Newfoundland and Labrador posts 1.4 Billion Budget Surplus

[MrChills]

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundlan...#storycomments

[Architype]

That sounds about right. What should they do with the money??

[kwajo]

Originally Posted by Architype

That sounds about right. What should they do with the money??

I'm accepting donations

[Architype]

How big a skyscraper could you build with 1.4 billion??

What: The world’s tallest building

Where: Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Cost: $1 Billion †$2 billion (US$ 4.1 billion ? )

Well, at least you could build 100 stories anyway.

Can't think of a better way to spend it

[mylesmalley]

Originally Posted by Architype

How big a skyscraper could you build with 1.4 billion??

What: The world’s tallest building

Where: Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Cost: $1 Billion †$2 billion (US$ 4.1 billion )

Something tall enough to be seen (and feared) from the mainland!


But seriously, they should really take advantage of this kind of windfall to pay down the provincial debt. 10 billion dollars is a lot of weight for a smaller (population) province to have on it's shoulders. I'd say put 400 million into spending for infrastructure and health, and a billion to cut the debt and annual payments by 10%. The less cash destined for interest payments they have, the more they can spend on actual programs.

[Architype]

"Something tall enough to be seen (and feared) from the mainland!"

If only Smallwood was still around.

Seriously, infrstructure in Nfld needs so much improvement that it can't be ignored, but it must be used in a most effective way to benefit the economy as an investment for the future, and not just thrown around for political purposes.

[kwajo]

On a serious note, how about putting some money toward improving the public school infrastructure. I've been across Canada and Newfoundland has some of the most decrepit looking schools I have ever seen. A billion dollars could buy some nice new school buildings all across the province, and might help the cause of convincing young people to stay in the province.


Or we could get that bridge to Labrador built

[mylesmalley]

Originally Posted by Architype

"Something tall enough to be seen (and feared) from the mainland!"

If only Smallwood was still around.

Seriously, infrstructure in Nfld needs so much improvement that it can't be ignored, but it must be used in a most effective way to benefit the economy as an investment for the future, and not just thrown around for political purposes.

With that kind of cash he'd have tried to dam the Gulf of Saint Lawrence!

[Architype]

Which schools do you mean? You should have seen what was there before confederation. I thought most St. John's schools were fairly modern. I could be kinda wrong?

I think more investment in tourism is good too, providing and building accomodations, as well as access to more sites. Planning should take into account all the changes that are happening in the world economies.

It would be great if the economy could be diversified more, but that is a tough one to figure out.

Oh, and the fixed link idea has been proven unfeasible economically. But the Trans Labrador Highway should be completed with a good ferry service. I also think that rail travel and better urban transport is worth thinking about these days.

[HomeInMyShoes]

Tourism needs to extend the season. Yes, I know winter in Newfoundland can be crazy, but there's snowshoeing, cross-country skiing and some just crazy spectacular scenery with the snow and the ocean that we're missing out. Outside of Marble Mountain skiing there's no advertisements for travel here in the winter.

I just drove my parents to the airport this morning and it was disappointing that nothing was open to take them to outside of the city. I took them around a bit: Cape Spear, Petty Harbour, and down some of the Irish Loop and around Middle Cove, Outer Cove and up to Pouch Cove to hunt some icebergs (managed a couple.) Thankfully Beachy Cove Cafe was open so I could take them for a dinner out by the ocean.

Universities can be a good route to diversification (think UofA with biotech, medicine and nanotechnology) and Memorial is a good institution with a well known name and reputation.

[someone123]

The vast majority of the money should go to paying down the debt. $1.4B less debt means millions of dollars saved every year, which is particularly important when royalties are not coming in.

[Architype]

^Reality dictates that when you're hungry you must feed yourself as well as pay down the debt. I don't know if you have been to NL, S123, but you would see things like roads in unsafe condition, water supplies where people must boil before drinking, hospitals, schools, and other infrastructure in pretty bad shape. These are not luxury items.

[Ottawa]

This is great news.

Whatever is done with the money, it is nice to see NL finally seeing some light at the end of the tunnel. The surplus won't change too much overnight but prosperity will eventually show itself.

It's also nice to see the economy of the country finally becoming less centralized.

[Architype]

Anyway, here is how some money will be spent:

From The Telegram:

The province has budgeted more than $670 million to building and upgrading roads, buildings, boats and planes.
Money is earmarked for two new provincial ferries, as well as refits for of existing ferries, terminals and wharves.
More than $12 million will go to maintenance, alterations and reconfiguration of public buildings; $3.5 million has been earmarked for environmental remediation and demolition of abandoned facilities; and another $3.25 million will go to the development of new buildings including a $2.1 million to build a highway depot at Cartwright Junction in Labrador.

Other infrastructure projects will include:

o $33.8 million to upgrade the Trans Canada Highway/National Highway system, cost-shared with Federal Government
o $45 million for widening and hard-surfacing Phase I of Trans Labrador Highway, cost-shared with Federal Government
o $17 million for construction of Phase III of the Trans Labrador Highway
o $7 million cost-shared with the Federal Government to start construction of Torbay By-Pass
o $4 million for extension of the Team Gushue Highway, subject to municipal and Federal Government cost-sharing
o $2 million for extension of the CBS By-Pass, subject to Federal Government cost-sharing
o $17.7 million for summer maintenance program, including line-painting, pothole-patching and guiderail replacement
o $38.7 million for winter maintenance program, including purchase of salt/sand
o $10.5 million for renewal of heavy equipment fleet
o $1.7 million for 24-hour snow-clearing in high traffic areas
o $370,500 towards purchase of Geographic Information Sytsem (GIS) system that allows for better planning and mapping of highways
o $465,000 for RWIS (Road Weather Information System) equipment to help monitor road conditions such as black ice
o $250,000 investment in new bridge management software
o $30 million to replace water bombers in provincial fleet

http://www.thetelegram.com/index.cfm?sid=130306&sc=79

Roads, Buildings, Boats and Planes - sounds like a song by Burt Bacharach

Pardon my lack of understanding, but I am assuming that this money is not part of the surplus, or for the next fiscal year?


Also -

"Since March 2007, the net debt will decrease from $11.6 billion to $10 billion as forecast in 2008-09"

More here -
http://www.thetelegram.com/index.cfm?sid=130282&sc=79

Also, a new hospital is planned for Corner Brook.

[Architype]

The news is full of these articles today -

N.L. no longer Canada's poor cousin as Ontario flirts with 'have-not' status

Published: Tuesday, April 29, 2008 | 7:48 PM ET
Canadian Press: Tara Brautigam, THE CANADIAN PRESS

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - Newfoundland and Labrador, considered for generations the poor cousin of Confederation, heralded a new era of economic independence Tuesday with a budget that delivers a substantial surplus and promises for the first time to pull it off the list of "have-not" provinces.

The new economic strength of the once hard-up province is fuelled by the soaring price of oil and carries meaning that goes beyond numbers for many Newfoundlanders.

There's pride involved.

"We were always the poor cousin of Confederation," Finance Minister Tom Marshall told a news conference before tabling the budget.

"Many of you, I guess like me, when you travelled the country, you would hear comments about people in this province ... being on welfare and other provinces having to provide us with revenues. Those days are over."

The news that Newfoundland is preparing to come off equalization next year for the first time since it joined Canada in 1949 came the same day that the TD Bank Financial Group predicted Ontario could receive help from the wealth-sharing equalization program in two years.

The apparent reversal in fortunes is more a reflection of growing economic clout in energy-rich provinces than it is of a poor performance in Ontario, said TD chief economist Don Drummond.

Still, the timing is tinged with irony because for years Newfoundlanders left their native province, lured by better economic opportunities in Canada's largest province.

No more.

"We're going to be an economic driver of this country," Marshall said.

"I think this will commence a revolution between the ears."

In Ontario, Conservative Opposition Leader Bob Runciman said that province's slide into have-not status will result in a loss of self-esteem.

"We're sliding into the state where we have our hand out instead of providing a hand up," Runciman said.

It's been the dream of past premiers in Newfoundland to wrestle the province off equalization.

When he announced a deal 20 years ago to proceed with Hibernia, the province's first offshore oil project, then-Premier Brian Peckford was famously quoted as saying, "One day the sun will shine and have-not will be no more."

The province is poised to receive only $18 million in federal equalization payments this year, a steep drop from the $477 million it received last year.

The $13.6-billion federal equalization program provides funds to poorer provinces to ensure they can provide basic government services comparable to wealthier provinces.

The surplus for 2008-09 is forecast to be $544 million. Marshall also used Tuesday's budget to revise the surplus for 2007-08 to $1.4 billion, more than five times what it projected last year.

At the time, the provincial government based its projections on a US$59 barrel of oil. It has now revised that to be US$87 a barrel for the coming year.

The province is using its economic transformation to trim taxes, boost education and health-care spending, while paying down some of its whopping debt.

Rest of Article HERE

[Architype]

Some interesting statements here, my favourite article so far:

Newfoundland willing to help 'weaker sisters' in time of need, Williams says
22 hours ago

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — Premier Danny Williams says Newfoundland and Labrador is willing to help provinces as they cope with a downturn in the economy.

Williams says his province, which tabled a budget on Tuesday flush with cash, can help provinces such as Ontario that are experiencing economically rough times.

He says Newfoundland is there to help "our weaker sisters" in their time of need.

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty has blamed his province's economic slide on the federal government's change in the equalization formula.

But Williams rejects that argument and says Ottawa should assist Ontario as it grapples with its declining manufacturing industry.

On the same day that Newfoundland tabled a budget projecting it would come off equalization next year, a report was issued warning that Ontario could have to depend on the federal program in two years.

http://canadianpress.google.com/arti...9HtHUsfKlcnUYA

[mylesmalley]

How the mighty have fallen...

[fortroad]

Lets not count our chickens before they hatch!

[Smevo]

I still love Williams' slap in the face to McGuinty.

[Architype]

Remember Williams' "not great" relationship with Ottawa. It's actually more of being onside with Ontario at the same time, in saying that Ottawa is not willing to work enough with the provinces, including Ontario.