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Gallant Liberals' onslaught of pre-election announcements once deemed 'cynical' by premier

Gallant Liberals' onslaught of pre-election announcements once deemed 'cynical' by premier

The New Brunswick government staged three funding announcements Thursday and scheduled four more for itself Friday, adding to a pricey week — and summer — of pre-election spending events that Premier Brian Gallant once criticized as "cynical."

Deputy New Brunswick Premier Stephen Horsman made two separate announcements by himself Thursday, one in the morning about funding research at the University of New Brunswick and a second in the afternoon related to a contract awarded for the construction of a new nursing home on the north side of Fredericton.

"Caring for our seniors is a priority for our government," said Horsman at the second event.

"Today's announcement is just one more way we are supporting New Brunswick seniors and ensuring they are able to receive the care they deserve."

The nursing home development was the 10th announcement of its kind for the week made by provincial politicians with media advisories informing reporters there will be four additional funding events Friday in Miramichi, Fredericton, Aroostook and Edmundston.

101 announcements

According to a CBC News tally, that adds up to 101 announcements of financial commitments to various initiatives the Gallant government has made since June 1.

And although the province insists the volume of announcements is not related to the election coming in September, its an 80 per cent increase in those kind of media releases over the same period last year.

It's also nearly double 52 similar spending announcements made by the Progressive Conservative government of David Alward during the same pre-election period in 2014, which then opposition leader Brian Gallant heavily criticized at the time in the legislature.

"(People) are certainly tired of government's doing what the Alward government is doing with all the announcements just before an election," said Gallant during a late July skirmish in question period.

"It's very unfortunate they don't think New Brunswickers can see through that."

'It drives people's cynicism'

In 2013, Gallant also wrote an opinion piece lamenting the way government funding announcements timed around elections fuels public disgust with politics.

"This buying your vote with taxpayer money approach is an old school tactic," wrote Gallant.

"They think that voters aren't smart enough to notice what is going on or are too cynical to care. One of the problems with this practice is it drives people's cynicism through the roof and erodes trust in politicians and the political process."

Premier Gallant's office did not immediately respond to questions about why funding announcements have increased this year.

However, Lisa Harris who has made several nursing home announcements since June as the Minister of Seniors and Long Term Care said the business of government continues right through election periods and it's important for elected officials to keep working and let the the public know what is happening.

"We have a province that's moving forward and we're investing and we're showing people what we're doing," she said.