New Brunswick's Liberal opposition is taunting Premier Blaine Higgs for backing off an early election this fall, claiming he was afraid of losing because the province isn't doing as well as he lets on.

In Question Period they mocked the campaign slogan Higgs planned to use — "Stronger Than Ever"— while pointing to soaring rent costs and long health-care wait times.

New Brunswickers "tell us they are not feeling 'stronger than ever,'" Liberal Leader Susan Holt said.

"Instead they tell us they are feeling poorer than ever, with the punishing cost of living, more insecure than ever with their housing, and more worried than ever about their health and the state of our health-care system." 

Liberal Leader Susan Holt questioned the government's reputation for fiscal management, asking it to explain $161 million in unplanned health-care spending. (Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick)

Higgs spent six weeks hinting about a snap election a year ahead of schedule before announcing Nov. 3 that it would not happen in 2023.

The same day, a photograph emerged of the campaign bus the Progressive Conservatives would have used, bearing the slogan "Stronger Than Ever."

The premier has touted the province's health balance sheet and surging population growth, calling the housing crunch "good problems to have" as a result of the surge.

"If you would have been 'stronger than ever' you would have called the election, but we both know you didn't because you were scared to lose," Liberal MLA Isabelle Thériault said.

Moncton Centre MLA Rob McKee says the push to reduce wait times for hip and knee replacement surgeries has led to reduced operating room availability for other surgeries. (Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick)

New numbers from Statistics Canada this week showed that rent in New Brunswick increased nine per cent from October 2022 to October 2023, more than three times the province's inflation rate. 

Rents have gone up 28.7 per cent since October 2020, the highest increase in Canada in that period.

At the same time, Liberal MLA Rob McKee said Wednesday he'd been told that the push to reduce wait times for hip and knee replacement surgeries has led to reduced operating room availability for other surgeries.

The province is hoping to reduce wait times for those two procedures to 182 days, a national benchmark.

From July to September 2023, 41 per cent of hip replacements and 44 per cent of knee replacements met that benchmark. That was up from 29 per cent and 38 per cent, respectively, a year earlier.

But that progress has meant reducing the OR times for other specialists, McKee said. 

"They're not increasing capacity, they're just reallocating, and other important surgeries are falling behind," said McKee, who told reporters he didn't have any data on increased wait times for other procedures.

A new Progressive Conservative party fundraising website launched this week touts the government's financial results, which include a $1-billion surplus last year and a reduction in the province's accumulated debt to $12.6 billion by the end of the 2023-24 fiscal year.

Premier Higgs has touted the province's health balance sheet and surging population growth, calling the housing crunch 'good problems to have' as a result of the surge. (Jacques Poitras/CBC)

Higgs said this week that the resulting $75-million reduction in interest payments on the debt had freed up enough money for the government to launch cost-of-living supplements for low-income New Brunswickers, at a cost of $65 million.

Holt questioned the government's reputation for fiscal management, asking it to explain $161 million in unplanned health-care spending in its latest budget update.

Health Minister Bruce Fitch said the money is paying for "so many initiatives that are going on," including recruitment bonuses that have led to a net gain of 45 doctors and 125 nurses in the province this year. 

"That's where the money will be spent," he said.

Health Minister Bruce Fitch says opposition MLAs want the government to invest in health care but then question how the money is spent. (Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick)

The minister also pointed out that the opposition had been demanding the government spend more of the surplus, which had been previously projected at $199 million.

"The members opposite want us to invest in health care and now their questions seem to have a tone that we shouldn't be be spending that money," he said.

Fitch didn't deny that some other surgeries are losing operating-room space because of the focus on hip and knee replacements.

But he said regional health authorities now have more flexibility to let doctors perform surgeries in hospitals other than their own "that may have a shorter wait line." 

Health professionals determine how best to use OR resources and "they're trying to be fair and reasonable for all surgeries, and all disciplines that are involved," Fitch said.