Liberals acting busy, but not much news in announcements

It's been a busy week for Liberal cabinet ministers and MLAs, strafing the province with a series of what they call "announcements" and what their opponents believe are a flood of distractions.

Maybe that explains Regional Development Corporation Minister Donald Arseneault's confusion Thursday morning as he stood by the banks of the St. John River in picturesque Perth-Andover.

"It's a pleasure for me to be here this morning in Plaster Rock," he told a group of local residents.

They and several reporters from Fredericton and elsewhere had gathered at the local library for what was billed as "an announcement regarding flood adaptation."

That announcement? The Liberal government was "considering" the recommendations of an engineering report for the village of Perth-Andover on what should be done to avoid another catastrophic flood like the one that happened in March, 2012.

The report recommends a series of projects worth $71.9 millionthat includes relocating the downtown to a new location south of the existing river bridge, with a higher elevation to avoid flooding, and a replacement bridge.

The government is "evaluating" the report, Arseneault announced.

December 2016 report

Except that evaluation didn't start Thursday, or even this week, or even this year.

The province has had the report since December, Carleton-Victoria Liberal MLA Andy Harvey acknowledged to reporters, and "we've been working on it internally as a government" since then.

The report itself wasn't news either;another media organization reported on it two weeks ago, and local citizens who gathered for the government event were familiar with its contents. The document is posted on the village website.

Announcements seem rushed

It was just one of several government announcements this week that were either repetitive or lacking in substance or detail.

On Tuesday, Health Minister Victor Boudreau announced Medicare will cover the cost of the so-called abortion pill for women. But the news felt rushed; women won't have to pay at pharmacies, but Boudreau wasn't sure how pharmacies will bill the province.

"We'll work out those details, obviously," he said.

Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Bill Fraser announced a tender had been issued for the paving of 2.8 kilometres of Route 10 near Chipman a project that had already been announced in this year's capital budget.

The flurry of activity coincided with the Gallant Liberals facing what may be their toughest political controversy yet: The revelation that this year's property assessments included more than 2,000 increases based on invented renovations.

PCs call it distraction

The opposition Progressive Conservatives have taken to social media to accuse the government of orchestrating the flood of news to distract from the scandal.

Many of the events had other political benefits. Harvey won Carleton-Victoria for the Liberals by just 83 votes in 2014, and Arseneault made sure he praised the rookie MLA for relentlessly pushing the government to act.

"This is a top-of-mind issue, a priority issue for him," Arseneault said.

Except Harvey still had no firm funding to show for that work. "We just wanted to outline where we are," Harvey said.

Some of the news this week was substantively important.Environment Minister Serge Rousselle announced that a new water testing protocol will be in place at Parlee Beach this summer, a wholesale adoption of federal guidelines to address flawed tests last year.

Little concrete to offer

But in many cases, Liberals struggled to make the case that they were announcing anything concrete.

Harvey said the province would be ready to fund the Perth-Andover flood adaptation projects "at some point" once the community bought in and Ottawa agreed to contribute.

"Some days it seems like you're not making progress but sometimes you've got to step back and do the work that needs to be done so when you're ready to go, you've got a plan," he said.

Jennifer Eagan, who owns a seniors' home on the flood plain, took the Liberals at their word, even if there was no firm timeline for work to start and no money budgeted.

"I didn't exactly hear that today but I think the intention is there and I think they mean what they say," she said.

Marianne Bell said the Liberals committed in a private meeting to finding the money "soon" and of doing all the work over six years, with completion in 2023.

"I think when there's a date, it makes us feel like they really will put the pieces in place to move forward," she said.

The previous PC government provided money to help residents move out of the flood zone, but business owners in the village still face uncertainty every spring as they watch river levels and wonder if they'll be flooded.

"The businesses have been in limbo for five years and they may feel that they've heard this sort of promise before," Bell said. "I'm not exactly sure."

Harvey seemed to sum up the week-long Liberal announcement blitz at one point during the news conference when he acknowledged he had nothing firm to offer yet.

"Words are words," he said.