NDP will cut 'March madness' spending

New Brunswick's NDP is vowing to save $210 million by curtailing the so-called annual "March madness" when departments burn through any money left in their budgets.

Pierre Cyr, a retired civil servant and the NDP's Nepisiguit candidate, and Jesse Travis, the party's New Maryland-Sunbury West candidate, announced that government departments would be forced to account for all unbudgeted expenditures.

At the end of each fiscal year, Cyr said, departments spend every dollar in their budgets regardless if the expenditures are required.

"In my career, I saw a lot of money wasted on new furniture, computers and other unneeded supplies. The New Democrats have a great plan to stop this from happening," Cyr said.

The NDP is predicting this exercise could save taxpayers $210 million annually based on a similar initiative launched by the Nova Scotia government, which reaped $253 million in savings.

The Nova Scotia NDP government began holding cabinet ministers accountable for their unbudgeted expenditures last year.

Travis said this is a concrete example of how a NDP government would erase the $749-million deficit.

"Middle class families work hard and expect the tax dollars they spend to be used efficiently, not spent just for the sake of being spent," Travis said.

Travis and Cyr showed up at a news conference with basketballs, playing on the reference to the NCAA's March Madness basketball tournament. The two basketballs were painted with "Stop the madness" messages.

The NDP has attacked the Liberals and the Progressive Conservatives for wasteful spending promises for the first week of the campaign.