Deficits galore in New Brunswick budget
- Higgs government planning $760-million deficit over three years
- Opportunities New Brunswick sees 18 per cent funding bump
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation criticized the government of New Brunswick’s decision to dive deeper into deficit territory for the coming years.
“While everyone is winding down spending and tackling their budget shortfalls, New Brunswick is turning on the spending taps,” said CTF Interim Atlantic Director Renaud Brossard. “Unfortunately, politicians won’t be the ones paying the price for this reckless spending, young New Brunswickers will get the bill.”
Previously, New Brunswick’s government has shown relative spending restraint compared to its provincial counterparts in 2020-21, posting the smallest deficit in the country at $12.6 million.
The province’s deficit is forecast to increase to $245 million in 2021-22, peak at $296 million in 2022-23 and go down to $220 million in 2023-24.
Budgets posted in Alberta and Prince Edward Island have seen projected deficits go down for 2021-22. Expectations for the federal deficit are that it will go down in 2021-22.
“Premier Higgs needs to come up with a plan to tackle these enormous deficits,” said Brossard. “A good place to start would be eliminating the wage premium provincial bureaucrats earn over their private sector peers.”
Data compiled by the CTF shows provincial government employees earn a 12 per cent wage premium over their private sector counterparts.
New Brunswick’s debt is expected to surpass the $14-billion mark this year.
“Instead of lowering taxes for local entrepreneurs, Premier Higgs has opted to send bigger subsidy cheques to a select few,” said Brossard. “The government should cut out the middle-man and just leave that money in entrepreneurs’ pockets in the first place.”
Opportunities New Brunswick saw its budget increase 18 per cent this year, from $44.8 million to $53 million.
New Brunswick’s business tax rates remain higher than most other provinces’.
The government has not announced any tax relief measures for individuals or businesses.