The Canadian Taxpayers Federation expressed disappointment with the lack of emphasis on Newfoundland and Labrador’s fiscal crisis in today’s throne speech.

“You don’t deal with crippling debt by cutting back on one coffee per day,” said CTF Interim Atlantic Director Renaud Brossard. “Based on today’s throne speech, unfortunately, it looks like this is the approach Premier Andrew Furey wants to take.”

In the throne speech, the government emphasized it would “strike the right balance in navigating the necessary transformative change” and “focus on responsible debt management.”

Furey told reporters earlier this week “It’s taken us five, 10 years to get to the situation that we’re in and it’s going to us that time to get out of it.”

“Furey’s slow-paced approach is about five years too late,” said Brossard. “Newfoundland and Labrador’s fiscal situation has deteriorated to a point where it spends more on interest payments than it collects through income taxes. The longer it takes to right the ship, the more expensive it will be for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.”

The province of Newfoundland and Labrador will spend $1.5 billion on interest payments on its debt this year. That’s more than the $1.4 billion the province will collect in personal income taxes.

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation outlined a series of recommendations in its prebudget submission to help the government get back to balance. Proposals include:

• Reducing government employee compensation;
• Cutting MHA’s pays to lead by example; and
• Replacing business subsidies with business tax cuts.