N.B. capital budget cuts only a start: expert

A trimmed-down capital budget is only a start to getting New Brunswick's debt under control, says public administration and governance expert.

Donald Savoie, a professor from the University of Moncton, has been warning that government spending will have to be cut back.

He suggested the relatively small capital budget unveiled Tuesday is just the beginning of what needs to be done to contain the growing deficit.

"I don't think it's done enough — in fact I'm convinced it hasn't done enough," Savoie said. 

The Progressive Conservative government announced $592.9 million in capital spending Tuesday. That's whittled down compared with the $940.4 million spent by the former Liberal government in 2010-11.

"Cutting back the capital budget is the easy part," Savoie said.

"You don't take anything away. You just stop new projects. Now they're going to have to cut into the bone. Now they're going to have to cut into programs and that's where you're going to get a lot of reaction."

"I don't think it's done enough — in fact I'm convinced it hasn't done enough." — Donald Savoie

Savoie said that with only $41 million reserved for school and road construction projects, there are bound to be disappointments.

During the election campaign, Savoie had cautioned politicians not to make promises they couldn't keep.

Now, he said he believes Premier David Alward has the chance to level with New Brunswick citizens and break some campaign promises sooner rather than later. 

"I think they're going to have to renege on a number of them," Savoie said.

"If I were to advise them, I would say get to it early, explain to New Brunswickers the difficult challenge ahead, explain to New Brunswickers that what you've committed is not realistic."

Even before the capital budget, Finance Minister Blaine Higgs had warned of the need for cuts in an effort to reduce the deficit, which he said could reach $1 billion next year.

Savoie said the provincial government could cut its deficit in half by raising taxes and cutting its operational budget.