of going to thecourts.

Higgsdefended his governmentand said title claims are different from simple treaty rights.

"So there's a big distinction between reserve land that was taken awayand then a lawsuit that's affecting the entire province,"Higgssaid, adding that he would ensure "private citizens' rights are respected."

Lawyers for theWolatoqeyNation have repeatedly said the title claim is not going after small landowners, a claim Higgs has made repeatedly.

Holt said theHiggsgovernment has disrespected Indigenous partners, citingthe decision to end the tax-sharing agreement.

Higgsrefuses to condemnflyers

When asked about recent flyers that have gone to homes in New Brunswick accusing schools of "pushingtransgenderism",Higgsrefused to say that they were misleading, instead sayingthey were not associated with him but do constitute freedom of speech.

"I find it really shocking that the discussion around parents and their involvement with their minor age children is such a debate,"Higgssaid.

"Clearly these flyers are vilifying teachers, just as Mr.Higgshas done. Teachers have never felt so disrespected in this province," Coon said in response.

Holt said it was disappointing thatHiggswouldn't condemn the flyersand pointed to previous examples of what she called disrespect toward teachers fromHiggs.

She also took aim at the fact that a dozen PCs are not running again.

"We've watched his team abandon him, for the 12 MLAs quit the PC team because they didn't appreciate his leadership.That showed that he couldn't learn," Holt said.

Closing remarks

In their closing remarks, Coon pointed to what he called the failure of past Liberal and Conservative governments.

"We need new leadership, a Green government would be different," Coon said.

Higgssaid voters had a choice to "keep building a strong province or choose policies that will put us back into the red."

"It's not about whether you personally like me or not, it's about our future and that of the next generation."

Holt pointed to what she called "a health-care system worse than ever."

"It's never been more clear that NewBrunswickersare ready for change," she said.