Government review seeks 'creative' fixes to fiscal troubles

A two-day forum about the Gallant government's strategic program review has been set for May 20 to 21.

The participants and speakers from inside and outside New Brunswick will discuss the province's fiscal challenges at the upcoming meeting.

"We need to take advantage of every opportunity to seek innovative ideas on how to improve our programs and services so that we can sustain programs like health and education into the future," said Health Minister Victor Boudreau​.

Boudreau is leading the provincial government's program review, which has an aim to finding $600 million in savings.

"As departments work diligently to find efficiencies, we are continuing to review the ideas raised by New Brunswickers and find creative solutions to address our fiscal challenges," he said in a statement.

The working sessions in the forum will explore:

• The roles and responsibilities of government.
• The state of the health-care system.
• The education system.
• The cost of delivering social services
• Revenue sources.

In an initial round of public consultations over the winter, Boudreau heard suggestions from thousands of New Brunswickers on how the government could improve its balance sheet.

The forum also provides an opportunity to explore in more depth the ideas raised during the public sessions.

The most frequently mentioned ideas submitted included:

• Raise the harmonized sales tax.
• Implement tolls on highways.
• Increase corporate taxes.
• Increase royalties on natural resources
• Reduce duplication in the health and education systems.

The keynote speaker at the forum will be John Bethel, a former long-time civil servant in British Columbia who oversaw alternative service delivery in that province's health and shared services departments.

Bethel will speak via videoconference about the fiscal and service benefits of partnering with the private sector for the delivery of government services.

Members of the public will be encouraged to watch a livestream of the forum on the government's website.

"We believe the difficult decisions before us will be better addressed if all New Brunswickers participate," said Boudreau.

The public will get a chance to provide input on specific options being considered by government, which is looking to implement decisions in the 2016-17 provincial budget.