NDP Leader Earle McCurdy says today’s fiscal update fails to provide any reassurances to the people of the province. The economy stalled with this year’s budget, when government said there would be more cuts and layoffs this fall.
“In this year’s budget speech, the Liberals pledged measures that would shrink the economy and result in job loss, and that is happening as promised,” said McCurdy.
“We’ve been able to get some reversal on some of the poorer decisions in the original plan – the levy, the libraries cuts and the Black Tickle nurse – but the fact remains that the 2016 budget and today’s fiscal update show nothing more than they’re doing an accounting exercise rather than developing a comprehensive economic plan for the province.”
Personal bankruptcies are up 31 per cent since last year, McCurdy pointed out, and food bank use has also increased, according to workers in the field. An estimated 10,000 children get some of their food from food banks every month.
“The Muskrat Falls project is the single biggest diversion of money that might be spent on services to the citizens of the province,” said McCurdy. “The project was badly conceived, and has been mismanaged from the start.”
“People have been sitting on their wallets since the original budget, when government promised civil service layoffs for this fall. We still don’t know exactly what that will look like. They are being less than transparent and honest with the people of the province.”
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To speak with Earle McCurdy, e-mail news@nl.ndp.ca, or phone 709-739-6387.