New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs. (Photo: Submitted/Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick)
The Progressive Conservative government’s throne speech passed in the legislature Friday by a vote of 24 to 22.
Prior to the vote being held and days after some nasty exchanges in the house by members, Premier Blaine Higgs gave an impassioned speech which lasted about one hour.
In it, he talked about the potential New Brunswick has and told the MLAs how our problems can be fixed if we work together and not just waiting for another election cycle to come up.
Higgs said the work of fixing the province needs to be done for the right reasons.
“Not a headline, not just something we spout out because it sounds good and people will say that’s great, it’s like this is what we agree to, this is what we are doing and this is how you are going to feel it in a positive way,” said Higgs.
The premier also talked about how collaboration with all parties is the key to fixing the province of New Brunswick for the long term.
“The word cliff has been used too much for my liking. We must take steps to move away from that cliff and we feel we are doing that but we are certainly not there yet. We need to manage responsibly, we need to strike a balance to the sectors that generate tax revenue, allowing us to pay our bills and to succeed,” stated Higgs.
In his conclusion, Higgs called on the legislature to give his government the chance to work toward solutions for New Brunswickers and do things differently for a change.
“I saw the potential that exists, yet government after government after government, the status quo continues. Mr. Speaker, we are in a minority government, and yes it’s going to be tough and yes we may not last, but we’ll go down in a position that we are saying we are here for the right reasons to do what is necessary,” he said.
The legislature has been adjourned until December 10.
