Cut out all out of province travel across all of government. No exceptions.

Encourage
video conferencing/SKYPE
Cut out aH operational Planning Retreats. -
Cut out all meals /refreshments for all meetings. Bring your own.
Don't supply the Ministers/MLA's with vehicles any more.
Don't try to keep all campaign promises. Given the state of the Province people should
cut you some slack.
Listen to your critics.

***

Wed 12/1/20103:03 PM

First, I would like to congratulate this government in recognizing that success comes
with "brainstorming in numbers", and with the population of NB being in the 750,000
+ vicinity, you should have a good sense of were the people feel we can do a better ~
,}",'
job in cutting down our 8 - 9 Billion dollars in debt. ~.. ,"
"
In my opinion tolling our highways is one way that we can provide revenue to the -
Province without taking it "only from the pockets" of New Brunswickers.

It seems to work in our neighbouring provinces and throughout the US.

Why should we pay to visit PEl / NS / USA and give them access to our highways and

bridges for free?

Secondly, start up the user fee's in our hospitals and clinics, to eliminate those
hypochondriacs, that are taking to much time of our medical staff who are already
under staffed and overworked.

***
Wed 12/1/2010 3:03 PM "
(
Hell Mr. Alward;

I am surprised and very impressed with this approach...this is a fantastic way to show
new brunswickers that we actually have a voice. Thank you.

I am like many...1 hear about our provincial debt...and worry about the futur for our
children...and for me as well. I believe that job stability for many would definitly be an
important contributor to a healthier economy. When people have job security they will
be ready to invest themselves at a higher level...spend in our province and work here.
It's a win -win...! can say that myself as well as many of my colleagues have been

329
 coming back into the careof the Minister. In the end, this would only create more costs
to the Province becausewe would again be paying for and a variety of other
--. servicesfor that . My only request .isthat the ramifications of these financial ...,
decisionsbe taken into accountso that we can ensure,not only cost-effectiveness,
but
alsothe well-beingof our .

*** 8:
Wed 12/1/20103:05 PM . .:,...

Goodafternoon-I havea few ideas-not sure if they are usefulbut here it goes-I I

-
;I
,~~
,.cO,"

I'~::
worked in Healthfor over11111.. In that department A)I could suggestthat a medical
consultant be dropped at a salary range of $250,000 per year as these people are
generallynot very busyat all, surgicalinstrumentscould be sharpenedrather than
thrown away and new ones.purchased-thousands of doll~rs saved, and tests ~rdered
by doctors and drugs prescribed by doctors should be monitored as the elderly In
"""'",

~
g
I
~"-",
~

particular and get multiple prescriptions of the same drug and patients ,.'..
,"-:C."C'c getthe sametests2 and3 timesa yearwhentheyonlyneedone. In otherdepartments
r suchas B)PublicSafetyand Petal,staff are sent on multiple training courseswhile other ~:!\:

:Ii departmentshaveno moneyin their budgetfor this. Trainingfor staff is essentialand

can be a very demoralizingissuewhen not all departmentsget to sendtheir staff on ~
training.Thisinequalityin departmentsregardingtraining moneyis well known in the ...I
civil service.Moneyshouldbe taken from all the departmentsthat they haveset aside ~~
for training and 1) either dividedfairly amongall departmentsto train staff or 2) taken
from the departmentsthat havemoneyin their budgetsfor training and usedfor other
things.C) In Departmentof SocialDevelopment there is a lot of overpaymentsthat
were accidentallymadeto peopleon welfare that should be determinedand recovered
through incometax returns. Hopethese help!

..
*** 1;;,'.;'
c"."

Wed 12/1/20103:05 PM

I believethat any programfreezeor cut hasa tendencyto affect mostly,the under

-
privilegedand those in need of health care. Increasingtaxestends to reduceconsumer
spendingand entrepreneurialinvestment. I think that serious considerationshouldbe
~ givento the possibilityimplementing"tolls" to the provincialfour lane highway
network. Not only would this proposalgenerate new revenueto the province'scoffers,
but; a portion would comefrom non New Brunswickersand the extra cashwould
certainly reducethe pain of the obviousfreezes& cuts you will no doubt be forced to
makein the comingweeks.

Thanksand good luck.

332
",

::-",-~

,.,-",C',",~..""c
~
 ,{A1..~ ,..
*** ,.

- ?',
Wed 12/1/20103:08 PM iV;'11J~c;'";::!"t

Mr. Premier,

I want to congratulate you on your victory to lead us hopefully out of these hard
times. It will take a real special leader, something we haven't had for many years.
I think that this letter you have sent to the people is a real good idea, letting us know
you are listening.
I have only one thought, and it is general, as how to help us with our problems; The
bickering and comparing and general criticism between all the parties should stop and
we should move more into working together in finding the solutions to our problems.
Whether the answer comes from the people, another party or you, if it is a good idea,
use it. You are the Premier and it is your decision on what path we take. The credit
will go to you, whether it turns out Good or Bad.
I am hoping you proveto be a better man than the others. -
***

Wed 12/1/20103:08 PM

Cut down the number of blackberriesin public service

Blackberriesare givenout to everyone,I know peoplewho work in their offices
everydayand havea blackberry just sitting on their desk.Not to mention that work life
balancecannot be achievedif everyoneis respondingto their blackberriesday and

.
a.~,

~
night.

Blackberriesshouldonly be givento staff who:

. Travelmore than 50%of their time
. Are requiredto be on emergencycall
. Are at a Directorlevel or higher
~=~ Advertising Campaigns
Publicinformation campaignsare often very important. (ie immunizationetc). However,
television advertisingis extremelyexpensiveto purchase.Taskdepartmentsto come up
with more innovativeand cost-effectivewaysto get the messageout (i.e. socialmedia).
The only departmentthat doespurchasea substantialamount of television advertising
that doeswarrant it isTourismasthey generate a substantialamount of revenuefor the
province.Thingslike the Becampaign,public health, secondaryeducation,worksafeNB;
while they are all important there are definitely more cost effectivewaysto deliver
these messages.

336
 I would suggest putting a "Health Fee" on junk foods. Maybe ten percent on things like
pop, chips, chocolate bars, candy, fast food (ie burgers, fries and pizza). That money
could be dedicated to Health to offset the increasing cost-of health care. If people go to

.
a fast food joint and order milk and salad they wouldn't pay the fee, but if they got a
bucket of chicken, pizza or a big mac they would pay. People could make a healthy
decision and not pay the fee or make an unhealthy decisionand paythe fee - the choice
would be theirs. We cannot force people to eat healthy, but we can make them pay
,.,,",' extra if they don't.! This could raise hundreds of thou.sandsfor the health.system! It
might evenencouragepeopleto eat healthy. ~
OJ
Alsothere has been lots of talk about raising the HST and you have said you wouldn't, -
however if you raised the HST a couple or three points it would bring in millions. To ease
the "pain" you could remove the HSTfrom electricity, home. heati~g oil and natural gas
.. ,C,C
I

..
-that would make people happy. If they want to buy a 100 Inch HIDeftv, they would "'~!'

pay, but they wouldn't pay tax to heat their homes! They have a choice on the TV, but ,~;
! .",~-~
no choice on heatingthe house.I think this would be well received by people.
'""""C~

Therehasbeentalk of a tax increase on gasoline.In NBwe haveto drive everywhere,

"'.i"""'"
especiallyrural NB'ers...soan increase in the gastax hurts pretty much everyone.
" -:~
That's it for now thanksfor askingpublic servantsfor ideas.

***

Wed 12/1/20103:15 PM

We havebeentalking about this for yearsat our office. We have to (by law they tell me)
.,I
send some of our well water test results by registered mail to clients (even though we
have to call them immediately at home when we get the results). The client is aware of
the
smallresults
office when
here,he gets
over it bya year
500$ mail since we havemail
in registered called
for already, and we
these water paythat
tests, just for our I
'~~

sometimes people don't pick up at all. I'm thinking, if we cancel that requirement (or I
,. ,
C2;;

legislation), all the regions together, we could easilysave several thousand dollars a year "'f.,;,

(Between 5000-10000$). Probably small change for a department like the Health 1.c'

department but if every unit found small things like this, we could be savingquite a bite, :
I believe. ,j
-.,.

Also, having to buy our supplies from contracts (mandatory) is certainly not savingthe -
I
office some money. We often seethings on sale in local businesses for far cheaper than
what we are askedto pay with contracts(ex: furniture (chairs,desks,etc.) I
***' II ."

~
Wed 12/1/20103:16 PM

345

~
 everyone has.I think a lot of today'spensioners
arebetterof than mostof us(at least
manythat I know). I noticedthe proposalto freezesomeof their taxes(propertytax?)
wasa blanketpromise.Why not go by need?On incometax I think singlefamily
incomesshouldbe ableto tax split their incomebecauseeveryoneelsealreadycan!

Other incomecan cometrom reinstallationof the highwaytolls. We paytolls

everywhereelsewe go (PEl,NS,New England).Herewe don't visibly,but we payfor
everyone(else)usingthe road, includingtruckersand tourists that just passthrough.
Greatdealfor them, not so muchfor us.

Smallissues;We couldsaveon electricity and refurnishingour offices.I haveseen

peoplestill buyingnew office furniture earlierthis year, while stuff goesto the SSdepot
for sale,I havea deskand cabinetsin my office that were old when I started usingthem
25 yearsago.We shouldcancelall cateredcoffeebreaksand lunches.E.g.a bottle of
water from the HappyBakerwould probablycost more than $2 delivered,water out of
the tab, clear,pure from the FrederictonAquifer and alreadypaidfor by the taxpayer,is
readyfreely available.We live frugally and I brown bag my lunch 99.9%of the time. I
havebeencarpoolingwith a friend and colleaguefor 20 years.We shouldhavea
carpoolpagefor civil servantstravelingto different placesin NB,but evenwithin the
city.

And becausewe live frugally,we do not havedebt, can giveto others, havetime to
volunteer,etc. And I expecteveryoneelse (includingmyself)working for governmentto
do the same.We haveto live within our meansand I feel we havenot been doingso as
a provincefor the last coupleof decades.I do not know where this all started, but I feel
that you can makechangesthat are really needed.You may needto showthe
presentationto all New Brunswickersasthen they may understandsomeof the
decisionsthat needto be made.I think peopleoutsidethe provincealreadyknow and
our rating may drop evenfarther, makingit more expensiveand harderto stay in debt.
Our debt serviceis alreadyvery high, I don't want to think what would happenif
interest rates actuallyrise.

And while I haveyour attention, I think you shouldfurther BernardLord'sinitiative to

changeto electoralsystemtoward a proportional representationsystem.In my opinion
it would foster better cooperationand better government.

Thanksfor the opportunity.

***

Wed 11/17/201011:12AM

GoodMorning Dave:

353
 111--- .111_-
Tue 10/26/2010 12:22 PM
- -
Telephones,Blackberrys,Air Cards etc.representmillionsof dollarsof expenditures
yearlyyet lackthe control exertedon petty cashexpenditures.Most managersare not
I requiredto review,approveor otherwisejustify these expenditureseventhough there -
81 e~istsa systemthat ca~easilyprovide report~on these costs.Thereis no governme.nt I
~ 8
I widepolicyon controllingwhogetswhatdevicesand howmuchtheycanspendusing
them (withou~justification).Sinceusuallythe user does not havetheir own device, ".::)~
"'"

;:"~:
I _personal use ISalso a factor.

II
,""'"","

"';"';
.
we were payingfor phonestha Allant

units we did not have, had fea"W:.Jres

. Ebliling
. . costcontrolsystem.

we ':verepayingfor phonesthat w:re not hookedup, did not belongto us, rented
we did not need and many that belonged to
different departments.The processof "cleaning" these accountsin DSS,DNRand DOT
hassavedmillionsin expenditures( a one third reduction in some areas)howeverwe
.
~?~"'P
~?~,
'"""'J
.."

::
lacka policyand a bodyto assistwith establishingand maintainingcontrol of these .
. '
costs.
~~,c.,
;:~,r:"""c'

I
.
,°o,:

'-""'"
We needto:
1. Adopt a policyestablishingcontrol on thesetypes of expenditures;
,~cf;-:::;"o
III'~III
I"~::"'c 2. Esta~lisha body t~ assist?ep:'s with applyingthese controls; and --I
,.,c"
3. Monitor the ongoIngapplication.
I ,-.;,:

. And, Ebillingsystemand '1

,::~ otherverysuccessful
costsavingmeasures,
thesesuccesses
haveneverbeen
.

.
encouraged.What is greatly neededis to foster a corporate culture that encourages "

. cost savingsand discouragesinefficiency. .J

-
,,~
Thanksfor this opportunity, .'- "" '~~?~~"'"

i' *** '.'Y!f'O"'c"':'::&~'"'""' ~~

I~'e". Wed 10/27/20109:52 AM ~c A1~W!'bt

,~
~
r;,'
H.
I,
~
-
o;:';~:"

How about reviewingthe elimination of the $5.00 incidentalexpensessubmitted !

.
on almosteverygovernmentemployeestravel expenses,this I think would savethe
governmentsomemoneyand wouldn't causeto much hardshipfor employees.They
won't like it of coursebut they cansurvivewithout it.
i
~
384 I
 I realizethat the HealthDepartment'sbudgetis not beingcut, but I do feel asthough it

.::;.
can be better managed.Here are a few suggestions:
1) Eliminateunnecessary
redundancy.
Issuessuchasliquor.licensing
requirepaperwork -
and time on the part of PHI(PublicHealthInspectors)for suchsimplethings aschange
in name.Thereare alr,eadyliquor inspectorsthat do the samejob we do, the duplication
is unnecessary.
2) DaycareandAdult ResidentialHomelicensing.With the changeto the PublicHealth
Act and new FoodPremiseRegulationsin November2009,both daycarecentresand
adult residentialcarehomesthat preparefood are requiredto havea licenseidentical
to a class4 full licensedRestaurant.In this case,the food preparationmay be limited to
slicingfruit, heatingsoup etc. Similarlicenseswill be requiredfor a schoolthat provides
ChefBoyardeepastain a canfor kidswho forget their lunch.While I am all for food
safety,commonsensemust prevail.We alreadyinspectDaycaresandAdult CareHomes
yearly,oftenduplicating the inspections bySocialDevelopment, is a full restaurantstyle
inspectionalsonecessary?
3) In recentyears,the office of the ChiefMedicalOfficerof Healthhasballooned.When
I started work with the department,there were two handlingthe work, they addedan
Engineer(a very wisechoice).Now,the office hastwo Engineers,ProgramManager,and ~
many PHI'ssecondedto CentralOfficeto do the work that was once done by two. These
PHI'sare takenfrom field inspectionofficeswhere the officesmust makeup the
shortfall. Thisat the sametime that the work load hasseenthe most significantincrease
in workload in the 17years I havebeen here. It seemsinappropriateto swellthe ranks
of middle managementwhile the rank and file front line inspectionstrength is reduced.

Thanksfor listening.I understandit's not goingto be an easyjob to pleaseeveryone.

Goodluck!

***

Tue 11/2/20108:30 AM

Goodmorning,Premier. In light of the current fiscalsituation, I am writing this message

knowingthat PayEquitylegislationpassedby the LegislativeAssemblyduring the 2009
sessionreceivedunanimoussupport. Thislegislationaffectsall of the portions of the
PublicServiceand could result in expendituresworth a few millions,millionsthat are
not in the budgetfigures. The principle of pay equity (andthe resultingpayments)
would be welcomedby those female employeeswho mayotherwisesee little or no
wage increases:in fact, this may be seenby some, particularlythose who would not
benefit, as a wayto circumventthe yet to be establishnegotiationmandateto be
establishedby the BoardOf Managementfor current and future negotiations.

It is after carefulconsiderationof the potential implicationsthat I am advancingthe

suggestionto havethe Legislatureconsidera bill this fall that would removesection 32
of the PayEquityAct 2009 and replaceit with a provisionthat would allow for

399
 b ,-.cC,-:'
~ ..
~i';"

***'

- Thu 11/4/201011:29 AM J~i-

~;:"::

Hi,

. Firstoff, good luck with your efforts.

r I'm hoping that power saving measures will be implemented, at some point, across all of
the health authorities.

L
~"-; When I last contacted them, NB Power did not provide any initiatives like those used in

.r
I ':'~"';,~~

,:,..'
"'-"~'

h!m!
British Columbia and it's Product Incentive Program (PIP) for business.

Please see the articles below:

htt onservation

http://www.bchvdro.com/news/unplugthis blog/where do vou find.html

.-
~
;1
I

c.'1' --"

I
,;.,~""'. office eqUlpment.html ~-

.1 Provincial government could lead the way in implementing such measures.By _C"-

:,:i'C? implementing policies across all Government departments to identify computers, -, """"""""

f" monitors and their peripheral equipmentthat do not have to be on 24/7 and using
I;'" software to enforcesuchpolicies,the power savingswould be significant. Also, by

I introducing these current-sensing power bars and providing a program such as BC ,-

.. ,""";;'

'""5

"
Hydro's PIP, businesses in New Brunswick

Brunswick..

Thanks,
can operate more efficiently, lowering their
operati?nal costs. It would stand to reason that this would also attract indust~y to New
84
i
-
: :;

~
,1,;~ I
"~;:~ ***

Thu 11/4/201011:39 AM
~
II- Good Morning ,:':':-
'. '-

\"'ii,",,,~ k """", -,,- -

I wor and wanted to suggest the only >;;/""!;;~;;:

I
Provincial funding that you could review to help reduce the deficit would be the '-~.

Provincial Energy Retrofit Program.

:,,"c

':'" 417 I
- ~
 ReduceCosts- Fundamental changes in governance.
,~~

- -
1. The governmentshouldcompletea very brief and simplestudyto determinethe
ratio of managersto staff in every Department. Thereis an overabundanceof
managerswithin many Departments. In any normalbusinessoperation if a
!:,~,\c: personwantsto advance
throughmanagement
andthe positionsdo not existin
that organisationthen they leaveto a different businessto seekopportunities.
Thisappearsto not be the casewith the NBcivil service. We havehad many
managers,directors,executivedirectorswith very few staff and pretty much
empty portfolios. STOPcreatingthese positions. I think this hasalreadybeen

.
established.I certainly hope so. Perhapsthis is commonin my Department
18 becauseof the continuedcutsto budgetsleavingmanyempty programsand
"""'c; services?
.'
."C
~

..
-
:.:.,"c:",:;

",:'":,,,".
2. Hundredsof thousands,if not millionsof do.'lars,is wastedeveryyear in many
Depa~mentsbecausethe managerspotentially don'~ havea clue abo~t the
technicalaspectsof the programsthey manage,and Insteadof managinghired
~
-ccc..

,
c",~ "c--

..
"-~~
,.:."";

::::"'c
~
expertisechooseto act the role of expertiseand managerand makeisol~ted
decisionswithout all or often any of the appropriateinformation required for a
consistent informed decision. (STOPregulating using a knee jerk reactionary
approacheverytime the phone rings...andit will alwaysring). Managersare
acting asif they are the technicalexpertisewhile the expertsare left to wonder
'"

"
why decisionsare beingmadewithout anytechnicalbasiswithin the regulatory I
process.Thisleadsto considerabletime delays,inconsistentdeliveryof
programs,and increasedexpenditureswhen the operationalstaff present
decisions
senior which
staff t hat are
havecontinuallyoverturned
no comprehension onby
themanagement
impacts theystaff
are and other
having at

delivery of services or the consistency of that delivery. i.e. enforce decision

-
c "
~
"

makingat the appropriate level to reducethe bureaucracyand undue resource

expenditureswithin Departments. 1
3. ~and limit BIG'P' political and small 'p' political interferencewith the Civil :'

Service. Politicalinterferencewith the operationsof the civil serviceis costing

the governmentmillionsof dollarsin efficiencyand productivityeveryyear. Not
only doesit affect cost, it underminesconsistentdeliveryof programs,
underminesthe integrity of the Department,the Integrity of the Government
and the moralof staff at every levelfrom the baseto the DMs. There is currently
negligiblesupportfor operationalstaff nor supportfor deliveryof the program I
am involvedwith due to the consistentpolitical interferenceat every level. This
resultsin everydecisiongoingto the Minister or Deputyand wasted resources
($$$)becausepeople call the minister rather than go through an established
process. It's greatthat MLAsand Ministerswish to help constituentswho feel
that they havean issuewith a decision. It's their responsibilityto do so. Educate

428
"

.' ;\;:~
~~~-