Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Oral Questions Original by Hansard Office Translation by Debates Translation 1 May 27, 2020 CONTENTS FEDERAL FUNDING Mr. D. Landry Hon. Mr. Holder Mr. D. Landry Hon. Mr. Holder Mr. D. Landry Hon. Mr. Holder Mr. D. Landry Hon. Mr. Holder Mr. D. Landry Hon. Mr. Holder Mr. D. Landry Hon. Mr. Holder Mr. D. Landry Hon. Mr. Higgs Mr. D. Landry Hon. Mr. Higgs Mr. D. Landry Hon. Mr. Higgs

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Oral Questions Original by Hansard Office Translation by Debates Translation 2 GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS Mr. Harvey Hon. Mr. Higgs Mr. Harvey Hon. Mrs. M. Wilson Mr. Harvey Hon. Mr. Higgs TOURISM Mr. J. LeBlanc Hon. Mr. Fitch GOVERNMENT SERVICES Mr. Austin Hon. Mr. Higgs TELECOMMUNICATIONS Mr. Austin Hon. Mrs. M. Wilson GOVERNMENT FUNDING Mr. K. Arseneau Hon. Mr. Higgs WATER Mr. K. Arseneau Hon. Mr. Carr TOURISM Mr. J. LeBlanc Hon. Mr. Fitch Mr. J. LeBlanc Hon. Mr. Fitch

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Oral Questions Original by Hansard Office Translation by Debates Translation 3 [Original] FEDERAL FUNDING Mr. D. Landry (Bathurst East—Nepisiguit—Saint-Isidore, Interim Opposition Leader, L): Mr. Speaker, as the interim Leader of the Official Opposition, I want to offer my sincere condolences to the member for Moncton Northwest and Minister of Finance. I know it is not easy to lose a close relative such as a father, mother, brother, sister, or child, and I am speaking from experience. Only time will heal your sorrows. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. [Translation] Mr.

Speaker, my colleague from Restigouche West started to talk about this matter yesterday, but we did not get too far on this issue, and we did not really get an answer. My question is for the Premier: How did you determine which essential workers would get an income supplement and which would not? [Original] Hon. Mr. Holder (Portland-Simonds, Minister of Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour, PC): Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. There were certain criteria laid out by the federal government.

It was for people earning $18 per hour or less, and we wanted to make sure that these were public servants who helped us get through this crisis—the people who needed it the most. Without these individuals, as I said yesterday, we would not have been in a position to flatten the curve in the way that we did, and we felt that they needed to be acknowledged. [Translation] Mr. D. Landry (Bathurst East—Nepisiguit—Saint-Isidore, Interim Opposition Leader, L): Mr.

Speaker, I can acknowledge that it was a federal criterion, but my question for the minister is this: Was it not incumbent on provinces to make that decision? [Original] Hon. Mr. Holder (Portland-Simonds, Minister of Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour, PC): Absolutely, Mr. Speaker. Government is about making choices. They gave us the criteria, and we worked with it to choose the employees under that income threshold within the public service in this province who we felt had stepped up. Those were home support workers and people working in emergency shelters and domestic violence facilities.

These were frontline people who helped out, and we thought that they should be recognized for it.

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Oral Questions Original by Hansard Office Translation by Debates Translation 4 [Translation] Mr. D. Landry (Bathurst East—Nepisiguit—Saint-Isidore, Interim Opposition Leader, L): Mr. Speaker, has the government assessed the actual work being done by frontline workers and the related stress, or is this essentially a financial decision to make sure that we only have to use federal funds? Was it a way to ensure that none of the provincial funds would be included in this program?

Is that why the Premier is not standing up for the essential workers in hospitals, retirement homes, and other workplaces? [Original] Hon. Mr. Holder (Portland-Simonds, Minister of Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour, PC): First of all, I think that the people we have chosen are very worthy of this. Quite frankly, they are the ones who got us through this. This had nothing to do with a financial decision. This was about targeting money in the best way that we could to make sure that those that got us through this crisis were recognized. [Translation] Mr. D.

Landry (Bathurst East—Nepisiguit—Saint-Isidore, Interim Opposition Leader, L): Mr. Speaker, I have trouble understanding why the minister is telling us that certain people were chosen. The expression is clear: these are essential services. I will ask the minister again: What are the criteria that were laid out to determine which people were more essential than others? That is my question. [Original] Hon. Mr. Holder (Portland-Simonds, Minister of Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour, PC): These were home support workers. These were people working in crisis management.

These were people who were out on the front line and working day to day with New Brunswickers and putting themselves at risk. That was the criteria we used. [Translation] Mr. D. Landry (Bathurst East—Nepisiguit—Saint-Isidore, Interim Opposition Leader, L): What are the criteria for assessing whether one person is more at risk than another? Let us look at grocery store workers. They are constantly in contact with people who are doing their shopping. There are hospital workers. These are frontline employees. There are many kinds of workers.

How did the government determine which of these workers were more essential than the others?

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Oral Questions Original by Hansard Office Translation by Debates Translation 5 [Original] Hon. Mr. Holder (Portland-Simonds, Minister of Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour, PC): Mr. Speaker, I think that it is also important to point out that there are all kinds of other ways that we are helping New Brunswick workers in this province. Our WorkingNB offices are up and running. We are working with employers every day to make sure that they have the labour supports in place so that they can get up and running and open again.

With respect to the member opposite’s question, we were talking about frontline workers who were paid by the taxpayers of New Brunswick. We thought that they needed to be compensated for being out there on the front line every day, making sure, as I clearly said yesterday, that we were in fact flattening the curve. In fact, we went beyond that. We eliminated this curve. If we keep doing what we are doing and we work and recognize the workers in this province who got us there, we will continue to flatten that curve, Mr. Speaker. [Translation] Mr. D.

Landry (Bathurst East—Nepisiguit—Saint-Isidore, Interim Opposition Leader, L): Mr. Speaker, I will go a little further than what the minister has just said. I want to talk about the part-time workers who are replacing totally exhausted workers. As I said yesterday, some of these people became extremely anxious, since they did not really know what to expect as time went by and they were working day after day. As I said, some workers within the system were not able to see things through until the end of the pandemic. Have the part-time workers who replaced them been factored into this equation? [Original] Hon. Mr.

Holder (Portland-Simonds, Minister of Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour, PC): Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the members of the opposition this: Is there something about the list that we chose that they did not like? Did they not think that these workers should be recognized? Because, at the end of the day, these were people who were out on the front line making sure that our most vulnerable were protected in our society. We thought that they should be compensated. It is as simple as that. [Translation] Mr. D. Landry (Bathurst East—Nepisiguit—Saint-Isidore, Interim Opposition Leader, L): Mr.

Speaker, maybe if I were sitting on the other side of the House, I would find that it is an easy equation. The question I am asking again is not meant to suggest that the government has not helped workers. My question is aimed at finding out why it ignored some of them

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Oral Questions Original by Hansard Office Translation by Debates Translation 6 and why it simply did not help all workers who were on the front lines or providing essential services. [Original] Hon. Mr. Higgs (Quispamsis, Premier, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, PC): Mr. Speaker, I think that we will probably end up having this debate through the entire recovery phase of the pandemic. The same thing will apply to the many businesses across the province in terms of how we get them going, up and running.

Looking at the health care professionals who are actually serving vulnerable populations, looking at some of the areas that rely on support, be it through fund-raising or whatever, and the wages and salaries which were set by the federal government in terms of criteria… We also know that there are private-sector people in the retail business who worked through that and were already recognized. Grocery store workers would be an example of that. They were already recognized by their private operations. We can pick and choose, and we can nitpick on the particular issues and nuances.

But that is going to be an ongoing issue. I think that overall, at the end of the day, we must make sure that we not only provide the right compensation package where it is needed, but also recognize how we are going to fund this going forward. How do we balance this going forward so that there is a New Brunswick at the end of the day that people start up under, Mr. Speaker? [Translation] Mr. D. Landry (Bathurst East—Nepisiguit—Saint-Isidore, Interim Opposition Leader, L): Mr.

Speaker, since the Premier is on his feet, I want to ask him this: Did he know that earning $18 per hour would have an impact on day care and nursing home workers, because he earns a little more than that? [Original] Hon. Mr. Higgs (Quispamsis, Premier, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, PC): Mr. Speaker, we did not set the criteria. The federal government did. The situation is such that, whether they were making $18 per hour… Fortunately, in our nursing homes, the average salary is much higher than that. It made it so that they did not qualify under the federal program.

There are a lot of federal programs that are coming out, and as I said, they are certainly going to be used throughout the province where they can best serve the needs of the province. They apply to businesses all over. As I said, we will continue to be in a discussion, I would guess, of who qualifies and who does not. We did put out an early program in relation to filling the gap between when the money was going to be available for people who had lost their jobs. We assisted in our own program here, to the tune of $40 million or something in that range. That was a personal program

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Oral Questions Original by Hansard Office Translation by Debates Translation 7 from the province that was put in place. There will be ones in which we will participate, and there will be ones where we will just deal with the federal program as it exists. [Translation] Mr. D. Landry (Bathurst East—Nepisiguit—Saint-Isidore, Interim Opposition Leader, L): Mr. Speaker, I thank the Premier for his answer, but one fact remains: As he certainly said in his response, can the province add an income supplement?

I understand the federal criteria, but this is what I want to know now: Were there any non-federal funds used to continue this program? If I understand the Premier correctly, there were not; is that correct? [Original] Hon. Mr. Higgs (Quispamsis, Premier, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, PC): I think what is important to realize is that not every program that the federal government put in place will be a priority program for the province. And I would use some examples on the infrastructure programs in trying to say: Can we have more flexibility to spend money in areas where we actually need to spend money?

Whether that be in hospital services or whether that be in provincial building construction or maintenance or whatever, these are projects that are on our books to spend. That has been the argument, I guess, that I have used throughout my meetings federally—that we need flexibility in order to use federal dollars for projects that we need. Now, that creates employment, which we are looking for, but what it also does, Mr. Speaker, is give us some flexibility in the future, because we will have paid the maintenance costs on items that needed to be fixed or repaired or built.

The age-old problem has been building things that we really do not need. So then we end up paying for the things that we do need in future years when we do not have the money. If we are thinking about next year and the year after, Mr. Speaker, where are transfer payments going to be? Who knows? That is the concern. GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS Mr. Harvey (Carleton-Victoria, L): Condolences, Mr. Speaker, to the member for Moncton Northwest and to the member for Saint John East on the passing of your moms. It is a very challenging time, and you have my sympathy.

The response to COVID-19 has been and will continue to be fought on two fronts—public health protection and economic recovery. Over the past two months, we, the official opposition, have offered many suggestions on economic recovery to this government. Mr. Speaker, we are here to help as we move through the many phases of economic recovery in the province that we all cherish. Like many other businesses, restaurants are struggling to

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Oral Questions Original by Hansard Office Translation by Debates Translation 8 survive. Not only have they been incurring expenses during the closure, but also they can open only at half capacity or less. Also, they have incurred significant costs associated with Public Health protocols, including reordering perishable supplies, installing plexiglass, etc. Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia have stepped up, Mr. Speaker. Will the Premier step up and help this sector? Thank you. Hon. Mr. Higgs (Quispamsis, Premier, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, PC): Mr. Speaker, there are many

definitions of “stepping up”, it would appear. While we have a very unique situation here in our province, where we actually have a COVID-19 Cabinet committee consisting of leaders of all parties, including the Liberal Party… That has existed from the very beginning of this, and it still exists. All ideas that are brought forward in those sessions are related to whatever suggestions I assume come from the caucuses. That is the system that is formally set up.

So if these suggestions are out there, forthcoming in great detail, I would suggest that they come forward in the Cabinet committee because that is where we have the opportunity. On the other aspect, Mr. Speaker, yesterday, I think, I mentioned that over 54% of our businesses are up and fully open. “Fully open” can mean that they are restricted in terms of attendance. I get it if it is a restaurant and that sort of thing, but they are glad to be in business. Just yesterday, I got my hair cut, and the lady was so pleased to be up and running.

She had the curtains up, and we were all wearing masks and talking about protecting each other. It is as though they are anxious to be up and running, and I am excited about that, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker (Hon. Mr. Guitard): Time. Mr. Harvey (Carleton-Victoria, L): Mr. Speaker, I can appreciate that. We are elected here to serve in the Legislative Assembly. We are not on a committee of Cabinet, but I am proud to represent the people of Carleton-Victoria and to respectfully express some of these concerns that I am hearing from businesses to the Premier. On that issue, there is an example. Mr.

Speaker, the tenant protection measures expire on May 31, which is the end of this week, basically. Businesses struggling to get back on their feet may need more time to do so and may need to utilize the federal-provincial commercial emergency rent program. Will the Premier consider stepping up—those are the words that he uses—for New Brunswick small businesses and extend the deadline for eviction protection for commercial and nonresidential leases to August 31? This is a very clear question. Hon. Mrs. M.

Wilson (Oromocto-Lincoln-Fredericton, Minister of Economic Development and Small Business, Minister responsible for Opportunities NB, PC): Thank you for the question, Mr. Speaker. With reference to the Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance (CECRA), New Brunswick, like all Canadian provinces, has agreed to cost-share

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Oral Questions Original by Hansard Office Translation by Debates Translation 9 the total costs and to facilitate the implementation of this program as necessary—the rent relief objectives of the program. Provinces will cost-share 25% of the total costs. The online application process for CECRA only became available on May 25, so I appreciate the concern of the member opposite. I will mention that it is too early at this time to know how many New Brunswick businesses will participate in the program. Your question is being considered at this time.

We will let you know as soon as possible. Mr. Harvey (Carleton-Victoria, L): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It was not my question, but I appreciate the commentary on that program. I am well aware of the program, to the minister. But the tenant protection measures expire on Friday, and they are this government’s responsibility. That was the question. Will the government extend that to August 31, Mr. Speaker? Businesses have incurred expenses without a revenue stream for a considerable amount of time, Mr. Speaker. Many are having cash-flow issues.

Will the Premier or the minister consider deferring the payment of business property taxes to allow these businesses more time to meet their current obligations, Mr. Speaker? Will they extend this—the extension of the property tax deadline—to August 31? Hon. Mr. Higgs (Quispamsis, Premier, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, PC): Mr. Speaker, we have a unique system setup through Opportunities New Brunswick and the Business Navigators program. The idea is to work with every business to understand the real situation.

I know that it is easy to say in here that we should defer this, cancel that, and move this, but at the same time, the folks who are working in the hospitals or the nursing homes or the schools want to be paid. We have to figure out how we manage all of this. We want businesses to start. What we have been hearing from the chambers is: Let us get up and running; we will follow the rules and be compliant; give us the services that we need. That is why WorkSafeNB has been so responsive in dealing with them. That is why we have helped them with instructions on how to open up and operate safely.

We are maybe getting a different message. I think that at the end of the day, every one of these businesses knows, being in business, that it is a boomerang. It comes right back at them, Mr. Speaker, through taxes in the future. That is what we are trying to say: We are going to get you up and running and work with you individually to make that happen so that you are not subjected next year to taxes such that you cannot afford to stay in business. TOURISM Mr. J. LeBlanc (Shediac—Beaubassin—Cap-Pelé, L): Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I would also like first to take the time to personally thank our frontline workers and our essential workers during this pandemic.

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Oral Questions Original by Hansard Office Translation by Debates Translation 10 My question is to the Minister of Tourism, Heritage and Culture. I know we are encouraging New Brunswickers to vacation at home, which is good, but there is no way that this will make up for the loss of business in our tourism industry this year. Can the minister give us a realistic number on how much impact there will be this year on the tourism industry regarding the loss of jobs, business, and GDP? Thank you. Hon. Mr.

Fitch (Riverview, Minister of Tourism, Heritage and Culture, PC): Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. It is a real pleasure for me to rise in the Legislature here today as the Minister of Tourism, Heritage and Culture on day 24 of the third session of the 59th legislature. It is a real honour and pleasure to continue to serve the people of Riverview here in my 17th year as their MLA. Mr. Speaker, the final

chapter has not been written on this tourism season here in New Brunswick just yet. We have been able to pivot from a marketing campaign that was addressing Quebec, Ontario, New England, and other jurisdictions to come to New Brunswick. That is normally where we count on a significant number of our visitors here to the various venues within the province. We pivoted from that to create a stay-at-home staycation here in New Brunswick with our #NBalways campaign. Mr. Speaker, that was very, very successful in the fact that many people gave tremendous feedback. Thank you. Mr. Speaker (Hon. Mr.

Guitard): Time, minister. GOVERNMENT SERVICES Mr. Austin (Fredericton-Grand Lake, Leader, PA): Mr. Speaker, jurisdictions around the world are working to keep their residents up to date with information relating to the pandemic. Real-time information is essential, especially during an outbreak, and it can be broken down based on numbers and geography so that citizens can effectively determine their own day-to-day dealings. It is a simple and easy way to keep the public informed with the newest and latest data.

For example, the government of New Brunswick created an economic dashboard where the public can see where we stand with economic growth and decline. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Premier. Will this government commit to creating a COVID-19 dashboard similar to that of the state of Florida so citizens in New Brunswick can have all the current, relevant, and up-to-date information at their fingertips to help them make their decisions in their day-to-day lives during the pandemic? Hon. Mr. Higgs (Quispamsis, Premier, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, PC): Mr. Speaker, thank you for the question.

I appreciate that there are different models of updating the scorecards, and I value a scorecard that gives good, realistic information that people can understand. Yes, we will work to produce that same thing, and I am committed

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Oral Questions Original by Hansard Office Translation by Debates Translation 11 to doing that. There is some information that we have now that shows the zones and where we are in different regions of the province. But I guess I would take this opportunity right now to indicate some concern with one of the zones, which would be Zone 5 in the Campbellton area, where we know that we have had another new case. We know that we had a rally there a few weeks ago and 400 people showed up. As I said yesterday, social distancing was not high on the agenda, and I am very concerned.

We will be developing a plan to deal with that, and we will be working with the COVID committee to figure out what the next step should be. But having that scorecard to keep people aware is important throughout the province because we are on watch here and we will be until there is a vaccine, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. TELECOMMUNICATIONS Mr. Austin (Fredericton-Grand Lake, Leader, PA): I would like to thank the Premier for that response and again reiterate how important it is.

For those watching at home, just google “Florida dashboard”, and you will see exactly how the information is portrayed in the state of Florida. I think it would be very relevant here in New Brunswick. Another issue relating to the pandemic, of course, is that there are so many people working from home, whether in the private sector or the public sector. Frankly, in New Brunswick, if you live in an urban or a semi-urban area and in large municipalities, you have access to really good high-speed Internet.

Unfortunately, many people in rural New Brunswick do not have that same type of service, and I think it is up to government to initiate some incentives for infrastructure in relation to high-speed Internet. I would like to ask the Premier whether the government has any initiatives or any discussions relating to increasing high-speed Internet for public service employees who are able to work at home in the future as well as for private-sector employees. Hon. Mrs. M.

Wilson (Oromocto-Lincoln-Fredericton, Minister of Economic Development and Small Business, Minister responsible for Opportunities NB, PC): Thank you for this very important question, Mr. Speaker. Certainly, we do recognize that one of the outcomes of the COVID-19 pandemic is an increased sense of urgency for access to quality broadband. Prior to this pandemic, work was ongoing on a two-phased project with New Brunswick- based Xplornet to upgrade rural broadband Internet service, as you are all aware.

Xplornet is nearing completion of Phase 1 of the project, and the Phase-2 recipient agreement has now been approved by the federal government through the Integrated Bilateral Agreement with Infrastructure Canada, with a $40-million commitment federally and an $80-million

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Oral Questions Original by Hansard Office Translation by Debates Translation 12 commitment from Xplornet. When both phases are completed, the project will provide improved Internet access at a higher speed to over 83 000 residential customers and 4 700 businesses. We continue to look at ways to upgrade the province’s digital infrastructure and embrace new technology such as 5G in our recovery plan for the province. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. [Translation] GOVERNMENT FUNDING Mr. K. Arseneau (Kent North, G): Mr. Speaker, let us talk about the fiscal virus.

In times of crisis, it is imperative for any government to support people, workers, and businesses to ensure everybody’s well-being. Every year, people and businesses have to pay their share of income taxes so that we have a collective capacity to build a common future. Although we do not always agree on how our government should spend this money, we pay our taxes, which are turned into infrastructure, services, a social safety net, and other types of common property. However, certain businesses are unfortunately choosing to send their profits, or part of them, to tax havens.

My question is this: Will the Premier commit today to following the example of France, Scotland, Wales, Denmark, and Poland by excluding from any government assistance all businesses, including those with subsidiaries, based in tax havens? [Original] Hon. Mr. Higgs (Quispamsis, Premier, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, PC): So, Mr. Speaker, I may be mistaken, but the countries that the member has mentioned are countries. We are a province. This is a national issue, as I would understand. It is a national policy of how companies can register in order to work in a particular region.

So, I would guess… I know that this has been a theme of national discussion over the past number of years. I know that the federal Finance Minister was certainly involved in a discussion about offshore holdings. The point is valid. I understand it, but I do not believe that it is a jurisdiction that I can control here provincially. I think that it is important to understand that every company that is based in any province or in our country needs to pay its fair share of taxes regardless. We are all onside with that.

The question always becomes: How do we ensure that these companies pay their fair share of taxes while, at the same time, not seeing what we saw in

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Oral Questions Original by Hansard Office Translation by Debates Translation 13 the northern part of the province during the forestry crisis in 2008 when we lost so many businesses, which up and left… Mr. Speaker (Hon. Mr. Guitard): Time, Premier. WATER Mr. K. Arseneau (Kent North, G): Mr. Speaker, if the Premier does not control where the money from our government here in New Brunswick goes, we have another problem. Mr.

Speaker, I have the great privilege of representing the riding of Kent North, which is home to the Richibucto River watershed, which is an important river to the people of Elsipogtog and Indian Island. It houses a rich ecosystem and the best oysters of the world and has picturesque tourism opportunities, a diverse fishing sector, and much more. When elected, the Premier said that we need to concentrate on the needs of New Brunswickers, not the wants. This is a need, a basic one that will have an important impact on the quality of the water and the economic potential of our region.

I bring this all up because the village of Rexton’s water treatment system is in dire need of some basic infrastructure investment—investment, not spending. By investing in this, we invest in our future, in our environment, and in our economic backbone. Rexton will do its part. The feds see the need. Now, will the Premier commit to ensuring that the basic investment be considered as a need? Hon. Mr. Carr (New Maryland-Sunbury, Minister of Environment and Local Government, PC): Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the member opposite for the question.

We all value water infrastructure and wastewater infrastructure. That is why our government, when we took power in the late fall of 2018, made it a very distinct priority that water and wastewater infrastructure projects were at the top of the list, Mr. Speaker. We were not investing in projects that did not give our communities a safe, healthy future. In saying that, when we came up with such a simple priority, we made sure that communities in our province that had the best and highest needs were met. So, Mr. Speaker, I have met with the mayor and administration from Rexton.

We understand their needs, but there are a lot of other needs that for many years have been pushed aside in the province because the wants rather than the needs have been covered by finances. We will continue working on the needs, and water and wastewater are top of mind. Mr. Speaker (Hon. Mr. Guitard): Time, minister.

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Oral Questions Original by Hansard Office Translation by Debates Translation 14 [Translation] TOURISM Mr. J. LeBlanc (Shediac—Beaubassin—Cap-Pelé, L): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to mention the $25-million investment announcement made by the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, as well as the one made a few weeks ago by Prince Edward Island. These announcements were aimed at the tourism sector. Will New Brunswick provide our tourism operators with assistance specifically designed for the tourism industry?

I am talking about assistance that goes beyond loan programs, which will only create more debt. Will New Brunswick help our tourism operators, as Newfoundland and Labrador has done? [Original] Hon. Mr. Fitch (Riverview, Minister of Tourism, Heritage and Culture, PC): Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I am really pleased that you were able to go back to the Critic for Tourism, Heritage and Culture so that he could ask his second and possibly third questions. Mr. Speaker, the department has been working very diligently with the operators here in New Brunswick, as have I.

We have started a weekly call to listen to exactly what the tourism folks need. They are concerned. We know that it is going to be a very, very difficult summer. That is without a doubt. But we have been working with the stakeholders, again, to try to give them information on the federal programs and on the programs that are available through ONB here in the province and to see whether those programs will satisfy their needs. But, Mr. Speaker, as I answered in my first question, the final

chapter has not been written on the tourism sector of the province. We have invested. Our people have invested time and energy in working with the industry. We have invested money in a marketing campaign to help New Brunswickers to stay here in the province and spend their tourism dollars. We have also invested in capital, as was evident in the announcement in the member’s riding… Mr. Speaker (Hon. Mr. Guitard): Time, minister. Mr. J. LeBlanc (Shediac—Beaubassin—Cap-Pelé, L): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to reiterate that the province needs to come to the plate as well, Mr. Minister and Mr.

Speaker, but also that we need to become partners. All hands need to be on deck for the entire tourism sector across the province. A large part of our tourism budget is spent on advertising outside our borders, in Quebec, Ontario, and the northeastern part of the United States. Were those ad campaigns

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Oral Questions Original by Hansard Office Translation by Debates Translation 15 cancelled? Have we been able to direct those revenues into programs to help our tourism operators? Has that money been diverted to other sectors? Hon. Mr. Fitch (Riverview, Minister of Tourism, Heritage and Culture, PC): Well, as I said, Mr. Speaker, we have been able to pivot on our campaign. We have been able to make sure that the people in New Brunswick know about New Brunswick. It is a three-phase approach.

The first phase was to create hope and pride in the province, which, again, there was an opportunity to do since people were staying home. The second phase was wondering where New Brunswickers would go first. Mr. Speaker, you saw the evidence as people chose which destination they wanted. With the opening of the Fundy Trail Parkway, we saw a significant number of people going to it on the first weekend that it opened, to the point of actually exceeding the number of visitors that it had last year.

When you look at that venue, you say: Wow, that is a successful response to the marketing campaign that has been put forward. That is the type of nimble response that we can get from the folks in the province. From the standpoint of advertising in other jurisdictions, that is not the direction that I have… Mr. Speaker (Hon. Mr. Guitard): Question period is over.