The plan put forth by the New Brunswick government to install a new toll booth in Aulac has MLAs on both sides of the border asking why. Why there? Why weren’t there any consultations? In fact, why put in a toll at all?
Local MLA Megan Mitton and her Nova Scotia counterpart for Cumberland North Elizabeth Smith-McCrossin spoke with CHMA on Wednesday, the day after the budget was announced.
For Mitton, tolls are simply a bad idea that will negatively affect two very intertwined communities, and which could have been avoided had the government taken the time to properly consult with those most affected.
“ And so I’m concerned that having a toll close to a border is going to really negatively impact our communities here, and really be a huge barrier for people who would potentially have to pay this toll hundreds of times a year.”
Listen to the audio below:
The budget, tabled in the legislature on Tuesday, projects an almost $1.4 billion deficit for this year, with further shortfalls over the next three. And despite Premier Susan Holt preparing New Brunswickers for a budget of “difficult decisions,” only three departments saw cuts.
Those cuts will see the civil service reduced by about 1,400 positions, the elimination of provincial veterinary services, and the closing of six parks and museums if they cannot be transitioned to community partners.
The new toll, imposed on out-of-province vehicles using the Trans-Canada Highway near Aulac, is estimated to bring in $10.4 million a year once it’s completed in 2028, and is the main new source of revenue.
Though the price of the toll has yet to be announced, whatever it costs will have an outsized impact on neighbouring Nova Scotia at a time when we should be reducing interprovincial barriers, says Smith-McCrossin.
“The people of New Brunswick are our friends. They’re our family. We have business relationships, working relationships, health care relationships that have gone on for centuries. So we do not want to do anything that would, could harm that.”
In a released statement on behalf of the Cumberland County Municipal Council, Mayor Rod Gilroy is quoted similarly, saying, “any toll placed at this location will have direct and disproportionate impacts on Cumberland County and northern Nova Scotia.”
Smith-McCrossin said within an hour of the announcement, she started receiving emails from concerned constituents. Over the next 24 hours, she received around a hundred, and hundreds more commented on social media after she released her initial statement against the toll.
Beyond the impact it will have on those in her region, she said the government may not have fully considered the impacts it may cause on its own residents.
“ So if a Nova Scotia trucking company is bringing goods into New Brunswick from the Port of Halifax, that truck is going to be paying an extra tariff, an extra tax coming into New Brunswick. We all know that extra costs get downloaded onto customers, so we know that there’s gonna be an extra cost for New Brunswickers as well.”
Mitton is also concerned the toll, along with what the government chose to cut, is a sign the government may not have the best interests of rural New Brunswickers at heart.
“I have characterized this as an attack on rural New Brunswick in a lot of ways,” she said. “We see them talking about closing small rural schools. We see the obstacles and harm that’s really going to be done to farms and farmers by getting rid of the provincial vet service. There’s a theme here of, you know, neglecting rural areas and of really just not being able to really listen to what New Brunswickers are saying that they need.”
