FREDERICTON –
New Brunswick’s Liberal government is scheduled to give its first throne speech today after winning last month’s provincial election.
Premier Susan Holt says her government’s top priorities are implementing a rent cap, removing the provincial tax on electricity bills and new multi-unit housing, and distributing retention payments for nurses.
The Liberals won a majority government in October, promising to breathe life back into the ailing health-care system by opening 30 community clinics over the next four years.
However, the province’s financial outlook dimmed last week when the new finance minister projected a deficit of $92.1 million for the current fiscal year, a reversal from the $40.9-million surplus budgeted last spring by the Progressive Conservatives.
Rene Legacy blamed the deficit on higher-than-expected spending in the Health Department, particularly on private nursing companies.
Legacy said the government will look for ways to shrink …