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Opposition Leader Roger Grimes says he is disappointed with the provincial
budget brought down this afternoon by Finance Minister Loyola Sullivan.
Grimes says a number of necessary investments were not made and he is
shocked that government decided to put their $103 million surplus on two
long-term debt initiatives to create a cash deficit. "This budget is a
huge letdown," said Mr. Grimes. "Today’s actions by this government is
nothing more than a blatant attempt to lower the expectations of the people
of the province. Since taking office, this government has continuously
overstated the size of the debt and the deficit. They have continued this
trend today by intentionally misleading the public into thinking that the
province has a cash deficit this fiscal year.
"This government actually had a cash surplus of $103 million this fiscal
year and decided to spend this money repaying the long-term debt of the
Newfoundland and Labrador Education Investment Corporation and the
Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage Corporation, a payment scheme totaling
$117 million. These payments were not included in last year’s budget and no
advance indication was given that this amount of money would be spent during
this fiscal year to pay these long-term debts.
"Instead of making key investments in a number of initiatives, this
government missed an opportunity to better the lives of many Newfoundlanders
and Labradorians. I ask the minister why he feels the Cancer Clinic in
Grand-Falls Windsor is not a worthy initiative? Why is the Mealy Mountain
auditorium in Happy Valley-Goose Bay not a worthwhile investment? Why was
this surplus not used to expand Leary’s Brook Junior High in St. John’s?
What justification can the minister provide to Alzheimer’s patients who have
been waiting for necessary and compassionate treatment drugs? Why is
government still going eliminate at least 145 teaching positions?
"While there is some good news in today’s budget, there was much more
opportunity to fund necessary initiatives for Newfoundlanders and
Labradorians. Very little of this funding actually comes directly from
provincial sources. Most of today’s announcements are funding through the
federal government, including the federal-provincial health care agreement
and the new equalization funding. Without this funding, there would have
been very few positive announcements.
"Government has also once again recycled many of their announcements and
have tried to convince people that their cutbacks are actually investments.
In education, they announced that the Kids Eat Smart Foundation was going to
receive a $250,000 investment, this is actually a 50 per cent reduction from
last year’s funding. The minister is trying to suggest that 75 new teaching
positions are being added to the classroom, when there are actually at least
145 teaching positions being eliminated. Ten million dollars is being set
aside for new school expansion for three schools ,when one of the schools,
Herdman Collegiate, needs this full amount to complete their necessary
expansion. They have also given the impression that they are committed to
Labrador, when they have once again failed to provide funding for the Mealy
Mountain Auditorium.
"There is certainly a large amount of fluff in this budget, but very
little in the way of long-term concrete announcements for the people of
Newfoundland and Labrador. If the people of the province take the time to
review these documents, I am certain they will realize there are many
examples that demonstrate that this is a budget falls well-short of the
mark."
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