- 2. Effectively managing the expectations of the public in terms of our ability to fund essential, high-quality services;
- 3. Increasing revenues in a fair and efficient manner; and
- 4. Providing the environment for growing the New Brunswick economy and creating jobs and prosperity.

When reflect on our progress against this plan, realize that these four pillars have provided us 1 1 with a solid foundation, but there is still much work to do. The year before we took office, spending grew by 5.9 per cent and we were facing annual deficits in the order of one billion dollars if spending was not curtailed. As responsible managers of the province's finances, our first order of business was to prevent this from happening. ln our last three budgets and the one am 1 tabling today, we consistently limited spending growth to below 2.5 percent. am proud to note 1 that for each of the last two years, we have seen departmental spending come in under budget. The last time this happened was 2002-2003. ln our first budget, our plan also committed to effectively managing the expectations of the public in terms of our ability to fund essential, high-quality services. ln this regard, as travelled the 1 province and spoke with New Brunswickers on our fiscal challenges, was encouraged by their 1 level of engagement and their willingness to identify solutions. Aside from the numerous conversations had with New Brunswickers over the last three years, our Taxpayers First website 1 has seen over 35,000 visits since its launch and we continue to encourage and receive input from our residents on an ongoing basis. From this level of engagement, one thing has become clear - the public has set the bar high for us. They expect a lean, more responsive government that delivers much-needed services in the most effective and efficient manner possible. By building a culture of performance excellence, our government has responded to this challenge and continues to deliver high-quality services and invest strategically in priority areas. Today's budget is no exception. Mr. Speaker, we also committed to increasing revenues in a fair and efficient manner. ln previous budgets we made the difficult decisions to bring greater balance to revenue and spending. Further measures to address our fiscal situation today would only weaken our economic recovery. With a number of promising projects on the horizon, we are creating an environment that supports a return to healthy economic growth and allows our revenue and expenditure initiatives to mature in a sustainable manner. We remain committed to eliminating the deficit and reducing net debt, but we recognize the need to balance our fiscal realities against our economic realities. By taking a measured, balanced approach we are setting the stage for a more prosperous province for future generations of New Brunswickers. ls there more that needs to be done? Without question there is. But when New Brunswickers look at our government's fiscal performance, they will remember where we came from and the significant work that has been done to get us to where we are. As well, the contributions of the public service and all New Brunswickers to getting the fiscal house in order cannot be ignored. lt is that level of continued focus and leadership that is required to get us to where we need to be.