Ever wonder how bad the financial situation is in New Brunswick?
The provincial debt is currently pegged at $8.3-billion – which is an increase of over $749-million since Shawn Graham has taken over and lead us down the road to self-sufficiency.
Meanwhile, like kids in the backseat of a car, we keep asking, “Are we there yet?”.
You can guess the response.
To make matters worse, the province’s auditor-general has projected the debt climbing another 33 per cent in the next four years!
That is why I was so glad to find this great article in today’s TJ on the debt issue (that seems to be getting ignored in the campaign):
David Bishop is spending his own money to convince government to stop spending everyone else’s.
The retired Quispamsis businessman is at the helm of a grassroots campaign that is aiming to make the provincial debt a central issue of the Sept. 27 election.
“I just really want to get a dialogue going,” said Bishop, who lives in Rothesay.
To spark a conversation about New Brunswick’s $8.2-billion debt, Bishop set up a 53-foot long tractor trailer near the Gondola Point intersection off Highway 1.
On the side of the trailer hangs a 22-foot by 8-foot banner, reading “We live within our means. Please tell Shawn Graham.”
The same message has been printed on bumper stickers and pamphlets that Bishop and other organizers have been passing around the province for the last few weeks.
Bishop said he isn’t affiliated with a political party and his message isn’t political in nature.
“It’s about starting a conversation.”
