New Vision • New Brunswick is a new way to create jobs – a "made in New Brunswick solution".

The old ways of job creation – putting all our money into call centres and expensive, high-risk ventures – have not reduced our unemployment problem. Government should reward job creation results, not gamble on job creation promises.

A new approach is needed that keeps what’s working well, but re-orients our efforts to a "made in New Brunswick" solution. This "made in New Brunswick" solution will build upon the real engines of stable, long-term job growth in our province: small business; natural resources; new technologies and the new economy; and the local, entrepreneurial strengths of the people, communities, and regions of our province. We will lower taxes – personal income taxes and small business taxes – to boost consumer spending and encourage small businesses to expand and hire, particularly young New Brunswickers.

More New Brunswickers are unemployed today than when the Liberals took power. After 11 full years of Liberal government, New Brunswick’s unemployment rate was higher in 1998 than it was in 1988. The yearly unemployment rate increased since the last election from 11.5% in 1995 to 12.1% in 1998. Five of nine industry groups recorded job losses in 1998. Northeastern New Brunswick had the highest unemployment rate increase in the province. Now, while unemployment has dropped in neighbouring Nova Scotia, it has remained "frozen" in New Brunswick.

The Liberal government has put cooperation with our neighbouring provinces on the backburner by adopting confrontational policies such as toll roads or squabbling over Atlantic Lotto. And, it has turned its back on needed personal income tax reductions that would help create jobs and stimulate investment.

Our province has stopped making progress. Things aren’t improving the way they should. Now, the Liberal government has admitted that its policies will create only one-third as many jobs over the next four years as it promised to create in the previous four years. The Liberals have stopped working.

Small business is the number one job creator in our province. It is the best guarantor of long-term, stable economic growth as a "made in New Brunswick" job solution.

It’s time to renew the job-creating confidence of small businesses in New Brunswick. Reducing taxes and cutting "job strangling" red tape and regulations that hinder investment and growth are cited by small business as the key actions government can take to help them create jobs.

Today, the federal Liberal government is standing in the way of creating these jobs in New Brunswick through an unconscionably-high E.I. surplus and exorbitant E.I. premiums that act as a disincentive to job creation. Our provincial government can, and should, take a strong stand in favour of small businesses in New Brunswick while convincing Ottawa to reduce these "taxes on jobs" to a more sustainable level.

Our made-in-New Brunswick solution will recharge New Brunswick’s small business job generator by:

Young people are leaving our province because there aren’t enough jobs. They believe their future lies elsewhere. We need to work with the business community and the education system to find the best means of creating opportunity for our youth right here at home.

Investing in our youth means preparing young people for job opportunities. Part of that preparation starts with giving them a chance to learn and earn in their first job. A "JobStart" program for youth that encourages hiring young people can have an immediate impact in reducing youth unemployment and giving them a stronger chance to stay and work in New Brunswick.

Our made-in-New Brunswick solution to creating jobs for young people includes:

A "made in New Brunswick" solution begins with listening to and understanding the specific needs of the communities and regions that make up our province. The Acadian Peninsula with its chronically-high unemployment rates, for example, has unique development needs that cannot be met with either a "quick fix" or a "one size fits all" development strategy.

Regional and community economic development is at the heart of our approach. We must empower local communities who know best their own needs. We must decentralize job creation decision-making to regions and local communities. This requires a comprehensive new approach that gives regions and communities the tools they need – money and authority - to create jobs where they live.

Our made-in-New Brunswick solution will create new jobs through regional and community economic development by:

"Total Development" of our natural resources is a new concept that will revitalize how we grow our forestry, fisheries & aquaculture, agriculture, mining and tourism sectors.

New Brunswick continues to have a higher reliance on natural resources as a percentage of GDP than almost every other province. We need to re-think our approach to ensure we get every possible value from our natural resources through secondary and value-added transformation. This is value that creates jobs and growth for people and secures the future of our resource-reliant communities.

This new approach is called "Total Development". This comprehensive strategy begins with a "Resource Index" that establishes an inventory with the growth needs and potential of each sector – for harvesting as well as for replenishing. It identifies the tools needed to secure and grow each sector and matches government policy and programs in support. This includes: technology development and innovation assistance; infrastructure, trade, and market development support to help reach new national and international markets as efficiently and effectively as possible; reliable and competitively-priced sources of energy; training development to ensure a world-class skilled workforce; reducing government barriers to piloting new ways of managing our resources.

"Total Development" works with the environment, not against it, by respecting both the heritage and the value of these resources. New Brunswick’s private resource companies have often pioneered new developments in resource extraction, harvesting, and transformation from forestry to fisheries to mining. They have also put much back into the resources and the environment, such as with silviculture and aquaculture. They are valuable partners with the government to develop and apply the "total development" concept to realize the full potential of this sector.

Our made-in-New Brunswick, "Total Development" approach to natural resources will create jobs by:

The "new economy" of information and knowledge demands new skills and new approaches to ensure New Brunswick is not left behind. We need to build on the progress made on this front in recent years and many of the initiatives underway. In particular, we need to support further the technology leaders in our province with a focus on "technology and marketing".

Innovation and technology development cannot occur in a vacuum. It must be linked through networks that bring government, educational institutions, and the public sector together as true technology partners. We need to create a "Technology Triangle" that connects each of these partners to combine strengths and leverage results. A key focus will be to link technology more effectively with our "Total Development" approach to natural resources revitalization.

Our made-in-New Brunswick approach to new technology and the new economy will create jobs by:

Under the Liberals, New Brunswick has had one of the worst job wage records in Canada. The average weekly earnings of New Brunswick workers increased by less than 8 cents per week from 1995 to 1998. There is a need to increase the minimum wage to begin to address this shortfall and help put more money back into the pockets of New Brunswick workers and families.

Our made-in New Brunswick approach to fair wages will:

Most people want to work and earn a decent living. They should be given every opportunity to do so. But sometimes, in its attempt to help people, government can create financial barriers and disincentives that actually discourage people from working.

We believe the option of earning a living through work should always be more beneficial than receiving social assistance benefits. Social assistance programs should be designed to encourage and assist able individuals to enter the workforce not discourage them. At the same time, we want to make sure the working poor and families in need are not disadvantaged by taking away assistance. We will remove barriers and disincentives to work by:

We can be a strong regional voice – in Ottawa on E.I. and shipbuilding, and the U.S. on trade – if the four Atlantic provinces work more closely together. The new economy is "shrinking the world", bringing markets and competition right to our doorstep. Sharing and cooperating for information technology, research and development, and a value added resource sector can make us all stronger. We should be building information highways, not fighting over toll highways. We should be eliminating trade barriers between us that hurt jobs. New Brunswick needs to take a strong Atlantic leadership role in matters of regional and national interest like shipbuilding.

Our made-in-New Brunswick approach to Atlantic Cooperation and Leadership will protect and create jobs by: