Hitting the Big Reset button

The release of the hotly anticipated Greene report Thursday has already accomplished one thing: it's jump-started a painful conversation that is necessary in this province.

What can we afford? What can't we afford? We all know how bare the cupboard is and we all know that maintaining the status quo is not an option.

Dame Moya Greene, as head of the Premier's Economic Recovery Team, laid out sweeping recommendations that touch on every facet of life in Newfoundland and Labrador — taxation, the provision of services, the proposed privatization of government assets (including Crown corporations), reductions in grants and increases in fees, the consolidation of regional health authorities and the dismantling of school districts, and the creation of a fund to pay down the debt and aid our transition to a greener economy.

It's in sharp contrast to the mantra we've been hearing from successive governments intent on winning votes and holding onto power: that — as voiced this week by Finance Minister Siobhan Coady — we are “resilient, hardworking, caring, dedicated to home and to each other.”

“That's why I know we will come through difficult times and build and grow our economy, attract new people, support one another, and emerge stronger and more vibrant than ever,” Coady said, in an interview teeing up the provincial budget, which will be delivered May 31 and was developed before the contents of the Greene report were known.

Resilience, caring and vibrant are nice adjectives, but this province is at a crucial crossroads and platitudes won't help us now.

According to the Greene report, we have been living in an artificial construct for generations, lulled by the promises of governments that approached many problems simply by throwing more money at them.

“The fiscal challenges are entirely of the province's own doing,” the report states. “The province has continued to spend beyond its means despite a substantial decline in revenues.… Successive governments have not sustainably managed the province's affairs and have ignored the warnings of its creditors and successive auditors general. Newfoundland and Labrador has posted a deficit in 61 of the 71 years since Confederation.”

The numbers are mind-blowing: “$47.3 billion in financial exposure is sitting on the shoulders of a labour force of about 260,000 people and about 220,000 households. It is the equivalent of $182,000 for every worker or $215,000 for every household in the province.”

Public consultations will be held to solicit ideas from the populace. It has never been more important to have your say on shaping our collective future.

Love or it hate it, the Greene Report is at least a springboard that could help us steer away from the rocks and into calmer waters.

As the report itself says, “we hope it brings Newfoundlanders and Labradorians together for a focused discussion.”