FREDERICTON — The final New Brunswick budget before this year's provincial election includes a $41-million surplus but no big-ticket items to entice voters to the polls.
The government touted the budget as containing the most spending on health care in provincial history, with $3.8 billion set aside for the health network in the 2024-25 fiscal year. That figure is up about six per cent from the $3.6 billion budgeted last spring for 2023-24, but it's almost the same as what will have been spent when the fiscal year ends March 31.
"I think that they're shuffling around numbers from previous years. We don't see any bold transformation of the health-care system that everyone has been calling for," she said. He said government services are under pressure because of the fast rise in the province's population. Over the last five years, he said, the population has increased by more than 64,000.
The budget set aside $196 million for housing, compared with $127 million last year. The government chose not to include a cap on rents but budgeted $22 million to reduce the New Brunswick Housing wait-list for a"direct-to-rental benefit for families and seniors." Richard Saillant, economist and former vice-president of the Université de Moncton, called the budget"forgettable."