Strategic program review seeks stakeholder input on cuts

The Gallant government's effort to balance the budget will start looking more serious to dozens of provincial stakeholders and interest groups next week, when they're asked to help departments cut spending by five to 10 per cent.

The scale of those reductions is unheard of in large government departments, such as Health and Social Development, but that's what they're being asked to look at.

Victor Boudreau, the minister in charge of the strategic program review, says most departments will sit down with organizations they normally deal with and will ask them for ideas on what to cut.

Boudreau says the idea of the large meetings — one per department — is to avoid the common phenomenon of stakeholder groups suggesting that cuts be made elsewhere, but not to programs that affect them.

"We normally deal with stakeholders one on one, where they're advocating for their specific cause, for their specific project or membership," Boudreau said.

"Here, we're having all stakeholders around a common table to say, 'OK, this isn't as easy as some people may think it is. How can we find a five per cent or 10 per cent reduction in our budget?'"

Boudreau says each department is being given a target of cutting five to 10 per cent, though he says it's less a firm number and more of a general idea to help guide the discussions.

They're not firm targets that have to be met. It's just to come up with different scenarios: what five per cent would look like, what 10 per cent would look like.- Victor Boudreau, minister in charge of strategic program review

"It was easier to give them a bit more focus," he said.

"They have been given working targets. They're not firm targets that have to be met. It's just to come up with different scenarios: what five per cent would look like, what 10 per cent would look like."

Boudreau's own Health Department will be asked to aim for 10 per cent in cuts. Social Development Minister Cathy Rogers told reporters she's looking for the same when she meets stakeholders next week.

"When it comes to having a target, I'm going to say 10 per cent," she said.

Boudreau told reporters he'd release the targets for all government departments. A spokesperson later said those numbers would be available on Friday.

Boudreau says the goals will vary depending on how much of a department's budget is fixed because of union wage contracts.

Some departments may later have to hit even bigger targets, he added.

The government is looking for a total of $600 million in spending cuts and new revenue to eliminate what is called the structural deficit — spending patterns that lock the province into long-term budget shortfalls.

Boudreau wouldn't say on Thursday how much of that total he hopes to come from cuts and how much from revenue.

Finance Minister Roger Melanson's budget projects a deficit of $476.8 million that pushes the total net debt to $12.6 billion by March 31, 2016.

Former Finance minister Blaine Higgs, now an Opposition Progressive Conservative MLA, says it is possible for the provincial government to reduce spending.

"The opportunity to do that is huge. But you have to listen to people who have different ideas, not dismiss the ideas," he said.

Higgs contends the Liberals have made the job harder by dismantling some of the teams of people he put in place to reduce spending when he was in government.

He mentioned Jane Garbutt, who was the deputy minister of Finance, the top civil servant in the department when he was the minister, as an example. Garbutt was fired earlier this year.