Higgs, Houston agree to work together on health care crisis in congratulatory call

FREDERICTON -

New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs says he's already found common ground with Nova Scotia Premier-designate, Tim Houston.

In a call Wednesday morning, Higgs said the two agreed to work together on a major issue facing both provinces: health care.

"Our agreement to each other in the call this morning was, we need to look at an Atlantic solution for health care," Higgs said. "We can't be just robbing people from one side of the border to the other."

Over 6,000 nurses, nurse practitioners and managers have been without a contract in N.B. since 2018. Negotiations between the two sides are ongoing.

Higgs said he hopes they can create a "fair package so that all of our employees feel valued," but said part of the solution could be working with other Maritime provinces.

"So, maybe we're sharing some things, and I said, 'Look, we'll share our situation with you, all the details,'" said Higgs of his conversation with Houston. "We need to work together and he's very keen to do that."

St. Thomas University professor and political scientist Jamie Gillies says more collaboration between the three Maritime provinces is almost inevitable, now that they're all from the same party.

"Regardless of whether it's PC or Liberal, it always tends to help because they're friends, and they're of the same party and they can work on solutions across provincial lines," said Gillies. "It just makes it a little easier."

He also said federal election candidates should take note of what happened in N.S.

"It does say something that the public has turned the corner potentially from just thinking about masks and vaccinations and the pandemic to things like affordable housing, and access to healthcare, climate change," he said.