N.B. Needs To Focus On Debt: Advocacy Group

A citizens advocacy group says New Brunswick needs to drill down on reducing its debt in the next budget.

Paige Macpherson, Atlantic director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, said that is the number one priority in their pre-budget submission to the province.

“They’ve already started on a positive path of debt reduction, but we think that they need to become more aggressive with their debt repayments to ensure that they’re not kicking the can down the road to future generations who will have to pay off that debt,” said MacPherson.

New Brunswick’s net debt is expected to decrease by $245.1 million from budget.

The advocacy group is also calling on the province to lower its income tax and business tax rates.

MacPherson said research shows reducing business taxes would generate more revenue over the long-term.

“By sending that message to job creators, getting them to invest in New Brunswick, you’re actually going to have more businesses in the province, that means more people who are working and employed and paying taxes,” she said.

MacPherson said New Brunswick currently has some of the highest tax rates in Canada.

According to the group’s pre-budget submission, New Brunswick’s combined provincial-federal income tax rate is 53.3 per cent. It would like to see the rate lowered by 10 per cent.

It would like to see the business tax rate lowered to five per cent from its current rate of 14 per cent.

MacPherson said there are several things the province could do to reduce the upfront impact on government revenues.

“We think that the government should eliminate corporate welfare right off the bat. We’ll probably need to find efficiencies in big-spending items like health-care and education and other programs,” she said.

The province is set to deliver is 2020-21 budget on March 10.