Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Oral Questions Original by Hansard Office Translation by Debates Translation 1 December 9, 2020 CONTENTS ECONOMY Mr. Melanson Hon. Mr. Higgs Mr. Melanson Hon. Mr. Steeves Mr. Melanson Hon. Mr. Higgs Mr. Melanson Hon. Mr. Higgs Mr. Melanson Hon. Mr. Higgs Mr. Melanson Hon. Mr. Higgs NORTHERN NEW BRUNSWICK Mr. LePage Hon. Mr. Higgs Mr. LePage Hon. Ms. Dunn

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Oral Questions Original by Hansard Office Translation by Debates Translation 2 CULTURE Ms. Thériault Hon. Ms. Scott-Wallace Ms. Thériault Hon. Ms. Scott-Wallace Hon. Ms. Scott-Wallace FEDERAL FUNDING Mr. Guitard Hon. Ms. Green Mr. Guitard Hon. Ms. Green CLIMATE CHANGE Ms. Mitton Hon. Mr. Crossman Ms. Mitton Hon. Mr. Crossman AIRPORTS Mr. Legacy Hon. Mr. Higgs Mr. Legacy Hon. Mr. Higgs Mr. Legacy Hon. Mr. Higgs

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Oral Questions Original by Hansard Office Translation by Debates Translation 3 [Original] ECONOMY Mr. Melanson (Dieppe, Interim Opposition Leader, L): Mr. Speaker, the Premier has been Premier for two years now, and this is the second year that New Brunswick has been declared the poorest province in Canada. Last year, the Premier was the author of the first

chapter in the New Brunswick history book that saw New Brunswick become the poorest province. He just now wrote the second

chapter of that book. We know that we have financial challenges in the province, but we also know that we need to outgrow our financial challenges to be able to grow. New Brunswickers want to see growth. They want to see prosperity. Will the Premier review and revisit his fiscal and economic policies, because we are seeing New Brunswick be the poorest province in the country under his watch? Hon. Mr. Higgs (Quispamsis, Premier, Minister responsible for Intergovernmental Affairs, PC): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. You know what is interesting?

We are seeing New Brunswick rebound faster than any other province in the country. So if we are on a path, I want to stay on it because we are seeing renewed interest in our province and seeing people wanting to invest, work, and live here. We are seeing people come home. Do you know what? We are not reading articles about New Brunswick in the Globe and Mail that say, do the opposite of what the government does. We are seeing this: What is going on in New Brunswick? What is going on? There is a change. There is a change in attitude, a change in culture, and a change in interest in our province.

We got delayed by COVID-19. This may be a bit of a news flash for the opposition. We got delayed by COVID-19, but it is not going to hold us back. Vaccines are now going to be a way of life in the next few months. They are out there. They are coming. We are back on track, and we are going to get this province to continue to grow despite the situation we inherited from the previous government. Mr. Melanson (Dieppe, Interim Opposition Leader, L): Well, Mr.

Speaker, in the news over the weekend, there was an expert, Robert Johnson, the New Brunswick board member of the Canadian Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Professionals, who would be qualified as an expert and a very knowledgeable person in insolvencies and bankruptcies. He said this: A wave of bankruptcies is building up in New Brunswick. A wave of bankruptcies is building up in New Brunswick. Mr. Premier, your fiscal and economic policies are driving businesses to bankruptcy. And, yes, the pandemic did contribute to that.

The fact of the matter is that your inaction, with no concrete, specific investments for small and medium-sized businesses to bridge them over this pandemic, is hurting our economy, and businesses are going bankrupt.

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Oral Questions Original by Hansard Office Translation by Debates Translation 4 Hon. Mr. Steeves (Moncton Northwest, Minister of Finance and Treasury Board, PC): Mr. Speaker, thank you for the question from the member opposite. As a matter of fact, bankruptcies are down. Bankruptcies are down in New Brunswick more than they were the previous two years and especially more than they were the four years before that. I will go back and read you some stats. In 2015, there were 80 bankruptcies—insolvencies by businesses in New Brunswick.

In 2016, you, as a Liberal government, did better and there were 59. In 2017, there were 57, and then we took over. In 2018, there were 37. In 2019, there were 45, and in 2020, so far this year, it is 13. It is 13 so far this year. That is what this government is doing—opening up the economy, getting people to work, keeping them at work, and keeping businesses running. That is what we are doing. Mr. Melanson (Dieppe, Interim Opposition Leader, L): It is unfortunate that the Premier cannot even defend his fiscal and economic policies. He is asking his Minister of Finance to do that. By the way, Mr. Speaker, Mr.

Johnson said: “The true economic health of New Brunswickers is being masked”. That was his quote in the newspapers from over the weekend. Mr. Johnson was affirming that newly released data shows that more businesses recently closed are outpacing businesses opening. It is worrisome. It is worrisome. Insolvencies in July were 210; in August, they were 251; and in September, they were 293, based on what Mr. Johnson said. Mr. Premier, do you not reflect on these numbers? Are you not worried about what is going on in the New Brunswick economy?

Are you not worried about our businesses struggling under this pandemic, under your fiscal and economic policies? Hon. Mr. Higgs (Quispamsis, Premier, Minister responsible for Intergovernmental Affairs, PC): We know, Mr. Speaker, that the sole purpose of the Leader of the Opposition is to create political havoc. We know that in a pandemic, the sole purpose is to ask this: How do we disrupt the government? How do we disrupt the progress? The Leader of the Opposition has seen the statistics.

I believe in the numbers, absolutely, but I do not think that the Leader of the Opposition believes in the numbers, because we have seen the statistics of our comparison of 60 indicators across the country that are showing where New Brunswick is either leading or within the top two or three. It is very clear. I am very focused on meaningful statistics, on what is actually driving change in our province and in our economy, but we have never seen that same interest from the party of the member opposite. We have never seen it.

Its only goal has been, oh, well, we will just throw something here, and it has to look good. Well, Mr. Speaker, our discussions with the federal government are based on our putting money where it needs to be to ensure sustainable, long-term growth. Thank you.

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Oral Questions Original by Hansard Office Translation by Debates Translation 5 Mr. Melanson (Dieppe, Interim Opposition Leader, L): Mr. Speaker, the Premier has to get real here. When the Premier was Finance Minister… It is not my record. It is his record. It is documented. The provincial economy, with his fiscal and economic policies, as then- Finance Minister, shrunk in New Brunswick. It shrunk, and what we are seeing now… The pandemic is certainly not helping. Absolutely, we get that.

But his fiscal and economic policies of austerity and cuts are hurting our economy over and over year after year under his watch—under his watch. Now, is he going to realize sooner than later, before it is too late, that companies are going bankrupt and are struggling not just because of the pandemic but also because of his economic and fiscal policies? Premier, can you please wake up and help these businesses so that our economy can grow and we can inspire New Brunswickers to believe that they can have prosperity and jobs? Hon. Mr.

Higgs (Quispamsis, Premier, Minister responsible for Intergovernmental Affairs, PC): Mr. Speaker, the rhetoric continues. Every member opposite has a copy of the economic update. The key indicators of where we are in the province are all sent. Every one of them has access to that information to be able to see the reality of the New Brunswick situation. We have a working ONB in areas that are real in terms of working with companies, so it is a very focused effort. Do you know what? We want a province after the pandemic is over.

We want people to be taxed in a way that they can stay and live here, and we believe that there is an opportunity to ultimately reduce taxes so that more people will invest here. We have companies now looking to invest here. Do you know what? The Liberal philosophy was to invest more public money, go further in debt, and make it look like an economy, but that is not an economy. Our biggest challenge right now is managing through the pandemic in terms of getting the vaccine and getting back up and running.

The challenge in our province is getting people to go back to work and having an economy that is sustainable, not tax-based. Mr. Melanson (Dieppe, Interim Opposition Leader, L): Mr. Speaker, the Premier may define what we say as rhetoric, but I think that the Premier needs to focus on what really matters, which is that his fiscal and economic policies are hurting the economy of New Brunswick. Mr. Johnson also said in the papers: “I wouldn’t even say we’re near a recovery yet… Anybody saying that we are in recovery mode, I think that’s false information.” Mr. Speaker, that is what experts are saying.

That is not what the Premier is saying. He is not an expert in economic development obviously. We see his record. We see his fiscal and economic policies. When is the Premier going to discuss, consult, and, more importantly, listen to the experts and businesspeople who call us every day? They need help to move past this pandemic and be able to survive beyond it because they want to provide jobs for their neighbours and they want to be profitable. Please, Premier, wake up.

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Oral Questions Original by Hansard Office Translation by Debates Translation 6 Hon. Mr. Higgs (Quispamsis, Premier, Minister responsible for Intergovernmental Affairs, PC): Mr. Speaker, I would say to the Leader of the Opposition, please grow up, because we have a situation here where credit ratings have given us an improvement after we saw a downgrade from the previous government. We had a situation, Mr. Speaker, where we were not only seeing a balanced budget but also reducing taxes until COVID-19 hit.

We have a situation now where we can come out of this pandemic better than any other province, and it is due to the great work around this province. This is not a singular effort. I know that the total goal of the Opposition Leader is just to try to discredit the government in any way possible, because… But, Mr. Speaker, despite… And I must say that I am glad that this was not the case. The previous leader was very focused on working with us on the COVID-19 pandemic. In the COVID-19 Cabinet committee, we had four leaders committed to working together. I am not so sure that is the case anymore, Mr.

Speaker, and that is unfortunate because it is not over. The pandemic is not over. We have vaccines yet to get across this province. Mr. Melanson (Dieppe, Interim Opposition Leader, L): The Premier is throwing some insulting words here this morning. I guess that it really shows his true colours and who he really is. I think that people have a perception of who he is, but they do not really know who he is. I guess that some of the few words he used this morning shows what this Premier is all about.

In terms of the pandemic and working with New Brunswickers and all leaders to fight this virus, I am a hundred percent committed, and I have been participating and asking questions and offering some suggestions. However, Mr. Speaker, we are talking about the economy here. When you have to make decisions to close down the economy because of a public health issue, I get it. However, you need to help the economy to survive and to bridge over and to be able still to survive and to be sustainable after a pandemic. Premier, please, look at what is happening in New Brunswick.

Look at it, get to work, and help New Brunswick businesses so that they can survive. Hon. Mr. Higgs (Quispamsis, Premier, Minister responsible for Intergovernmental Affairs, PC): Mr. Speaker, let’s echo the words. Leader of the Opposition, look at what is happening in New Brunswick. Look at what people are saying about New Brunswick. Look at the outside factors and the people asking what is going on here and wanting to invest here. Look at the properties that are now being bought—for the first time—in bidding wars. They are now being bought sight unseen, Mr. Speaker. When did that last happen in New Brunswick?

Look at businesses across the province. There are a number of initiatives going on because ONB is back on track with its initiative Closing the Gap in One Generation. We have challenges in immigration, which we have spoken to the federal government about. We got behind during the COVID-19 crisis. A lot of policy requests did not get through the federal government, which it is working on now. We are managing the resources that are being provided to us. We are working with them on areas that we jointly

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Oral Questions Original by Hansard Office Translation by Debates Translation 7 share. But do you know what is different, Mr. Speaker? For every dime we spend, we want a result. That was never a factor before with the previous government because it did not care. It did not care whether there was a result. All it cared about was whether there was a headline. Mr. Speaker, we are deeper than headlines. [Translation] NORTHERN NEW BRUNSWICK Mr. LePage (Restigouche West, L): Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

In June 2020, the Conservative government eliminated the Northern New Brunswick Economic Development and Innovation Fund and the Miramichi Regional Economic Development and Innovation Fund. The government made this decision, and I quote: To redirect this funding to programs available to organizations everywhere. In addition, the government took the centre of excellence dedicated to youth mental health and our status as a Department of Social Development regional office away from us. It ignored the needs of our employers, our students, and the people who work on high-speed Internet in our region.

I remind the Premier and Cabinet members that New Brunswick is much more than the Fredericton-Moncton-Saint John triangle. The Premier is continuing to take from the poor to give to the rich. [Original] The numbers that you gave a while ago are from the past, Mr. Premier. What are you doing for the present, and what are you doing for the future of our businesses in the north of New Brunswick? Hon. Mr. Higgs (Quispamsis, Premier, Minister responsible for Intergovernmental Affairs, PC): Mr. Speaker, I think that we should look at the policies of the past and ask what happened.

There was 20% of the population that moved to the south. Businesses closed and did not reopen. Investments did not happen. Mr. Speaker, the policy did not work, did it? Yet the program… Oh, stay the same and things will get better. People have to be different. We have to look differently. We are looking at every region. We are talking about regional reform. We are talking about regional ownership and the responsibilities for their regions so the communities know what can be sustainable investments. You know, I have often quoted a stable investment opportunity.

One was in Bas-Caraquet, and I have talked about it a lot. We invested in a dry dock to create work in the community. A dry dock—the province owns a dry dock. Why were we doing that? Well, we were going to send it up to Quebec and let it compete with the Bas-Caraquet facility. Guess what? Right

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Oral Questions Original by Hansard Office Translation by Debates Translation 8 now, we sold that facility to MQM. Right now, it is employing 40 people. Do you know what it is interested in? Getting more jobs, because that is its business, and it is not just taxpayer- created work as long as the money lasts. [Translation] Mr. LePage (Restigouche West, L): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The northern New Brunswick economy was hit hard by COVID-19, mostly because of this government’s inaction in supporting our SMEs.

The Belledune smelter shut down, and a committee was supposed to examine the situation closely to rebuild our economy. The government closed the border between New Brunswick and Quebec, and some of our SMEs lost almost 60% of their customers and revenue, while others have simply closed up shop. Yet, the Atlantic bubble boosted the economy in the south. The government is encouraging online shopping, but, in northern New Brunswick, we do not even have access to high- speed Internet.

The federal government has just invested $40 million, though, and the private company has just invested $91 million, but this provincial government has not invested one red cent. Mr. Speaker, does this government have a plan for northern New Brunswick? If so, what is this plan, what concrete steps will this government take, and what plans, vision, and direction does it have? [Original] Hon. Ms.

Dunn (Saint John Harbour, Minister responsible for Economic Development and Small Business, Minister responsible for Opportunities NB, Minister responsible for Immigration, Minister of Aboriginal Affairs, PC): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the member opposite as well. I would like to address your question with respect to the northern portion of the province. We are actually working with the stakeholders in the north.

They have submitted a report called the 2020 Northern Vision, which is focused on four major areas identified for growth: tax and economic policy reform, modular construction, industrial development, and intermodal infrastructure. We are actually working with them now to implement some of those recommendations, and we will have concrete issues with respect to outgoing matters going forward. I would impress upon you today that EDSB as well as PETL are working with those individual stakeholders and we will have concrete actions. Thank you.

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Oral Questions Original by Hansard Office Translation by Debates Translation 9 CULTURE Ms. Thériault (Caraquet, L): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the new Minister of Tourism, Heritage and Culture. I would like to know what your vision is for arts and culture in our province. Hon. Ms. Scott-Wallace (Sussex-Fundy-St. Martins, Minister of Tourism, Heritage and Culture, Minister responsible for Women’s Equality, PC): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the opportunity to answer that. We have a very tight-knit group in our arts and culture sector.

We have a think tank at this time. We have reports coming out in the coming weeks. They are invaluable to us. We are working toward new legislation for the status of the artist. I would like to say that our arts and culture sector is well served by our department and we are moving forward together in one direction. [Translation] Ms. Thériault (Caraquet, L): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That was more of a statement of facts, while I would have liked to know what the minister has in mind and what her vision is.

If the minister finds art and culture so beautiful and important, why has no assistance fund been set up for professional artists and cultural industries in light of the pandemic? I am not talking here about the crumbs given out to artists so that they can perform on Facebook, but, instead, about a real economic recovery plan—real assistance for artists. In New Brunswick, artists have an annual median income of $24 000, while the annual contribution of cultural industries to our GDP is $550 million. So, when artists work, it benefits the province. However, everything is at a standstill right now.

Small venues are shut down, and festivals have been downsized or cancelled. In addition, the cold weather makes it impossible to hold outdoor events. What is the plan, not only for artists, but also for technicians, people who do the broadcasting, and artistic agencies? What is the minister’s concrete plan? [Original] Mr. Speaker (Hon. Mr. Oliver): Time, member. Hon. Ms. Scott-Wallace (Sussex-Fundy-St. Martins, Minister of Tourism, Heritage and Culture, Minister responsible for Women’s Equality, PC): Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Our arts and culture staff have been working with these people, with the artists, with the artisans, and with the performers of this province. We are working together. We are heading in a direction that they are satisfied with and that we are satisfied with. We know that there are challenges with COVID-19. Absolutely, we do. (Interjections.)

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Oral Questions Original by Hansard Office Translation by Debates Translation 10 Mr. Speaker (Hon. Mr. Oliver): Order. Hon. Ms. Scott-Wallace (Sussex-Fundy-St. Martins, Minister of Tourism, Heritage and Culture, Minister responsible for Women’s Equality, PC): But, Mr. Speaker, we are not working in opposition in any way with our arts and culture groups. We meet regularly, we have successful meetings, and we have more good things to come. [Translation] FEDERAL FUNDING Mr. Guitard (Restigouche-Chaleur, L): Mr.

Speaker, for some time, the government has been making a big deal on social media, in the traditional media, and here in the House about its economic performance during the pandemic. I would say: Whoa, not so fast. In August, there were statistics that showed us that job creation was slowing down. [Original] My question is for the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure. We are going through a new budgetary period. What are her thoughts on a joint provincial-federal infrastructure program to help her with some of the pressure points?

I know that by this time, she would have been told what the pressure points are within her department. What are her thoughts about an infrastructure program to help her with this situation and, at the same time, support our economy and help our businesses? Hon. Ms. Green (Fredericton North, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure, PC): Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the member opposite for my very first question in question period.

I would like to take a moment to thank the residents of Fredericton North for giving me the honour of representing them here at the Legislature, and I would also like to say that I have the honour of being the very first engineer representing the ministry of the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure. There are some federal programs that will help infrastructure in the province. We have investigated all those different programs, and we have submitted a budget to the capital budget, which we will be revealing in a few weeks or next week. I will speak to it more then, when the budget is revealed.

But certainly, we want to strongly support the economy, and we are listening to the needs of the province of New Brunswick. Mr. Guitard (Restigouche-Chaleur, L): Can I assume by the minister’s answer—she will table the budget, obviously—that she was given some leeway within the Cabinet to help her with some of those situations that she is wading through? We have problems with bridges. We have problems with roads. The federal government could help and, at the same time, help businesses. My question, again, is this: Is it possible to sit with the federal

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Oral Questions Original by Hansard Office Translation by Debates Translation 11 government for a new infrastructure program to help us in New Brunswick and to save money in the long run because we will eventually have to do some of those projects? Hon. Ms. Green (Fredericton North, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure, PC): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There is no question that we have a lot of infrastructure in this province. We have a lot of assets that we need to take care of. We have a huge inventory. We have a maintenance deficit in this province.

We have a long list of projects that we need to do going forward. Of course, we are going to take advantage of programs on which the federal government is willing to partner with us to move some of the needs that we have in the future into the present. The answer is, absolutely. We will work with the federal government to take care of the needs of the province of New Brunswick and move our assets forward to continue to maintain them for our community. CLIMATE CHANGE Ms. Mitton (Memramcook-Tantramar, G): Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

In the throne speech presented last month, the government said that it “has prioritized the environment through tangible actions and real progress”. However, I have seen incremental progress at best from this government when it comes to addressing the climate crisis. The throne speech also mentioned that, in this year’s budget, the “government allocated $36 million to invest in climate change initiatives”. However, the throne speech does not say how much has actually been spent so far. Real commitment to addressing climate change requires actions, not just words.

The Premier often talks about how he wants to see results for money spent, so I want to know whether the Minister of Environment and Climate Change will table a detailed

summary of the spending of the Climate Change Fund so far this year so New Brunswickers can see what results this government is getting when it comes to addressing climate change. Hon. Mr. Crossman (Hampton, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Minister responsible for the Regional Development Corporation, PC): Thank you for the question, Mr. Speaker, from across the way. Actually, you are right on with the throne speech and the $36 million.

I would like to say that during Cabinet and other caucus and committee meetings that we have had, we have looked at helping all departments across the way on climate change, whether it is replacing infrastructure as mentioned a minute ago, the member from up north joining climate change… There are lots of things happening for infrastructure, energy efficiency, and buildings, and we are looking at each project individually. We will look at tracking those and get back to the member when we have something to offer. Thank you. Ms.

Mitton (Memramcook-Tantramar, G): Just to be clear, I did call on the minister to table the list of what has been spent so far from the Climate Change Fund.

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Oral Questions Original by Hansard Office Translation by Debates Translation 12 One way that the Climate Change Fund could be spent is to help New Brunswickers invest more money in energy efficiency. In Efficiency Canada’s scorecard, New Brunswick ranks seventh among all provinces for its energy efficiency programs. Out of 61 countries ranked by the Climate Change Performance Index this week, Canada finished dead last when it came to energy efficiency. This is baffling because energy efficiency is a win-win. It creates jobs while saving people money on their heating bills.

New Brunswick spends only $18 per low-income household on efficiency compared to $121 in Nova Scotia and $215 on Prince Edward Island. Social Development’s Low-Income Efficiency Savings Program has been stuck at $2 million in funding for years despite its ginormous wait list. Will the Minister of Environment and Climate Change commit to increasing the funding significantly to this program to help seniors and low-income New Brunswickers save on their heating costs? Hon. Mr.

Crossman (Hampton, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Minister responsible for the Regional Development Corporation, PC): Our climate change action committee identifies 118 action items, and we will track those and take each one into consideration. You mentioned renewable energy, and we are working on that as well as energy efficiency in homes, businesses, schools, and hospitals. The province has continued to work through the actions that we mentioned before with climate change. We have in place our committee, which will continue.

We are part of that, and we are looking forward to working with other members across the floor. This is just a snapshot in time of the energy efficiency performance over the last year that you mentioned in the paper yesterday. Investments continue to be made to improve the energy efficiency performance of New Brunswick as well as to reduce the carbon footprint of the energy sector. One of the strengths highlighted in the scorecard is our electric vehicle charging stations. We hope to hear more about that in the near future as well.

We are therefore well positioned to further reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector. Thank you again for your question. AIRPORTS Mr. Legacy (Bathurst West-Beresford, L): Two of our New Brunswick airports received more bad news from Air Canada yesterday. Last spring, the Premier created an airport recovery task force, which includes various government employees, members of Cabinet, and representatives from four New Brunswick airports that offer passenger service.

In light of his comments in the throne speech, can the Premier confirm that the mandate of this task force, which is clearly indicated in its name—airport recovery—is still current? Hon. Mr. Higgs (Quispamsis, Premier, Minister responsible for Intergovernmental Affairs, PC): I guess that the mandate of the task force… I am not remembering or thinking about what task force was set up. We talked to the different airport authorities. We did that on a few different occasions, and we talked to the different chambers about the impact that the

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Oral Questions Original by Hansard Office Translation by Debates Translation 13 lack of air travel is having and the impact that our rules are having on quarantining and the difficulties there. The fact that getting a test on a plane before you get on does not mean that you are not going to have COVID-19 two or three days later because asymptomatic testing is not foolproof. Unless you have the quarantine of at least a space of 10 days or 14 days… It is the only thing that works. At the end of the day, we know that every community is hurting because of a lack of air travel.

It is happening all over the Maritimes, and it is happening across the country. That is not going to change anytime soon. We know that this is going to be a window where people are not going to want to travel. The testing does not confirm that it is safe to travel. Until the vaccines are administered, that is our goal. Get them out there, get people vaccinated, and get back on track. Mr. Speaker (Hon. Mr. Oliver): Time. Mr. Legacy (Bathurst West-Beresford, L): Since the throne speech, there has been a false public narrative that has been created that airports in New Brunswick are a drain on provincial finances.

That is simply not true. The Bathurst, Moncton, Fredericton, and Saint John airports are all key economic infrastructures, and all of them were growing and profitable prior to this pandemic. It is COVID-19 and nothing else that has caused their current situation. Airports are a federal jurisdiction. The federal government decides who gets to operate or not, but every other provincial government has started working with its airports to ensure that they survive this pandemic by providing help. If the Premier has a plan to support only one airport in this province, can he tell us which one? Hon. Mr.

Higgs (Quispamsis, Premier, Minister responsible for Intergovernmental Affairs, PC): Mr. Speaker, I am going to take this opportunity, as well, to quote some statistics that I have here about an update from the CFIB. The Leader of the Opposition previously was talking about the experts. Here is the CFIB: 75% of businesses are fully open, up three points from last month, top in the country, tied with Nova Scotia. There are 55% of businesses that are at above-normal staffing levels. That is tops in the country, ahead of Nova Scotia.

There are 35% of businesses that are earning better than usual revenues for this time of year, second only to Nova Scotia, which is 38%. Mr. Speaker, we are a leading province and proud of it. Now, in relation to airports, I am not afraid to look. I am not afraid to look at how good we can be in this province. What I have said is, Let’s understand why, in all our airports, we have 1.5 million passengers and Nova Scotia, in Halifax, has 4.5 million. Why do people go to Bangor and bypass our airports? Why do they go to Halifax and bypass our airports? What is the issue? I am not afraid to look… Mr. Speaker (Hon.

Mr. Oliver): Time, Premier.

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Oral Questions Original by Hansard Office Translation by Debates Translation 14 Mr. Legacy (Bathurst West-Beresford, L): The Premier talks about Nova Scotia and its stats. Here is one thing that I know about Nova Scotia: Two years ago, Nova Scotia invested $11.2 million for the Halifax airport to get some new airlines and new air traffic. We do nothing. Maybe that is the difference in why Nova Scotia gets more passengers and we do not. Hon. Mr.

Higgs (Quispamsis, Premier, Minister responsible for Intergovernmental Affairs, PC): What are they saying—that the federal government does not support our airports and that it is a federal jurisdiction? Which is it? Is it the federal government that does this, or is it the provincial government? What I would say is, you are right. The Halifax facility, the Halifax airport, is world-known as an international airport, and the 4.5 million passengers indicate that it is well figured out. Why do we not have one of those?

I do not know what works for New Brunswick, but the challenge is that we have always found it difficult to look because there is so much idle debate back and forth, back and forth—cannot look. Mr. Speaker, we are looking, and we will lay it all out there in terms of what we find. Maybe we will find that we have the best setup that we can possibly have, or maybe we will find that there is an avenue to create better traffic in our province, better connections for people, and better connections for business, and we will have a province that gets on the map—not only in this country but also around the world. Mr.

Speaker (Hon. Mr. Oliver): The time for question period is over.