Government thanks New Brunswickers and commits to a balanced approach

26 January 2016

FREDERICTON (GNB) – The provincial government thanked the thousands of New Brunswickers who participated in the Strategic Program Review over the last year and committed to finding a balance between expenditure reductions and revenue measures in the upcoming budget.

“Over the last year we have undertaken a transparent and exhaustive engagement process. During that process, the most popular revenue measures were implementing tolls and the HST, while the most popular initiatives to save money were reshaping the civil service and finding administrative efficiencies,” said Health Minister Victor Boudreau, minister responsible for the Strategic Program Review. “New Brunswickers have made it clear that they do not want to see deep cuts to health care and education.”

Boudreau said that New Brunswickers also spoke strongly about balancing revenue measures with expenditure reductions as the government works towards its commitment of achieving a balanced budget by 2020.

“We have already saved $115 million through initiatives such as cutting the pay of the premier and cabinet, merging departments and eliminating waste,” said Finance Minister Roger Melanson. “These steps, coupled with some additional expenditure reduction measures in the upcoming budget, will work in combination with any revenue initiatives that might be implemented to help us reach our goal.”

The government has been engaging New Brunswickers as part of Strategic Program Review and, more specifically, on the six key initiatives laid out in the Choices to move New Brunswick Forward report:

• rightsizing senior management in the civil service;
• reducing spending on health care;
• reducing spending on education;
• increasing the HST;
• introducing highway tolls; and
• increasing the Corporate Income Tax.

The public is encouraged to find out more about all of the choices and the Strategic Program Review online.

NT3