The Nova Scotia government is going on a spending spree in advance of next week’s budget which comes down March 20.
Premier Stephen McNeil announced that his government will spend nearly $245 million this fiscal year.
The money came as the result of recalculated offshore royalty revenues dating back to 1999.
Premier McNeil tells Acadia News that they’ll be putting almost half, $120 million, towards expanding high-speed Internet service.
“We have created an Internet Trust where we will be able to partner with the federal government, municipalities and private sector people, to ensure that we have high-speed, quality Internet across the province. We’ve worked very hard and diligently with a company called Brightstar , who has a long history of being able to deliver this service. The report indicates it will cost a total of between $300 million and $500 million to do this completely across the province. $120 million for us, and we’ll be able to leverage other money.
McNeil says nearly $12 million is designated for projects related to the Offshore Growth Strategy.
“That’s basically updating the geoscience information we have. That’s the information that we take around the world to attract the Shell’s, the BP’s and other companies.
$18.2 million will go towards primary-care investments.
The HomeWarming program, which offers energy efficiency funds to low-income families, will recieve $12.2 million.
Click on the link for more info: https://www.novascotia.ca/finance/site-finance/media/finance/new%20inves…
Also, keep an eye out for #NSBudget18. It will include funding that reflects our commitment to inclusive education in #NovaScotia. @DrJamesCKPorter
— Stephen McNeil (@StephenMcNeil) March 16, 2018
