Balanced Budget Will Bring Lower Taxes

Nova Scotians will see increased spending on health, education and roads in a spring budget that will lower income taxes and post a surplus, Finance Minister Neil LeBlanc said today, March 4.

"The future of this province rests in the hands and minds of working Nova Scotians. When those hands hold a few more dollars, our future is that much stronger," said the minister.

For the second consecutive year, the government will balance the budget, said Mr. LeBlanc.

Speaking at St. Francis Xavier University, Mr. LeBlanc told students, faculty, Nova Scotia's university presidents and members of the Antigonish Chamber of Commerce, that the government will have positive news this year about university funding, as well as a debt-relief plan for students.

"We are mindful that the university communities, students included, have carried their fair share, and some would argue more than their fair share of the load as we struggled together in Nova Scotia to bring our public finances back from the brink of collective ruin."

Despite the increased investments and lower taxes, the minister said restraint will continue to be the order of business this year, and likely for years to come.

"Restraint is about living within your means, making choices based on the priorities of Nova Scotians and a direction that is right for the province. From the outset, and through some very lean years, health and education have been our government's priorities," said the minister.

He said lower taxes will help keep Nova Scotia's economy growing, and improve the province's competitive position vis-a-vis other jurisdictions.

"But more than that...our generation's greatest legacy to the next is a province that holds all the promise, all the opportunity that too many young Nova Scotians now seek in places like Calgary, Toronto and Boston. Lower taxes alone won't get us there, but it is a piece of the puzzle."

Mr. LeBlanc said the direction of the government is toward lower taxes, sound economic infrastructure, a growing investment in education and healthier Nova Scotians, and that direction will be evident in the upcoming budget.

He said, in addition to a financial deficit, the government faced an infrastructure deficit when it came to office -- the roads, bridges and schools of Nova Scotia were crumbling.

"I remind those who are critical of our capital borrowing program just exactly what we are buying with borrowed money -- roads, schools and bridges."

Mr. LeBlanc said the province welcomes "the return, in a limited way" of the federal government to medicare funding. He said every dollar to which Nova Scotia is entitled, and every additional dollar that can be squeezed out of the health care agreement will go to health care.