New Vision - New Brunswick believes that government can and should be managed smarter. In doing so, waste, duplication and overlap can be eliminated and taxpayers and families can be rewarded through lower taxes. Lower income taxes serve as a work incentive. Tax cuts will help create new jobs for New Brunswickers. At the same time, a more efficient, better managed government can afford to spend more on key health and education services.

New Brunswickers pay too much in taxes. We have the second-highest tax burden in all of Canada. The Liberal government’s record on taxes and financial management is the second-worst in all of Canada and the worst in Atlantic Canada. We have become increasingly uncompetitive compared to our competitors — other provinces and the US. That costs us jobs and economic growth.

The 1998 Auditor General’s report found that the true provincial financial picture was completely different from what the government was saying. The real picture is that the government actually ran a deficit of $267.3 million in the fiscal year 1997/98, not a surplus of $61.7 million. This deliberate financial mismanagement resulted in the provincial net debt increasing by $329 million.

Under the Liberals there will be no more tax relief. They promised personal income tax cuts in the last election – then broke that promise. They brought in the HST which raised taxes for everyone trying to buy the daily necessities of life, particularly low-income families. The Liberal government has mismanaged the province’s finances, "cooking the books" to hide the fiscal reality. The Liberals can’t be trusted on lower taxes.

New Brunswick needs a new government committed to managing smarter and lowering taxes.

Taxpayers know that government can and should be managed smarter; eliminating waste, duplication, and overlap in programs and operations. Saving tax dollars should always be central to what government does and how it does it. The Auditor General has pointed out example after example of waste and bad financial management on the part of the Liberal government.

A fresh look and new approach is required. That approach starts at the top by making government more efficient and cost-effective through a smaller Cabinet, eliminating redundant regulations, shutting down agencies, boards, and commissions that have served their purpose and are no longer relevant, and reducing waste, duplication, and overlap in government operations. Our plan to manage smarter includes:

Many families, particularly the working poor, are finding it increasingly difficult to make ends meet. New Brunswickers are working harder and harder but can’t seem to stay ahead. It’s about choices – what kind of government we want and how we want our province to grow. We believe that each and every New Brunswicker should have the choice about how to spend their money. The money taxpayers send to government is their money, not the government’s.

Lower income taxes serve as a crucial work incentive. People work harder and spend more when they know they can take home more of their hard-earned dollars. Tax cuts help create new jobs and economic growth. This, in turn, generates more revenue for social programs.

At the same time, lower taxes can lead to more, not less, revenue as more people work and the economy grows. Here are real examples: When Ontario’s former NDP government raised income taxes, personal income tax receipts dropped 12%. When Ontario’s PC government cut income taxes, overall provincial income tax revenues continued to grow each and every year. Here in New Brunswick, previous personal income tax reductions saw an increase, not a decrease, in PIT revenue over two fiscal years beyond the original projections.

Our plan to lower taxes includes:

Sensible tax relief will not come at the expense of our most important social programs of health and education. In fact, our plan calls for more spending in both of these areas.

Lower taxes must be sustainable, based on a sensible, prudent, and responsible financial plan. Managing smarter with more efficient government, together with economic growth and revenues generated from more people working, can help ensure key social priorities are met

An important part of having an open and accountable government is providing the people with information that is honest and true. New Brunswickers deserve an impartial, independent picture of the financial health of their province. They need to know that there is a sensible, long-term plan to manage that financial health which is based upon honest accounting figures.

Our plan for balancing the books honestly includes: