FREDERICTON - New Brunswick's new Conservative premier says addressing the province's economic woes will be one of his top priorities.
David Alward was sworn-in as the province's 32nd premier Tuesday during a ceremony at the provincial legislature in Fredericton.
"The fiscal state of the province is an issue," Alward told reporters before he was sworn in. "It is irresponsible that the previous government did not have a realistic plan to move away from deficit spending."
The province has a debt of $8.4 billion and a projected deficit of about $750 million.
Alward hasn't clearly said how he'll tackle the debt and deficit while keeping all his campaign promises, which includes a pledge not to increase the HST.
His party won 42 of the legislature's 55 seats in last month's provincial election, leaving the defeated Liberals with 13 seats.
Alward also appointed 15 cabinet ministers.
Two newcomers to the legislature took senior cabinet posts as Blaine Higgs was appointed finance minister and Craig Leonard serves as energy minister.
Marie-Claude Blais was appointed justice minister and attorney general, Bruce Northrup is natural resources minister, Madeleine Dube is health minister and Jody Carr becomes minister of education.
In total, six members of Alward's cabinet are new to the legislature.
Alward, 50, has been a member of the house since 1999, serving as a cabinet minister in the Conservative government of Bernard Lord.
Alward's cabinet has five fewer members than the previous Liberal cabinet under Shawn Graham, who announced he will be stepping down as Liberal leader next month.
"It was not an easy process but I'm at peace with the decisions we've made," Alward said. "I believe we will have a cabinet and a caucus that will be able to hit the ground running, and looking forward to the work that we're going to have ahead of us."
The new premier said he has already met with the president of NB Power and stated the utility's top priority must be the completion of the refurbishment of the Point Lepreau nuclear power plant.
The project is running about 2 1/2 years behind schedule and hundreds of millions of dollars over budget.
The project has hit a snag as crews from Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., try to get a proper seal at each end of new calandria tubes within the reactor. Last week it was announced that all 380 tubes will be removed and reinstalled -- possibly extending the project even further.
Alward said Tuesday that despite the problems, he believes his government can keep its promise to freeze power rates for three years.
"At this point in time we feel very good about our commitments that we have made," Alward said. "The commitments that have been made are commitments that stand."
