Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Oral Questions Original by Hansard Office Translation by Debates Translation 1 October 26, 2023 CONTENTS DAY CARE Ms. Holt Hon. Mr. Hogan Ms. Holt Hon. Mr. Hogan Ms. Holt Hon. Mr. Hogan Ms. Holt Hon. Mr. Hogan Ms. Holt Hon. Mr. Hogan Ms. Holt Hon. Mr. Hogan WOMEN’S EQUALITY Ms. Thériault Hon. S. Wilson CHILDCARE Ms. Thériault Hon. S. Wilson Hon. S. Wilson Ms. Thériault Hon. S. Wilson

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Oral Questions Original by Hansard Office Translation by Debates Translation 2 DAY CARE Mr. McKee Hon. Mr. Hogan Hon. Mr. Hogan Hon. Mr. Hogan Mr. McKee Hon. Mr. Hogan Hon. Mr. Hogan Hon. Mr. Hogan MUNICIPALITIES Mr. K. Arseneau Hon. G. Savoie Hon. G. Savoie Mr. K. Arseneau Hon. G. Savoie AIRPORTS Mr. Legacy Hon. Mr. Ames Mr. Legacy Hon. Mr. Ames Hon. Mr. Ames Mr. Legacy Hon. Mr. Ames DAY CARE Ms. Holt Hon. Mr. Hogan ELECTIONS Ms. Holt Hon. Mr. Higgs Hon. Mr. Higgs

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Oral Questions Original by Hansard Office Translation by Debates Translation 3 [Original] DAY CARE Ms. Holt (Bathurst East—Nepisiguit—Saint-Isidore, Leader of the Official Opposition, L): Mr. Speaker, when talking to businesses across the province, I consistently hear one pain point—the labour shortage—the shortage of foresters, of retail, of tourism and hospitality staff, and of family doctors, nurses, radiation technologists, lab techs, trades people, educators, bus drivers, school psychologists. The list goes on.

When I go out to get groceries or to knock on doors, I hear from New Brunswickers who want to work but, instead, are searching for childcare. They are people like the newly recruited couple here in Fredericton, a surgeon and a specialist who cannot pick up surgeries or patients until they find care for their six-month-old, or the mom who works in one of the businesses that I frequent the most in Bathurst and has been on leave for the past six months because she cannot find a childcare space. There is a known wait-list of 3 300 families that are looking for childcare in New Brunswick right now.

The real number is certainly larger. Yet this government has chosen a target of 550 spaces. Can the minister tell the parents of New Brunswick how that target was set? Hon. Mr. Hogan (Carleton, Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development, PC): Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. It is a pleasure for me to rise today. I thought that I had been forgotten up here. I have not been getting questions recently. You know, we are committed to providing early learning and childcare services across the province.

The Canada-New Brunswick Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement was signed in December 2021, and it is important work that we have underway. One of the challenges that we have, Mr. Speaker, is that under the direction of the federal government, the majority of the spaces that were allocated by the agreement were spaces for not-for- profit centres. And in New Brunswick, unfortunately, we do not have that many not-for- profit centres.

I will get into that a little further this afternoon, but certainly, we would like the official opposition to join in our cry to the federal government to help us make a change to make more spaces available. Ms. Holt (Bathurst East—Nepisiguit—Saint-Isidore, Leader of the Official Opposition, L): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question was specifically about the target. In the speech from the throne, they articulate 550 spaces when there is a waiting list for 3 300. I am wondering why they came up with that target this year.

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Oral Questions Original by Hansard Office Translation by Debates Translation 4 Hon. Mr. Hogan (Carleton, Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development, PC): Thank you, again, Mr. Speaker. It is a pleasure to be on my feet to respond to a question. Yes, we do have targets as we move forward, but the ultimate goal is to have no spaces left to give out.

The only way that we can do that in New Brunswick is to renegotiate the deal with the federal government and have some cooperation from the Liberals in Ottawa in recognizing our unique situation in New Brunswick, where the majority of the spaces that are left to be distributed are in the not-for-profit sector. You know, our government invested $4 million in our budget this year to create 200 extra spaces, and we are extremely proud of that. But we still have work to do. Prince Edward Island negotiated an agreement with Ottawa that said that proprietors could earn 10% profit and still be considered not-for-profit.

Please, call Mr. Trudeau and help us. [Translation] Ms. Holt (Bathurst East—Nepisiguit—Saint-Isidore, Leader of the Official Opposition, L): Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. There are several excellent daycares in Bathurst, such as Bimbo Daycare, located at the CCNB, which currently takes care of over 150 children and is looking for support to increase the number of designated spaces. This daycare has a long waiting list of mothers and fathers wanting a space. These mothers and fathers want to go to work.

When does the minister plan to eliminate the waiting list for daycare services that is impeding the development of New Brunswick? [Original] When does the minister project that the 3 300-family wait-list will be eliminated in New Brunswick? [Translation] Hon. Mr. Hogan (Carleton, Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development, PC): Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for allowing me to rise again to answer questions about early childhood development centres. As I said earlier, the situation has not changed in the past 30 seconds.

The biggest challenge we have is that the majority of early childhood development centres are for-profit. The spaces remaining are for non-profit centres. So, we would like to change that to give these spaces to the New Brunswickers who need them, but we need the opposition's help to speak to the federal Liberal government about making changes, then we could distribute these spaces. Ms. Holt (Bathurst East—Nepisiguit—Saint-Isidore, Leader of the Official Opposition, L): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The minister’s answer is really interesting, considering the example I gave him.

Bimbo Daycare is a non-profit centre awaiting designated spaces, so why does it not get any?

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Oral Questions Original by Hansard Office Translation by Debates Translation 5 [Original] I will say it in English: They meet the criteria that you have just described. We have not-for- profit childcare spaces here in New Brunswick waiting to be made available to New Brunswickers. How come you have not assigned them yet? Hon. Mr. Hogan (Carleton, Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development, PC): Mr. Speaker, we assign spaces on a regular basis. We did have one intake. We plan on having another intake for proposals.

We are making changes to that so that centres that are ready and believe they meet the criteria can submit their proposals on a regular basis. We do not want to hold on to any spaces that could be used in our communities so that our young parents could go to work. We want them all to be working. Part of the challenge . . . You know, there is a provincial wait list. We look at that, and if there are not parents signed up, that is what we go with. We look at the linguistic profile that was provided to us by Statistics Canada, and we make decisions based on that.

But the problem still remains that the majority of the spaces that are available are not for profit. We cannot give them all out because of the deal and the unwillingness to cooperate from the federal Liberals. Thank you. Ms. Holt (Bathurst East—Nepisiguit—Saint-Isidore, Leader of the Official Opposition, L): Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I will give another example of a not-for-profit day care that wants to expand in New Brunswick, but that this government is not supporting.

We recently met with the leaders of the Carrefour communautaire Beausoleil in Miramichi who run an amazing 200-child childcare facility connected to the school. [Translation] École Carrefour Beausoleil provides an important service for francophone, bilingual, and allophone families. [Original] They have a long waiting list of families looking for bilingual childcare. They have a solid plan to expand their operation by another 100 spaces. They have federal funding lined up. They have their own funds to put forward. But they came to the province, and what did they get? A closed door.

The province will not support the project. This is another 100 people that we could add to the workforce in the Miramichi—to the hospital, to the housing development sites, and more. Why is the Minister responsible for the Regional Development Corporation not supporting the expansion of 100 childcare spaces—not-for-profit spaces—at the Carrefour?

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Oral Questions Original by Hansard Office Translation by Debates Translation 6 [Translation] Hon. Mr. Hogan (Carleton, Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development, PC): Mr. Speaker, I had the opportunity to visit the early childhood development centre in École Carrefour Beausoleil, in Miramichi, and I was really impressed. However, there is one thing that is misunderstood by the members on the other side of the House: We do not have bilingual early childhood development centres; there are none in our province. We would like to have more spaces.

There are spaces to be allocated to non-profit centres, but not enough people request them. So, we need the federal government to negotiate with us in order to change the agreement to one like the one in Prince Edward Island, to allocate the remaining spaces. [Original] Ms. Holt (Bathurst East—Nepisiguit—Saint-Isidore, Leader of the Official Opposition, L): I am going to try one more time. So, we have a project that is for not-for-profit spaces, just as the minister has asked for, to support Francophone spaces to match the linguistic profile that he mentioned. So, we have met the criteria.

How come this government will not move that project forward? Hon. Mr. Hogan (Carleton, Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development, PC): Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Again, the first time that the official Leader of the Opposition asked the question, she talked about bilingual spaces. We do not have bilingual day cares in our province. When a day care opens, it has to choose to follow either the French curriculum or the English curriculum. That is what they do.

I am not sure what day care she is running, but if she wants to talk to the department and see how we can work that out and see what parts of the proposal are missing, then we are more than happy to do that. If it is not for profit and meets the criteria and something is holding that up, then we are more than prepared to work with all these centres so that those spaces can be filled. Again, Prince Edward Island has an agreement with the federal government where you can earn 10% profit and still be considered not for profit. We would like to have the same thing from the federal government.

So, if there is any help that we can get, we would appreciate it. Thank you. [Translation] WOMEN’S EQUALITY Ms. Thériault (Caraquet, L): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So, we have a new Minister responsible for Women’s Equality, and I would like to give her the chance to tell us this: Which files concerning women are priorities she intends to move forward during her mandate? Thank you.

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Oral Questions Original by Hansard Office Translation by Debates Translation 7 [Original] Hon. S. Wilson (Moncton Southwest, Minister responsible for Women’s Equality; Minister responsible for Addictions and Mental Health Services, PC): Well, thank you for that question. I am truly excited about being the Minister responsible for Women’s Equality again. We have a number of things on the go. There is a lot of work being done on domestic violence.

There is a lot of work that the department has done in the past and continues to do to address the issues for women in New Brunswick. We will continue to do that. Thank you for the question. [Translation] CHILDCARE Ms. Thériault (Caraquet, L): Mr. Speaker, I am disappointed by this empty answer. There are files that are urgent for women, who are seriously affected by everything going on; the leader just talked about it. We get an answer that seems like a grocery list. The current situation is urgent. The Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development is fumbling everything happening with daycare spaces.

The Minister responsible for Women’s Equality is incapable of listing priority issues, yet the list is very long. By the way, what have you been doing on the government side for the past five years? Are you capable of . . . I am talking to the Minister responsible for Women’s Equality about daycare spaces. It concerns you, even though the file falls under the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, because it has serious consequences for women. You have been in your position for four months.

What concrete actions have you taken to help women, who are seriously affected and cannot go back to work, get access to more daycare spaces? [Original] Hon. S. Wilson (Moncton Southwest, Minister responsible for Women’s Equality; Minister responsible for Addictions and Mental Health Services, PC): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Member, we absolutely agree with you. So why do you not call your federal partners and address these issues regarding day care spaces? That is what the Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development asked you to do. (Interjections.) Mr. Speaker (Hon. Bill Oliver): Order. Hon. S.

Wilson (Moncton Southwest, Minister responsible for Women’s Equality; Minister responsible for Addictions and Mental Health Services, PC): You guys do not seem to

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Oral Questions Original by Hansard Office Translation by Debates Translation 8 understand the whole point behind this issue and the other challenges that we are facing. We are certainly willing to work with you, but you guys need to talk to your partners in Ottawa. [Translation] Ms. Thériault (Caraquet, L): Obviously, on the government side, you all press the same button, which seems to be stuck. The only answer you have been giving us for the past two weeks has been to hold the federal government responsible.

Just like you are the member for a provincial riding, I am the member for Caraquet, and I am asking you what exactly you do. You have been Minister responsible for Women’s Equality for four months now. If you want to offload files onto the federal government and you do not want to do your job, we are going to do it. So, Madam Minister responsible for Women’s Equality, who have you met with over the past four months? What pressure have you applied? What action have you taken? What initiatives have you undertaken to ensure that New Brunswick women, parents, and children benefit from daycare spaces? [Original] Hon.

S. Wilson (Moncton Southwest, Minister responsible for Women’s Equality; Minister responsible for Addictions and Mental Health Services, PC): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can I have five minutes to talk about whom we have visited, whom we have talked to, and what we have done? I know that it is not possible, but I could get up here and talk basically all afternoon about the people we have met. We have been dealing with mental health and addiction and are working on implementing a number of things. We have talked with different communities and different people who work in the communities, including Harvest House.

We have talked with The Humanity Project for housing. We have talked about the JOSH Project. We have met with the Village of Hope. We have done a number of things. When it comes to Women’s Equality, we are doing a number of things to address the murdered and missing Indigenous file, and Weaving Our Voices Together is one of the things that people have been working on. We have a number of staff out working with the Indigenous communities. So a lot of work is being done. I just do not have all day to talk about it. I wish I did, and if you want— Mr. Speaker (Hon. Bill Oliver): Thank you, minister.

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Oral Questions Original by Hansard Office Translation by Debates Translation 9 DAY CARE Mr. McKee (Moncton Centre, L): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today we will be debating two motions. One is on increasing access to day care, and the other is on worker retention in the health care sector. For me, both of those motions go hand in hand given the crucial role that women play in the health care system. Nurses are predominantly women, as are other types of professionals.

We know that because of the lack of available affordable childcare spaces in the province, women are facing barriers to work. This government is sitting on its hands. It is not doing anything. We would have wanted a better update today on the five-year plan with the federal government, but all that this government is doing is putting the blame on the federal government. Government members are telling us to do the job for them, to call the federal government and get a deal done. Well, we are ready to go to work. We will switch sides in a heartbeat. I hope that we can switch sides very soon, Mr. Speaker.

But I want to know this: Does this government have a plan for worker retention in the health care sector when it comes to barriers that women and professionals face in finding day care spaces? Hon. Mr. Hogan (Carleton, Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development, PC): Again, Mr. Speaker, we are not laying the blame totally on the federal government. We are asking the official opposition to call their federal cousins to help us out. We have met— (Interjections.) Hon. Mr.

Hogan (Carleton, Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development, PC): I am sorry, but the Leader of the Official Opposition seems to want to answer my question. (Interjections.) Mr. Speaker (Hon. Bill Oliver): Continue. Order, please. Hon. Mr. Hogan (Carleton, Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development, PC): On at least three occasions, we have met with the federal government to try to work this out. We are continuing to meet with them. We are trying to propose solutions that they have already agreed to in Prince Edward Island, for example. To date, we have created 1 506 spaces.

As I have said before, we spent $4 million of this budget to create 200 additional spaces in the for-profit sector. The challenge remains that the majority of the spaces that are left are for not-for-profit.

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Oral Questions Original by Hansard Office Translation by Debates Translation 10 Mr. Speaker (Hon. Bill Oliver): Thank you. Mr. McKee (Moncton Centre, L): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I cannot help but think of the slogan: Do your job. Do your job. I think that was from the New England Patriots, but there is certainly no Tom Brady on the other side. They are not getting the work done. They are not getting any rings or accomplishments. They are telling us to do the job for them. Why do they not look at their neighbouring provinces?

They are the same colour as them, and they are able to talk to the federal government. Why are this Premier and these ministers not able to communicate with the federal government or get the job done for New Brunswickers? It is time for them to get out of the way and let a government in that is there to govern for New Brunswickers and to get the job done. When it comes to childcare, this morning we heard about professionals in the health care sector in Fredericton who are not able to go to work, perform surgeries, and take on patients because there is no childcare for their six-month-old.

This Premier should stand up and tell us what he is doing to get the job done. Mr. Speaker (Hon. Bill Oliver): Thank you. Hon. Mr. Hogan (Carleton, Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development, PC): Once again, Mr. Speaker, I am not sure whether I am not speaking plainly enough. I am not suggesting that I am blaming the official opposition of New Brunswick. However, I am suggesting that the spaces that we have left are in the not-for-profit sector. We do not have a lot of not-for-profits in New Brunswick. (Interjections.) Mr. Speaker (Hon. Bill Oliver): Order, please. I would like to hear the answer.

Thank you. Hon. Mr. Hogan (Carleton, Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development, PC): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to give the answer. (Interjections.) Mr. Speaker (Hon. Bill Oliver): Member. Hon. Mr. Hogan (Carleton, Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development, PC): We would appreciate the assistance of the official opposition in working with Ottawa. We have met with them at least three times. We are meeting with them again to try to get the same agreement that does exist in Prince Edward Island. That seems to work really well.

If we could get that agreement, then we could deliver those spaces immediately. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. [Translation]

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Oral Questions Original by Hansard Office Translation by Debates Translation 11 MUNICIPALITIES Mr. K. Arseneau (Kent North, G): Mr. Speaker, New Brunswick underwent a large-scale municipal reform. Our municipal elected officials, the transition committees, and our communities worked very hard and were promised better days. However, now that the reform has taken place, this government seems to be abandoning our communities all over the province. The government transferred responsibilities to communities, but very little power, and even fewer resources, came with them.

In September, the government canceled its municipal finance summit—a summit on the financial framework of municipalities—with no valid reason, other than rumours of an election. However, according to a report we do not yet have access to, 28 of 89 entities are at risk of bankruptcy; this is serious. Can the minister tell us when the report will be made public and when the summit will be held? [Original] Hon. G. Savoie (Saint John East, Minister of Local Government; Minister responsible for La Francophonie, PC): Thank you, very much, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the question from the member opposite.

I would be remiss if I did not take a moment here on the front side to make sure that I recognize the work on the file that the member for Moncton East has done up to this point and to recognize the work that has been done by the department. This is something that has been decades in the making and has taken a lot of time to get us here. There is a lot of work that has been done by them. I have to congratulate them for that.

Mostly, I want to recognize the people in New Brunswick who have put their names forward and who have put their time and efforts forward, to be part of this reform, to be part of this change, and to make sure that they could be part of growing New Brunswick and make it into more of what it possibly can be. Mr. Speaker, under the old system, it was clear that we were not going to get to where we wanted to be as a province and that it was going to take a reform of this scale and this magnitude to get there. In terms of the financial summit, there was a misalignment between the province— Mr. Speaker (Hon.

Bill Oliver): Time, minister. Hon. G. Savoie (Saint John East, Minister of Local Government; Minister responsible for La Francophonie, PC): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. [Translation]

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Oral Questions Original by Hansard Office Translation by Debates Translation 12 Mr. K. Arseneau (Kent North, G): It may be a good idea to bring back the former minister, because the new minister cannot answer questions. I asked two questions: When will the summit be held, and when will we see the report? This is extremely serious. There are 28 entities, 20 of which are municipalities, that are at risk of bankruptcy, and you rise in the House and say absolutely anything. So, please, Mr.

Minister, this time, stand up and answer the question: When will the summit be held, and when will we get access to the report? [Original] Hon. G. Savoie (Saint John East, Minister of Local Government; Minister responsible for La Francophonie, PC): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I really hope that the member opposite can perhaps calm himself a little bit. That clip that he is trying to get out for his website will get there whether he is angry or whether he is happy. So he can perhaps just relax a little bit, and I will answer the question. Again, context is important. An association asked for a financial summit.

The province agreed to do that. But as the process rolled out—and this took months—it became clear that what the members were asking for and what they actually needed, which was different in different areas of the province, were not lining up with what the original intent was. So, Mr. Speaker, rather than going through a process that perhaps may not have given the results that are needed, the province decided to make sure that we were addressing the actual needs of people.

Rather than just meeting for the sake of meeting, we wanted something productive that was going to be useful and that would advance the interests of New Brunswickers. AIRPORTS Mr. Legacy (Bathurst West-Beresford, L): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I had to dust off my questions this morning. My question is for the same department, but for the third minister. It is for the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure. I am just kind of wondering whether he has been briefed on the Provincial Air Sector Strategy 2022-2027, which was tabled in June 2022.

This strategy was delivered, well, two ministers ago, with a lot of fanfare. This was going to help New Brunswick’s air sector thrive and compete on a scale never seen before. Can this new minister give us an update on how things are going? Are we achieving any of the targets that were outlined in that strategy? Hon. Mr. Ames (Carleton-York, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure, PC): Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. It is great to stand for my first question. As far as the air strategy goes, I have sat with the department, we have reviewed it, and we are taking a close look at all aspects of it.

That is really all we have to say.

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Oral Questions Original by Hansard Office Translation by Debates Translation 13 Mr. Legacy (Bathurst West-Beresford, L): I am glad that we got the first question out of the way. Let’s see how you do on this one. This strategy took a long time to complete. God, it took a long time to complete. It involved many experts in the field and most of the stakeholders in this province. One of the major conclusions that came out of the document from these experts was that the concept of one centralized airport for the province was not worth the risk or the investment.

In fact, it was pretty much considered impracticable. Yet recently, I have heard from several of those stakeholders that the Premier—his boss, by the way—is still pushing that concept. That could explain why this government does not seem fully committed to this strategy. Knowing the value that the Premier places on loyalty and on toeing the party line, I wonder which path this minister is going to follow. Does he respect the experts’ advice or bend to an unforgiving boss? Hon. Mr. Ames (Carleton-York, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure, PC): Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I am not really sure what the actual question is. (Interjections.) Hon. Mr. Ames (Carleton-York, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure, PC): Yes. Basically, I am kind of at a loss for words. As I said, we are reviewing the strategy. We are taking a close look at it. Any other personal comments would be kind of offside. Mr. Legacy (Bathurst West-Beresford, L): I guess the question was around this: Will you follow the strategy?

At the moment, in northeastern New Brunswick, communities, elected officials, stakeholders, and the business community are all working together to help the Bathurst airport sustain service for the area. What all these people are mostly working on is trying to find a way to bring this government to the table. Mr. Speaker, if you can wrap your head around this: A government that is supposed to be at the service of New Brunswickers has to be lobbied by a whole region to do its job. The previous minister was well aware of the file. He actually came to visit me in Bathurst to talk about it, and that was refreshing.

He is a nice guy too. So listen there. Has this minister had any contact or communication with, or has he even visited or seen, the Bathurst airport—one of the four airports highlighted in the strategy that he is responsible for? Hon. Mr. Ames (Carleton-York, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure, PC): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Certainly, the department understands the importance of this airport and its importance to the region. Basically, it continues to express to Transport Canada the need for and the importance of taking care of things. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Oral Questions Original by Hansard Office Translation by Debates Translation 14 DAY CARE Ms. Holt (Bathurst East—Nepisiguit—Saint-Isidore, Leader of the Official Opposition, L): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I do not know whether I am a glutton for punishment, but I am going to try this one more time. We have not-for-profit childcare facilities in this province that have the opportunity to expand. We have heard the member opposite talk repeatedly about the fact that we only have private day cares here and they cannot do anything about it.

We think that they could put a strategy together to advance the development of not-for-profit day cares. We even have private day cares in New Brunswick that are willing to become not-for-profits in order to be able to access the spaces that the minister opposite talks about. So, I am wondering: What is his plan to advance the development of not-for-profit childcare facilities in New Brunswick? Hon. Mr. Hogan (Carleton, Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development, PC): Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Thank you again to the Leader of the Opposition for the opportunity to stand up one more time.

Certainly, we would like to see more not-for-profit entities exist in the province. However, it takes quite a while to create a not-for-profit. If a not-for-profit wants to expand, that takes a while too. This is not something that it can do overnight, which is unfortunate. We wish that there was some pop-up building that it could add on if there was a need for the space in that area. I would also like to point out that it is important that parents fill out the provincial wait list so that we have an accurate number of how many parents are on that wait list.

Without the number on the wait list, it is impossible to tell. We are going to provide the spaces when and where we can, as we have been doing. But back again, we do need some help here with the federal government. ELECTIONS Ms. Holt (Bathurst East—Nepisiguit—Saint-Isidore, Leader of the Official Opposition, L): Well, there is a lot of broken record happening this week, Mr. Speaker. Today it is: We need Ottawa. We need Ottawa, we need your help, and we cannot do this job by ourselves. All week, what we continue to hear from the government is: Not now. We asked for critical equipment for the Dr.

Everett Chalmers Hospital, and what did we hear? Not now. We asked for the RSV vaccine. What did we hear? Not now. On affordability measures for New Brunswick, what did we hear? Maybe now. Not now. On making gas cheaper, not now. On a tax cut on electricity, not now. If not now, Mr. Speaker, then when? There is one other question that the Premier continues to dangle—an election. Will it be now or not now? I ask him on behalf of all New Brunswickers, on behalf of the doctors who

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Oral Questions Original by Hansard Office Translation by Debates Translation 15 are waiting for the equipment to do their jobs, on behalf of the seniors who are now waiting to hear whether they can get a vaccine covered, and on behalf of New Brunswick families that are trying to pay their bills and are waiting for affordability measures: If not an election now, when? Hon. Mr. Higgs (Quispamsis, Premier, Minister responsible for Intergovernmental Affairs, PC): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have been feeling a little left out.

You know, I have been here this whole session, and there are only a few seconds left. Mr. Speaker, I am glad to see that the Leader of the Opposition is actually now endorsing and wanting to proceed with an election. You know, I understand that she may be anxious, and she may have trepidation. But she knows one thing: A lot of the issues that we have to deal with and half of what she read off are directly related to federal policies—directly to federal policies, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr.

Speaker, we can talk, and we can laugh and carry on, but we cannot ignore that the situation that we find our province in is due to the federal policies that are being imposed upon Atlantic Canada. These are federal policies that even our Liberal MPs are talking about. They are causing us affordability issues. They are causing us cost-of-housing issues. They are causing the cost of every part of what we do to be unnecessarily higher. (Interjections.) Mr. Speaker (Hon. Bill Oliver): Order. Hon. Mr.

Higgs (Quispamsis, Premier, Minister responsible for Intergovernmental Affairs, PC): When you want to have a world-class economic policy and you want to say: How do we affect climate change? You have a made-in-Canada policy that really helps the rest of the country. Mr. Speaker (Hon. Bill Oliver): I think that is it for question period.