THE BUDGET: TRYING TO HAVE IT BOTH WAYS

On Tuesday, Finance Minister Tom Osborne delivered the Province’s seventh deficit Budget in a row. Only the Atlantic Accord arrangement, amounting to $2.5 billion, salvaged any pretense of the Government’s ability to manage the public accounts.

To hear the Finance Minister, you might have thought the Liberals had spent the last three years as a deficit slayer. In fact, all that has changed is a reduction in the capital funding for the Muskrat Falls project.

The Government’s first Budget in 2016 levied a bevy of taxes and fees on the public. They had no heart to right-size programs and operations. As it stands Current and Capital Account Expenditures have risen to $8.6 billion (Statement III). In contrast Revenues are only $6.2 billion (Statement II). The real deficit, in contrast to the numbers used by the Government ($575 million without the Atlantic Accord transfer) is actually $1.4 billion. Budgetary cash requirements exceed revenues by $1.86B.