A prescription and catastrophic drug plan sounds great--but what will happen when the plan is made mandatory in 2015 and everyone has to pay the premiums?
That's the question being asked by Liberal Health Critic Donald Arsenault, who's also wondering what actions will be taken against people who don't opt into the plan.
But Health Minister Ted Flemming is offering a kinder, gentler view--he says no one who is having financial struggles will be forced to pay premiums they can't afford, and that the government exists to help people.
Liberal MLA Bernard Leblanc says it's going to be a rude awakening for some New Brunswickers when they find out the drugs they need aren't covered under the so-called catastrophic plan.
A 30 year old will be in court tomorrow on a charge of robbery after a purse snatching last weekend.
It happened on Leinster street last Saturday when a man grab a purse from a 74 year old woman in the early evening.
A car that crashed into a telephone pole being described as a write-off by police.
The crash happening in front of the fire station on Campbell Drive just after 8am and Sergeant Forret of the Rothesay Regional Police says they think it happened after another vehicle, which was coming in the opposite direction, did not yield the right of way.
The pole was knocked down onto the car, caving in the front, but no one was injured.
Forrest says the situation tied up traffic for a while, with crews spending about an hour clearing the scene.
Lots of patients have been waiting for the prescription and catastrophic drug plan unveiled earlier this week.
One
of them is Saint John resident Mark Brennan, who tells CHSJ News, he
has a very serious kidney condition called PNH and the medication to
treat it would cost 6 figures if he had to pay for it out of pocket.
"If
it is covered under this new plan, it would certainly be a big load off
of my mind. I know I don't just speak for myself in that regard, a lot
of people have been waiting for this," he says.
Brennan says he's cautiously optimistic that the plan will be a game-changer for him and others in his situation.
Kids in Saint John will learn about and see the inner workings of Port Saint John thanks to a new PALS partnership.
It's been in the works for two years now and started rolling out today at Centennial School.
Teacher Caitlyn Corkum tells CHSJ News the curriculum focuses on the three main activities at the port: cruise, cargo and dredging.
She says the kids will learn about the things that are happening every day including what is being shipped from Saint John all around the world.
Some students from Centennial will be touring the Port today and future field trips are planned as part of the new PALS partnership.
If you're thinking about putting your house up for sale, you might want to hold off until next year.
The numbers in a report on the housing market by Remax forecasting a slight rise in sales after decreasing almost every year since 2008.
The average price for a home went up this year and will continue to climb according to local realtor Gordon Breau who tells CHSJ News people appear to be buying pricier homes. He says there's not as much new construction going on in the city and people are buying and renovating because any land left in the city is hard to develop.
Nationally the housing sales and average price are approaching a five-year high.
The Prosecution claims former Common Councillor Donnie Snook should spend more time in prison and is appealing the 18 year sentence he received on 46 charges of sexually abusing boys.
Prosecutor Karen Lee Lamrock argues Judge Alfred Brien erred by giving Snook too much credit for time he served in jail prior to sentencing.
She also says the judge failed to consider a section of the Criminal Code that would require an offender to serve half their sentence or 10 years, whichever is less, before coming up for parole. Snook is eligible for parole after serving just over 6 years of his sentence.
At the trial, Lamrock told the court if Snook were sentenced on each individual charge, he would serve 75 years in prison.
The Premier says while we can always wish that the new prescription and catastrophic drug plan would have been rolled out sooner, he's more than thrilled it's happening now.
Liberal Leader Brian Gallant had asked the Health Minister if the plan is voluntary in the first phase...David Alward tells CHSJ News it is to begin with but by May of 2015 it will become mandatory for all New Brunswickers without a health care plan to have insurance.
He says the plan will be set up based on a person's ability to pay, meaning, that means a person or family's income will determine the amount they contribute.
Alward says volunteers alone spent 6000 hours developing the plan, and that number speaks to the amount of work that has gone into the creation of the program. He says all of that work has produced a good end result for New Brunswickers.
Part of hhe Lorneville Road is closed to traffic in both directions until further notice because concerns over the structural integrity of a large underground pipe which has compromised the road itself.
Repair options are being examined.
Rothesay Regional Police arresting a 60 year old man after a domestic disturbance.
This happened in Rothesay and charges of assault, assaulting a police officer and uttering threats are pending a court appearance today.
You will be paying more for self serve regular after the weekly setting. It rose in the city by 4 cents a litre to $1.28.9.
Diesel is also more expensive at $1.44.4.
The maximum price for heating oil is $1.27 a litre.
Reports have them leaving school without bookbags or coats.
Students and staff evacuated this morning after police received a threat about a possible explosive device at Fredericton High.
A ton of emergency personnel responding to the scene including the Explosive Device Unit, two canine units and the Fredericton Fire Department.
The school was searched and no explosive devices were found.
Fredericton police are still looking into tips they received adding they do no believe there is any further threat to the public.
The stigma of being from the old North End is no more. That, from the President of ONE Change Scott Crawford at a funding announcement where the RBC Foundation gave the organization a check for $40,000.
Crawford tells CHSJ News it's taken some time, but community pride is starting to re-develop in the neighbourhood. He says residents are showing that they care about where they live by working with the police department to lower crime and working with housing agencies to make sure that there is better housing in the old North end.
Crawford says that the money they received will allow them to make the program something special. He says they can now expand their art, sports and self-development programs so that there are no kids on a waiting list.
ONE Change is an organization dedicated to improving life for those living in the old North end.
A lively back and forth on the new drug plan in the Legislature this morning.
Liberal Liberal Brian Gallant asking the health minister if the program is voluntary in the first phase beginning next spring.
He asking Flemming if its true in the second phase of the plan after April 2015 that it will be mandatory for New Brunswickers to pay into the plan.
Health Minister Ted Flemming says the first phase of the plan is voluntary where people can assess their drug use and the extent to which they have to pay and they have the option to make that kind of decision.
Gallant does say the Liberals do support the new drug plan in principle but they do have questions they think the government should answer.
When the Canadian Union of Public Employees complained about cuts to the winter highway maintenance program, the more than 6 million dollars that could be paid to a consultant was prominently mentioned.
The President of CUPE Local 1190 Andy Hardy has more to say on that.
"What they were hired to do was to find a savings of 44.5 million dollars in the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Budget, and if they do that, they're going to be paid 6.2 million dollars," he says.
Hardy says, the consulting work has been going on all year. He has no doubt there will recommendations forthcoming to save the designated amount of money.
First Steps Housing for young teen mothers and moms to be, has received a much needed financial boost from the 100 Women Who Care of Greater Saint John.
The Director of First Steps Sharon Amirault tells CHSJ News, the donation could not have come at a better time.
"This money has just come at the right time for probably the worst financial year first steps has had," she says.
She says First Steps is full. She doesn't see the need to help young women who find themselves without a place to call home going down but, financially, it will continue to be difficult.
Police in Fredericton are on the scene at Fredericton High School, which received an unspecified threat earlier this morning.
The students were dismissed to return home beginning at 10:30am--and students were dismissed from the Ecole Ste. Anne location as well.
No word on the exact nature of the threat but Simonds High School received a call earlier this month about weapons in the school that turned out to be the work of online hackers. No one was injured and no weapons were found.
More than 170 potential suppliers, contractors and consultants for the Clean Water project attending a bidder's meeting.
Project Manager Dean Price says there is essentially three years of preparation before shovels go in the ground.
He says for them the big item is the RFQ, the request for qualifications, which will go out next summer adding there is a lot of financial and technical information they have to prepare before that.
Price says they don't expect to have much of an update on the project between now and next summer.
He says other P3 projects like the highway jobs had a lot of local content so this one could as well.
The provincial Conservatives choosing their candidate for Saint John Harbour for the election next year.
Current MLA Carl Killen highlighting the importance of moving forward natural gas and natural resource development, pension reform and more in a speech to party members at the nomination meeting.
Killen says if natural gas, specifically shale gas, development can't be done safely it won't be done but they will be moving ahead with it because they believe it will provide an economic benefit and has the power to bring families together. He calls it morally good.
Killen was elected to his current position three years ago and he tells CHSJ News his riding is the poorest in New Brunswick and arguably the only purely urban riding in the province. He says the biggest thing for him is being able to give some help and comfort to the people in his riding who are having a tough go of it.
Authorities at the maximum security prison at Renous are investigating after a drug seizure.
An arrest was made after an attempt to smuggle between 15 and 20 thousand dollars worth of drugs into the penetentiary.
The drugs confiscated included hash, hash oil and hydromorphone.
