Finance Minister Ernie Steeves speaks to reporters before delivering his government's 2019-20 budget on March 19, 2019. (Submitted/Government of New Brunswick)
New Brunswick will be eliminating the front license plate on vehicles — the last province in Atlantic Canada to make the move.
Finance Minister Ernie Steeves says it may not save a lot of money but it seems to be what most people want.
Steeves says police agencies were consulted and he says the changes were fine with them.
The province is also eliminating a fee paid by volunteer firefighters for their plates.
People’s Alliance leader Kris Austin had pushed for a single license plate but he wanted the government to go even further by including vehicle inspections every two years and a one-time registration for personal cars and trucks.
Something that is not being eliminated is the controversial double property tax on non-owner occupied homes.
New Brunswick is the only province in Canada with such a tax.
Steeves says the government has adopted a multi-year fiscal framework for taxation and wants to be in a better position before reducing taxes.
Meantime, the Higgs government won’t be abandoning the idea of twinning Route 11 after all but it is hoping to be creative to save money.
Steeves says the province will ask the federal government to change the scope of the project.
“We will bring the traffic in from the divided highway into a single lane bridge so we don’t have to build two bridges… so we won’t have to build those extra structures.”
Steeves believes adopting this model will allow the province to at least twin Route 11 to Bouctouche.
