Committee Members were surprised that the Minister of Finance did not discuss this recommendation in his budget address. The committee still strongly recommends that balanced budget legislation be introduced in this session. Such legislation must address the issue of the government's accumulated deficit as of March 31, 1998, and must also contain sanctions to encourage compliance.

Recommendation 1

The committee recommends that the Minister of Finance introduce legislation in the current session which would require that the government ensure that, on March 31, 1998, no deficit has accumulated; furthermore, that the legislation include sanctions which would encourage compliance with the legislation.

The Standing Committee on Finance feels very strongly that the passage of balanced budget legislation must be a priority in the current session of the Legislative Assembly, and that these important points must be included in the legislation. If such legislation is not introduced by Cabinet in a timely fashion, committee Members will introduce this proposed legislation into the House as a private Member's bill.

Mr. Speaker, since this document is quite lengthy, I would like to ask my colleague, Mr. Mike Ballantyne, to continue with this. Thank you.