Liberals' first session wraps for summer with some work left to do
CBC
New Brunswick's Liberal government crossed the finish line of its first legislative session on Friday with some campaign promises kept and others incomplete.
Premier Susan Holt was able to point to a cap on rent and a one-year freeze on assessed property values as examples of steps she took to make life more affordable.
But a third promised affordability measure — the repeal of the cost-of-carbon adjustor that is adding eight cents to the price of a litre of gas this week — was put on hold for months and only passed this week with a last-minute change to delay its implementation.
The Liberals also failed to introduce legislation to ban donations to provincial political parties from outside New Brunswick.
"They make a promise, and then when they realize, 'Oh, maybe this isn't such a good idea,'" Progressive Conservative Opposition Leader Glen Savoie said. "They tend to just let it kind of die its own death."
A spokesperson for Holt said the ban is being worked on in conjunction with Elections New Brunswick, along with other changes to toughen up political financing rules.
"It remains a priority for our government to build trust and transparency," Katie Beers said in an email.
The Liberals made the promise after a controversy over then-PC premier Blaine Higgs's travel to Western Canada to raise money for his re-election campaign.
A review by CBC News shows the PCs collected more than $275,000 in donations above $100 from people living outside New Brunswick — more than 21 per cent of the party's total in 2024.
By comparison, the Liberals raised less than $34,000, about three per cent of their total.
In last year's campaign, the Liberals also promised the immediate repeal of the carbon adjustor, which requires the Energy and Utilities Board to pass the cost of federal clean fuel regulations from producers, through distributors and retailers, to consumers.
That amount fluctuates weekly and was set at eight cents on Friday.
The government put its bill on hold last fall after after fierce lobbying by distributors and retailers.
They argued the carbon cost would land in their laps if it was no longer passed on to consumers.
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