The Nova Scotia government has released a fiscal update.
Revenues are down, and unexpected expenditures are up, putting the province more in the red than expected.
“At the time the former administration estimated a surplus of 16.4 million,” explains Finance Minister Diana Whalen. “Given the public’s understanding of the fiscal situation at the time, there was widespread doubt about the validity of the estimate.”
The province owes accumulated debt of over 14 billion.
“It doesn’t surprise me because unemployment is high and their income is down,” says one Nova Scotia resident.
Another big expense that has put the province in the red is a new estimate on the cost of decommissioning the Sable Offshore Energy Project.
There was also a one-time pay out for public service pension adjustments.
However, it is the public service salaries that have been getting the attention of people in the province.
While the Minister of Finance was updating the financial state of Nova Scotia, salaries of public sector employees were quietly posted online.
Dalhousie University has more than 862 employees making more than one hundred thousand dollars a year.
Saint Mary’s University has 188, while St. Francis Xavier has 147 employees making more than $100,000 a year.
The largest health authority in the province, Capital Health, has 256 workers making more than that salary and the IWK has 82.
In education, the Halifax Regional School board shows 84 employees making one hundred thousand or more.
Diana Whalen says the number of public sector employees making over $100k has not increased since the liberals came to power.
The next financial update is due in September.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Marie Adsett.
