Vaccine Passports Could Be Coming to New Brunswick

Over one third of the new COVID-19 cases announced at the beginning of this week in the province were in New Brunswickers under the age of 19, forcing many schools in the province to temporarily close despite only opening their doors less than a week earlier. With vaccination numbers lagging in younger age groups and COVID-19 cases surging in what is now New Brunswick's fourth wave of the pandemic, Premier Blaine Higgs said he is considering imposing new restrictions later this week "that could include a mask mandate or proof of vaccine when accessing non-essential services."

Chief Medical Officer of New Brunswick Dr. Jennifer Russell says the rise in cases is tied to the number of people still not getting vaccinated. "We are experiencing a pandemic of the unvaccinated," said Dr. Russell. "The vast majority of cases are among those who are not yet fully protected."

Although 77% of eligible New Brunswickers are now fully vaccinated, that number doesn't include kids under 12 who still aren't eligible, meaning that, of the total population of the province, only about two thirds, so two out of every three New Brunswickers, is fully vaccinated. And the percentage of New Brunswickers who are fully vaccinated drops signicantly in the younger generations even though they've been eligible to receive the vaccine for multiple months. Just over 60% of New Brunswickers between the ages of 12 and 40 have been fully vaccinated, a number that becomes more problematic when you consider that most parents of young children fall in this age group. With kids under 12 being ineligible for the vaccine, being surrounded by a large number of adults and teens who aren't vaccinated means they are incredibly vulnerable, especially to the more contagious UK and Delta variants that are prevalent this fall. All-day mask wearing mandates have been reintroduced in schools for at least the next two weeks, and Minister of Education Dominic Cardy believes tolerance for those who choose not to get vaccinated is running thin across the province.

"There will come a point in time where patience of those who are vaccinated will run thin," said Cardy

Rural New Brunswick ridings are used to not having much of a major spotlight put on them during federal elections, but this past week a Facebook live video made by New Brunswick Southwest Liberal candidate Jason Hickey received national attention in which he suggested the Liberals might tax sales of primary homes. The Conservatives says this is evidence that the Liberals will impose a capital gains tax on home sales while the Liberals maintain they will not tax the sale of primary residences and countered that Hickey corrected himself moments later in conversation with a voter.

In an email to CHCO, Hickey said, "The Liberal Party position is clear and unequivocal: we will not introduce a home equity tax on primary residences. When answering a specific question from a constituent on the issue, I said that we have no plan to do so. Unfortunately, the Conservatives chose not to share that answer and instead chose to mislead Canadian."

New Brunswick Southwest Conservative candidate John Williamson argues, however, that it's proof that Hickey, "doesn't know his riding or his platform."

Finally, Smile Cookies are back at Tim Hortons this week, an annual 7-day campaign across the county running until September 19th, in which 100 per cent of the proceeds from the sales of chocolate chunk cookies are donated to a local charity. This year, 100% of sales of Smile Cookies at the St. Stephen, St. Andrews and St. George locations will benefit Santa’s Helpers. Every December, Santa’s Helpers helps over 350 families in need in Charlotte County have a wonderful holiday, providing gifts for kids and food for the whole family. Members of the Santa’s Helpers team will also be helping decorate the Smile Cookies this week as their way of pitching towards this generous donation from the local Tim Hortons.