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The following is an overview of key policies for a People’s Alliance Government.
This is a living document. Additions to policies and information will be updated as research, costing, and planning are complete.
People Matter – 2024 (click to open in PDF)
Accountability, Transparency, Cooperation
The People’s Alliance will inspire New Brunswickers to trust their government again. We will do this by prioritizing the people’s needs over political agendas, introducing and promoting sound policies, making common-sense decisions, and working collectively to improve New Brunswick for future generations.
Knowing this, we established five core values defining who we are, what we believe, and how we act.
For New Brunswick to prosper, we must always treat the spending of taxpayer money as if we are spending our own. Today’s debt and deficits become taxes for future generations.
You cannot spend your way to prosperity, and you cannot cut your way there, either. Spending decisions must consider both the short-term and long-term goals and impacts, as well as who will benefit.
The People’s Alliance will govern the province for the people of the province. We believe that the government is employed by the citizens. Our job is to be the voice of the people in the legislature—not a voice of the legislature to the people.
We will listen to different voices and opinions, gather information, compile data, and determine our direction and actions.
We believe that every New Brunswicker should have an equal opportunity for success and that all citizens of our province should be treated equally. We will work towards maximizing opportunities and access for everyone.
We believe that leadership is leading by example. The People’s Alliance and its leadership will never ask New Brunswickers to make sacrifices; they would not make themselves or bestow benefits upon themselves that they would not pass on to everyday people.
The People’s Alliance recognizes it takes a collaborative effort for the province to succeed. We will work with others to advance New Brunswick’s best interests.
Rick DeSaulniers, Party Leader
Rick is the former MLA for Fredericton-York and knows that New Brunswick can only thrive and compete with the common sense approach of the People’s Alliance.
“Through grassroots efforts, the party can rebuild the lost respect for political office by demanding transparency, openness, and service that puts New Brunswickers first. The birth of this party began in 2010 with a clear understanding that our current political structure no longer serves our best interests. With your support, we will change that.”
The following is an overview of key policies for a People’s Alliance Government.
***This is a living document. Additions to policies and information will be updated as research, costing, and planning are complete.***
Contents
Accountability, Transparency, Cooperation. 2
- Fiscal Responsibility. 2
- Democracy. 2
- Fairness and Equality of Opportunity. 2
- Leadership. 2
- Working Collaboratively. 3
Rick DeSaulniers, Party Leader 3
Exiting Alternate Level Care (ALC) patients from Acute Care Beds. 5
Expanding Nursing/Special Care Home Capacity. 5
Other Healthcare Initiatives: 6
Tax Reform and Cost of Living. 7
Glyphosate and Resource Management 8
Animal Protection and Welfare. 9
Citizen’s Initiative Process. 11
Healthcare
Exiting Alternate Level Care (ALC) patients from Acute Care Beds
At any given time, hundreds of Acute Care Hospital Beds are unavailable across the province because they are occupied by individuals requiring an alternate level of care, meaning that they no longer require medical care in a hospital but have nowhere to go and cannot be released.
As a result of the limited availability of Acute Care Beds:
- Emergency Rooms are backed up with patients waiting to be admitted, causing delays in seeing other patients and causing gridlocks in the waiting room.
- Ambulances experience lengthy off-load delays while paramedics wait to transfer care of the patients they have transported.
- Television and Family Rooms have sometimes been converted into makeshift hospital rooms. Sometimes, patients are housed in hallways for days with no room available.
- Surgeries have been delayed or outright canceled.
A People’s Alliance Government will take all steps, including amending legislation, to allow ALC patients to be temporarily placed in any Nursing/Special Care Home available within their region until a preferred location becomes available.
Expanding Nursing/Special Care Home Capacity
Hundreds of ALC beds in the province have been empty due to a staff shortage to provide adequate care. People’s Alliance is committed to recruiting and retaining healthcare workers, personal support workers, and relevant support staff to provide the care our loved ones deserve.
Many existing homes have the facilities to add beds with renovation or expansion at less time and cost than new construction, making it far easier to add beds where they are needed across the province than a single new construction would allow.
Our population continues to grow. Now or in the future, additional construction will be required. Planning should begin immediately, not once a crisis occurs.
Other Healthcare Initiatives:
- Eliminate the doctor billing number system to retain and recruit family doctors.
- Increase the number of Specialist positions to reduce wait times for consultation, treatment, or surgery.
- Ensure that compensation is competitive with regional jurisdictions and workloads.
- Establish a new program within ERs to provide alternative care for non-urgent cases without other reasonable alternatives.
- Increase resources for and develop accessible and effective mental health care and addiction treatment.
- Enhance and expand training and education programs here in New Brunswick to meet the needs of our province.
- Increase resources and grants available to help families keep their loved ones at home as long as possible. Work with non-profits providing these and other in-home services.
- Recognize and ease the financial constraints confronting seniors living at home.
- Profit from selling Alcohol and Cannabis should not be seen as a general revenue stream for the government. Instead, it should be explicitly earmarked for healthcare (including mental health and addictions) and education.
Affordable Housing
People’s Alliance supports rent caps to protect safe, affordable housing for New Brunswick citizens. A rent cap on existing tenants and on any unit older than 5 years ensures that unscrupulous activity does not leave our most vulnerable without protection.
In addition to the reasonable use of rent caps, a People’s Alliance Government would:
- Make the repair and maintenance of public housing a priority.
- Ensure that our current public housing stock meets our population’s needs and take steps to right-size it if necessary.
- Tie provincial grants to developers to create a percentage of affordable and diverse housing units to fit all needs and work with municipalities to compel the same.
- Enact legislation to make it illegal for a property owner or superintendent to inquire about family status or any other right under the Human Rights Act before signing a rental agreement in non-owner-occupied buildings.
- Enact legislation penalizing property owners engaging in discrimination based on any protected human right characteristic in non-owner-occupied buildings.
- A rental subsidy certificate should be considered a source of income and, as such, be protected from discrimination. Therefore, disclosure would not be required before entering into a rental agreement.
Other Housing Initiatives:
- Increase staff and enforcement officers to investigate, inspect, and resolve landlord/tenant matters, including, where necessary, inspection of a property/unit.
- Collaborate with municipalities to determine and, if necessary, regulate the number of short-term rentals to minimize the impact on housing availability.
- Work with Community Colleges and Trade Schools to ensure that every step possible is being taken to meet the needs of our labor force, including real-life experience and on-the-job training/certification where possible.
- Encourage municipalities to review zoning requirements, take steps to reduce sprawl, and encourage diversity of housing in new construction.
Tax Reform and Cost of Living
Vestcor is entrusted to manage the pensions of public servants with taxpayer dollars. NB Power is a Crown Corporation acting at arm’s length from the government but for which the government (taxpayer) is on the hook. NB Liquor and Cannabis NB are also Crown Corporations. Medavie is not a Crown Corporation but holds multiple contracts for managing and providing public services.
The position of the People’s Alliance is two-fold.
- Any entity responsible for or using tax dollars must be subject to the Auditor General’s investigation and review.
- No bonuses should be paid to management/board without successfully achieving pre-determined targets.
Corporate Handouts
Reducing taxes and investing in small/medium-sized businesses in New Brunswick rather than giving large Corporate Handouts will continue to promote innovation, diversity, and competition in the market, all of which benefit the consumer.
Glyphosate and Resource Management
The People’s Alliance has long called for a ban on the use of Glyphosate on Crown Lands.
In addition, a People’s Alliance Government would:
- Reduce the size and percentage of clear-cutting allowances on Crown Land to balance economic viability and environmental concerns.
- Preserve water and soil by safeguarding conservation areas and buffer strips (brooks, streams, rivers).
- Increase primary sources for private woodlot owners with fair market values.
- Provide competitive access to crown land for current mills and new industrial opportunities.
- Work with our First Nations to engage in responsible resource management that respects Aboriginal Rights.
- Ensure the Department of Natural Resources directs policies and planning without political or corporate meddling.
- Mandate an exhaustive review by the Auditor General of allocation, forest management, royalties, stumpage fees, etc.
- Work with industry to develop new and innovative uses of pulp wood.
- Ensure crown lands are accessible to the people of New Brunswick for responsible recreational use.
Animal Protection and Welfare
A People’s Alliance Government will review and, if necessary, strengthen the laws and policies for the protection and well-being of domestic animals. We will collaborate with stakeholders to improve the enforcement of current legislation.
Education
A People’s Alliance Government would ensure that our citizens receive excellence in programs, teaching, and systems to achieve provincial, national, and international learning standards.
- Maintain a focus on achieving educational standards and beyond with attention to reading, writing, mathematics, and sciences basics.
- A thorough review of second language education and training to enable a consistent quality of delivery and outcome while ensuring no hindrance to educational basics in the mother tongue.
- Develop and deliver an education model encompassing academics, trades, life skills, and special needs.
- Integrated service delivery will ensure access to the emotional intelligence curriculum, school psychologists, and public health nurses for overall well-being and intervention.
- Ensure a safe, positive, and respectful learning environment for staff and students. Reinforce the importance of family and community involvement in continuing educational and social growth outside the school environment.
- Increase access to Alternative Learning Centers and a focus on the implementation and use of technology for enrichment, distance, and life-learning.
The capacity of our post-secondary institutions is an asset that cannot be underestimated and must be leveraged to aid economic development and the long-term prosperity of New Brunswick through relevant, marketable skills.
To this end, a People’s Alliance Government would review current funding models to ensure the best outcomes, maintain/promote competitiveness, and reduce dependence on over-enrollment and uncertain funding.
Electoral Reform
MLA Recall Process
Eighteen months after an election or byelection and until six months before the next general election, an eligible NB voter living in and registered to vote currently and at the time of the last election can apply to recall their MLA by applying to the Chief Electoral Officer for a petition to recall the elected official.
If the application is approved, a petition will be issued to be used to collect signatures supporting the recall. The petitioner would then have 60 days to gather signatures from (55 % of eligible voters in that constituency. The applicant can use volunteers (canvassers) who must also be riding residents to gather the signatures. They may appoint a financial agent and apply for the right to advertise or sponsor a recall initiative.
Once the signatures have been gathered, they will be submitted to the Chief Elector Office, which will validate them and ensure that the threshold has been met.
If the petition is successful, a recall vote will be held in the riding to determine whether the elected official should be recalled. If the vote succeeds by a simple majority, the official ceases to hold office, and a by-election will be held.
Citizen’s Initiative Process
Any voter registered with Elections NB can apply for a petition to be issued to gather support for a legislative proposal (in the form of a draft bill). A legislative proposal can be regarding any matter within the jurisdiction of the Legislature of New Brunswick.
To begin an initiative petition, the voter must submit a completed application form to the Chief Electoral Officer along with a $100 processing fee and a copy of the proposed law as a draft Bill.
If the application meets the legislative requirements, the Chief Electoral Officer approves the initiative petition in principle, and the petition is issued to the applicant (called a “proponent”) 60 days later. The proponent then has 90 days to collect the signatures of 20% of the registered voters in each electoral district. Volunteers may help the proponent when canvassing for signatures.
Once petition sheets are submitted, the Chief Electoral Officer has 45 days to verify that enough valid signatures have been collected. If the verification process shows that sufficient signatures have been collected and the proponent has met the financing requirements, the Chief Electoral Officer sends a copy of the petition and draft Bill to a Select Standing Committee of the Legislature.
The Select Standing Committee on Legislative Initiatives must meet within 30 days of receiving the initiative petition and has 90 days to consider the legislative proposal. The Committee must either table a report recommending the introduction of the draft Bill or refer the initiative petition and draft Bill to the Chief Electoral Officer for an initiative vote.
Suppose an initiative petition has met the signature threshold and financing requirements and has been referred to the Chief Electoral Officer for an initiative vote by the Select Standing Committee. The vote must be conducted on a fixed schedule according to the Recall and Initiative Act. No vote will be held if no initiatives have been referred to the Chief Electoral Officer.
If more than 50% of the total number of registered voters in the province vote in favor of an initiative, and more than 50% of the total number of registered voters in each of at least 2/3 of the electoral districts in the province vote in favor of an initiative, the Chief Electoral Officer must declare the initiative vote to be successful. The government must introduce the Bill at the earliest practicable opportunity.
After a Bill is introduced into the legislature, the requirements of the Recall and Initiative Act have been satisfied, and any subsequent reading, amendment, or passage of the Bill will proceed as with any other Bill, with no guarantee of passage.