Kris Austin is leader of the People's Alliance of New Brunswick. (Submitted)
The leader of the People’s Alliance thinks there is a lot to like in the second budget from the Higgs’ government.
Kris Austin is happy to see increases to some departments, and tax decreases but, no increases.
“It’s one of those budget’s that, I think, kind of hit the sweet spot in a lot of areas. In terms of tax reductions, we would have been a little more aggressive with the double tax and commercial property tax but overall it is certainly a step in the right direction.”
He says the PANB has talked about changing the tax class structure for municipalities as they do elsewhere but, that was not in the budget.
“The government has alluded to re-evaluating the assessments in some of those industrial properties, which is good. The question is , what does that mean, and how will they produce that. We’ll be keeping an eye out for that.”
Austin is happy to see advanced care paramedics will be operating in their full scope of practice, “Which only makes sense. It is mind boggling that they were never able to operate in the full scope. They are licensed, trained and qualified to do it. But starting April 1st, that is going to change. That is something we fought hard for as well. When it comes to response times and emergency help when people need it.”
He also agrees with spending $1.5 million to ensure all New Brunswickers get a free flu shot.
Austin says the People’s Alliance will support the Higgs government’s budget when a vote it held next week.
