Provincial and Territorial Update – August 16, 2024
Provincial and Territorial Update: An overview of the Provincial Legislative and Territories Legislative Updates for the week of August 16, 2024. Written by Wes McLean.
New Brunswick
- A self-styled taxpayer advocacy group is urging all political parties in New Brunswick to fall in line with the Progressive Conservative promise to cut the harmonized sales tax if it is re-elected in this fall’s election. Jay Goldberg, the interim Atlantic director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, told reporters that the Liberals, Greens and others should be prepared to match what he called “a landmark affordability proposal” to cut the HST by two percentage points.
- Leaders of New Brunswick’s Liberal and Green parties say they’d support the City of Fredericton’s plan to build a new aquatic centre, if elected to power in this fall’s provincial election. But Liberal Leader Susan Holt said any specifics on how much financial support her government would be willing to offer depends on where the final price tag lands.
- A doctor hoping to run for the Conservative Party of Canada in Saint John-Kennebecasis says he’s suspending his campaign because higher-ups in the party have already chosen the candidate. In a letter to his supporters, Jeff Steeves said he had a series of interviews with party officials locally and in Ottawa “to ensure that my candidacy would be legitimate and that no favored candidates were waiting in the wings.”
- N.B. Power’s Point Lepreau nuclear generating station will remain out of service until at least mid-November. The utility confirmed in a press release Thursday that it won’t be able to achieve what it had called a best-case scenario of resuming operations in September. N.B. Power took the plant offline in April for a planned 100-day maintenance period but discovered other problems at the generating station during that work.
Nova Scotia
- Louisianans are embracing their roots on National Acadian Day in Nova Scotia. People from the state are among the 30,000 expected to attend a big party happening in southwest Nova Scotia on Thursday. It’s part of the World Acadian Congress 2024, a celebration of Acadian culture that began on Aug. 10 and ends Aug. 18. Donna Bourque-Misthos, a Cajun who travelled to Nova Scotia from Louisiana, told Radio-Canada that she wanted “to see where it all started in the New World for my family.”
- With a new school year weeks away, the union representing school support workers is demanding the province do more to protect its 5,000 members heading back into the classroom. Representatives from eight Nova Scotia locals of the Canadian Union of Public Employees took part in an outdoor news conference Thursday in downtown Halifax. Those locals represent teaching assistants, early childhood educators, librarians, bus drivers and many of the other people who support the work of teachers and principals.
- The federal government announced on Wednesday it will invest $2.4 million over five years to fund emergency management co-ordinators for eight Mi’kmaw communities: Wasoqopa’q, Annapolis Valley, Bear River, Glooscap, Millbrook, Paqtnkek, Pictou Landing and Sipekne’katik The aim is to help communities devise action plans in the event of natural disasters. Jenica Atwin, parliamentary secretary to the minister of Indigenous services, said with fires and floods becoming increasingly common due to climate change, the emergency management co-ordinators will have “enhanced capacity at the First Nation level” to work with Indigenous Services Canada and the province.
- The Cape Breton Regional Municipality councillor with the lowest expense claims for this term says CBRM’s reporting system needs to be more transparent. In addition to the annual pay all councillors receive, Dist. 4 Coun. Steve Gillespie has cost CBRM taxpayers a total of $337.50 since being elected in October 2020. Other councillors have billed a wide variety of amounts up to $22,000 over the same period for travel, accommodations, meals and training. Gillespie’s expense is listed as a training cost, but if the councillor had his way, his claims would have been zero.
Prince Edward Island
- The government of Prince Edward Island says it is optimistic that regulation changes for nurses in the province will help boost recruitment and improve access to care. On Tuesday, the province said it had introduced regulatory changes to allow registered nurses (RNs) with advanced certification to prescribe, dispense and administer certain drugs. It is also moving to officially recognize registered psychiatric nurses, or RPNs, as a distinct profession.
- Prince Edward Island had 880 short-term rental units that could have been used as long-term housing in 2023, according to a new analysis by Statistics Canada. That represented 1.3 per cent of all housing in the province. Only B.C. registered a higher percentage in the review, at 1.38 per cent. For the study, Statistics Canada looked at listings on the short-term rental sites Airbnb and Vrbo. To qualify as a potential long-term residence, a listing had to be up for at least 180 days of the year, and it had to be an appropriate type of listing: for example, a house, apartment or condo, rather than a cottage or bed and breakfast unit.
- A seven-year run of rapid job growth on P.E.I., interrupted by the pandemic, appears to be over. Statistics Canada’s labour force survey for July, released on Friday, listed the Island’s unemployment rate at 8.9 per cent, an increase from 8.0 per cent in June. The change was mostly due to more Islanders in the workforce as the province’s population continues to grow. P.E.I.’s recent population boom started in 2017, and outside of 2020 it has been matched by a boom in the number of jobs. That has lead to a years-long stretch of historically-low unemployment rates.
- As officials in Prince Edward Island prepare for hurricane season, they are urging Islanders to get ready for future Fiona-level storms — whenever they may hit. “The bar has changed,” said Kim Griffin, a spokesperson for Maritime Electric. “We’re comparing everything that we do to that of Fiona.” Since storm season began, the utility company has been circulating hurricane preparedness information in bill inserts and on its website. Still, seeing Hurricane Ernesto tracking toward the Island earlier this week was a reminder to be aware and ready for storms at all times, Griffin said.
Newfoundland and Labrador
- A Sheshatshiu mother is warning her children to stay away from Happy Valley-Goose Bay because of racist rhetoric that erupted in the aftermath of a rally about crime. Florence Milley, who lived in Happy Valley-Goose Bay for a time and now lives on her home reserve in nearby Sheshatshiu, said it’s not safe for Innu. Comments on social media posts have included threats to shoot and kill Innu around the town.
- Colleagues and friends are remembering Kevin Parsons, a force in Newfoundland and Labrador politics for decades, for dedicated service to his constituents. Parsons was the long-time Progressive Conservative MHA for Cape St Francis, holding the post from 2008 to 2021. In 2020, Parsons announced he would not seek re-election. Before serving in the House of Assembly, he had been Flatrock’s mayor. More recently, he sat again on the town council. On Thursday morning, tributes poured in from other politicians and from friends.
- Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services is seeking to standardize the contract it offers to private nursing agencies, but the union that represents nurses in the province says it’s a step in the wrong direction. N.L. Health Services issued a request for proposals on Wednesday, which in a news release it described as part of a commitment to “implement cost-effective arrangements to address human resources challenges.”
- A photojournalist of nearly four decades says Postmedia hasn’t shared its plans for the St. John’s Telegram as the media company prepares to buy the newspaper and other publications in Atlantic Canada. Keith Gosse, who also represents 37 of the company’s employees as president of Unifor Local 441-G, said employees know only that the company will purchase the paper itself and its editorial operations but not the printing press or staff in other departments.
Quebec
- Quebec Premier François Legault says his main priority is getting victims of last week’s flooding more financial compensation, and he’s considering adjusting some government aid programs to do it. Legault met with officials in the town of Louiseville, Que., in the Mauricie region Thursday morning, where 250 residents were affected by torrential rain. The heavy rain led to landslides across southern Quebec, widespread road damage and knocked out power for hundreds of thousands of Hydro-Québec clients.
- The Quebec government is prepared to revise a directive that has sparked concerns about restricting access to health care in English, according to The Canadian Press. In an open letter, three provincial ministers—Jean-François Roberge, Eric Girard, and Christian Dubé—affirm that Quebec imposes no linguistic conditions on health care in English. They expressed willingness to clarify the directive, emphasizing that there will never be language requirements to receive treatment in Quebec.
- Quebec says that starting this fall it will authorize early requests for medical assistance in dying from certain patients before their condition renders them incapable of giving consent. The province has been calling on the federal government to modify the Criminal Code to allow people to make such requests, but Quebec says it won’t wait any longer. “We will be ready, and we will move forward. What we want is for the federal government to change the Criminal Code, but if they don’t, we are working on our options,” Lea Fortin, spokesperson for Seniors Minister Sonia Belanger, told The Canadian Press.
- The Quebec government is creating a consultation group to study the pedagogical and ethical issues related to the use of artificial intelligence in universities. In a news release today, the province says the group will include representatives from post-secondary institutions, student and union associations, and experts in the use of AI in higher education. Higher Education Minister Pascale Déry says the new group will develop a “common vision” that will guide the responsible and ethical use of AI in post-secondary institutions. The group is also tasked with helping to come up with strategic priorities for the use of AI and implementing technology projects in universities and other post-secondary schools.
Ontario
- With Premier Doug Ford hinting provincial moves are afoot to restrict supervised drug consumption sites, municipalities say more help is needed on mental health, addiction and homelessness. “I’ll be very frank, I’m not sold on these safe injection sites that are in neighbourhoods and needles are all flowing around — it’s a haven for drug dealers,” Ford said last week in Thunder Bay. “Let’s get these people the support they need and build more detox beds and I know our ministers will be making announcements shortly regarding that,” the premier said.
- Ontario education minister Todd Smith has resigned barely two months after being appointed to the role and just weeks before the school year begins. Smith announced in a social media post on Friday morning he was stepping down as both a cabinet minister and MPP “effective immediately” to take on a role in the private sector. “I have spoken to Premier Ford to let him know that I am resigning my seat and stepping down from my cabinet duties effective immediately and that I will not be seeking reelection,” his statement read.
- Ontario’s opposition parties are criticizing Premier Doug Ford for joking about sending “overflow” human patients to a new animal hospital. Ford spoke Tuesday at the opening of a large new veterinary facility north of Toronto, an event attended by several other cabinet ministers, and said, “by the looks of it we know where we can send the overflow patients now for MRIs and CAT scans and everything else.”
- Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ontario Premier Doug Ford say they are prepared to work with the city of Ottawa as Mayor Mark Sutcliffe warns of potential cuts to transit services without financial help from the federal and provincial governments, but made no funding commitments to the city. Trudeau and Ford responded to a question from CTV News at a media availability in Napanee, Ont. on Monday, four days after Sutcliffe declared a “transit crisis” in Ottawa with the city facing a $140 million a year gap in funding to OC Transpo over the next three years.
Manitoba
- The province is bolstering its home security rebate program by allocating an additional $1.5 million in funding, which the premier says will allow thousands more Manitobans to access rebates for the purchase of security systems. Extended funding for the home security rebate program was announced at a news conference Thursday. The program, a promise made by the NDP during last year’s election campaign, was launched earlier this summer. The province had initially allocated $500,000 worth of rebates to operate it, but that cap was reached in a matter of days, with over 7,500 applications for rebates to date.
- Manitoba is adding dozens of beds in a hospital, a personal care home, a community health office and a shelter as part of the government’s latest effort to free up space in overwhelmed emergency departments. The province is opening 68 transitional beds, Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said. The beds will temporarily accommodate patients discharged from the emergency department while they await a longer-term placement at a different healthcare facility or their home.
- Healthcare support workers in Prairie Mountain Health and Interlake-Eastern Health Authority have voted to reject their employer’s latest offer on a new collective agreement. The Manitoba Government and General Employees’ Union has approved a strike mandate and is requesting to return to the bargaining table with employers “as soon as possible,” a news release said on Thursday. The voting period for the new contract began on Tuesday and closed at noon on Thursday.
- The chief of a northeastern Manitoba First Nation says crews are scrambling to get as many people out as they can before a growing wildfire starts moving toward the community again. Somewhere around 1,500 or 1,600 people have been flown out of Bunibonibee Cree Nation since evacuations began Wednesday — and officials hope to get another 800 people to Winnipeg on Friday, before any shift in the wind could move the out-of-control fire another nine kilometres into the community, Chief Richard Hart said.
Saskatchewan
- Regina’s new Urgent Care Centre has now had its doors open for six weeks, and the Saskatchewan Health Authority says the centre has taken some pressure off both emergency rooms in the city, with wait times dropping. Since it opened in early July, more than 4,400 hundred patients have been served. The daily average is 107 patients, according to the health authority.
- The provincial government says looming job action by the country’s two main railways could have a devastating effect on Saskatchewan’s economy and reputation. CN Rail has threatened to lock out employees as early as Aug. 22 if it can’t come to an agreement with Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) on issues such as scheduling and wages. The union, which represents 9,300 conductors, engineers and yard workers, is simultaneously holding labour talks with Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd.
- A long-awaited new payroll and scheduling software is continuing to cause problems for healthcare workers in Saskatchewan, despite the health authority insisting that the rollout has been successful. One woman says she hasn’t been paid in five weeks and there’s no clear indication on when she’ll start receiving the money she’s owed. “I have not been paid at all for any of the hours that I’ve worked for July and August, and I do work full time,” said Zoe Barclay-Wright on Tuesday.
- Most of Saskatchewan is under Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) air quality statements Thursday due to thick wildfire smoke flowing through the province. Saskatoon, Regina, Prince Albert, Swift Current and the entire north region of Saskatchewan are all included in the statements A small corner of southeastern Saskatchewan was in the clear Thursday morning, but ECCC meteorologist Stephen Berg said he expects the entire province to be understatements by the afternoon.
Alberta
- Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says her government will introduce legislation on pronouns in schools after classes begin in September. Smith said the new policy requiring parents to consent before children under 16 can change their names or pronouns in schools will be proposed in the fall legislature session that begins in late October.
- Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has called for a complete overhaul of the equalization and federal transfer scheme. She said, in a post to X on Tuesday, that the current system is broken and holds Alberta back while encouraging “dysfunctional policies that stifle growth in other provinces.” Smith attached a photo to her post from a Fraser Institute study released on Tuesday, showing that Alberta’s net contribution to federal finances was $244.6 billion between 2007 and 2022, more than five times that of the province in second place, British Columbia, at $46.9 billion.
- Three daycares in Calgary have been shut down effective immediately over concerns for child safety. The Alberta government says the three facilities, all of which were being operated by Little Scholars, were operating on probationary licences due to previous infractions. Those licences were set to expire at the end of the month, but the province says ongoing issues and increased risk led to closure orders being issued now.
- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States says that healthy students are better learners. Because of that connection between a student’s well-being, including their mental well-being, and their educational outcomes, the Alberta government is extending their Mental Health in Schools Pilot program and investing $6.7 million for in-school mental health support for upwards of 350,000 students in the 2024-2025 school year.
British Columbia
- The mayor of Victoria says she is “extremely disappointed” in B.C. Premier David Eby for publicly weighing in on the suspension of a city firefighter this week. Mayor Marianne Alto on Friday reaffirmed that she had nothing to do with the decision to suspend firefighter Josh Montgomery after he penned an open letter to the premier opposing the city’s support for a planned homeless outreach centre in his neighbourhood.
- British Columbia’s Opposition is promising the largest income tax cut in the province’s history if elected this fall, prompting Premier David Eby to call the pledge “extreme” and “radical” and a recipe for service cuts. The BC United plan would raise the earnings threshold for provincial income tax to $50,000, up from the current $11,980. Leader Kevin Falcon said the “bold” plan would allow taxpayers to keep an additional $2,050 on average and result in 60 percent of B.C. residents, or more than 2.4 million people, being exempt from provincial income tax.
- A proposed class action lawsuit has been filed in B.C. Supreme Court alleging both the province and federal government are responsible for the addictions and in one case the death of teens gaining access to diverted supply. Amelie North’s family believes the B.C. government’s prescribed drug supply program led the 17-year-old down a path of destruction. She’s currently undergoing treatment for addiction.
- West Vancouver council voted Monday night to agree to the B.C. government’s demand for more housing density. The B.C. government has been pushing the district to align with its housing legislation by loosening its zoning bylaws to allow for multi-unit housing construction. Under the legislation introduced last fall, municipalities must implement TOD (transit-oriented development) areas within 800 metres of rapid transit stations, which set minimum height and density requirements based on a city’s size and the proximity to the station.
Northwest Territories
- The NWT government has opened a window for residents to say how the territory should spend its money in the 2025-26 financial year. What the GNWT calls its “budget dialogues” are now open online, with a deadline of September 20 for feedback, or you can attend an in-person session on the evening of September 3 at Yellowknife’s Chateau Nova Hotel.
Yukon
- With a receiver now in control of Victoria Gold and its assets the Yukon Government says they aim to restore the Eagle Gold Mine site to conditions before the heap leach failure instead of a permanent closure or shutdown of the company. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) was appointed as receiver on Wednesday, August 14th after the Yukon Government announced they had lost confidence in the ability for Victoria Gold to do the remediation competently.
Nunavut
- The Governments of Canada and Nunavut have signed a new ten-year agreement for the Canada Community-Building Fund (CCBF) to provide funding to communities across the territory. Over the first five years, Nunavut will receive $94.5 million to address local infrastructure priorities. The renewal means that the critical infrastructure that supports housing will continue to be built, maintained, and expanded.