Day 27 was a relatively quiet one on the New Brunswick election campaign trail.
The Greens were the only major party to make any announcements or commitments on Tuesday.
Deputy Leader Megan Mitton visited Saint John to unveil her party’s plan for women’s health care.
Mitton said it includes establishing several midwifery clinics to serve all corners of the province.
“The 2024 budget provided funding to launch two new midwifery clinics. A Green government is committed to getting those open,” she said.
“To provide coverage in other regions, we would also open four additional midwifery clinics over the next four years.”
The total cost over the next four years would be $13.2 million, according to Mitton, who was flanked by three local candidates.
New Brunswick currently has one midwifery clinic in Fredericton, which has been operating since 2017.
The Greens also committed to establishing dedicated women’s and gender-diverse health centers for unique needs, including access to abortion services and timely diagnosis for conditions like endometriosis.
“A Green government will repeal paragraph A1 of Regulation 84-20 of the Medical Services Payment Act which prohibits surgical abortions outside of hospitals,” said Mitton.
Mitton said they would also opt into the federal Pharmacare plan to cover contraceptive and diabetes medications and improve transgender health care by supporting specialized training for providers.
Liberals go after PC election platform
Elsewhere on the campaign trail on Tuesday, the Liberals weighed in on the Progressive Conservative election platform released over the weekend.
Leader Blaine Higgs described it as a “realistic, affordable plan” to make life more affordable and improve health care.
The two-page platform includes several promises and commitments already made by the party.
Party officials said their platform will cost around $1.7 billion over a four-year mandate.
Liberal Leader Susan Holt said the platform shows that the Tories have no plan to invest in health care.
“Despite his one page being more expensive than our entire platform, it’s clear that Higgs has no vision and no plan to invest in anything the people of this province have told us they need,” Holt said in a statement.
“In the 2020 election, he asked New Brunswickers to trust him and then went back into government and cut the elected health boards, tried to cancel French Immersion, and gave federal money for health care to bankers instead of investing it in our broken system.
“New Brunswickers don’t trust Higgs to fix health care and they don’t trust that he has their best interests at heart.”
Holt went on to reiterate her party’s commitments, such as building at least 30 community care clinics, offering retention payments to nurses and supporting seniors with dignified care.
Election day is on Oct. 21, though many New Brunswickers have already cast their votes at returning offices or during advance polls.
Elections NB said 56,739 people cast ballots during the first day on Saturday, bringing the total number of votes cast to date for the election to 73,291.
The second and final day of advance voting is taking place on Tuesday with polls open until 8 p.m.
