At a government press conference today, Premier Brian Gallant said 90 per cent of the Liberal Party’s 2014 election commitments had been met or are ongoing.
He adds another eight per cent will be complete by the end of their mandate, leaving four out of 153 commitments unmet.
Gallant was asked about his pledge to create 10,000 jobs.
“We have created over 10,000 jobs with the efforts that we’ve put in, in terms of our policies, investments, and job attraction and investment attraction in the province,” says Gallant. “When it comes to the net gain over the mandate, there has been a net gain, there are more jobs today than there were when we became the government of New Brunswick.”
As of April 2018, according to Statistics Canada, the net gain in jobs since December 2014 is 3,900.
Over that four year period, New Brunswick gained 9,100 full time jobs, and lost 5,200 part time positions.
Earlier this year, the government said they had created a total ot 15,126 jobs since taking over the reins.
Gallant also touted four straight years of economic growth, adding the economy is 5.5 per cent larger than it was in 2014.
“The over 10,000 jobs we’ve been able to create are New Brunswickers working in those jobs,” says Gallant. “At the same time though, over the last four years, there have been some sectors that unfortunately we’ve seen some job losses, and we recognize that.”
He also admitted they have not had a perfect run as government.
“We’ve learned some things along the way, there’s been some trials and tribulations for us as well, like any large organization or any government,” says Gallant. “So we certainly have worked very hard to learn and constantly see what we can do better.”
Gallant said it was important to remember the economic indicators are heading in the right direction.
The entire progress update can be found HERE.