1. KEEPING OUR COMMITMENTS

Mr. Speaker, today the Government presents its second Budget. It is a Budget of firsts for this Province. It is the first time Government will set out a three-year financial plan. It is the first time Government has consulted comprehensively with its employees to improve services and save taxpayers' money. It is the first time Government has so clearly set priorities for our Province's future.

This Budget is about choices: where to achieve savings and where to make investments. It is about establishing priorities. It is about consultation with the people of the Province. It is about making choices. We have listened, we have considered, and today we are acting.

We are acting in a way that is both fiscally and socially responsible. We cannot continue borrowing and adding to the public debt. On the other hand, we cannot balance the books with ill-considered cuts that threaten health care, education and social safety nets. While we have identified savings, we have also identified necessary new investments.

While we must move to reduce and eliminate the deficit, we must re-invest part of our savings in the highest priorities - health care, education, helping those most in need, and revitalising our economy.

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