Unemployment in the province won’t get any better if the provincial government cuts spending in an effort to reduce the burgeoning deficit which has doubled from the previous estimate.
That warning from U-N-B Economics Professor Rod Hill who tells CHSJ News the Conservatives have backed themselves into a corner by their refusal to raise taxes and there has to be a discussion about raising more revenues.
There has been talk about cuts coming to healthcare and Municipal leaders are worried about what the provincial government is going to do with their unconditional grants which constitute a large part of their budgets.
Hill argues there is no evidence to suggest the tax cuts implemented in 2008 by the previous Liberal Government stimulated economic activity and the provincial government has lost more than 730 million dollars in revenue but the Canadian Taxpayers Federation warns it would be a mistake to raise taxes at this point.
