Hundreds of people showed up to a consultation last night about the Strategic Program Review choices the government must make.
The government is asking for feedback on which decisions the public can live with, and which they cannot stomach.
Registered nurse Andrea Wheaton was in attendance and was vocal in her opposition to any further cuts to healthcare.
“Before you choose healthcare, inform yourself as to what is really happening within those healthcare cuts,” says Wheaton. “Our staffing is in a dangerous level right now, and it’s your parents, your spouses and your children that are being affected.”
Wheaton was also given a round of applause when she stated class sizes must not be increased.
“To increase class sizes, and decrease the teachers is insanity,” says Wheaton. “To decrease the amount of student assistants is crazy because you have more and more children that are being integrated into the school system who require a teacher’s aide.”
Ted Bartlett was also in attendance, and he was in support of highway tolls in order to generate revenue.
“They have to be on a graduated scale so that they will perhaps hit the drive through traffic harder, and have a lesser impact on the commuters around Saint John, Moncton and Fredericton,” says Bartlett.
The general consensus was protection of education and healthcare a priority, and reluctant acceptance of a 2% HST increase, as well as the addition of highway tolls.
