Achi news desk-
The New Brunswick government hit the ground running in the legislature with a number of amendments to the law on Tuesday.
OBJECTIVE DRIVE
According to a news release from the province, the government is looking to amend the Motor Vehicle Act to strengthen administrative penalties for impaired driving. The change would allow officers to issue roadside stops immediately for impaired driving offenses that do not involve death, serious bodily harm, or passengers under the age of 16.
Under the current act, officers can only charge such drivers under the Criminal Code. An immediate roadside suspension could last for 15 months and include a 30-day vehicle impoundment, participation in a driver re-education program, a $1,000 administrative fee, and a $230 license reinstatement fee.
“These improvements aim to prevent impaired driving and make our roads safer for everyone by taking impaired drivers off the road immediately,” Public Safety Minister Kris Austin said in the statement. “This approach forces drink-driving drivers to separate the activities through mandatory participation in the ignition interlock program. It forces them, for months, to choose between drinking and driving. This is our best chance to reduce impaired driving in the long term.”
The statement says these proposed changes are based on models in Manitoba, Alberta, and British Columbia.
STUDENT PROTECTION
Potential amendments to the Private Vocational Training Act could increase protections for students and hold private career colleges accountable.
According to a separate news release, the reforms would:
- change the registration requirements for training institutions from annual to one-time
- build a formal mechanism for students to register complaints against training institutions
- allow the government to create specific service and programming standards, and set regulations in areas such as keeping and sharing student records
- introduce a system of compliance orders to create more options to remedy issues other than revoking registration
“New Brunswickers need to know that the graduates entering our workforce are properly trained and qualified, regardless of whether their training was provided through a public or private institution, and our students depend on the government to protect them from situations where they can be taken advantage of, financially or otherwise,” said Greg Turner, minister of Post-secondary Education, Training and Labour, in the statement. “Making these changes will increase transparency and accountability for those subject to the act.”
The statement says that the Private Vocational Training Act sets basic requirements for the registration of private vocational training institutions. There are 51 such groups registered in New Brunswick and they serve more than 3,000 students through programs such as cosmetology, massage therapy, and business administration.
COURT CHANGES
The provincial government hopes to speed up the court system by allowing justices of the peace to oversee bail hearings.
According to a separate news release, the Justices of the Peace Act would let those officers hold hearings instead of judges. The act would also make virtual bail hearings the central model for such court cases, allowing them to proceed without the need for an actual courtroom and potentially freeing up space for other matters.
“There were 8,822 adult bail matters in 2023, up from 8,049 in 2022 and 7,016 in 2021,” the statement said.
The government hopes to implement these changes by January 2025.
A separate piece of legislation relating to the court called the Act Respecting Hearing Officers seeks to consolidate the role of various court officers under the title of hearing officer and expand their authority to conduct certain child, youth protection matters and adults.
“The proposed amendments will create a more effective and less adversarial court process for child, youth and adult protection matters by ensuring timely access to justice for both,” said Justice Minister Hugh J. Flemming in the statement. “The proposed model is based on the Manitoba child protection model, which has seen great success. We expect to reduce the number of child protection cases going to court by 50 per cent.”
HEALTHCARE PLAN
The New Brunswick government is focusing on working together to improve health care as part of a new action plan released Tuesday.
According to a separate new release, the primary health care action plan seeks to address “systemic challenges,” including funding, administration, governance, accountability, and practice structures. The plan highlights the need for collaboration and team practices.
“Team practices are a win-win for patients and practitioners,” Health Minister Bruce Fitch said in the statement. “They provide New Brunswickers with the care they need, at the right time and in the right place, from the right provider. They also offer a better work-life balance for health practitioners at a time when we are working to increase recruitment and retention.”
Some of the initiatives in the plan include:
- improve recruitment activities
- improve compensation and funding models for team care
- helping individual doctors transition to group practices
- better management of team practices
