| Group sharing (by the host at each table) • Share 3 important points talked about at the table throughout the dialogue (one from each question) | 20 minutes |
| Next Steps in the Strategic Program Review initiative Minister’s closing remarks | 15 minutes |
Comments from Victor Boudreau, the minister responsible for the strategic program review
It will not come as a surprise to New Brunswickers that our provincial government has been spending beyond its means and that we face a serious fiscal challenge. In Moving New Brunswick Forward, our government sought a mandate within that context. We pledged to improve the government's financial position by $90 million in our first budget and by at least $250 million in our second budget, for a total of at least $340 million.
Despite the previous government's efforts, the provincial government continues to face a $400 million structural deficit. But solving this problem is more complex than finding $400 million.
Service reductions and tax increases have negative impacts on the economy, which means to get a net improvement of $400 million, more than that amount must be found to offset consequential revenue losses. For instance, if we don't fill 20 government positions that open up through attrition, that might save $1 million in salaries, but some of that saving is offset by the loss of income and sales taxes generated through those salaries.
At the same time, we have made commitments to strategic investments which we believe are critical to ensuring the ongoing growth of New Brunswick's economy and the sustainability of our social programs. New money must be found for these priority investments so we can help create jobs and make our province more affordable for families.
And it is critical that we do this soon. Our province's debt has nearly doubled in the past eight years and this cannot continue.
Our government is committed to job creation, and we hope to be able to solve some of this challenge through economic growth.
We believe we need to improve the province's financial position by between $500 million and $600 million.
We will look for opportunities to eliminate waste. We will look for opportunities to do things better and more efficiently. We will also have to reduce services and increase revenues. To do so, we will be looking at how services are delivered in other jurisdictions of similar size and scale to New Brunswick and ensure we are not living beyond our means. And we will be listening to New Brunswickers, civil servants, experts, and our stakeholders for creative solutions.
The challenges we face affect all New Brunswickers. That is why we need to work together to realign the role of government in society and find innovative solutions that are transformational and not just try to do the same things over and over. This is your opportunity to be part of the process to move New Brunswick forward.
We are at an important time in our province. New Brunswick is facing some major fiscal challenges, our demographics are changing and the needs of our communities are changing.
None of these issues happened overnight. We cannot continue down the same path. This work will not be easy. Tough decisions will have to be made to allow us to have the strong foundation we need to invest in the future. Our government is committed to making those tough decisions. We want to do it together with the support and ideas of New Brunswickers.
This discussion paper serves as a starting point for the engagement process. It is meant to ensure participants have a common understanding of the challenges facing the province.
I look forward to hearing your ideas on how we can address the challenges before us.
