Finance Minister Ernie Steeves speaks to reporters before delivering his government's 2019-20 budget on March 19, 2019. (Submitted/Government of New Brunswick)
The Higgs government says it has no plans to cancel the Liberal government’s bailout of the city of Saint John.
This after a report by Auditor General Kim MacPherson found the three-year deal constitutes “excessive risk” to taxpayers.
Speaking with reporters Tuesday, Finance Minister Ernie Steeves agreed some things in the report reeked of politics and bad management.
“I would say that that is the fiscal responsibility of the last government,” said Steeves. “We have a different idea of what fiscal responsibility is. We’ll go forward from that with the city of Saint John.”
“It was a deal that seemed to reward them if they went into a deficit situation. I’d rather reward a situation when somebody meets their budget or does better than meet their budget.”
MacPherson also raised the issue in her report, saying it created “inappropriate incentive” for the city to keep running deficits.
She also noted a key working committee report to review long-term solutions is more than five months overdue. Steeves said they want to get the report done properly, adding it has to be expedited.
The minister also said he would like to see a report on whether the agreement was a good idea.
“It seemed to be pushed into really fast,” Steeves said. “I think that it really could have been a good idea but we don’t have the background, and I don’t know that the government at the time had the background to properly decide or properly evaluate.”
When asked about former premier Brian Gallant’s role in the deal, Steeves said it seems he made a decision without all of the information.
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