Platform for New Brunswick

The province is approaching a demographic cliff in which seniors make up the highest proportion of the overall population in the country, while the labour force is shrinking. [...] There is also a clear culprit: budget deficits going back to the Great Recession, with the exception of a $67 million surplus in the current election year—which the present government has pledged to reverse with a return to deficit spending. [...] The easiest way to see the difference is to compare the reported deficit to the amount added to the province’s net debt each year. [...] At the Institute, we believe the best way to ensure the health system’s long-term sustainability is to strengthen the province’s economy and prevent the flight of younger, working, and taxpaying residents to other provinces. [...] In the short term, however, the best solution is for the province to tie increases in health expenditure to the most transparent tax method, the HST.