Healthy and Caring - Green Party NB

A Healthy New Brunswick 

New Brunswick’s healthcare system is struggling, with patients facing long wait times, a shortage of professionals, and increasing privatization. The Green Party will make New Brunswick a province where access to healthcare is a fundamental right, ensuring everyone has access to comprehensive, publicly funded services. We will stop further privatization of healthcare.

We will support collaborative clinics and team-based family practices in your communities. They will be staffed by diverse healthcare professionals, including doctors, nurse practitioners, nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, physician assistants, midwives, social workers, dietitians, pharmacists, and community paramedics, tailored to meet community needs.

The health of New Brunswickers is deeply connected to the health of our environment and communities. True health includes a livable income, nutritious food, clean air and water, safe homes, and protection from climate disasters. Our prevention-first approach will create conditions for a healthy life while addressing the current healthcare crisis through significant investment, making health a top priority.

Right to Primary Healthcare

A Green government will: 

  • Give every New Brunswicker a permanent health care team in their community, by enhancing doctors’ practices with properly funded collaborative team-based family practices and expanding community health centres, including a funding model for nurse practitioners and other health professionals.
  • Ensure primary care providers have adequate administrative support to free them from time-consuming paperwork so they can see more patients.
  • Enhance hospital care by restoring the authority of local hospital administrators to manage emergency and acute care services.
  • Expand midwifery services across the province, building on the success of Horizon’s midwifery clinic in Fredericton.
  • Establish women’s health centres to address women’s unique needs and reduce barriers to abortion services.
  • Support specialized training and establish dedicated roles to enhance transgender healthcare.
  • Provide public funding for essential medical supplies, such as diabetes test strips, ostomy bags and enteral nutrition supplies.

Mental Health and Addictions 

Everyone deserves access to compassionate, timely care. Our vision integrates mental health services into the healthcare system, ensuring no one falls through the cracks. By expanding community-based support, enhancing prevention, and addressing addiction's root causes, we can build a healthier, more resilient New Brunswick.

A Green government will: 

  • Improve access to mental health care by publicly funding psychotherapy and providing counselling services through community health clinics.
  • Increase to 12% the proportion of the Department of Health’s budget dedicated to providing mental health and addiction services.
  • Support teachers and guidance counsellors in addressing mental health and behavioural issues by embedding support teams in schools.
  • Establish new residential rehabilitation facilities to meet the demand for treatment of addictions.

Retaining and Recruiting Staff 

Recruiting and retaining healthcare professionals is key to fixing our healthcare system. The Green Party is committed to valuing healthcare workers, listening to their needs, and improving working conditions. By fostering respect and collaboration, we can build a resilient system for all New Brunswickers.

A Green government will: 

  • Retain and recruit health care professionals through competitive salaries, retention bonuses, and benefits comparable to those in Nova Scotia and PEI.
  • Offer full tuition bursaries for students in medical and nursing school
  • Provide settlement services to new doctors and nurse practitioners. 

Keeping New Brunswickers Healthy

A strong public health system and a focus on preventative healthcare are vital to maintaining the health and well-being of New Brunswickers. The Green Party is dedicated to reinforcing public health services and prioritizing preventative measures to address health issues before they become crises. 

A Green government will: 

  • Adopt legislation to guarantee New Brunswickers have the right to a healthy environment, covering all aspects of environmental protection, including clean air, water, soil, biodiversity, and the prevention of pollution and climate-related hazards.
  • Make Public Health New Brunswick an arms length body, directed by the Chief Medical Officer of Health, so it can effectively keep New Brunswickers healthy.
  • Launch a public inquiry into the high rates of neurodegenerative disease among New Brunswickers.
  • Protect students, long-term care residents and patients at hospitals by creating an Indoor Air Quality Act for provincially funded buildings.
  • Develop a province-wide radon testing action plan, ensuring that homeowners with an annual combined gross household income under $100,000 are eligible for funding for radon gas remediation. 
  • Increase the legal age for purchasing tobacco to 21 years old.

A Caring New Brunswick

Caring for Seniors

Seniors deserve to age with dignity and receive quality care in their communities. To address this, a Green government will prioritize expanding community-based, non-profit long-term care facilities, including the right of first refusal to expand or replace their facilities.

A Green government will: 

  • Ensure that seniors waiting in hospitals for placement in a nursing home or special care home receive equivalent services and activities. 
  • Index the Comfort and Clothing Allowance for long-term care residents to the cost of living.
  • Cap costs for residents of special care homes, as is done in nursing homes.
  • Ensure residents in long-term care facilities receive 4.1 hours of care per day.
  • Enact a Dementia Strategy to reduce the number of seniors requiring placement in long-term care, reduce the incidence of dementia, and better support those with early onset dementia.
  • Reinstate the Primary Informal Caregiver Benefit.
  • Provide funding for homecare services through the Nursing Homes Without Walls program to supplement existing services.
  • To enable seniors to stay in their homes, improve home repair and renovation program.

Early Learning and Child Care

The Green Party recognizes that early learning and child care are fundamental to the development of children and the well-being of families. Access to affordable, high-quality child care is essential for reducing social inequality, supporting the integration of newcomers, and enabling women to participate fully in the workforce. Our vision is to create a system that ensures every child has the opportunity to thrive in a nurturing and educational environment, setting the foundation for a brighter future for all New Brunswickers. 

A Green government will: 

  • With the support of federal funding, create 3,400 new child care spaces in both urban and rural areas while ensuring fair and equitable funding for Francophone centres.
  • Provide interest-free loans to cooperative and non-profit childcare facilities to assist with start-up costs.
  • Improve recruitment and retention of early childcare educators by increasing wages and benefits and achieve pay equity.
  • Create support services for child care centres to meet the needs of neurodivergent children.

Schools

The Green Party envisions a public education system where every student has the opportunity to thrive in a supportive and well-resourced learning environment. In New Brunswick, schools should be places where teachers can focus on teaching, free from the distractions of inadequate funding and lack of resources. This means ensuring that every school is equipped with the necessary tools - whether it’s nutritious food, essential supplies, or safe and well-maintained facilities - so that students can learn effectively and teachers can dedicate their energy to nurturing and educating the next generation. 

A Green government will:

  • Ensure the inclusion policy has adequate resources to be implemented effectively.
  • Establish a universal school breakfast and lunch program, locally designed to suit community needs.
  • Implement a community school policy to strengthen connections between schools and their communities.
  • Revise Policy 713 to incorporate the changes recommended by the Child and Youth Advocate.
  • Collaborate with unions to implement a retention and recruitment strategy for school staff, encompassing teachers, school bus drivers, custodians, education assistants, and mechanics, among others.
  • Require school districts to track rates of absenteeism in order to identify the schools in which problems exist so the problem can be addressed.