Don't leave, says Dwight Ball to student wondering about post-budget prospects

Despite a harsh financial situation, the premier of Newfoundland and Labrador is encouraging young people to stay in their province after graduation.

Premier Dwight Ball was a guest on a special edition of Here & Now: Your Questions, Their Answers Monday night to directly answer concerns from a live audience and viewer-submitted questions about the provincial budget.

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One of those questions came from Brandon O'Brien, who is about to graduate from the Marine Institute and wanted to know if the premier would stay in this province, if roles were reversed.

I'm not happy to say that we can do better — we will do better.- Premier Dwight Ball

"Absolutely I would stay in Newfoundland and Labrador," was Ball's response.

Ball talked about the number of projects on the province's horizon, including a plan by Statoil to drill 10 more exploration wells offshore.

"There is a lot of good reasons and good assets that we can rebuild this province on, but debt is not one of them," said Ball, adding that many of the budget's austerity measures are needed to reduce the debt. 

"During the renewal initiatives there was one thing that people told us loud and clear: 'Do not kick this debt level down to the next generation, don't saddle them with a burden of debt that they will actually carry for this generation.'"

'We will do better'

Ball told O'brien that if nothing was done to change the financial direction, debt would rise from $23,000 per person now to $53,000 per person within seven years.

"No other province in this confederation is in the situation that we're into and we want to make sure that we secure your future and for the future of many other Newfoundlanders and Labradorians," he said.

"What's worse, kicking it down to the next generation or having no generation left to fill the jobs because they've all moved away?" wondered O'Brien.

Ball said despite the new taxes and fees and various increases in the budget plan, Newfoundland and Labrador is still able to compete with other provinces, apart from Alberta and British Columbia, when it comes to cost of living.

"We will do better, but the main thing right now is to make sure that we get this debt under control."

Not a one-horse town

"[We want to] make our province as exciting for you to stay as it was for us when we decided to stay," said Finance Minister Cathy Bennett, who was also in the CBC studio to take questions,

"For young people … you have to be able to find employment in a province that grows not only in oil, which is a very important part of our economy, but also in areas like technology, fisheries, agriculture, aquaculture, mining," she said.

"We can't continue to rely on a single line of revenue that is so … fraught with risk. We can't control global oil prices, 500,000 of us can't, but what we can control is the variety of ways that we will provide opportunities for young people."

Bennett added "eliminating waste" and ensuring the public services operates in "an efficient and a sustainable way" is a key part of getting the province back on track.