Today, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met with the newly elected Premier of New Brunswick, Susan Holt, to congratulate her on her recent election victory and discuss shared priorities. They were joined by the Minister of Public Safety, Democratic Institutions and Intergovernmental Affairs, Dominic LeBlanc, and the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Minister responsible for Immigration and Minister responsible for Military Affairs of New Brunswick, Jean-Claude D’Amours.
The Prime Minister commended the Government of New Brunswick’s recent announcement to improve abortion access to residents by funding the cost of surgical abortions performed outside hospitals, along with its commitment to providing free contraception for New Brunswickers. The leaders discussed the importance of working together to strengthen health care for Canadians, including comprehensive sexual and reproductive health, and looked forward to reaching a bilateral agreement on pharmacare. They also spoke about potential collaboration on studying neurodegenerative symptoms and illnesses.
The Prime Minister and the Premier spoke about a range of other shared priorities, including affordability, housing, child care, infrastructure, labour market training, and immigration. They also discussed their intention to reach bilateral agreements on the National School Food Program, the Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund, Canada Builds, and unsheltered homelessness and encampment funding. The leaders agreed on the importance of clean energy and climate action, discussed the Chignecto Isthmus project, and reiterated their shared commitment to protecting Canada’s interests on softwood lumber duties.
Prime Minister Trudeau and Premier Holt agreed to continue working together on these and other important issues.