On Thursday night, a province struggling with an economic deficit listened as Premier Brian Gallant gave his State of the Province address.
In advance of next week’s budget announcement, Gallant’s speech leaned towards long-term priorities rather than short-term fixes, with funding for education as the focal point.
“As New Brunswickers we spend more on our debt than we invest in education and health care,” the premier said. “We need to be the smart province.”
Gallant reiterated that his government is committed to investing more in education than any other premier in New Brunswick history.
Although spending cuts are expected in the budget, Gallant was adamant that strengthening the school system is key to building a sustainable future for the province.
“It’s not only good for the workers and the employers, it’s good for our economy as well,” he said.
Without giving any details away, Gallant outlined six topics he referred to as “large choices” and said that of the options, the government was tasked with choosing three or four which would make up much of the budget.
Among the tough choices Gallant outlined were civil service cuts, highway tolls, increases to corporate taxes, increases to HST, significant cuts to education and significant cuts to health car.
The premier also said that his government will be using a balanced approach in the upcoming budget by splitting the cost-saving procedures between expenditure reductions and additional revenue streams.
The budget is expected to be announced on Tuesday, Feb. 2 at 1 p.m.
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