Everyone needs to make a sacrifice to get Newfoundland and Labrador out of its current “financial abyss.”

That’s according to hotel operator and promoter John Steele, who is echoing concerns raised within the business community, indicating that everyone has a role to play in addressing what he calls the “financial tsunami” that is upon us.

The province is facing a $12-billion debt and has had to borrow $2-billion in order to keep things running.

In March of last year, then-Premier Dwight Ball wrote a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau indicating that the province had “run out of time” and was facing an “immediate and urgent financial crisis” as it was unable to borrow money in either the short or long-term.

The Bank of Canada eventually stepped in with a $2-billion loan.

Steele runs hotels in this province and across the country. He says the conversation has to be had about how the province can manage itself out of the current situation but says few people are talking about it.

“Everybody will have to sacrifice,” says Steele, because “we can’t spend money that we don’t have anymore.” Business, labour and rural Newfoundland and Labrador all have to give and make sacrifices to “move forward” according to Steele.