More promises from the three main party leaders as the provincial election campaign nears its two-week mark.
Liberal Leader Susan Holt is promising to improve cellphone coverage and high-speed internet in the province.
“We certainly know that there are 10,000 homes in New Brunswick that don’t have access to high-speed internet,” Holt said during a campaign stop.
Holt said a Liberal government would take advantage of federal programs to ensure those rural households get access.
She said they would also work with experts and industry to put a plan in place to ensure wireless cell coverage across the province.
Cell coverage and high-speed internet were also part of the Green Party’s campaign promise on Tuesday.
Leader David Coon unveiled his party’s plan aimed at protecting communities from climate change.
“These damaging and life-threatening consequences of the climate crisis are not the new normal because they’re only going to get worse, they’re not going to stay the way they are,” said Coon.
Coon said the Greens would make investments to guarantee cellphone and internet coverage across New Brunswick to ensure timely, life-saving information is accessible during disasters and severe weather.
The plan also includes funding for municipalities to implement necessary adaptation measures and a new government office called the Coastal Protection Agency to oversee efforts to safeguard communities and infrastructure.
Coon said they would also create a Youth Climate Corps., offering training and work experience in climate action for individuals aged 17 to 30.
Meanwhile, the Progressive Conservatives are promising to launch a renewed legal challenge against the federal carbon tax.
Leader Blaine Higgs said it comes after Ottawa introduced several “carve-outs” exempting certain regions from paying the tax.
“When the Supreme Court ruled that the federal carbon tax was constitutional, they made it clear that it needed to be applied uniformly across the country,” said Higgs.
“However, the current federal government has created a patchwork system with exemptions that clearly violate the court’s ruling. We cannot stand by while the fairness and integrity of our legal system are compromised.”
Higgs said a Progressive Conservative government would not implement its own carbon tax, regardless of future changes at the federal level.
