September marks the middle of the provincial government’s financial year.
Makes sense, then, that the provincial government should issue a mid-year financial update update in September or maybe October. But these days, when the administration led by Danny Williams doesn’t like to spend any time in the House of Assembly, it’s not unusual to see the mid-year update delivered in December.
Strange then that the newspaper covering the electoral districts held by both the Premier and the finance minister is asking to see that mid-year update now, when it ought to be delivered, instead of December when the finance minister will deliver it.
The people of this province are used to red ink when it comes to provincial budgets of the past but balanced budgets have also become commonplace in recent years.
This province managed better than most jurisdictions during the worldwide recession but the time has come to clean up the books and get back to paying our bills when they are due.
Finance Minister Tom Marshall should get his figures in order and tell taxpayers where we stand at the halfway mark and where we can expect to end up when the year is done.
Maybe they suspect something is amiss in Marshall’s books.
- srbp -