A number of political factors played significant roles in the launch of SNB. In the early 90’s, New Brunswick was facing a budget deficit. This financial crisis was creating political pressure to save money, reduce costs and improve services. At the same time, citizen satisfaction with government services was at an all-time low. The Department of Finance in particular was seeking a response strategy. As long-time manager Donat Thériault recalls “There were two goals. The first goal was to save money. And the second was improving services for citizens—at that time, we were at a low in terms of people’s satisfaction.” Up to that point in time, the government had responded to citizen dissatisfaction by building more offices in more regions. The question on the table for everyone was whether the same response was appropriate or if another might serve citizens better. Of particular concern to executives at the Department was the already high number of service centers spread throughout the province. “We had offices everywhere. In 1991 we did a study of all the points of service in New Brunswick and it was just huge—there were service points everywhere.” Further, the budget crisis made the strategy of building more offices problematic.

The convergence of two political crises – a budget deficit and an all-time low for citizen satisfaction created significant pressures for a response. In more prosperous times – citizen dissatisfaction might have resulted in a strategy of building more offices. However, the co-occurrence of the budget crises required a closer look at established strategies. The province just didn’t have the money to spend on more centers unless assurances could be made that more centers would increase citizen satisfaction. Those assurances were not forthcoming so a new strategy was needed.

In a presentation to the Cabinet, the Department of Finance made the case; ‘quantity does not give you quality’ and they called for a new business model. The province, they suggested, could “keep doing more of what we’ve been doing for the last 200 years but it’s not going to improve services—we need to think differently.” The SNB model was presented as an alternative. Unfortunately, Department of Finance couldn’t put a finger on exactly how much money this new model might save. But the province understood that whatever was to be done, it had to be done with the support of the public, so the Cabinet directed the Finance Department by authorizing a pilot project; “check with the public, first, see what they think, and if they like it, roll it out to the rest of the province.”

Creating SNB was a political decision. The Government of New Brunswick did not conduct a comprehensive financial return on investment analysis, it took a risk and implemented the pilot based on faith in the vision of integrated, single-window government services. It took a risk on the pilot, but it put the final decision in the hands of the public. The cabinet directive established citizens as the final arbiter of value and laid the ground work for a new business model that rests heavily on determinations of value made by citizens. SNB in a sense lives (was created) and dies by this sword.