'Buzzwords' and a bump in spending: N.L. budget greeted with mixed reviews

Newfoundland and Labrador's highly anticipated 2021-22 budget released as the province faces a loomingfinancial crunch is meeting with range of reactions from unions, boards and opposition parties.

While some are happy with what's being put forward to help dig the province out of debt, others are concerned cuts will put more pressure on already struggling industries.

Among the reactions to the 2021 N.L. budget:

"We were expecting probably something to deal with the crisis, or something to deal with the root causes of what happened with the crisis. I'm confused more than anything. There was a lot of 'we'll review stuff,' alot of political nonsense wordsI guess thatsound goodbut probably means something else.I'm very nervous about what exactly that does mean, because it gives the government a lot of permission to change things, or review things or consult with people and make those decisions before they have to come back for the next budget."

Mary Shortall,president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Labour

"We're pleased to see that the budget is consistent with the oil andgas industry task force recommendations, and we look forward to working with the premier and the minister to continue the work they're doing on Terra Nova. We're particularly pleased to see the $20 million for seismic [research].We understand that there's a tough budget and obviously we would always like to see more support for our industry. We see us as a bridge to the renewable economy and an investment in oil and gas usually translates into a fair return for the government,"

James Parmiter,board chair of Noia, the Newfoundland and Labrador Oil and Gas IndustriesAssociation

"Today we heard a lot about review and consultation, proposals,amalgamations and reviewing a lot of stuff that was actually recommended in the Greene report. That's very concerning for us, because we do know that the Greene report did recommend a 25 per cent reduction in money into the health-care system. We're already operating on less money than we did 10 years agoif you take inflation into account, and we are also operating on overtime in the millions of dollars."

Yvette Coffey, presidentof the Registered Nurses' Union Newfoundland and Labrador

"I think people were expecting to see more clear pathways forward. That's not there. So it leaves us a lot of concern. It's more about what's not said than what is said. So that's the things that we will seek out now in the days and weeks ahead fromthe minister of finance, the premier himself and other government officials, because that's concerning. We need some clarity around a lot of these buzzwords that are used."

Jerry Earle, president of theNewfoundlandand Labrador Association of Public and Private Employees

"Very disappointed. We have a tremendous spending problem in Newfoundland andLabrador, and we were hoping to see a detailed, transparent, credible plan to to deal with our spending problem. What we have isnumbers thrown out there, no appreciable change in spending levels. We're actually seeing an increase in spending and I just I don't know how you address the spending problem by not addressing the spending problem. It feels very much like 2016 where we had numbers put out there that we were going to hit these targets. That plan said without detail that we were going to be in balance next year and here we are again with with more numbers thrown out, very little detail. It's very concerning."

Richard Alexander, executive director of theNewfoundland And Labrador Employers' Council

"There was one point that was particularly concerning. Next year we're seeing a decrease in expenditures of $1 billion, almost 10 per cent of our budget. Where are we cutting a billion dollars? Are we cutting it from the nurses? Are we cutting it from home care,are we cutting it from road clearing or are we cutting it from schools?"

NDP Leader Alison Coffin

"I think the first thing that jumps out is the increase in expenditure at a time when we talk about fiscal restraint.We actually are prepared to have the highest expenditure in the history of the province. So that's the first thing. Buteven more important is the second thing,the fact that next year we're going to reduce that by $900 million.So I'm going to be really interested in what that number is made up of, and how does it impact the people of Newfoundland and Labrador?"

PC MHA Tony Wakeham

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