Blaine Higgs’ Progressive Conservatives were in Saint John on Thursday to clarify their addiction treatment plan, while the Greens were in the capital to announce a school feeding plan.
Outgoing Prime Minister Blaine Higgs has once again reaffirmed his promise to create a “Humanitarian Response Act” if he is re-elected. This law would allow the government to force people with drug addictions to undergo drug treatment when they pose a danger to themselves or others.
According to the PC Party, this will provide “much-needed rehabilitation services to people who are living on the streets or whose drug addiction has left them homeless.”
Mr. Higgs, during an announcement in Saint John, also promised investments of $45 million over four years to tackle the problem of drug addiction.
He also wants to create a “therapeutic living unit” at the new provincial jail in Minto, which would provide treatment to people who are incarcerated due to addiction.
He is also looking to launch a virtual addiction treatment program, to make these treatments more easily accessible across the province.
Blaine Higgs also promises to continue the implementation of a new 50-bed rehabilitation center. The call for tenders was already launched in September by his government.
However, he indicated on Wednesday that this will probably not be enough, and that NB could need three or four centers of this type.
David Coon, the leader of the Green Party, also says that a single center will not be enough. But he affirms that Blaine Higgs’ words are not enough, and that “commitments” are needed.
He also claims that the bill on humanitarian intervention is not humanitarian, and that according to experts, it will not solve the problem of dependency of the people who will be forced to participate in it.
Greens promise school feeding program
For its part, David Coon’s Green Party promised Thursday the creation of a provincial school food program if it manages to form a government.
This would be partially financed by the cancellation of subsidies that are granted to large forestry companies by the government “for the spreading of herbicides and the planting of trees”, which reach $20 million per year, according to the chief.
He also plans to negotiate with the federal government, which has a national school feeding program, to finance his program.
David Coon says NB needs this program so students can focus on their learning.
“A Green government will invest wisely in our children’s futures to ensure they are well-nourished and in the best possible position to succeed in school,” he said.
