Latest news with #GlenSavoie
CBC
27-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
With rules in place, N.B. PC leadership race kicks off — unofficially
The leadership race for New Brunswick's Progressive Conservative party is unofficially underway — with one potential candidate being forced to make a decision before Canada Day. Rules for the race adopted last week include a proviso that anyone holding the position of interim leader on July 1 of this year is ineligible to run for the permanent position. That means Saint John East MLA Glen Savoie would have to relinquish the interim job soon if he wants to have the option of running. Savoie says he's been too focused on scrutinizing the Holt Liberal government in the legislature to give it much thought, and he won't make up his mind until after MLAs adjourn the session for the summer on June 6. "I'll look at that at that time, but it takes discipline to say, 'I'm not dealing with this right now because I have an important task in front of me,'" he said. "And I have been disciplined. I've put 100 per cent of my energy into holding this government to account." Traditionally, MLAs who become interim leaders of their parties don't become candidates for the leadership, though there's often no rule prohibiting them from running. PCs will choose their new leader Oct. 17, 2026, with the official kickoff for the campaign set for October of this year. Several party members are already thinking about it. Fredericton-Grand Lake MLA Kris Austin, a former leader of the People's Alliance who moved to the PCs and became a cabinet minister in 2022, is one of them. "I am still considering the possibility of a run for leader," Austin said in an email. "I will take the summer to gauge support and have discussions with my wife, family and supporters before making a final decision." Former cabinet minister Daniel Allain, who was shuffled out of cabinet in June 2023 after being part of a caucus revolt against then-premier Blaine Higgs, has been open about his interest in the job. "I'm seriously thinking about it," he said. "It's a family decision. It's a decision based on what the members think. … There's lots of time to decide." WATCH | 'I have been disciplined': interim PC leader faces deadline: New rules mark unofficial start of N.B. PC party leadership race 42 minutes ago Duration 1:53 To quality as a candidate, a party member has to amass $35,000 in donations to the party earmarked as support for their bid. He or she also has to collect 500 endorsements from party members, with at least 20 each from seven out of nine regions of the province as defined by the party's constitution. A ranked-ballot system will allow party members to vote in advance by mail rather than at the main convention venue or a satellite polling location, the system the party used in its last leadership content in 2016. That led to a long day marred by delays in the three rounds of voting, with large numbers of party members giving up and drifting away as the process stretched from the noon hour into the late evening.
CBC
14-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
8.8-cent surcharge on N.B. gas not going away yet
New Brunswickers appear destined to keep paying a provincial surcharge on gasoline for a while longer, despite a seven-month-old Liberal election promise to quickly eliminate it. The cost-of-carbon adjustor is adding 8.8 cents to a litre of regular gasoline this week. The Holt government committed to repealing the adjustor during last fall's provincial election campaign, but they hit the brakes after gas distributors and retailers warned it could put some of them out of business. A committee of MLAs that held a day of hearings into the repeal legislation in February issued a report last week that didn't take a position on whether the adjustor should stay in place or be removed. Instead, it tells the government to talk to the Energy Utilities Board about whether the current adjustor formula reflects the true cost of federal climate regulations. Progressive Conservative Opposition Leader Glen Savoie said that virtually guarantees that the repeal bill won't pass before the legislature adjourns for the summer on June 6. Minister wants to know impact of eliminating adjustor Energy Minister René Legacy said the committee report was "smart and well-thought-out" and his office would contact the EUB this week to discuss the issue. "We just want to make sure that before we make any changes, we know the impacts." The Higgs PC government introduced the adjustor legislation in 2022 so that the cost of federal Clean Fuel Regulations could be passed from producers through New Brunswick's regulated gas pricing system to consumers. Critics denounced it as a way to protect Irving Oil from the regulations. The cost per litre is set by the EUB every week. It is 8.8 cents per litre this week. Legacy called that "quite high." "There's something to be looked at," he said. "I think it came out in the committee that there is something to be fixed there." The Holt Liberals promised in the 2024 election to repeal the surcharge "immediately" but after they introduced a bill to do that last fall, gas distributors and retailers fought back. They told MLAs on the law amendments committee in February that without a law in place forcing the EUB to pass the cost to consumers, it would hit their bottom line instead. Legacy said upcoming EUB hearings on what profit margins gas wholesales and retailers are allowed to make could also affect the decision. He said the adjustor may have been helping retailers stay afloat at a time when the limits on their profit margins haven't kept up with costs. The minister wouldn't say whether the bill will advance and be adopted this spring. "I'm not sure if it will go as-is, or if it will go with an amendment," he said. Opposition leader worried about retailers Savoie said the government should abandon the repeal or risk seeing some gas retailers go out of business. "Anything that causes gas operators to close in rural New Brunswick is a bad thing," he said. "This government has obviously broken many of its promises. … I would hope that they do break this one, because this one, if they keep it, will cause gas stations in rural New Brunswick to close." When the bill was being debated last fall, Premier Susan Holt said another option would be to eliminate the provincial regulation of gas prices altogether.
CTV News
09-05-2025
- Health
- CTV News
'It is killing morale': Redeployment of N.B. nurses will force staff out, says opposition
The New Brunswick government is confirming a plan to 'redeploy' some nurses within the health care system to where they're needed most, but the official opposition is calling the move a job cut. Interim Progressive Conservative leader Glen Savoie said public health nurses are scared for their jobs. He said Conservatives received messages from about a dozen nurses about the changes to come. 'Nurse are being told, 'Your job is being cut. You can either be redeployed or you can take a layoff,'' said Savoie, during question period on Friday. 'We can see that it is killing morale. It is creating chaos in the system.' Health Minister Dr. John Dornan pushed back against the allegations of job cuts. He said the regional health authorities are taking opportunities to 'put the right people, in the right place, at the right time,' 'One of the things that we are quite proud of is that we are not laying our nurses off,' said Dr. Dornan. 'We always have a role for them in different areas of our hospital, emergency care, ICU.' Dr. Dornan said staff would be moved to similar levels of seniority and work where possible, with retraining offered where needed. When asked on Friday, the Department of Health didn't provide specifics about any staffing or operational changes within the healthcare system. The New Brunswick Nurses Union (NBNU) said it hadn't received any official notification about nurse redeployments or ultimatums. 'When workforce adjustments are made, there is a process to be followed,' said NBNU president Paula Doucet, in a statement. 'We will wait to get more information on this before making any comments about this labour relations matter.' Premier Susan Holt said it was common during the pandemic for nurses to be redeployed to other roles. 'We've come in saying that we need different results in health,' said Holt to reporters on Friday. 'New Brunswickers are demanding that they get timely access to care, that they get the primary care they need. Doing things the way we've always done them is not going to get better results for New Brunswickers.' For more New Brunswick news, visit our dedicated provincial page.
