Lamrock lashes out at tax cut agenda

Former Liberal cabinet minister Kelly Lamrock is questioning some of the decisions made by the Shawn Graham government, a move that is jump-starting the debate within the party ahead of its upcoming leadership race.

Lamrock, who was defeated in the September election, said he believes it is a mistake to cut taxes for wealthy New Brunswickers during times of fiscal restraint.

Instead, Lamrock said the better choice is to raise taxes on those who can afford it.

But Lamrock was a senior minister in Shawn Graham's Liberal government that aggressively cut taxes, contributing to the big deficit.

Lamrock said when he was in cabinet, he had to go along with some decisions he didn't like, such as those tax cuts.

"In a world where I was the only decision-maker, we would never cut taxes on the wealthiest New Brunswickers with borrowed money," Lamrock said.

Lamrock said he plans to push his ideas as the Liberal party goes through its renewal process and he may run for leader if that's what it takes.

'The policy, from what I can tell, is they want to give my dad a property tax cut, give me a free ambulance, and pay for it by cutting my kids' schools.' KellyLamrock

This isn't the first time Lamrock has chafed at a policy proposal initiated by the former Liberal government.

A year ago, Lamrock came forward and said he couldn't vote for the NB Power deal.

The Graham government ended up scrapping the NB Power deal and then was unseated in the September 2010 election.

Lamrock was one of several cabinet ministers who were defeated in the election.

Tough choices

The Liberals launched their renewal process recently. A 12-person committee is touring the province asking party members and other citizens for input onways the party can revitalize itself.

Lamrock is starting to lay out his vision for what Liberals need to do to regroup after its electoral loss.

He said before the Liberals pick a new leader, the party must sort out what it stands for.

He said he's proud of his role as a minister in the Graham government trying to improve education and reduce poverty.

Now, though, he said the large deficit is forcing the Progressive Conservative government into some tough choices.

Lamrock said their priorities appear to be wrong.

"The policy, from what I can tell, is they want to give my dad a property tax cut, give me a free ambulance, and pay for it by cutting my kids' schools," Lamrock said.

The Tories are facing an estimated $820-million deficit in the 2010-11 fiscal year and Finance Minister Blaine Higgs warned the deficit could hit $1 billion unless immediate cuts are made.

Higgs has been touring the province in recent weeks as part of the annual pre-budget consultation asking citizens about areas they would like to see cut in order to reduce the deficit.

The finance minister said the Tories are entertaining the idea of highway tolls because the concept has been floated bymany people in correspondence with the provincial government and during public meetings.