Victor Boudreau hears calls to hike taxes, create tolls

Raising the harmonized sales tax, corporate taxes, increasing royalties and implementing highway tolls were some of the most common suggestions made to the New Brunswick government in pre-budget consultations over the winter.

Victor Boudreau toured the province to hear the ideas of residents on how to address the province's structural deficit and find up to $600 millionin annual savings.

Boudreau released his What Was Said report on those sessions Thursday in the legislature.

The most frequently mentionedideas submitted by members of the public included:

• Raise the harmonized sales tax.
• Implement tolls on highways.
• Increase corporate taxes.
• Increase royalties on natural resources.
• Reduce duplication in the health and education systems.

Citizens also had a wide range of suggestions about things the government could stop doing to save money.

The report indicates no consensus emerged, butover the coming months, ideas on how to find savings will be explored further.

Some of the suggestionslisted included:

• Downsize government.
• Eliminate duplication of services in government departments.
• Reduce funding to big businesses and corporations.
• Cut theunconditional municipal grant.
• Privatize or sellsome government assets.
• Optimize use of government buildings and infrastructure.
• Rationalize rural hospitals, perhaps by turning them into health centres or nursing homes.
• Close or sell schools with small numbers of students.

Participants were also asked for three suggestions on what the government could do to raise money. Along with the increasing the HST and implementingroad tolls, there were suggestions to:

• Raise taxes on gas, alcohol and tobacco.
• Introduce a carbon tax.
• Increase property taxes.
• Increase or create luxury taxes on items such as sugar andluxury sport vehicles.
• Increase user fees for hunting and fishing.
• Implement access fees for hospitals, emergency rooms and hospitals.

Finance Minister Roger Melanson is scheduled to deliver his 2015-16 budget on Tuesday.