New Brunswick’s Liberal government is projecting a $549-million deficit in its first budget.
That is despite a campaign promise by Premier Susan Holt to balance the budget in every year of her term.
Finance Minister René Legacy said his government had to make some “tough decisions” as it built this budget.
“We will not sacrifice fixing health and education, and addressing the very real affordability challenges New Brunswickers are facing or shirk our responsibility to tackle the impacts of tariffs head-on in favour of satisfying the bottom line,” Legacy said in his budget speech.
“We were elected to address the challenges that New Brunswickers face, and we intend on meeting our commitments.”
Budget includes $14.3B in spending
The province plans to spend $14.3 billion in the upcoming fiscal year, while revenue is only projected at $13.8 billion.
Legacy said the budget includes $112 million in new spending for its previously-announced tariff response plan. A $50-million contingency is also being introduced to reflect the uncertainty of tariffs.
The Holt government plans to spend around $4.1 billion on health care during the upcoming year, an increase of nearly $293 million.
It includes $30 million to support new collaborative care clinics aimed at improving access for the up to 180,000 New Brunswickers waiting for a primary care provider.
The Liberals committed to creating at least 30 local family health teams over the next four years as one of their campaign promises.
The government is also spending $28 million to improve health-care technology systems and $2 million for health-care recruitment.
More money for teachers, EAs
Legacy said his government has set aside an extra $32 million for educational assistants and behavioural intervention mentors.
There is also an additional $16 million for more teachers to help address growth in student enrolment and $4 million to boost teacher recruitment and retention.
New Brunswick will also spend $10 million to ensure children and youth living with exceptional needs and trauma receive a consistent level of high-quality support.
Legacy said they will spend $22 million on nursing homes and specialized beds to support the province’s aging population and keep waitlists from growing.
The government has also earmarked $10 million to make home care more affordable and help people stay in their homes longer, and $2 million to implement a dementia strategy and action plan.
There is also an additional $19 million for a school lunch program and $200 million over five years as part of a larger program to subsidize more than 17,000 child-care spaces.
Housing support
The Liberal government’s budget also includes an additional $36 million for the New Brunswick Housing Corporation to address significant housing challenges.
It includes an increase of $21 million for the direct-to-tenant rental benefit, supporting an additional 2,500 households per year.
There is also an additional $4.6 million for the Affordable Rental Housing Program and nearly $3.3 million in public housing to support necessary repairs and modernization and improvement projects.
Legacy said they will also spend nearly $4.7 million to help improve wrap-around services for supporting housing for those experiencing homelessness.
RELATED: Read Finance Minister René Legacy’s entire budget speech
The government has also earmarked more than $9 million for transition houses, second-stage housing, domestic violence outreach services and community-based sexual violence services.
On the topic of fiscal reform, Legacy said his government intends to introduce legislation on a fiscal reform funding model that will provide local governments a “much-needed diversification of revenues” to support sustainability and provide greater predictability.
The province will also spend $5 million in technology to help transform the province’s court system and clear backlogs.
Transformation initiative
Legacy said his government will also embark on a “transformation initiative” over the coming year to determine how they can work collaboratively with stakeholders, partners and communities to better deliver for New Brunswickers.
In the short term, they have asked departments to lead the work to identify areas where they could stop doing things that are not delivering results and to better use every dollar available, he said.
Departments have been tasked with creating plans, and a central “transformation team” will work across government to gather those plans, triage ideas and support service transformation.
“This might not be the budget we hoped for back in November, but it is one that we believe balances the needs of New Brunswickers against our fiscal realities – one that does not continue to kick our issues down the road for future generations,” said Legacy.
“We had to make some tough decisions as we built this budget, but we knew if the choice was between presenting a balanced budget or doing what was right for the people of this province, we would choose New Brunswickers and their priorities every single time.”
Official Opposition reacts to budget
The budget will be voted on in the coming weeks, but it already is lacking support from the Official Opposition.
Leader Glen Savoie said he sees “debts, deficits and broken promises” when he looks at the document.
“A budget that gives absolutely no targets, a budget that does not address affordability, a budget that doesn’t demonstrably improve access to health care. No, we can’t support that kind of a budget,” Savoie told our newsroom.
Savoie said the government spending is “unsustainable” and questions whether New Brunswickers will see any benefits from it.
“What we’re expecting is that they’re going to undo all of the work that we did to try to get us into a better financial position,” he said.
“The question has to become whether or not New Brunswickers are going to be better off for the extra money that they’re spending.”
Savoie also added that the budget does not go far enough to support the economy, especially during this time of uncertainty.
