N.L. needs $15.4B by 2020 to get out of deficit, says finance minister
"Our province has never seen this type of borrowing requirement in our history ... It would require between now and 2020 -2021, about $15.4 billion dollars.- N.L. finance minister on addressing the province's financial debt
Cathy Bennett, Newfoundland and Labrador's finance minister, entered politics just two years ago after a career creating and running a successful collection of businesses, from a string of McDonald's franchises to a commercial real estate firm, to a construction company.
She's been celebrated for her business smarts, but now she's being watched for her business solutions to an "unprecedented" fiscal situation: the rapid and frightening return of hard times.
"We have a heavy reliance on oil royalties and that reliance in the last decade, with a former administration that spent every penny of it, has left us in a situation, very, very, vulnerable.- Newfoundland and Labrador's Finance Minister Catherine Bennett
Bennett is also the president of the Treasury Board, in the Liberal government of Newfoundland and Labrador. She joined The Current's Anna Maria to speak to how she plans on moving the province towards a financially sustainable future.
"It is the pride and the commitment of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians to get things done ... and I'm very confident that we will get it done."- President of Treasury Board Catherine Bennett on fixing the financial crisis
This segment was produced by St. John's network producer Heather Barrett.