New Brunswick rolled out plans to lower property tax rates and fund new initiatives to grow the workforce in a $10.2 billion provincial budget on Tuesday.
The Progressive Conservative minority government tabled its second budget as the opposition Liberals continue calls to trigger an election after cutbacks to hospital emergency room hours.
Finance and Treasury Board Minister Ernie Steeves said the budget creates conditions for growth and addresses the province’s challenges head-on.
“Our 2020-2021 budget is designed to continue on our path to save New Brunswick, not to save the government,” he told reporters before the budget speech.
The so-called “double tax” on non-residential properties will be reduced by 50 per cent over four years. Beginning in 2021, non-owner-occupied residential rates will lower to $0.5617 per $100 of assessment from $1.1233.
Non-residential property taxes will also be lowered. That rate will go down to $1.8560 per $100 of assessment from $2.1860 over four years.
The government says those measures are expected to return $100 million to the New Brunswick economy.
The budget also includes projections for the province’s carbon tax plan, which will decrease gas prices by 4.63 cents per litre and add a carbon-emitting products tax starting on April 1.
The plan will generate $36 million of revenue into a fund for unspecified climate change initiatives. An additional $9 million will go to help the competitiveness of natural gas distribution.
“That’s a whole lot more than we were able to do last year,” Steeves said of the carbon plan. “And there are projects that I’m sure the Green Party and others throughout the province, throughout government, will come up with and I’m excited about that.”
The 2020-21 budget is balanced and includes a projected surplus of $92.4 million. Net debt is expected to decrease by $129.3 million. It includes multi-year net debt-reduction targets and net debt-to-GDP targets.
“Our budget demonstrates that it is possible to live within our means when you embrace solid and responsible financial management, and at the same time address our most pressing issues,” Steeves said.
Increased funds for workforce growth
A key focus in the budget is addressing the province’s shrinking and aging workforce.
The government will direct $900,000 of federal funds to a customized training program for newcomers with language barriers. That comes with an additional $464,000 of federal dollars allocated to improving workplace environments to grow the percentage of women in the construction industry.
Steeves saluted several communities for their efforts in attracting newcomers such as Saint Quentin, Richibucto, St. George, Chipman and McAdam.
As previously announced, the province also intends to open new offices in Europe and India to increase and diversify exports and attract international talent and investments.
The Department of Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour will also see a budget increase. The province will boost funding allocated for labour market development by more than $2 million and provide a slight increase for adult learning.
The budget also includes plans to help young people transition into the labour market by reducing student debt. Interest rates will be lowered on the provincial portion of student loans from the prime rate plus 2.5 per cent. The province says that means an individual with a $10,000 loan would save close to $1,300 over 10 years.
New Brunswick has set a target to work with the federal government to increase immigration to 10,000 newcomers per year. The premier announced that goal as part of his 2020 State of the Province Address in January.
Health care
The provincial government will spend $2.9 billion on health care over the next fiscal year as announced in Tuesday’s budget.
The figure is a nearly four per cent increase over last year and is double the rate of expected inflation.
As part of the increased budget, Steeves unveiled a new initiative to try and protect New Brunswickers from influenza.
“1.5 million will be added to our provincial vaccination program so that all New Brunswickers will have access to free flu shots to protect themselves and their families,” he said.
Steeves admitted the budget does not include the potential economic impact of the coronavirus on the province.
He adds the government is continuing to monitor COVID-19 on a daily basis.
Education
The budget includes more than $1.4 billion for the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development.
The government has set aside $7 million to hire more teachers and $3 million to support classroom inclusion.
Steeves said they will also provide $1.3 million to work with 12 schools to create new opportunities for learning French as a second language in our elementary, middle, and high schools.
“Currently, only 46 per cent of Grade 10 students in the Anglophone sector have achieved a conversational level of French or higher through existing programs. We need to find better ways to provide high-quality French language training to our children,” he said.
The government has also set aside $200,000 for a pilot school food program which will be expanded to every school in 2021-22.
‘No deals made’
The budget tabled by the minority government also includes $5.4 million to increase social assistance rates under the province’s transitional assistance program. Rates for the program will be tied to the consumer price index.
The announcement also comes as New Brunswick braces for the potential impact of the global outbreak of COVID-19, which has yet to spread to the province.
Steeves said the government had to make tough choices in finding efficiencies but failed to indicate such cuts when questioned by a reporter.
“There are hard choices that way, that you always want to be able to do everything for everybody,” he said. “You want every road to be fixed.”
Other new initiatives include $200,000 for a pilot school food program, free flu shots and increased spending for mental health. Those elements could be key in securing support when MLAs are expected to vote on the proposal next week.
Liberal MLA Gerry Lowe said he would consider backing the PC budget if it included a school or other benefit for his riding. No new schools were announced, but the capital budget in September could include additional infrastructure projects.
Green Party Leader David Coon, who could provide the PCs with the support needed to stay in power, has said he may back the budget if he finds it beneficial for the province. He also expressed concerns about holding an election during a potential coronavirus outbreak.
Steeves said there was consultation with other parties, but no spending promises were made to keep the government in power.
“There were certainly no deals made or nothing like that,” he said. “We just made the budget as best we could for New Brunswickers.”
With files from Alexandre Silberman, Brad Perry and Allan Dearing.
