Civil servants pepper Alward with budget cut ideas

New Brunswick civil servants offered Premier David Alward more than 1,100 ways to battle the province's ballooning deficit that ranged from hiking taxes to imposing tolls on highways.

Alward sent an online video to civil servants shortly after taking office from the Liberals in October looking for ideas on wrestling down the deficit, which is now projected to top $820 million.

CBC News obtained 500 email responses sent to the premier by bureaucratsbetween October and December using the Right to Information and Protection of Privacy Act.

The potential cuts include closing what are called "low-populated" schools and trimming administrative costs in hospitals.

Other tips include using free, open-source software for word processing and switching to digital documents to save paper.

The civil servants alsotold Alward that he can lower the deficit by bringing in more revenue.

Many suggested in the correspondence with the New Brunswick premier that he should consider bringing back highway tolls and raising the Harmonized Sales Tax back to 15 per cent.

Alward ruled out both of those ideas though some bureaucrats said he could use a provincial referendum to release himself from those commitments.

Finance Minister Blaine Higgs will table his first budget in March.

He has already tabled a capital budget in December that was significantly lower than the previous capital plan released by the Liberals. And in January, Higgs approved almost $43 million in budget cuts.

The finance minister is in the process of holding the annual pre-budget consultation tour, seeking ideas from citizens on how to combat the worsening fiscal situation.

Higgs has warned unless immediate budget cuts are implemented, the deficit could hit $1 billion in his upcoming budget.

The finance minister has already ordered provincial departments to trim their budgets and has told them to be prepared for more budget restraint in his upcoming fiscal plan.