Fredericton — As part of the New Brunswick Liberals’ “get re-elected, or bankrupt the province trying” tour, Brian Gallant has become a master of shameless self-promotion with taxpayer dollars and facilities.
Photo ops and multimillion-dollar promises have been coming fast and furious at nursing homes, preschools, and most recently, a trauma room at the Dr. Everett Chalmers Hospital…because nothing highlights the need to decrease wait times more than making people wait for a trauma room to free up from a political photo op.
The Liberals garnered criticism from the Opposition over the use of in-demand hospital facilities for their announcement, but that won’t stop them from inconveniencing the public again for an infrastructure spending announcement on the Westmorland Street Bridge this Friday at 5 p.m. sharp.
Deputy Premier Stephen Horsman again came to the government’s defense in regards to this latest plan.
“You know there’s a whole other bridge right down the road, right?” he said. “Nobody could actually be inconvenienced by this in any way. I’m quite confident that some people might feel inconvenienced at first, but once they hear all the great stuff we’re doing and all the free money we’re going to give away to everyone, they’re going to love us again.
“They’ll all say, ‘That’s a really great picture of Brian and Stephen on the bridge!’”
Gallant, when asked about the party’s many announcements, said, “We’re really doing a great job of running the province and we want to make sure everybody knows it — we should be screaming it from the rooftops!
“In fact, we will be literally screaming it from the rooftop of the legislature next week when we announce $25 million in rebates that New Brunswickers will be eligible for if they replace their existing roof.”