FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 4, 2025
Statement from Matt MacFarlane calling for immediate release of fall fiscal update
Charlottetown, PE – Islanders deserve honesty from their government, especially when it comes to their tax dollars. Yet here we are again, now in the first week of December, with no fall fiscal update. Last year, this update wasn’t released until January. That delay was completely unacceptable and it cannot become the norm.
The fall fiscal update is a check-up on the province’s fiscal health or lack thereof, and until Minister of Finance Jill Burridge took charge, has always been unveiled in the fall each year. This government’s deficit is ballooning under Premier Lantz, and Islanders have a right to know the true state of our finances.
Even more troubling, our office has heard from a credible source inside government that the projected deficit is double the amount government originally budgeted. If that’s true, it is alarming and it demands transparency, not silence.
Last year Islanders were told the update was late because of uncertainty regarding tariffs. What is the excuse this year? Is Premier Lantz hiding the numbers until the District 2 by-election is over? Or is he planning to wait until after the PC leadership race to reveal just how badly he has been managing Islanders’ tax dollars?
Whatever the reason for the delay, it’s wrong and completely irresponsible. Islanders deserve to know the state of our Island and the economy now, not when it’s politically convenient. The Premier must release the fall fiscal update immediately.
Accountability for government is not optional.
Matt MacFarlane
Leader of the Green Party of PEI
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For media inquiries, please contact:
Katie Rankin
Chief of Staff
Office of the Third Party
Tel: (902) 213-6378
Email: kerankin@assembly.pe.ca