After keeping her distance, Liberal premier ready to work with Trudeau
Susan Holt says she’s looking forward to agreements with Ottawa on school meals, pharmacare and carbon pricing
New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt is keeping her distance from Justin Trudeau no more.
Holt, who repeatedly emphasized her differences with the prime minister leading up to last month's election, was on more welcoming terms Tuesday after their first official meeting in Fredericton.
Her government is ready to sign deals with Ottawa on a range of issues, she told reporters.
But it was Trudeau — facing low approval ratings and a daunting challenge in his own re-election bid sometime next year — who seemed keenest to bridge any gap between him and an election winner he can call an ally.
"I'm really, really excited to be able to work with Susan, with a fellow Liberal, to deliver on real progressive priorities," he told reporters.
"To be able to work with someone who is so like-minded is very, very exciting, and I'm really glad she won, and won so big."
Collaboration where 'priorities match,' says Holt
Despite the rapprochement, Holt continued to downplay the party brand they share, not uttering the word "Liberal" during the 21-minute news conference.
Instead, she said voters had opted for "a government that's going to work with anyone and everyone that can help New Brunswickers succeed."
At another point, she said the two governments would collaborate "where our priorities match."
Last year, Holt said she agreed with then-Progressive Conservative cabinet minister Kris Austin that Trudeau's government was too far to the left.
"It looks like, on the continuum, they're more left than us because we're more centrist here in New Brunswick," she said.
She also pointed out the two leaders had never met — something that remained true until Tuesday.
In the spring, Holt called on Trudeau to not implement the April 1, 2024, scheduled increase to the federal carbon tax, which raised the levy at gas pumps to 17.6 cents a litre.
And during this fall's election campaign, the Liberal name was noticeably absent from many of Holt's campaign materials.
Trudeau and Holt both avoided commenting directly on that strategy, with the prime minister instead slamming conservative-minded premiers — including former New Brunswick premier Blaine Higgs — for turning down federal funding that would help citizens.
"They don't actually want to step up on investments and solutions that people actually need," he said.
"They let ideology get in the way of actually investing in supports for families, for communities, support for jobs, for growth, for energy solutions that are needed."
Breakfast program a priority for premier
Holt said she's hopeful an agreement on school meal programs will come together quickly.
She promised during the election campaign to establish a universal free-breakfast and pay-what-you-can lunch program in all New Brunswick schools, at an annual cost of $27.4 million.
Trudeau's federal program, announced in April, targets only 400,000 students nationwide not already served by existing programs.
But Holt said Tuesday that Trudeau has agreed to use funds from that program to support her plan, reducing its cost.
"We're happy to have federal dollars supporting the work," she said.
Ottawa's pharmacare program, which requires agreements with provinces on free diabetes medication and contraceptives, will require more detailed discussions and may take longer, Holt said.
On the carbon tax, Trudeau defended his federal backstop, which applies in provinces that refuse to implement their own pricing system that meets the federal standard.
It includes quarterly rebates that, according to a report by the parliamentary budget officer in October, will leave the average New Brunswick household with $241 more in rebates than it would pay in 2030-31.
Holt said earlier that for New Brunswickers having a hard time making ends meet, "paying more now to get a rebate three months from now doesn't respond to their reality. … The rebates are lagging."
She has promised to pitch Ottawa on an alternative to the pricing system but has been vague about what it may look like — though she said Tuesday she'd like to see it in place in time to avoid the next carbon tax hike on April 1, 2025.
"We would love to have something in place before that. If we can move that quickly, that would be ideal."
Trudeau said his government is "always open to working together" on climate change.
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