Susan Holt

Susan Holt became New Brunswick's Premier in late 2024 as the first Liberal Premier in years. She inherited a housing situation that got genuinely bad — rents in Moncton and Fredericton rose dramatically as people relocated from larger cities and drove up demand. She's been in office a short time, so I'll give her some runway. But the people I know in New Brunswick needed action yesterday, not in two years after studies and consultations. Food prices in NB are the same brutal situation as everywhere else in Canada. She needs to be as bold as the crisis demands, not as cautious as most premiers tend to be.

Premier Holt came in with a lot of goodwill and a mandate for change in New Brunswick. But NB families are dealing with the same cost pressures as everyone else — groceries, fuel, and housing costs have all gone up significantly. The province needs bold moves on affordable housing, healthcare access, and economic development that actually reaches rural communities. I'm cautiously hopeful but the pace of change needs to accelerate. People in New Brunswick have been patient. They need to start seeing real results.

Susan Holt became New Brunswick's 35th Premier on November 2, 2024, and its first female premier — a milestone in a province that has long had conservative political tendencies. Her Liberal government won 31 seats and replaced the Progressive Conservative government of Blaine Higgs, which had governed since 2018. Holt's mandate began during an unusually turbulent period: US tariff threats under the Trump administration, interprovincial trade negotiations, and a province still managing pressures on its health care and housing systems. Her government moved early on several fronts — implementing a rent cap (February 2025), announcing 10 new care clinics to ease ER pressure, and introducing universal school meals programs including a pay-what-you-can lunch model. In her January 2025 State of the Province address, Holt pledged accountability and change. By her 2026 address, she acknowledged "mixed" results on targets — a candid admission that earns some credit, though it also raises the question of which targets missed and why. New Brunswick's challenges are structural: its population is aging, its health system is under strain, and its economy depends significantly on natural resources and proximity to the US market — which makes the tariff environment particularly concerning. Holt has engaged these issues with evident seriousness, even if the timeline for results necessarily extends beyond one year in office. It is genuinely early. First impressions suggest a premier with priorities, a commitment to transparency about results, and a recognition that governing is harder than campaigning. Reviewed as a citizen who welcomed the change this government promised — and who will be checking back in a year to see whether "mixed results" became a trend or a correction.