What would New Brunswick’s political parties do to help Saint John address its financial situation?
With just weeks to go until a provincial election, four of those parties presented their plans to city councillors on Monday night.
Earlier this year, the city created an election white paper highlighting its fiscal challenges and 10 proposed provincial policy changes and invited political candidates to offer their views.
The proposed changes include overhauling the property tax system, regionalizing municipal services, and changing the provincial arbitration legislation for police and firefighters to address escalating wages.
#SaintJohn Common Council now underway. Tonight we’ll hear from representatives of the Liberals, PCs, NDP and Green Party about what they’d do for the city if elected next month. pic.twitter.com/F48YxPaYeq
— Brad Perry (@BradMPerry) August 20, 2018
Fair Taxation
Fair taxation is the city’s top priority and Progressive Conservative leader Blaine Higgs said he would remove double taxation and give municipalities more autonomy.
Higgs was also asked by one of the councillors if he would support a tax on industrial equipment.
“I am very concerned about staying competitive,” Higgs said, “but if we are not competitive, we should fix it.”
Green party leader David Coon, who previously tried to have machinery taxed, said he would launch a public inquiry into taxation fairness.
Coon says a Green government would institute a public inquiry into the sustainability of our public finances, with an emphasis on the fairness of taxation. #sjcouncil
— Brad Perry (@BradMPerry) August 20, 2018
The NDP is also committed to tax reform, but leader Jennifer McKenzie said she would want to understand the provincial implications.
The Liberals said they are willing to take a look, but point out provincial property tax revenue is $500 million, and eliminating it entirely would mean deep cuts.
Amalgamation and Regionalization
Saint John has been making the case for amalgamation and regionalization for some time and the discussion has become more frequent in recent months.
The Green party is in favour of regionalization and candidate Wayne Dryer said amalgamation is one possible way to help address the city’s financial situation, but he said it should not be the first choice.
“I do not think it will ever happen until we deal with the taxation issue,” said Dryer. “It will only be seen as an attempt at a money grab to bring money from the outlying areas into an unsustainable city.”
Higgs, McKenzie and Liberal candidate Rick Doucet all support the idea of regional cooperation but said forced amalgamation is not an option.
Arbitration Legislation
Saint John is calling for changes to the provincial arbitration legislation for police and firefighters to address escalating wages, but most of the parties do not appear to be interested in making any changes.
McKenzie said the current legislation represents an important compromise between the rights of city employees to have free collective bargaining and the concerns of municipalities to avoid labour disputes.
On changing provincial arbitration legislation for police and firefighters, McKenzie says the NDP would be happy to work with the city to modernize service delivery. #sjcouncil
— Brad Perry (@BradMPerry) August 20, 2018
“The NDP would be happy to work with you [the city] to modernize service delivery and to help improve services to Saint Johners while continuing to treat our first responders with the greatest respect,” McKenzie said.
The PCs said they would work with all stakeholders to look for improvements while the Liberals said they will not make any changes.
Green party leader David Coon said he does not have enough information to lean one way or the other.
Enabling New Revenue Streams
Leveraging Saint John Energy as a source of revenue for the city was also discussed by all four parties.
Doucet said utilities like Saint John Energy need the opportunity to grow, but there is just one problem.
“The Electricity Act that was implemented by the previous government pretty well locked all utilities in a box,” he said.
Coun. Gary Sullivan asks about allowing new revenue streams for Saint John Energy. Doucet says the Electricity Act introduced by the previous gov’t makes it hard for utilities like SJE to think outside the box. Says these are discussions we need to have. #sjcouncil
— Brad Perry (@BradMPerry) August 20, 2018
Doucet said the Liberals are willing to have discussions with the city about enabling new revenue streams.
Higgs said he does not see why the utility should not be able to expand and Coon said the utility holds a lot of potential.
McKenzie said she sees the potential for joint ventures, as long as they do not involve raising electricity rates.
