Brian Gallant ready to make unpopular decisions to save economy

New Brunswick Premier Brian Gallant says he's willing to make unpopular decisions during his mandate if it means getting the province's economy back on track.

Gallant said in a year-end interview with CBC News that every program and service will be on the table in a review of government spending.

He says he expects he will face opposition to cuts, but will look to the example of a former New Brunswick premier he has always respected — the late Louis Robichaud, who served between 1960 and 1970.

"This is someone who governed and made some very important changes in very challenging times and these changes weren’t always popular, to say the least, but yet he had the conviction to make sure that they went through and the passion to ensure that he worked very hard to really change the face of this province and that's something that I certainly admire."

Gallant says he also has a blueprint for his plans to make necessary cuts and changes — the 1995 federal budget of the Jean Chrétien government.

He says then-finance minister Paul Martin made unpopular decisions that were required to deal with Canada's economic crisis at the time.

"Chrétien, Martin in the 1990s went through a very exhaustive process with their strategic program review. They went through every program, everything was on the table. They wanted to ensure that every dollar that was spent within government was looked at and they would try to evaluate on whether it was fulfilling his goals or not," said Gallant.

"That's essentially what we will be doing."