Whalen: “Steep Climb To Produce Balanced Budget”

News September 15, 2014 6:58 pm Last Updated on February 25, 2026 7:06 pm

Finance Minister Diana Whalen says the status quo isn’t working when talking about the province’s bottom line. During a fiscal update, Nova Scotia is forcasting a deficit of $274.5 million for 2014-15 – slightly lower than estimated in April. It’s net debt is $15.1 billion. Whalen says the government is also dealing with a number of unexpected costs including funding for the Nova Star ferry. Whalen says her government still plans to deliver a balanced budget before the next election. However, she stopped short of revealing where deep cuts are needed to keep that promise. She says: “I am looking forward to seeing what ultimately we will find in the program review. We still have many departments to be looked at in the program review. We haven’t looked at health and education yet, two of our biggest spending departments. It isn’t finished yet and it would be premature to say much more. However, there are some that could be big.”