No resources for election goodies, says Ghiz

The P.E.I. legislature opens Tuesday afternoon for what many predict will be a short spring session.

Premier Robert Ghiz told CBC News Monday his only real order of business will be the budget, due to be presented Wednesday. Last year, Finance Minister Wes Sheridan predicted the budget deficit for 2011-12 would come in at $30 million. With that kind of deficit, said Ghiz, no one should be looking for a lot of spending in advance of this fall's election.

"There's not a whole lot of election goodies like people are probably expecting," he said.

"Really, we don't have the resources right now."

Outside of the budget, Ghiz said, he is only planning a few housekeeping bills.

Opposition leader Olive Crane is also interested in talking money.

"We're extremely focused on holding the Ghiz administration accountable for their deplorable track record when it comes to fiscal management," said Crane.

While Ghiz is speculating this will be a relatively short session, based on what is on his to-do list, Crane is in no hurry. She said she'll stay in the house as long as it takes to get all her questions asked, even with just two Opposition members.

"We have a lot of questions to ask," she said, "and we will keep the Ghiz administration in the legislature until we have exhausted asking the questions."

The budget, the last of this Ghiz administration, will be presented at 3 p.m. Wednesday.