Minister Tony Huntjens Speaking notes University of New Brunswick, June 18, 2005 Ladies and gentlemen, I am very pleased to be here today and to have this opportunity to speak to you on social policies and the New Brunswick experience. First, I want to bring greetings from Premier Bernard Lord and the provincial government. This month marks the sixth year of our government’s mandate in this province. Over these years, our main objective has always been to keep a balance between our responsibility towards the most vulnerable of our society and our responsibility for good management of taxpayers’ resources. Let me first tell you a bit about New Brunswick. We are a small province, with a population of around 750,000. A little over half of our population is rural, although our cities and towns are small by Upper Canadian standards. We have a strong sense of community. Our neighbours and families are very important to us. We have a tradition of caring for each other coupled with a strong work ethic. We have the highest percentage of home ownership in the country. So New Brunswick brings a unique perspective to federal-provincial discussions. I understand that a prevailing theme of the sessions of this week’s conference has been the changes in society which are creating an imperative to revisit our social infrastructure. This is certainly true in New Brunswick. In New Brunswick, the social safety net was first established in 1786 with the enactment of New Brunswick’s Poor Law. The first Mother’s Allowances were paid in 1943; the first Minister of Social Services was named in 1953; and the government hired social workers for the first time five years later. The 1960’s saw the adoption of the social assistance and child welfare acts. Finally, the 70’s saw the creation of all kinds of social services, including day care subsidies, child protection, home support for seniors, housing programs, and services for persons with disabilities. The structure of our society has been radically transformed over the years. There have been significant changes in family structure and the nature of work that are putting new stresses on New Brunswick families. In 1961, the average family size in New Brunswick was 4.3 persons, compared with today at 2.3 persons. Families are smaller and approximately ¾ of mothers with preschool children are in the labour force. Jane Jensen spoke of the growing share of the population over 65 years of age. New Brunswick leads the country in the ageing of its population. Moreover, in 1961, 59% of New Brunswick seniors lived with their family. Today only 5% of seniors live with their children. This means more people depend on the government to look after them. All these pressure points have resulted in a need to review our social programs to determine whether or not they continue to meet the needs of citizens. We need to take a broader perspective when designing social programs. We can’t focus just on replacing income. We need to determine how we can help people participate in our economy, but we also need to help them stay there, to manage both work and family obligations. Another part of our dilemma is around how we are to fund necessary social programs, given the future pressures on our capacity to collect revenues. Today, 69% of the New Brunswick population are of working age. They support the rest of the population of which 13% are seniors and 18% are children. In ten years, the percentage of population who are working remains virtually the same – 68%. However, the composition of those who are dependent on workers will be reversed – seniors will now be 19% of the populations, while only 13% of the population will be children. By 20 years, we see a significant decline in the working population. Only 62% of the population will be workers, supporting everyone else, of whom 26% will be seniors and 12% will be children. This raises issues around sustainability of programs, particularly those for seniors. It is apparent to me, that it is important that we begin the dialogue on seniors issues, now. I believe that these trends force us as society to be vigilant in managing our financial resources. In fact, that is what New Brunswickers have told us at our pre-budget consultations. They want us to invest in our social programs but to be fiscally responsible. Good fiscal management today will allow us to embrace the future with optimism, thanks to a thriving economy which can create more job opportunities and more wealth for our province, in order to remain socially compassionate through more investments in our social programs. We have to adapt our policies to the evolution of our respective societies. Our capacity to adapt depends on our understanding of our society. We know that research plays an important role in that respect. Anecdotal, intuitive or conventional “knowledge” has its place. But the decisions that will impact the day-to-day lives of our most vulnerable citizens must be based on solid research – by the work that many of you here today have produced. Your presentations for this Conference have made this an exceptional learning experience for each of us, and will impact our planning and decisions as we go forward. As I said, it is important to continue to review and change our safety net as new research emerges. A good example is the work done by Fraser Mustard and others on the importance of early years. Their work guides the policy agendas of governments across Canada. I would like to take this opportunity to reiterate the commitment of the New Brunswick Government towards the development of an early learning environment in New Brunswick. We know that creating a bright future for our province means investing in programs and services to help our children. We want to ensure that our children are safe, healthy and are given the opportunity to learn and to develop their abilities; and this can be best achieved in loving families who are supported by caring communities. We want to work with the federal government to establish the best agreement on Early Learning and Child Care. Our ultimate objective remains the same: to make sure the agreement is right for New Brunswickers and for the children of New Brunswick. What works in Toronto or Saskatoon is not necessarily what will work best in rural New Brunswick. That is why we want to ensure that any agreement is flexible enough to meet the particular needs of New Brunswickers. The many initiatives that we have undertaken over the last 5 years, and those that will soon become a reality, reflect our constant commitment towards the development of New Brunswick’s children. It demonstrates our concerted efforts to make sure that all children in this province are given the strongest start possible. That said, I want to conclude by congratulating all the persons involved in the organization of this conference, and all of those in attendance. We are pleased to receive you in our province and we look forward to welcoming you back here in the future. I certainly hope that you’ll take the opportunity to visit the beautiful Fredericton region. Good luck on this. With this weather, I suspect most people want to just go home! Thank you.