FIRST P.C. MLA GIVES CHARLES AN INTERVIEW!!!!

Jody Carr was the first P.C. MLA to visit me during my six months protest! < he came after I was there for 23 days! He's also the first P.C. MLA to email me his answers to my question! Here we go in his words!!!




1- Where are you from?

I was born in Saint John, NB, am from Geary, But I currently live in Burton, NB (outside Oromocto) with my wife Krista and our daughter Taylor.


2- How long have you been an MLA?

I have been an MLA since 1999 (six yrs this June) when the Lord Government swept NB. I first ran for politics at age 20 while still at UNB in the 1995 general election coming second with 28% of the vote against LIB Vaughn Blaney. I have great respect for Mr. Blaney.


3- How old are ya????

I am 29 years old. I turn 30 on July 3.


3a- Do people often get you confuse with your twin brother Jack??? Does he get the same problem???

My brother Jack is 7 mins older than I am. I also have an older brother named Jeff. People do get us mixed up from time to time. We never intentionally fool people but have often thought of sending him in the legislature for me to vote. This Friday (April 1st) might be a good day to try it! (Charles, don’t tell anyone OK?)


4- What are the most important issues in your riding?

Military spending. Affordable housing for low income earners. Always Jobs. Roads. Health care, including the Oromocto Hospital.


5-Do you believe there's a problem with Ritalin in this Province? If the answer is yes? How do we confront this issue?

I have had but a handful of people from my riding approach me about the issue. I am glad Charles you will be able to present to the officials at the Dept of Education about your concerns as part of the Wayne MacKay Study.


6-Do you believe there's a major problem with prescription drug on the streets?

I think this is a problem more and more. Remediation with new programs the government has introduced like Methadone will indeed help. We must continue to also focus on the preventative for our young people and continue supporting programs like DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) for our grade 5 students.


7- How would you handle the issue of Vlt's?

The government has indeed done quite a bit so far on the issue (compared to years ago). We have restricted access to only bars. Maybe more can be done. I hope we all keep looking at the issue.


8-Why don't Bernard Lord go out and face the protesters in front of the Legislature? Do you believe that Shawn Graham would be different?

I truly think every politician who gets elected works for the betterment of the people of NB. Bernard Lord has great vision, he is focused on results, he works with his caucus, we are all behind him. The premier tackles issues in a very logical and organized fashion. He likes to have the facts in front of him and really focuses on what he feels is best for the future of the Province. Sometimes decisions are difficult, sometimes people are not happy, sometimes people do not understand why decisions are made, but at all times, our Premier and our caucus, has our minds focused on doing what we feel will make the most improvements to the lives of all of the people in the province. In 6 years a lot has been accomplished by the Lord Government.


Total annual spending on Education has increased by $265 Million (or 22%) since the 1998 year
Spending on Universities has increased by 24% or $38.3 Million since 1998. Before we took office University spending was being cut.
$890 Million more spent on Health and Seniors this yr compared to 1998
There are 177 net new doctors in NB now compared to 1999. This yr 50 net new doctors, 1998 only 15
There are 570 new full time nurses, an 11% increase since 1999.
There are 15,471 (25.4%) less people on social assistance, funding will increase by 6% over the next 3 years.
Minimum wage is up
There are 28,000 more people working now since 1998 (in the 4 years before we took office only 8000 more jobs)
Unemployment rate is now at 9.8% for the year. Best rating ever in the province.
In 1998, NB had the highest corporate tax in Canada at 17%, we are now 3rd lowest at 13%
We have provided personal tax relief to ALL NB’ers in the amount of $608 Million cumulatively since 1999. 43,000 low income earners no longer will pay provincial income tax.
We are the first government in NB who has met the Balanced Budget Legislation
Since 2000, only two provinces in Canada has reduced their net debt (Alberta and you guessed it NB)
Because of good fiscal management our credit rating has increased, therefore lowering our interest costs. We now spend 9.8% of the budget on services the debt, the lowest in 2 decades.


There will always be challenges. We are proud to serve the people of NB and we will continue working hard to move the province forward.



9- Do you think there will be a Provincial Election this year?

No.


10- What's your views on the Monopoly the Irvings have in the Newspapers business in this Province?

Should New Brunswickers be concern?

There is certainly not a lot of competition in the Newspaper business in NB.


11-Are you going to re-offer?

I enjoy serving the people of Oromocto Gagetown. I have worked with many people in the riding to accomplish many things. I know politics is never a definite source of employment but I have always said that while I am elected I will work 110% not only at election time but all of the time. I will be re-offering in the next election on a platform promoting progressive change to move our province forward.


12- Do you believe that the bureaucrats are running this province so therefore no political party can change the system. One reason would be that we only have a population of 674,000 people? What do you think?

I think running government is not easy for any party. Over the last few decades, the size of government has increased. All of the government used to be located in the Departmental Building next to the legislature. Now look. Out of 30,000 civil servants there are really only 100 in total who are political staff and MLA’s. We must not forget that demand for programs and the need for stronger public regulations have also gone up too. I constantly have many constituents who contact me about issues who do not know where to go to get them solved. I think all jurisdictions should always look for ways to do things more efficiently and as cost effective as possible. I do not think the bureaucrats are “running the province”. The elected politicians have a job to set direction ie Health Plan, Prosperity Plan, Education Plan. The civil servants make recommendations and carry out the implementation. Do not forget the criticism Frank McKenna got from his own party after 1987 saying he was not running government. It does take some time for the elected bunch and the civil service to mesh or “get on the same page” sort of speaking. I think the government has done fairly well in working with the civil service and in particular have worked overall very well on labour relation contracts.




Thanks Charles for sending me your questions.





MLA, Oromocto Gagetown

357-3407 (t)

357-7101 (f)

www.jodycarr.ca