Photo ops, repeat funding announcements not linked to election campaign, Liberals say
CBC News | Posted: July 13, 2018 8:00 AM | Last Updated: July 13, 2018
Opposition politicians scoff at the denial, saying nobody’s fooled
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The Gallant Liberals have fired back against assertions the province is spending time, resources and taxpayers' money for campaign purposes ahead of the September election.
Citing funding announcement after announcement and government advertising that rings of Liberal Party messaging, critics say the lines between governing and campaigning have become blurred at the very least.
Premier Brian Gallant said in a recent statement there is no connection between his government's actions and the looming election, which is a little more than two months away.
"I can understand that some people think with an election coming what we're doing is geared towards that," Gallant said.
"I can tell people of the province that we are governing this province. We are not going to stop governing for a few months because the campaign is coming."
Opposition politicians scoffed at the statement during this week's CBC New Brunswick Political Panel podcast, saying nobody is fooled.
Progressive Conservative candidate Dominic Cardy said it's "bizarre" for the government to deny the link.
The number of announcements has increased this year, he said, counting more than 200 so far and nearly 50 re-announcements.
"They continue to announce and re-announce and, in some cases, triple announce — I don't think there's a word for that — projects that are already funded."
Liberal MLA Roger Melanson echoed the premier's words during the panel, saying the announcements are just part of governance — a way to inform the public.
"Our government has been governing. Our government has been making decisions to get the fiscal situation back on track," Melanson said.
"Our government has been making decisions on where we can strategically invest, where New Brunswickers are asking us to be investing in."
They're not buying that snake oil. - Kris Austin, People's Alliance leader
NDP Leader Jennifer McKenzie said the endless election-year photo ops and funding announcements are a sign of poor governance.
"They starve agencies and communities of funding and then, in the months before the election, all of a sudden there's lots of funding for all the needs," McKenzie said.
Green Party Leader David Coon said many of the announcements are for routine government business such as road maintenance and dealing out grants, which the province expects the public to accept like a gift.
Coon mentioned one of the prime examples of re-announcements this year: the Liberals' nursing home plan. The infrastructure-heavy, five-year plan earmarks $108 million worth of spending by 2023 to build and renovate nursing homes around the province.
"Only $9 million of that is in this year," Coon said. "So, it's like, 'If you elect us, you know down the road we will be spending money on these things.'"
Following the overall announcement in February, the government travelled to each community to hold similar press events to unveil specifics for that location.
People's Alliance Leader Kris Austin said tossing around cash in an election year is an outdated practice the electorate has grown tired of.
"They're not buying that snake oil," he said.
"They want substance. They want different thinking. They want a vision to launch them into the campaign, the election."