Saint John city council will get a detailed report on an operational review that recommended cuts to city services, including the closure of the Millidgeville fire station.
Councillor Greg Norton tabled the motion to bring Ernst & Young before council to present their findings from the service review they conducted for council.
The review, which aimed to find $10 million in service cuts in order to balance the city’s budget, identified more than $5 million in workforce reductions to help the city erase its short-term deficit.
The report was paid for by the provincial government, and Norton says it’s important they get the full value for the money spent.
“We owe all New Brunswickers the benefit of having Ernst & Young come in and present, to get good value for those dollars, and to allow the messaging and the full presentation to be received in public,” he said.
Council voted to adopt the recommendations this past Spring, but now Norton says a fuller review of the findings is critical.
“I’d argue that Ernst & Young was through more offices, more departments, and more conversations than any one councillor or councillors put together,” said Norton.
Cuts like those to the fire department have proven controversial to many in the city.
Norton wouldn’t commit to reversing the cuts but said the city could look at reinstating services which were cut some time down the road.
“I would say that bringing Ernst & Young will bring some sober separate thought, about decisions that we’ve made or decisions that are forthcoming.”
