Holt Liberals pitch cuts that come with political cost

The Holt Liberals are venturing into perilous political terrain as they ask New Brunswickers for input on what programs the government should cut to lower a ballooning budget deficit.

Civil service layoffs, higher fees for government services, even highway tolls for out-of-province vehicles are among the ideas in a discussion paper titled “Difficult Decisions.”

To keep paying for health care and affordability measures, “we have to stop doing some other things. And they’re going to be things we don’t want to stop doing,” Holt said in her recent state of the province speech.

Last fall, the government projected a $834.7 million deficit for the current fiscal year.

Speaking to reporters after her speech on Jan. 29, Holt wouldn’t say whether that figure has grown.

But the rhetoric about tough choices has become more serious.

“We do not have unlimited amounts of money,” the premier said.

“There are really challenging decisions to come.”

Her strategy, as it is on many issues, is to say she’s listening to New Brunswickers.

The discussion paper invites people to lay out what they’re willing to see cut and whether they support the province collecting more revenue.

The last time a Liberal government put that choice to New Brunswickers, the result was an increase of the harmonized sales tax to 15 per cent from 13 per cent.

Holt is pledging no tax hike this time, and no cuts to the core priorities of New Brunswickers: health care and measures to keep a lid on the cost of living.

Among the suggestions for reduced spending are merging some government agencies and commissions and reducing maintenance on roads with low traffic levels.

There’s also a proposal to shift some hospital beds into long-term care homes, where patients who don’t need hospital-level care can be dealt with less expensively.