Opposition tables bill to require financial projections to be made public

FREDERICTON – Opposition Finance critic, Bruce Fitch, is demanding the government come forward with a schedule for returning to balanced budgets and has tabled a motion to legislate this.

Tabled on January 21, the motion asks the Department of Finance to provide members of the Legislative Assembly with detailed financial forecasts and evaluations from outside sources to support the projections that the government will keep spending far below historic levels of inflation from the current year until 2015 and then return to a balanced budget.

“In the 2009 budget, the government committed to returning to balanced budgets within a five-year time frame,” said Fitch. “When they tabled the 2010-11 budget they revised this date, saying they could foresee returning to balanced budgets by 2014-2015. We want to see a firm plan on how they propose to be able to achieve this.”

The current budget projects that revenue for the province will increase by 10.7 per cent from the current fiscal year until the 2014-2015 fiscal year and expenditures are slated to increase by only one per cent over the same period.

“This government has continued to add to the provincial deficit at an alarming rate during the past three and a half years,” concludes Fitch. “Despite revenue increases, this government continues to post deficit budgets and this is because of overspending. That is why we are asking the government to outline a plan for returning to a balanced situation.”

The motion was defeated by the government, however.

Media contacts: Tyler Campbell, 506-453-3484, Tyler.Campbell@gnb.ca or Jane Matthews-Clark, 506-453-8762,Jane.Matthews-Clark@gnb.ca, Communications, Office of the Official Opposition.