FREDERICTON – The New Brunswick government has hired a former deputy finance minister in the federal government to help find ways to eliminate the provincial deficit.
Michael Horgan will be the chairman of the province’s new strategic program review advisory committee.
Victor Boudreau, the minister responsible for the review, made the announcement Tuesday in Fredericton.
Last week, Premier Brian Gallant said everything is under consideration when it comes to measures to cut spending and boost revenues.
Horgan agreed, saying he’ll be considering everything from highway tolls to privatizing government assets.
The exceptions are official bilingualism, constitutionally guaranteed programs and N.B. Power.
“I think New Brunswickers have already stated that they don’t want (N.B. Power) privatized and I don’t think we want to spend a lot of time wasting our time if that decision has already been made,” Horgan said.
“But there are others things, like roads, or other provinces have privatized liquor operations, so N.B. Liquor I think could be one thing to take a look at.”
Boudreau says the province is facing a major structural deficit that cannot be fixed without making significant changes.
He says New Brunswickers will be asked for their suggestions.
With files from Global’s Laura Brown
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