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Doubling-down on government waste
For a government that appears to believe that duplication is the mother of perdition, New Brunswick’s Grit regime has a funny way of sticking to the guns of its political principles. As Premier Brian...
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Downtown events centre as political football
Condescension, thy name is Brian Gallant. With breathtaking gall, the premier of New Brunswick delivered a message to Moncton last week from the river-soaked banks of Freddy Beach where, apparently,...
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Under pressure, he’s still “Gallant”
Apparently, the premier of New Brunswick and I are on a first-name basis. He’s 32. My daughter will be 34 this year. I’m turning 55 and feeling every inch the old scold these days. So, Mr. Premier,...
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As the fracking follies continue. . .
It’s always heartening to realize that those we elect to high, public office hold each other to the same standard of comportment as do the rest of us. After all, if we can’t count on the statesmen...
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Biting the hand that hits
Government watchdogs are constitutionally bred to be independent, objective, honest, and, of course, funded. How else can they protect the people’s business from the occasional, sometimes unwitting,...
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No more Mr. Nice Guys
In a hotel room in downtown Moncton, I interviewed former Progressive Conservative Premier of New Brunswick David Alward, mid-way through his mandate, and found him to be genuinely interested, engaged...
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Reversing our job losses
In electoral politics, the easiest promises to make are always the hardest to keep. As the New Brunswick government recesses for the short, hot summer, it leaves with the uneasy certainty of that...
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Facing the angry voter
At this rate, the Hollywood-handsome premier of New Brunswick will need a political facelift before he again addresses his increasingly grumpy public on camera. Canada’s paparazzo of pollsters – which...
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The perfect picture-panic province
What a marvelous time to be the youngest premier in Canada, representing the oldest population in the nation. Could anything in Brian Gallant’s professional experience be less desirable than the...
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Who let the dogs out?
New Brunswick Premier Brian Gallant has sicced his political terriers on the federal Tory government for an array of alleged abuses he claims are ruining the province’s economy. The problem is, those...
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Give sober review to trade laws
It would take something like beer to upend the Constitutional status quo of this country – if, of course, it ever does. Consider the strange case of Gerard Comeau who was caught crossing the border...
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Whither our energy future?
When New England’s state governors and Atlantic Canada’s provincial premiers gather, as they are inclined to do every so often at a suitably picturesque venue along the northeastern seaboard of this...
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The crowns of our careers
When I was 33, I was schlepping phone books, on temporary assignment in the back end of Halifax’s Fairview neighbourhood. When Brian Gallant was 33, he was ending the first year of his inaugural term...
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Brian Gallant’s big break?
With his approval rating dropping into the political dumpster, the premier of New Brunswick needed a convincing win, one year into his mandate. He got it with BMM Testlabs’ announcement that, with the...
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Don’t fear the reaper
Sooner or later, the horseman with the scythe was always coming to New Brunswick, brandishing his blade to cut down the high and low among us. Still, who knew he would materialize in the form of a...
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A hand-out by any other name
Premier Brian Gallant’s decision to ask the newly elected Liberal government of Justin Trudeau to pony up new money for seniors’ care in this province is a bold move. But it could also be a very bad...
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And the winning N.B. newsmaker is. . .
He’s young in spirit, photogenic, energetic, and the premier of New Brunswick. He’s also old of heart, camera-shy, fundamentally calculating, and the heir to at least 50 years of Liberal Party...
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For whom the road tolls
“Popular” is not exactly the word that leaps to mind when talking about toll roads and tax hikes, but if you’re contemplating steps to render both as facts of life for New Brunswickers, a little spin...
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The deficit facts of life
Balance the budget, certainly; but not just yet. In a nutshell, this was what New Brunswick Finance Minister Roger Melanson told assembled ladies and gentlemen of the press and other observers at...
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Who’s on first?
The gorilla in the room Whenever the stars align to produce a conjunction of leadership at both the federal and provincial levels, those in opposition invariably fuel suspicions that latter is merely a...
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