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CBC
4 days ago
- Business
- CBC
Liberals' first session wraps for summer with some work left to do
New Brunswick's Liberal government crossed the finish line of its first legislative session on Friday with some campaign promises kept and others incomplete. Premier Susan Holt was able to point to a cap on rent and a one-year freeze on assessed property values as examples of steps she took to make life more affordable. But a third promised affordability measure — the repeal of the cost-of-carbon adjustor that is adding eight cents to the price of a litre of gas this week — was put on hold for months and only passed this week with a last-minute change to delay its implementation. The Liberals also failed to introduce legislation to ban donations to provincial political parties from outside New Brunswick. "They make a promise, and then when they realize, 'Oh, maybe this isn't such a good idea,'" Progressive Conservative Opposition Leader Glen Savoie said. "They tend to just let it kind of die its own death." A spokesperson for Holt said the ban is being worked on in conjunction with Elections New Brunswick, along with other changes to toughen up political financing rules. "It remains a priority for our government to build trust and transparency," Katie Beers said in an email. WATCH | The Susan Holt Liberals' legislative record so far: What the Holt Liberals did, and didn't do, in the legislature 3 hours ago Duration 4:05 The Liberals made the promise after a controversy over then-PC premier Blaine Higgs's travel to Western Canada to raise money for his re-election campaign. A review by CBC News shows the PCs collected more than $275,000 in donations above $100 from people living outside New Brunswick — more than 21 per cent of the party's total in 2024. By comparison, the Liberals raised less than $34,000, about three per cent of their total. Liberals promised repeal of carbon adjustor In last year's campaign, the Liberals also promised the immediate repeal of the carbon adjustor, which requires the Energy and Utilities Board to pass the cost of federal clean fuel regulations from producers, through distributors and retailers, to consumers. That amount fluctuates weekly and was set at eight cents on Friday. The government put its bill on hold last fall after after fierce lobbying by distributors and retailers. They argued the carbon cost would land in their laps if it was no longer passed on to consumers. And because the EUB hasn't considered changes to the allowable profit margins in its gas-price regulation formula for years, the change might drive some them out of business, they said. This week, Energy Minister René Legacy amended the bill so that it could pass, but with implementation put off until after the EUB holds hearings about the margins and about how the adjustor is calculated. "Essentially, it allows the EUB to do the work they want with some hearings, to adjust the carbon tax adjustor [formula], and also to look at some of the problems that we're having" on margins, he said. But PC MLA Kris Austin said he doubted the Liberals will ever proclaim the bill into law. "I don't think we're going to see any significant changes in gas prices anytime soon," he said. The session also saw Education Minister Claire Johnson on the defensive for weeks over her department's budget allocations for seven district education councils that forced them to cut $43 million in spending. Johnson eventually invited the districts to submit new plans to "mitigate" the impact of the funding reduction and held out the possibility of extra money. "I'm very confident in the collaborative process that's been happening with the districts right now," Johnson said Friday. "We are analyzing what they're proposing to us now, and we're quite confident we're going to come up with a fair and equitable solution very soon." The government also repealed legislation adopted by the Higgs government that forced three public-sector bargaining units into the shared-risk pension regime that many other provincial employees have been part of for a decade. It adopted bills that it said would loosen internal trade barriers with other Canadian provinces, though there's a caveat to how quickly one of them will take effect. The bill to let New Brunswickers order out-of-province alcohol directly from producers to their homes would only apply to provinces that adopt the same rules. "We're going to open up with provinces that have reciprocity with us, so basically the same deal both ways," Public Safety Minister Robert Gauvin said in May during a debate on the bill. "It has to be win-win for everybody." The Liberals also left the door open to adopting legislation that Green Leader David Coon has had on his wish list for years: the creation of a right to a clean environment. The government sent Coon's bill to the legislature's law amendments committee — because, Liberals said, it would impact a long list of other provincial acts and regulations. In the past, Coon has described that committee as a "graveyard" for legislation that appears to be popular but that a government wants to stall or kill. But the Green leader said he's optimistic this time will be different. "I don't think this government wants to kill the right for people to have a healthy environment," he said. "I think they're interested in seeing how to make that happen in a way that they're comfortable with. So law amendments is a way forward, both for us and for them, perhaps." The committee could examine the bill in September and the full legislature could sit for a short time to pass it before proroguing and starting a new session with a new throne speech in October. Government House leader Marco LeBlanc said that decision would depend on how much work is needed on Coon's bill after the committee looks at it. Coon told reporters Friday he'd be willing to accept a weakened bill if it meant getting the concept written into law, allowing it to be toughened in the future.
CBC
07-05-2025
- Politics
- CBC
As the municipal election heats up, here's why there is concern over campaign spending
Changes to political financing rules ahead of October's municipal election have one current Edmonton city councillor warning of an unfair playing field. Alberta's Local Authorities Election Act was changed in October last year to allow for the creation of political parties in civic elections. A host of new financial guidelines also accompanied the change including financial support from third-party advertising, corporate and trade union donations and changes to political party spending. People running can self-finance their campaigns up to $10,000, but Edmontonians can only donate $5,000 to all candidates and registered parties in a municipality. Corporations, trade unions or employee organizations can donate $5,000 to candidates per campaign period, along with $5,000 donations to registered political parties. Donors can not combine balances to increase contribution limits to political parties, a City of Edmonton spokesperson previously told CBC News. Expense limits for civic election candidates and political parties range from $40,000 to more than $1 million. Transparency on where the dollars are coming from is a key issue in this election said Ward Nakota Isga Coun. Andrew Knack in an interview with CBC News. "Under the new rules, again, you could have a person, of a wealthy business owner start up 20 numbered companies only to use that as a mechanism to donate 20 different times, going through the maximum," Knack said. "A labour union can't go start up 20 different subsidiaries to go and donate. So it's not a level playing field, and this is part of the challenge." Advocacy vs. advertising As of Wednesday, three groups are registered as third-party advertisers with Edmonton Elections. These include Amalgamated Transit Union Local 569, Climate Justice Edmonton and Working Families Edmonton. However, there are other groups such as Edmonton Forward who state that they are advocating for "safer streets, safer transit, and safer communities." On the group's website, it says it does not receive any source of government funding. "Edmonton Forward is funded by generous donations of concerned residents and businesses of Edmonton," the website said. In a video dated May 30, 2024, on YouTube, the organization lists its executive director as Abdul Abdi, a former police officer with the Ottawa Police Service who ran for the federal Conservative Party for Ottawa West-Nepean in the 2015 election. CBC News requested comment from the group via email but did not receive a response. Transit union president Steve Bradshaw told CBC News registering as an advertiser is one way to further elevate the priorities of the union. "We want to promote candidates that are transit-friendly. We want to promote candidates that are worker-friendly. It's in our interest to be a part of this process," Bradshaw said. "We live in a democracy, and we have the advantage of being able to participate in the electoral process, and so it would be failing our membership if we weren't involved." The union is among those not in favour of the provincial change to allow political parties in municipal elections in Alberta. "Is there an imbalance? Of course, and when there's party politics happening, you have the problem that I can now donate to the individual candidate as well as to the party, so extra money becomes available to those in the parties." Coun. Tim Cartmell, who announced a run for mayor last November, told media at a platform launch event last week that it will be more evident after the election to what extent financial resources can impact someone's chances of running successfully. "On the neighbourhood level, an independent person that has got support, has got community behind them, has got some name recognition, frankly, that is as valuable as maybe the dollars are." However, one independent mayoral candidate and former city councillor is doubtful. "If you want to buy election, there are many people out there that could buy an election, I imagine. I'm not one of them, and I don't think that it's right," said Tony Caterina, who was a councillor from 2010 to 2021. Municipal Affairs minister Ric McIver said the new rules "strengthen transparency and accountability so Albertans can have confidence in the fairness of their local elections." "Municipal candidates should be the focus for voters during a municipal election, not a third-party advertiser." As part of revisions to the Local Authorities Election Act, the Alberta government reduced the limit on donations to third-party advertisers by organizations and individuals from $30,000 to $5,000 and only allow third-party advertisers to spend half of what candidates can during the election advertising period. Rules that third-party advertisers must follow include abiding by deadlines to file a return including a financial statement, advertising contributions received and an expense limit report. Penalties for not following rules include the cancellation of their registration as an advertiser, financial penalties and fines up to $100,000.
