The leader of New Brunswick’s Opposition party is calling for Premier Brian Gallant to step down, claiming he knew about the 2,400 property assessments that were improperly filed.
“I'm asking (Gallant) to take accountability for his last month's efforts and deception,” said New Brunswick Opposition Leader Blaine Higgs.
In June 2016, the New Brunswick government gave the green light to Service New Brunswick to fast track a new assessment system. But problems were discovered after property tax assessments were mailed out on March 1.
Gallant says he did know about the system, but was assured by Service New Brunswick 100,000 property reassessments could be done successfully.
Service New Brunswick confirmed on March 14 that 2,400 property owners would be issued amended bills. On March 31, Gallant told the media he knew nothing about the problems, calling it troubling and disappointing.
On Monday, Gallant announced the creation of a new assessments agency and that an independent review will look into the matter. Since then, Service New Brunswick confirms they've now received 9,500 appeals, with the deadline for bill reviews now set at August 1.
Gallant says the Opposition’s accusations have no merit.
“I was very disappointed to hear that Blaine Higgs was calling me names,” said Gallant. “He is clearly focused on trying to gain political points in a situation that has affected thousands of New Brunswickers.”
Gallant said Thursday this was about more than politics. He explained what happened between his office and Service New Brunswick last summer.
“The points of focus from Jordan O'Brien, the chief of staff of the premier's office, was you should do a technical briefing with the media to be transparent, you should ensure you have enough resources to get it done and if there's a business case, okay. Go ahead,” Gallant said.
Gallant says he trusts the commission to complete the review into what went wrong.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Laura Brown.
