(Provincial Finance Minister Blaine Higgs)
(File Photo)
The province's finance minister will be appearing before the Saint John Board of Trade just days after conceding the deficit is at least 50 million dollars more than last projected.
Blaine Higgs says a fiscal update to be released this Friday will show as of the end of September, the projected deficit for 2010-11 exceeds 800 (m) million dollars. He says all measures to improve the province's fiscal situation will be examined during public budget consultations but raising taxes should be the last possible option.
Premier David Alward has promised not to increase the H-S-T. Liberal finance critic Donald Arseneault says he wants to see the government's numbers to ensure they don't include funding for some of the Conservative Party's election promises.
