Opposition presses Liberals on Greene Report
Finance minister says not enough time to finish consultations for report to factor into June budget
The Official Opposition pressed the governing Liberals Thursday in the House on Assembly as to when the Greene Report can be expected, and whether it will be an interim or final report.
Finance Minister Siobhan Coady said it is expected in the next couple of weeks, and it will be a “fulsome” report. She said she has not been informed whether there will be a subsequent report.
Progressive Conservative MHA Tony Wakeham said the Liberal government continues to change its story regarding the Greene Report. “We can’t get a straight answer,” said Wakeham. “Now we don’t know when it will arrive. It doesn’t sound like it will be here to have any impact on the budget.” The Greene Report is named after Dame Moya Greene, who heads the Premier’s Economic Recovery Team, which is tasked with reviewing government expenditures, the province’s fiscal capacity and how services are delivered, and exploring growth sectors such as clean energy and technology, and providing recommendations.
The original intent was that it would be delivered in time to inform Budget 2021, but due to delays because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the drawnout provincial election, public consultations could not have been completed in time for any strategy arising from it to be incorporated into June’s budget.
“It should be here by the end of the month, early May,” Coady said. “It will be an important report. It will help us define how we move forward in the province.”
Coady said her department is already fully engaged in the budget process. If any suggestions in the Greene Report happen to appear in the budget, it would be coincidence, as her department will have been talking to the same stakeholders in preparation for the budget, she said.
Coady said a strategy arising from the the Greene Report will only be implemented after it has been reviewed and complete consultations are held with the people of the province.