N.B. finance minister says tax cuts are coming, but not necessarily in the budget

Finance Minister Ernie Steeves will deliver his sixth budget on Tuesday and says it won't include any splashy, election-style spending commitments.

New Brunswick Finance Minister Ernie Steeves says tax cuts “would certainly be in our future,” but that they may not be included in Tuesday’s provincial budget.

Steeves made the comments during a brief Q&A with reporters Monday, noting that the government has had a habit of announcing tax cuts part-way through the fiscal year.

“We’ve done tax cuts throughout the year, we’ve done a lot of programs throughout the year and I think that will probably be the plan for more this year,” he said.

The title of Tuesday’s budget is “Stronger than Ever,” a slogan that is likely familiar to New Brunswick political junkies. The New Brunswick PC party had a bus wrapped with the slogan and the face of Premier Blaine Higgs last fall, as he very nearly pulled the trigger on an early election.

But despite the nominal connection to the campaign that never was, Steeves said this won’t be a spendy, election-style budget.

“This premier and I like to think myself and the rest of treasury board and finance and throughout cabinet believe that every year you have to be fiscally conservative and you have to be careful with how you spend your money,” he said.

Steeves said he and the rest of cabinet recognize that “people are hurting,” but said they’ve responded with programs like the $300 affordability payment, eligible to households who made more than $3,000 but less than $70,000 last year, as well as a low-income energy efficiency program.

Liberal Leader Susan Holt said the government seems not to realize that the “Stronger than Ever” tagline doesn’t seem to match the mood of New Brunswickers.