New Brunswick heading into deficit – but don’t blame the economy

The big news in the province yesterday was the announcement from the Liberal Finance Minister that New Brunswick will run a $285 million dollar deficit in 2008-2009.  In March (only nine months ago), he predicted a surplus of $19 million dollars.

The worst part about this news is that the Minister blames the economy; however, there was a great deal of spending that was not related to the economy:

• The regional health authorities overspent their budgets by $40 million.
• The Department of Social Development spent an additional $19 million.
• St. John River flood assistance in the spring hit $29 million.
• The Regional Development Corp. is spending an additional $17 million to help spur economic growth

The Minister says spending is $302 million above the budget forecast in March.  This may come as a surprise to many New Brunswickers that are cutting their own spending to ensure they can pay the bills in these tough times.

The Liberal’s idea that overspending and over taxing will result in self-sufficiency is just one more reason why their government needs to be replaced with one that is fiscally responsible.