OTTAWA - Provinces with New Democrat governments are more likely to have surplus budgets than governments of any other political party, a new report from the Government of Canada indicates.

At a time when the Harper Conservatives are projecting a record $56 billion deficit, the report shows that New Democrat governments have been, and continue to be strong financial managers, while delivering a better quality of life for ordinary people.

The numbers speak for themselves:

New Democrat governments produced budgets that were in surplus 51 percent of the time covered by the report.

Conservative governments ranked second, while Liberal governments fell far short; producing surplus budgets only 30 percent of the years they governed.

Included in the strong record of New Democrat fiscal management is the Romanow government who dug-out Saskatchewan from years of deep Conservative deficits, as well as eight balanced budgets in Manitoba under former-Premier Gary Doer.

The Fiscal Reference Tables are produced annually by the federal Department of Finance.

Budgetary surpluses or deficits by party (1986-87 to 2008-09)