The government announced in the fall of 2022 that it would replace French immersion with a new second-language program for all anglophone students.

Higgs said he wanted all high school graduates in Canada's only officially bilingual province to have at least a conversational level of French.

But after a wave of angry public meetings and questions about the new model the government was proposing, the idea was dropped.

The government also abandoned legislation that would have weakened the decision-making powers of the four anglophone district education councils, putting them further under provincial authority. 

Higgs said he wants to "come back to a program" that will get the results he is looking for.

"So maybe we can agree on what the results should be and then the teachers tell me what we need to do achieve them," he said.

The Higgs government previously tried to replace French immersion in 2022, but was met with fierce public backlash at public meetings. (Ed Hunter/CBC)

That appeared to be on track at the end of November, when Education Minister Bill Hogan released a report, drafted in partnership with the New Brunswick Teachers' Association, and accepted all its recommendations for long-term changes to the school system.

They included a "balancing" of class sizes to support students with extra learning needs while minimizing the potential disruptions for other students. 

It also advocated "holding students accountable" for academic work by rethinking the practice of moving students up a grade level for social reasons even if their marks fall short.

Higgs said the report was "part of" the solution but "it needs to be more than that." 

Education Minister Bill Hogan released a report in November on long-term changes to the education system. (Jacques Poitras/CBC)

"It isn't for me to define it, but … let's not pretend all is well in our schools." 

In the year-end interview, the premier wouldn't say whether he's considering an early election call in the spring, rather than waiting for the officially scheduled date of Oct. 21. 

He also wouldn't say whether, if he wins a new term this year, it would be his last campaign or if he'd run again in 2028.

"You know, one of these elections will be my last one," he said. "I guess I could say that."

Higgs said a new mandate wouldn't lead him to change his governing style, an approach that some PC MLAs have criticized for bypassing input from ministers and MLAs.

Higgs wouldn't rule out an early election call before the planned fall 2024 election date. (CBC)

"I am who I am," Higgs said. "I'm not trying to be anything different." 

The premier said he also wants to keep working on improving the health-care system, including making it easier for patients facing long waits for tests or procedures in their local hospitals to get it done at another hospital with a shorter wait list. 

"Why is it so hard? Because the system's not managed as a whole," the premier said.

That's why the government announced a new "Health System Collaboration Council" in May to co-ordinate service delivery between hospitals and between the two regional health authorities. 

"That overall co-ordination will be a challenge. I don't deny that at all," he said. "But is it the right thing for patients? Absolutely."

Higgs said individual hospitals may resist the change because of a history of each facility and its doctors wanting a full suite of services there — something he wants to overcome to improve delivery overall.

"We don't need everything everywhere but we need something somewhere," he said. 

In comparison, the top 100 CEOs saw an average pay raise of $623,000, or 4.4 per cent in 2022, according to the report.

One economist said studies like the one presented by the CCPA are "flawed."

"The only way you can arrive at this conclusion is that you're comparing oranges with apples," said Vincent Geloso, an assistant professor of economics at George Mason University in Virginia. 

Geloso said reports like this fail to include other forms of employee compensation like benefits.

"People get more fringe benefits in the form of insurance, in the form of flexible hours. Things that employers pay for but aren't considered compensation. When you include them, and you include that instead of wages alone, you're getting a completely different portrait."

In a 2020 report for the Fraser Insitute, a Canadian think-tank promoting private sector solutions, Geloso also argues that CEOs are paid for possessing unique skill sets that are increasingly in demand. 

"Today you find CEOs who have a larger share of PhDs and MAs and MSCs and STEMs. So they're in harder sciences and harder domains, so there's greater levels of skill in terms of pure knowledge."

Addressing the gap

Lana Payne, the union leader, thinks governments can help reduce growing inequality. She supports measures such as improving and expanding access to collective bargaining rights for workers, raising the minimum wage and ensuring people have guaranteed hours of work.

 "I think the challenge is that more work needs to be done on a number of fronts to make sure that workers are not falling behind," said Payne, who believes these measures could reduce what she calls the "inequality gap."

Improving and expanding access to collective bargaining rights for workers, improving minimum wages, and making sure people have guaranteed hours of work are some of the things Lana Payne, the national president of Unifor, says could contain what she calls the 'inequality gap.' (CBC)

The CCPA report also makes several suggestions for reducing the pay gap. The group suggests: introducing higher top marginal tax brackets, removing corporate tax deductability for compensation over $1 million, introducing a wealth tax on the rich and increasing the capital gains inclusion rate (making CEOs pay more taxes on the money they make selling stocks). 

"We've seen the active closure of the stock option deduction in 2021 as well as new higher income tax brackets in 2016. So this is something where we've seen a lot of debate particularly in other areas like a new wealth tax," said Macdonald.

• How has inflation and the high cost of living impacted you? Tell us your story in an email to ask@cbc.ca

Two properties totalling more than 60 acres on Prince Edward Island's North Shore, including the controversial development at Point Deroche, now have a new owner. 

Well-known Island developer Tim Banks, the CEO of APM Group, had his purchase of the land approved by the provincial cabinet on Dec. 19. 

The properties just west of French Village total 64 acres and include the residential complex that's currently under construction at 251 Kelpie Lane.

Banks said he plans to use the Point Deroche property as his private residence. 

     A report from the UPEI-based Canadian Centre for Climate Change and Adaptation, released in December, raised concerns about the effectiveness of stone seawalls like the one built at the 251 Kelpie Lane in Point Deroche. (Shane Hennessey/CBC)

"It's half-built now. We're tightening it up for the winter, going to finish it next spring and move into it. And it's as simple as that," he said. 

"It's a nice property. I don't need to explain it. We're going to move into it as our primary residence."

Seawall was eye of a storm

Public concern over the stone armouring installed on the beach adjacent to the Point Deroche house led to questions in the P.E.I. legislature, and eventually a report by the UPEI-based Canadian Centre for Climate Change and Adaptation that recommended sweeping changes in how the province manages its coastlines.

Tonnes of rock were installed down to the high-tide mark to protect the property from erosion, although that impeded public access to the beach.

The construction sparked widespread outrage among Islanders citing environmental concerns related to the stone armouring.  

This site plan shows the proposed five-structure residential project at the end of Kelpie Lane, including the seawall (along top). (Province of P.E.I.)

The report commissioned by the province raised concerns about the effectiveness of stone seawalls, saying they can fulfil their purpose of protecting the property immediately behind them, but at the same time could lead to additional erosion to the properties on either side of such projects.

Banks was direct when asked if the rock wall would remain in place at his new home. 

"Of course it will," he said. "[They're] very effective. It's better than a lot of other options. We're in the engineering business; we know very well that it's sustainable."

'It doesn't make it any more OK'

Bryson Guptill is an avid hiker who has been critical of the Point Deroche development, especially the seawall. 

Now that the property is in new hands, he's doubling down on his insistence that the wall should be removed. 

'It doesn't make it any more OK than it was previously,' avid hiker Bryson Guptill says of Tim Banks buying the half-built residential complex at Point Deroche. Guptill says environmental concerns about the development remain. (Wayne Thibodeau/CBC)

"It doesn't make it any more OK than it was previously," Guptill said of an Islander buying the land from its out-of-province owner.

"The two primary concerns are that the main building — there are five buildings involved — is closer to the bank than what is allowed in the regulations. It's about 50 feet from the bank instead of 75 allowed in the regulations. The second thing is that the armour stone shore protection is essentially on the public beach."

Though Banks will use the Point Deroche property as his own residence, he said he plans to donate the majority of the land back to the province in order to protect wetlands in the area. 

Officials with the P.E.I. government confirm discussions are underway on that front. 

'We're going to use it as a private residence. It's our business and no one else’s,' says Island developer Tim Banks about his purchase. (Kerry Campbell/CBC)

"We feel it's a very important thing to do," Banks said. "We just feel that with the acquisition of the property… there is a significant portion of that land that could be designated as wetlands and it's a lot easier to give it to the province than have it managed by ourselves."

As for the furor that has surrounded the property, the developer said he's not concerned about whether that will continue when construction resumes in the spring. 

"I can't predict what people are going to do," Banks said. "We're going to use it as a private residence. It's our business and no one else's."