​Premier Susan Holt needs to fortify herself and her government for the long, hard haul.

It’s been a dizzying eight months since Susan Holt took the reins of power as Premier of New Brunswick.

Holt has been a breath of fresh air for the province with a sincere, attentive and consultative approach to governing after the rigid, top-down style of former Premier Blane Higgs, leading to defections from his caucus and chaos in his cabinet.

Some of Holt’s larger accomplishments during her brief time in office have been a three per cent rent cap; a freeze on property assessments for 2026 (but without a thorough municipal and rural reform to go with it); and a “comprehensive” review of NB Power, including rates, and debt issues, with a final report from the review due by the end of 2026.

However, the greatest hole in her record to date is the initiation of major reform in the social justice realm on a par with the Equal Opportunity (EO) program of the Louis Robichaud Liberal government in the 1960’s.
 
Holt’s promise of a network of 30 collaborative health care clinics across the province could be that important, comprehensive program. The clinics were intended to cut into the wait list for family doctors and improve primary care, costing $115 million over four years.
 
However, that system has gotten off to a rocky start. Holt counted two existing community health clinics among the 30, and a town such as St. Stephen which has a serious lack of family doctors and is on the list for a collaborative clinic has seen precious little progress toward the establishment of its clinic.
 
The province’s figures on the number of residents who lack a family doctor are shocking. Approximately 180,000 New Brunswickers do not have a family doctor or primary care provider, according to the New Brunswick Health Council. This accounts for over 20 per cent of the province's population. 

Another aspect of the Holt government’s record which has been disappointing has been how it has meshed with Prime Minister Mark Carney’s hunt for projects of “national importance”.  Larger provinces have a leg up in establishing their projects as strong candidates for inclusion in the Carney list.
 
While Premier Holt has put forward several possible projects for this list, so far there isn’t a clear winner for the province. What seemed a very good bet initially was a package giving a further boost to the spectacular resurgence of the Saint John’s highly successful port development.

That proposal appeared to be discouraged by the powers-that-be in Ottawa, and Holt then floated out the idea of a massive (and likely 10-year project), the building of the Point Lepreau Two nuclear generating station. PM Carney does not appear to have the patience for 10-year projects. All that glitters is not gold.

As argued previously in this Against the Flow blog, Lepreau One glittered brightly for former Premier Richard Hatfield in the 1970’s mainly because of all the construction jobs. But the project was a financial boondoggle for the province and the already debt-ridden NB Power.

Another project Holt appears to be keen on is development of tungsten and molybdenum mining in the province. According to The Brief, a publication of the N.B. Media Co-op, Premier sent a letter to PM Carney saying that “barriers must be removed” to allow for the development of these two minerals. The prime site for mining “T and M” is the highly controversial Sisson mine in the Nashwaak watershed, a key tributary of the St. John River. Sisson has always been a concern on environmental grounds.

This spring, Wolastoq Grand Chief Ron Tremblay wrote a letter to Carney reminding the Prime Minister and Premier Holt that the Sisson development and other “nation building projects” require indigenous consent.

The point about Indigenous consent has also been made by that “Chamber of Sober Second Thought”, the Senate of Canada.

Carney’s desire for speed is commendable, but at a time when the House of Commons is not sitting, the federal government will not have a budget until the fall and there has been little or no opportunity for debate on such projects among members of the general public about such large projects.
 
A final area of concern about the Holt government’s record is that the Premier appears to stand alone more than she should or needs to. She is strong and effective and doing well with a large governing majority. Yet, she is vulnerable to that quote from William Shakespeare: “On what meat does our Caesar feed that he (or she) has grown so great.”

Premier Holt does not appear to have an easily identifiable and selfless "Brain trust” or “Kitchen Cabinet” of advisors outside her staff and elected members and ministers. These should be well- admired supporters and not only people for private telephone chats.

Louis Robichaud was not shy about importing impressive talent from the Saskatchewan NDP government of Tommy Douglas. Former Premier Frank McKenna relied heavily on Fernand Landry and John Bryden, in his extraordinary 1987 58-0 campaign and then in government.

New Brunswick has five strong universities: UNB, UNBSJ, St. Thomas, Mt. Allison and the Université de Moncton. There are strong minds there that could strengthen the hand of Premier Holt. For instance, the former President of UNB John McLaughlin, through his Next New Brunswick project gave excellent advice to government and the whole province.

Even with Premier Holt’s very consultative approach, the days are long in government. Projects such as the Fundy Trail project in N.B. required many years to complete.

The Premier should note, as well, that some of the most successful political leaders in the country, such as Frank McKenna and former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, enjoyed spending an inordinate amount of time with their respective caucus members to stay abreast of the public mood. Far more important than public opinion polls is hearing, in person, the concerns and strong opinions of those listed in the famous Hansard term “some honorable members.”

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