Platform for New Brunswick: Public Policies for Growth and Prosperity raises discussion of public policy reform. Author Marco Navarro-Génie, President of the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies, makes the case for more disciplined fiscal stewardship, better use of market mechanisms in health care, developing New Brunswick’s energy resources, and evidence-based education policy.
New Brunswick will hold its 39th general election on Sept. 24, 2018. The policy discussions that accompany the campaign are of vital importance to New Brunswick, given its financial difficulties and slow economic growth.
The Institute submits this platform as a point of discussion for New Brunswick media and voters. It articulates a policy direction that focuses on economic development and market-based solutions with the goal of greater prosperity. In the document, AIMS makes the following proposals:
Public Finances & Taxes
1. Balance the budget in 2019 and beyond;
2. Eliminate the provincial share of residential property taxes;
3. Cut personal and corporate income taxes to offset the HST increase.
Healthcare Policy
1. Encourage alternative delivery options;
2. Use market tools within the public system; 3. Tie changes in health spending to the HST; 4. Invest in preventive medicine.
Energy Policy
1. Overturn the moratorium on hydraulic fracturing;
2. Implement smart-grid technology for demand-side management; 3. Develop natural gas and nuclear options for baseload power;
4. Resist efforts to impose a federal carbon tax;
5. Work with Ottawa to restart plans for an eastbound pipeline.
Education Policy
1. Create space for charter schools;
2. Decentralize school governance;
3. Remove floor on number of teachers;
4. Create open disciplinary process;
5. Review French Immersion entry based on the evidence.
Read the study here
