New Brunswick — Anybody taking a short drive through any town in the province over the past couple of months will have most likely noticed an abundance of congratulations signs for the 2021 high school graduates. This fun, celebratory gesture has long been a traditional source of pride for the young grads and their families.
As part of a new initiative on behalf of the province to improve the local workforce, the government hopes to utilize this device to spur young people into finding gainful employment as soon as possible.
And so, this week, at no cost to the families, the government has been replacing every “Congratulations” signs with similarly formatted posters instead touting more aggressive slogans, such as “Get to work, you lazy bum,” or “We hope you don’t intend to leech off of us forever!”
Premier Blaine Higgs is a strong proponent of the measure, offering his praises this week during a brief livestream on GNB social media channels.
“What people need to realize is that we’re in the middle of a hiring crisis in this province,” he explained. “We can’t just have able-bodied young people staying home doing nothing when they could be contributing to society.”
And how have the parents taken to this idea?
“At first, I was appalled,” said Melinda Carter, mother of recent grad Matthew Carter. “But, after a week’s worth of watching him sitting on the couch, eating our food and playing Fortnite, I’m beginning to see the wisdom in it.”