"Earlier this week in a letter to Minister Sullivan I requested a detailed breakdown of government’s interest payments for this fiscal year," said Mr. Grimes. "In this letter I also requested the name of the actuary completing the post-employment benefits analysis, the date when the final benefits analysis report is expected to be received, and copies of the initial post-employment benefits analysis reports that estimated a $50 million and $93 million deficit in the initial and final audit reports submitted by PriceWaterhouseCoopers.

"To ensure that this request is addressed in a timely fashion to facilitate public debate, I have today submitted an official request under the Freedom of Information Act to receive this information. It is imperative that this government clarify the mixed messages that we are receiving from the Minister of Finance and the Premier.

"If the Premier is committed to openness and accountability, I suggest he clarify the issue of interest payments in relation to the province’s overall budget in today’s State of the Province address. In his provincial address in January, Premier Williams stated that interest payments will account for $1 billion of the provincial budget this year. Yesterday, Minister Sullivan stated that the cash number was $665 million. The people of the province are confused, a $335 million cash differential is a very significant figure. Both are cash figures, which one is correct?

"I look forward to receiving the detailed breakdown of this information. I am hopeful that we will then be able to understand where all of these numbers are coming from. If the Premier and Minister of Finance do not understand these figures and continuously contradict each other, how can the people of the province be expected to understand the true deficit?"