New Brunswick premier mum on specifics following letter promising help for Saint John

Premier Brian Gallant is continuing his promise of a “new deal” for Saint John, but it looks like details are going to have to wait until the new year.

Gallant was in Saint John on Tuesday for a child care announcement, the morning after Saint John Common Council passed a difficult budget that is expected to see across-the-board cuts in most departments.

READ: Saint John police, fire decry planned 2018 budget cuts

The budget was passed despite a letter received from the premier promising to help the city out with its budget pressures.

News of the letter the premier sent to Mayor Don Darling last week was unveiled at Monday’s council meeting.

The three-page letter ends with the premier saying investments can be made to “alleviate short-term budget pressures.” Gallant adds that the province wants to work with the city to “avoid cuts to front-line services.”

The premier says discussions have been underway over the past few weeks.

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“We haven’t landed on exactly what that [help] will look like yet,” said Gallant. “The letter was also a little of a heads-up that the discussions are going well and we do want to play a role.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "We haven't landed on exactly what that [help] will look like yet," said Gallant. "The letter was also a little of a heads-up that the discussions are going well and we do want to play a role."

That letter was enough for some to say the 2018 budget should have been put on hold.

“It’s ironic that they did not table this budget for this week and ask more questions from the premier,” said Const. Duane Squires, president of the Saint John Police Association.

WATCH: Saint John council is expected to vote on budget

1:13 Saint John council is expected to vote on budget

Darling says the letter was a good commitment, but not enough to stop the budget process.

“We’re not going to alter our budget and several months worth of work based on a letter only,” Darling said.

“If there are some dollars that we’re able to secure over the next weeks or months then it will give us some options to redeploy some of the reserve funds that we put in place for restructuring costs and that’ll be a discussion that will come back to the table.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "If there are some dollars that we're able to secure over the next weeks or months then it will give us some options to redeploy some of the reserve funds that we put in place for restructuring costs and that'll be a discussion that will come back to the table."

The police association is suggesting $3.5 million in assistance is coming. The premier would not commit to an exact dollar figure.

“If we would have landed on how we’re going to be able to do this, we would have announced it already,” Gallant said.”This is complex as you can imagine. We as a province need the City of Saint John to be flourishing. We need it to be stronger than it is.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "If we would have landed on how we're going to be able to do this, we would have announced it already," Gallant said."This is complex as you can imagine. We as a province need the City of Saint John to be flourishing. We need it to be stronger than it is."

More details are expected in the new year.