Legislative Assembly

financial economy.” What did his succssor, the former Provincial Treasurer, The Honourable Mr. Farmer have to say in 1960, and I quote: “This is a large amount of money and we feel the debt cannot be allowed to mount, and for this the prospects of a balanced budget heralds a little brighter prospect for the peop e of this Province." I believe he stated, that it is going to herald a new day for this Province when we can look forward to a balanced budget. Listen to this, to efficiency and management.

Now, Mr. Speaker when he mentioned a balanced budget, he was speakinfi‘of the budget presented by the former Provincial Treasurer, The Honourable Mr. c- Quaid, the budget is for a surplus of $4,557,000.00 for the year ending March 81st, 1961. Do you realize that that surplus of $4,557,000.00 was reduced to $28 000.00 \nd this was the year that the three million due this Province from the F‘ederal Government under the Road to Resources Program which had been carried over from the previous year was added to the revenue. Now is this the efficiency and manage- ment that the Honourable Member was talking about? Is this what he was talking about when he said he looked forward to a balanced budget? You know the record as well as I do and as far as I am concerned the efficiency and management was something that the former Government talked about but never put into practice.

The Public Accounts and the external audit show plainly that the control of budgetary accounts was lost from April 1961, the beginning of a continuous series of Government deficits.

Now, Mr. Speaker, I am going to take a few moments just for the record to show what took place and what they budgeted for when they took office in 1960 up until the present time. In 1961 the Government budgeted, as I previously stated, for a surplus of $457,000.00 and this turned out to be a surplus of only $28,061.00. In 1962 they budgeted for a surplus of $90,665.00 and this was the year, you might be inter- ested, Mr. Speaker, they had a deficit of $914,000.00. This was the year of all the juggling of figures. It was $200,000.00 short of inventory written off by the Gov- ernment Garage as well as a $450,000.00 mortgage which had been previously charged to the direct revenues of the Province was taken over by the P.E.I. Crown Building Corporation, and shown as indirect revenues. Now if it had not been for the $200,000.00 inventory and the $450,000.00 mortgage they would have had a deficit that year of $1,500,000.00. In 1963 they budgeted for a surplus of $18,363.00, ended up with a deficit of $2,468,000.00. In 1964 they budgeted for a deficit of $1,792,000.00 ended up with a deficit of $3,192,000.00.

Some Member: Certainly.

Honourable George J. Ferguson: Yes Sir, for the year ending March 31st, 1965 a deficit of $2,266,000.00 turned out to be $4,942,000.00.

This is the story, Mr. Speaker, of what took lace during the term of the Shaw Government when in office. Mr. Speaker, that is al I have for this time. Thank you for your patience.

(Anita-o)