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Speak Up

This week I want to discuss how this is an exciting political time in New Brunswick, not only for politicians but for the people of the province as well. There is a movement in the province for more involvement by the public in government decisions.

New Brunswick appears to be in a transition, as forces demanding increasing amounts of change pull one way and more traditional forces pull another. Eventually, we'll all arrive at a happy medium, but until then the debate between the two will continue. So far, it has been a healthy debate and that is to be applauded.

This movement crosses jurisdictions as well. At the municipal level, citizen engagement is nothing new. In Moncton, we had the Active Transportation Plan which played out in the newspapers for some time, and strategic plans and visioning exercises including public input and public participation are almost the norm now.

The federal government is attempting greater democratic reform in the Senate. There are more than a dozen vacancies now in the Upper Chamber from across the country and the Prime Minister's Office has only appointed two.

One of these was for greater cabinet representation in Quebec and the other is an Albertan who was actually elected. This is something Canadians and New Brunswickers are looking forward to seeing more of.

At the provincial level there are a number of programs that are showing this change toward ever greater involvement by the public. I am glad to say that I have been a part of two of these. Le Dialogue Santé in the Acadian Peninsula involved the residents of that area.

The general public held a number of meetings together and with the Department of Health as well as with major stakeholders in the health care field to discuss the role of health care specific to their region and culture.

The second initiative under my watch is the New Brunswick Health Council. This organization is mandated to engage the public and New Brunswickers will be hearing more about this in the near future. The council only officially starts work in September of this year. The people of Metro Moncton will be especially pleased to know that this council will be situated right here in Moncton.

The Premier has also heard what New Brunswickers are demanding. Soon after the Liberals formed government he initiated the Public Engagement Initiative (PEI), bringing in experts from across the country to study four engagement projects.

Last month, the report was released. Should this document be accepted wholeheartedly by government, it would be a revolution in how government decision making takes place in New Brunswick. One of the projects studied in the PEI included the Wellness Committee, which travelled the province seeking input for a report. Moncton East MLA Chris Collins chaired this committee and is still working hard on it.

While consultation will always play a role in decision making, and government does get elected with a mandate to make changes with the election acting as a referendum of sorts, true engagement of the public is more and more becoming the norm rather than the exception.

n Mike Murphy is the Provincial Health Minister and MLA for Moncton-North. His column appears bi-weekly in Moncton This Week. If you would like to reach him, stop by his office on Mountain Road or phone 869-6115.