The Gallant government estimates it could save from 133 million to 220 million dollars with major changes to education and healthcare which consume up to three-quarters of the provincial budget.
The options to save from 50 to 80 million dollars being looked at in healthcare include realigning services in major urban hospitals to reduce any duplication by moving to single centres of excellence which could require more travel time for patients depending on their treatment and which hospital they would have to go to.
Another possibility is closure of six to 10 hospitals or converting them into community health centres.
In education, the options include reducing or freezing grants to universities along with increasing class sizes in public schools by four students and reducing the number of teachers through attrition and retirements as well as educational assistants.
