Today is hot potato budget day in Nova Scotia, with every political party seemingly trying to punt it to someone else.
Budgets are usually joyous events for governments, but this one doesn’t fall into that category. The NDP has already said there will be a $590 million deficit thanks to increased spending and lower revenues.
The government says it’s reintroducing the spring Conservative budget because it was too late to craft a new one coming into power in June.
“Commitments that were made to (District Health Authorities), commitments that have been made to municipalities, were all contained within the budget they brought down. So it’s very difficult to make any real, substantive change,” Premier Darrell Dexter re-iterated yesterday.
Finance Minister Graham Steele is highlighting that point with his feet. Much ado is always paid to the footwear worn by the Finance Minister as he releases the budget. This year Steele said he would wear previously worn shoes to match the second-hand budget.
But opposition parties are calling it a NDP budget and say they’ll have to answer for it. Liberal Leader Stephen McNeil said the government has left their mark with moves like removing the tax from home heating fuel.
