100 days later: Dwight Ball on his start as premier

One-hundred days after his swearing in as premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, Dwight Ball says addressing the province's deficit tops his list of priorities.

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"If I look at three priority areas for me and my government over the last three months, it's been around making sure that we have those relationships secure in Ottawa, it's about fiscal sustainability, making sure that we prepare for this budget," he said, speaking on CBC's St. John's Morning Show.

"It's been the number one priority for us — and then getting ready for the House of Assembly, which we've been into for the last three weeks."

$2-billion deficit

Ball's first 100 days in office have been been marked by a provincial deficit far worse than what his government first anticipated. He said it is a huge challenge for the province.

It's been the number one priority for us.- Premier Dwight Ball

"Even $50 million, $100 million in this province, in terms of programming and revenue, it is very difficult to find that," he said.

"When you have a gap of $2 billion, it is quite the nut to crack."

Ball said he and his team are committed to tacking the deficit, and will be working hard on the next budget.

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"I have never seen a public service so engaged in this," he said.

"They understand the magnitude of it and they've worked countless hours, and we are at this until late every night, and we will be again tonight as we get ready for the upcoming budget."

Openness and accountability

Another objective of the Ball government was to improve openness and accountability, and he said a comprehensive, independent review of the Muskrat Falls project is an important part of that.

"It's important for us to do the due diligence that's required to make those decisions, and 100 days on an $8 billion project, as an example, is not much," he said.

"We're going to do this, and we're going to make sure that we have the information before we go making the decisions that impact the future of our province."

Back in Ottawa

It's also important for Newfoundland and Labrador to be well represented at the federal level, Ball said.

"We've been shut out of the federal governments for quite some time," he said.

What's important here is that we do what's right for the people of this province.- Premier Dwight Ball

Ball said he and the provincial ministers have engaged in good dialogue with Ottawa participated in a number of meetings that have improved federal-provincial relations.

Through the first 100 days, Ball said his approach hasn't changed and he's looking serve the best interests of the province.

"What's important here is that we do what's right for the people of the province, not what's right for me as a politician."