We are in a Very Different Spot - Finance Minister Wiseman on Budget 2015

Finance Minister Wiseman summed up the Province's 2015 Budget reality succinctly: “We are in a very different spot”.  In a period in which oil is less than half the value than it was a year earlier, “different spot” is may be a bit of an understatement.  Things have changed a lot in a year and the minister and the government is facing some serious challenges. 

Minister Wiseman talk to the Clarenville Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday evening focused exclusively on how and why the government is planning to deal with the downturn – while trying to have a minimal impact on the economy.   In his address he covered the following topics – each of which spoke to the basic principles government has looked at in its crafting the budget:

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•          A Culture of Cost Management
•    A Refocus our Health System
•          A Refocus of the College of the North Atlantic
•          A Focus on long range planning for infrastructure with 5 year planning
•          A Readjustment of the size of the public Service
•          Development of Regional Clusters of collaboration for municipalities
•          A Deficit Reduction Strategy
•          The Establishment of a Generations Fund
•     The Government's Fiscal Management Plan

     Minister Wiseman offered two documents to the audience. These are available online at :

• Download Highlights - Budget 2015  (9 MB)
• Solid Investments in Provincial Infrastructure  (8.6 MB)

See his presentation here: