HALIFAX - Nova Scotia's finance minister says people have every right to be angry about an embarrassing political spending scandal that has dominated the headlines for weeks.
Graham Steele says it's clear that taxpayers' money "has been wasted" and spent on things that should never have been bought.
As well, he concedes the scandal has made it tougher for him as he travels the province gathering views on how the NDP government should deal with a massive budget deficit.
But the minister says it's important to put things into perspective.
While the scandal involves excessive or inappropriate spending of constituency allowances worth tens of thousands of dollars, Graham says he's looking for ways to reduce a deficit that will be worth $1.3 billion in three years - unless big changes are made.
