New Brunswick balances budget without increases in taxes or fees

Published March 22, 2019

Restaurants Canada commends the Progressive Conservative government of New Brunswick for introducing a balanced budget without increasing any taxes or fees for businesses. In their inaugural budget unveiled on March 19, the minority government of Premier Blaine Higgs committed to pay down part of the province’s accumulated debt for the first time in 13 years.

During the provincial election campaign in September, Restaurants Canada called on all parties to get New Brunswick’s fiscal house in order without inflicting new costs on restaurateurs. The new government seems to have taken this recipe and delivered. (Click here to learn more about all the key issues that Restaurants Canada rallied around during the 2018 New Brunswick election campaign.)

In his budget speech, Finance Minister Ernie Steeves acknowledged all the costs added to the bottom lines of businesses by the previous government through the introduction of a new statutory holiday, runaway premiums for workers compensation, minimum wage increases and the carbon tax. The new budget reinforces the government’s commitment to link future minimum wage increases to the province’s consumer price index and recognizes that tax rates need to come down and government spending must be reduced in order to get the provincial debt burden under control.

Click here for further details on the 2019-20 budget for New Brunswick.

If you have any questions or would like more information, you can get in touch with Luc Erjavec, Restaurants Canada Vice President, Atlantic Canada, at lerjavec@restaurantscanada.org or 1-800-387-5649 ext. 5000.

Restaurants Canada Digital

Nam dapibus nisl vitae elit fringilla rutrum. Aenean sollicitudin, erat a elementum rutrum, neque sem pretium metus, quis mollis nisl nunc et massa. Vestibulum sed metus in lorem tristique ullamcorper id vitae erat.

More from Restaurants Canada Digital
Wholesale Club