Fiscal discipline isn't an ideology, it's respect.

Something worrying is going on in New Brunswick and we should be concerned about it. The Holt Liberals have placed the province's future in jeopardy with the financial situation we are now in.

For decades, New Brunswick offered a simple promise to its people: work hard, contribute to your community, and you will get ahead. That promise is now in doubt, not because people have stopped doing their part, but because the current government is less committed to doing its part.

I am running for the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick because I believe our province is on a trajectory that will break that promise, perhaps permanently.

The Holt government has set us on a dangerous path. Over the next three years our province will put nearly $6 billion on a credit card with no plan to pay it off. This while families struggle to afford daily essentials, health care remains out of reach for too many, and our workforce is aging faster than we can replace it. Across businesses, communities, and kitchen tables, the same question is being asked: where is this heading?

New Brunswickers know what happens when governments lose control of their finances. It doesn’t stay on a spreadsheet. It shows up in higher taxes, cut services, fewer opportunities, and a province that starts to feel like it’s going backwards. We have seen this pattern before. We cannot afford to repeat it.

Leadership at a moment like this demands more than good intentions. It demands experience, judgment, and a willingness to act before problems become crises. To understand both the limits of public finances and the importance of keeping people’s confidence in where this province is heading.

Not long ago, something positive was happening here. New Brunswick had momentum. People started moving to us, not away. Families from across Canada chose to build their lives here. Communities that had felt stuck began to feel alive again.

That didn’t happen by accident. And it won’t continue by accident either.

It depends on staying competitive, on being a place where costs are manageable, services work, and government earns the trust it’s asking for. When that foundation erodes, so does our ability to attract people, retain businesses, and grow. This is not complicated. It is a question of management and trust.

Health care sits at the centre of that conversation. But spending more is not the same as doing better. The answer is smarter management: improving how patients move through the system, expanding long-term and home care, and making New Brunswick a province where doctors and nurses actually want to build careers.

Getting health care right is also an economic imperative. A province where people can’t access needed care loses workers, strains families, and drains the resources we need to grow. Fixing that system and building a competitive economy are not separate agendas — they are the same one.

We also need to focus on growth, as that is how we pay for the things people need. Developing our natural and human resources, keeping energy costs and taxes competitive, and removing barriers to innovation, exports and manufacturing is not optional. They are how we sustain the services New Brunswickers depend on.

Government has a real role to play in all of this. But it also has limits. Its job is to deliver services, manage finances responsibly, and create conditions for people to succeed.

Fiscal discipline is not an ideology. It is a basic act of respect. Respect for the people whose money government is spending, and respect for the generations who will inherit what we build or what we break.

And responsibility means resisting complacency. Problems don’t sort themselves out. Someone has to step forward. That is a choice, and it is mine.

On October 17, the Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick will choose its next leader. That choice will determine whether we offer this province a credible path forward, or stand on the sidelines while the Holt government continues along this destructive path.

The case for change is clear. But change requires leadership that is prepared to be disciplined, balanced, and accountable.

We have momentum worth protecting.

We will not get this moment back.

Daniel Allain is a candidate for the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick. He served as MLA for Moncton East (2020–2024), Minister of Local Government and Local Governance Reform, and Dieppe City Councillor (2016–2020).