{"id":425968,"date":"2026-01-22T14:02:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T14:02:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/425968\/"},"modified":"2026-01-22T14:02:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T14:02:10","slug":"province-dedicates-a-minister-to-oversee-seniors-long-term-care-spending","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/425968\/","title":{"rendered":"Province dedicates a minister to oversee seniors, long-term care spending"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Text<\/p>\n

Listen to this article<\/p>\n

Estimated 3 minutes<\/p>\n

The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.<\/p>\n

The responsibility and budget for New Brunswick seniors and long-term care will now fall under a dedicated seniors minister, the province announced Wednesday.<\/p>\n

It’s being touted by the province as a stronger commitment to seniors. <\/p>\n

But it won’t come with additional funding or staff.<\/p>\n

Some say it doesn’t go far enough and are calling for a dedicated department, while others believe the move will bring a necessary, greater focus on a long-term care system in crisis.<\/p>\n

The $859-million seniors and long-term care budget has been the purview of Social Development Minister Cindy Miles, who is also responsible for children and youth in care, and homelessness, disability and social assistance programs.<\/p>\n

Despite that, Lyne Chantal Boudreau had been named minister responsible for seniors in Premier Susan Holt’s cabinet, a position that didn’t have any funding attached. <\/p>\n

WATCH | What it means to have a seniors minister instead of a minister responsible for seniors:\"\"<\/p>\n

Holt tweaks cabinet to give seniors minister a budget, staff<\/p>\n

Seniors and long-term care have always fallen under the Department of Social Development but will now have their own dedicated minister. However, the change doesn\u2019t come with additional funding or staff.<\/p>\n

Now Boudreau is minister of seniors, a title change that gives her oversight of the seniors budget and staffing. <\/p>\n

“This change reflects our government’s commitment to really support seniors across the province,” Boudreau said in an interview. <\/p>\n

She believes it’s important to “amplify the voices of seniors” and said the move will help her do that.<\/p>\n

But Boudreau didn’t identify any new policy or legislative goals she hopes to meet while in the position.<\/p>\n

Calls for department<\/p>\n

Richard Losier, CEO of the New Brunswick Association of Nursing Homes, has been advocating a department dedicated to seniors and long-term care, alongside a coalition of others in the sector.<\/p>\n

Although Wednesday’s announcement stops short of that, Losier welcomed it as a step in the right direction. <\/p>\n

“We still believe that there should be a department for seniors and long-term care in New Brunswick, especially in our situation,” he said.<\/p>\n

But Losier said this is an idea Holt had poured cold water on in previous meetings. <\/p>\n

Progressive Conservative Margaret Johnson, the seniors and social development critic, also wants to see Holt follow through on a dedicated department for seniors.<\/p>\n

“Otherwise it just looks like this announcement was made to quell the increasing attention that it\u2019s getting in the media, from seniors in the province,” Johnson said.<\/p>\n

This month Holt’s government has had to answer to criticism over a Fredericton hospital admitting patients<\/a> to an ambulance bay without running water or bathrooms. <\/p>\n

It was a response to overcrowding, the health authority said, as a little over a third of patients in hospital beds were waiting to move into long-term care.<\/p>\n

Jan Seely, New Brunswick Special Care Home Association president, believes the issues plaguing the health-care system won’t be solved until the province improves its approach with seniors.<\/p>\n

She is optimistic that having a minister for seniors will help government focus on the issue.<\/p>\n

“[In Social Development] you’ve got children, you’ve got youth in trouble, you’ve got social assistance, you’ve got long-term care, you’ve got seniors, you’ve got all of these things,” Seely said.<\/p>\n

“You’ve got 10 fires to put out, and you’ve only got one hose.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 3 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":425969,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[49,48,84,392],"class_list":["post-425968","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-health","tag-healthcare"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425968","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=425968"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425968\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/425969"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=425968"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=425968"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=425968"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}