Mr. Speaker, our government entered office in November with a vision and a plan to put government on a sound financial footing, protect our social programs, strengthen our economy and create new jobs.

What we discovered was a financial crisis much worse than we had been led to expect.

But the financial crisis has not thrown us off course. Quite to the contrary, it has strengthened our resolve to clean up the mess and put Newfoundland and Labrador on a secure path towards real growth and self-reliance.

More than anything, this financial crisis demonstrates why the new approach is long overdue. If we had continued down that path, we would have jeopardized our financial integrity, undermined the social programs on which our people rely, and bequeathed to our children an unmanageable burden of debt. How could any responsible government allow that to happen?

Rather, we have taken decisive action to solve this crisis, not overnight, but progressively over time. We have brought forward a balanced, responsible, realistic and sustainable plan to get us there. The new approach protects social programs without compromising our fiscal integrity. The new approach invests in golden opportunities to grow our economy, attract new investment, create new jobs and generate new revenues that will pay for stronger social programs in years to come.

Our focus is on protecting the future of Newfoundland and Labrador, and nothing we do this year will compromise that. In fact, we will be able to look our children and grandchildren in the eye and tell them we made the best choices in difficult times, we did it to protect all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, and their province is stronger because we did.

Ours is a two-pronged approach: protecting people and social programs while advancing opportunities for new growth. As the Premier stated in his State of the Province address in January, we as a government are prepared to take initiatives to create new investment, new opportunities and new jobs in Newfoundland and Labrador. We are investing in economic development and job creation, despite our fiscal circumstances, because job growth means revenue growth, and that in turn means more money for health care and education.

We promised a new approach, and we are delivering on that promise.

We promised to protect the most vulnerable people in our society - our seniors, children, students, the disabled, the unemployed and the working poor - and we are delivering on that promise.

We promised to put our social programs on a secure, sustainable footing so they will be there when people need them, and we are delivering on that promise.

We promised to invest in infrastructure and new opportunities for diversification, and we are delivering on that promise.

We promised good government, transparency and accountability, and we are delivering on that promise.

We promised to get the province’s fiscal house in order to protect our people and their social programs from serious threats, and we are delivering on that promise.

We are taming the fiscal tiger while at the same time we are preparing to unleash an economic tiger that will bring prosperity and opportunity to communities and people throughout Newfoundland and Labrador.

This year’s budget is a foundation for optimism. It is the foundation for hope.

We have set our sights high and will settle for nothing less than the best that can be achieved through hard work and an unshakable belief in ourselves. That is the new attitude - the new approach - and that is what is going to turn opportunity into prosperity for Newfoundland and Labrador.

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