Tories, Grits clash over byelection call
Published Friday October 3rd, 2008
With Premier Shawn Graham expected to call a byelection for New Maryland-Sunbury West today, some Tories are suggesting there's a nefarious political stratagem behind the announcement.
New Maryland-Sunbury West is the former riding of Keith Ashfield, the Conservative candidate in the federal election in the Fredericton riding.
The federal riding has been represented by Andy Scott for the Liberals for many years, and David Innes is trying to hold onto it for the Grits.
By calling a provincial byelection for Nov. 3 the Liberals are trying to confuse voters and muddy the political waters about Ashfield's federal campaign, which will be decided Oct. 14, suggested a senior Tory this week.
If that sounds a little bit like political grassy-knoll thinking, the Tory went on to say the Liberals are that desperate because party polling shows that Ashfield is eight points ahead of Innes.
That poll couldn't be independently verified.
The Liberals rejected the accusation and that Ashfield is leading Innes.
"People here are afraid of (Prime Minister Stephen) Harper," said a Liberal who has been going door-to-door with Innes.
Other candidates in the federal riding of Fredericton, in alphabetical order, are: Mary Lou Babineau for the Green party, Ben Kelly for the Canadian Action Party and Jesse Travis for the NDP.
***
Every residential power user in Maine pays a levy on each kilowatt hour of electricity used and that money goes to help low-income families heat their homes.
"We have been doing it for years," said John Carroll, manager of public affairs for Central Maine Power, recently.
Earlier this week The Daily Gleaner carried a story about a poverty advocacy group calling for the Graham government to order NB Power to establish a special electricity rate for low-income New Brunswickers.
Ontario is looking at such a rate and the Voice of Real Poverty Inc. cited Maine as another jurisdiction that helps the poor heat their homes.
Carroll said the levy in Maine - called electric lifeline - is $.000744 per kw/h and is based on an average residential customer using 550 kw/h per month, working out to about five cents a month.
"For the average homeowner it is not something that creates a hardship," he said.
Central Maine Power, the largest utility in Maine, collected $5.3 million last year from the electric lifeline, said Carroll.
Combined with the other utilities in the state, a total of $6.9 million was raised and distributed to 40,000 needy customers, he said.
"We know it is very valuable for our customers," he said.
The amount an individual receives from the electric lifeline depends on their income and the size of their power bill, said Carroll.
***
The legislature's standing committee on public accounts reviewed this week statistics in the annual report from the Department of Health for the 2006-07 fiscal year.
There were 9,834 in-patient surgeries that year in New Brunswick. The Top 10 were:
No. 1 - C-section, 1,968
No. 2 - Hysterectomy, 1,280
No. 3 - Cholecystectomy (gallbladder removal, usually to treat gallstones), 1,259
No. 4 - Knee replacement, 994
No. 5 - Hip replacement, 971
No. 6 - Tonsillectomy, 782
No. 7 - Hernia repair, 734
No. 8 - Prostatectomy (removal of the prostate gland), 679
No. 9 - Appendectomy, 644
No. 10 - Electro-convulsive, 523.
Stephen Llewellyn is the political reporter for The Daily Gleaner. His column appears every Friday. He can be reached at llewellyn.stephen@dailygleaner.com
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