National

New Brunswick election called for Sept. 14

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 17 Aug, 2020 07:12 PM

Premier Blaine Higgs has called an election in New Brunswick for Sept. 14.

The province will be the first to go to the polls since the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

The Tory premier threatened last week to trigger a provincial vote unless opposition parties agreed to keep his minority government in power until 2022 — or until the pandemic was declared over.

Liberal Leader Kevin Vickers walked out of talks aimed at reaching a multi-party power-sharing arrangement Friday, saying they amounted to a power grab by Higgs.

At dissolution, the Progressive Conservatives and Liberals each have 20 seats in the legislature, while the Greens and the People's Alliance each have three. There are two vacant seats and one Independent.

On Aug. 10, Higgs invited opposition leaders to talks to reach a formal agreement not to trigger an election until September 2022, or no earlier than 30 days after public health officials declare the COVID-19 pandemic over.

Prev Next

MORE National ARTICLES

B.C. government, Translink make agreement to keep transit rolling amid COVID

Metro Vancouver's transportation authority has reversed its plans to cut service and rescinded layoff notices to 1,500 people as it works out an emergency funding plan with the provincial government. Translink and the province say in a joint news release that they are working on a comprehensive solution to address the financial impact on the service because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

B.C. government, Translink make agreement to keep transit rolling amid COVID

Trudeau says wage-subsidy program to be extended as steep job losses continue

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the federal government's emergency wage-subsidy program will be extended beyond its early-June endpoint. The program covers 75 per cent of worker pay up to $847 a week to try to help employers keep employees on the job in the face of steep declines in revenue due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Trudeau says wage-subsidy program to be extended as steep job losses continue

Huge job losses in B.C. indicate a 'hard road ahead': finance minister

British Columbia Finance Minister Carole James says she doesn't want to sugar coat what will be a hard road ahead as labour force figures show the province lost a quarter of a million jobs in April. Combined with jobless figures in March, almost 400,000 people were unemployed.

Huge job losses in B.C. indicate a 'hard road ahead': finance minister

Canadians trust doctors, scientists and government more since pandemic began

A new survey suggests the COVID-19 pandemic has given Canadians almost absolute trust in doctors. The Proof Strategies annual trust index is usually completed in January but when Canada went into a nationwide lockdown to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus the public-relations firm decided to ask the same questions again in early May.

Canadians trust doctors, scientists and government more since pandemic began

Greyhound Canada to shut down temporarily all bus routes as ridership plunges

Greyhound Canada is temporarily slamming the brakes on all of its bus routes and services as ridership plummets amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The transportation company says starting May 13 it will halt all routes until passenger demand recovers.

Greyhound Canada to shut down temporarily all bus routes as ridership plunges

Canadian Forces still unsure how to raise helicopter that crashed

The Canadian military is still determining how to raise the wreckage of a military helicopter that crashed into the Mediterranean Sea last week, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan said Thursday. The crash killed six members of the Canadian Forces, though the remains of only one, Sub-Lt. Abbigail Cowbrough, have been recovered.