Liberals blame Tory mismanagement for delaying election promises

The Gallant government is acknowledging it is coming up short on another one of its 2014 election promises, but two cabinet ministers are blaming the Progressive Conservatives for not meeting thesecommitments.

Finance Minister Roger Melanson revealed the provincial government will increase brush cutting along New Brunswick highways this year by $3.3 million.

That is $800,000 less than Liberals promised voters last September, but Melanson insists that is not his government's fault.

"The Liberal party was the only one to fully cost its platform during the last election campaign," said Melanson in a statement emailed to CBC News.

"It did so despite incomplete financial information provided by the government of the day. As a result, the party accounted for its commitments as conservatively as possible and spread those estimates across several years. The party's concerns were borne out after the election as significant deficits were discovered. As a result, the rollout of certain commitments was adjusted."

A similar argument was used on Wednesday by Education Minister Serge Rousselle to explain why his department was not funding $15.5 million in promised day care subsidies this year.

"It's much easier to prepare a budget when we have the true numbers," Rousselle told the legislature on Wednesday.

"We couldn't know the [education department] deficit was so big when we came to power."

32 spending promises made in campaign

The Liberals made 32 spending promises during the election, 19 of which it promised to fund during its first year.

However, Liberals now claim that financial mismanagement by the former Alward government is forcing it to postpone or reduce the financing of several, an issue it has been slow to raise.

In his budget speech March 31, Melanson said nothing about how mismanagement from the Progressive Conservative government was forcing a change in the Liberal government's direction or spending priorities.

And on April 10 as Premier Brian Gallant closed debate on Melanson's budget, he mentioned the province's fiscal problems multiple times during a 37-minute speech.

But Gallant made no complaint about the Progressive Conservatives causing unexpected problems.

"The fiscal state of our province doesn't come as a surprise to anyone I'm sure," said Gallant.

But Liberals now say because expenditures during the Alward government's final year came in $82.5 million over budgetthat has been undermining its ability to keep election promises.

However, revenue during the Alward government's final year was $218.3 million higher than expected, significantly lowering the deficit Liberals inherited.