Early in April, Nova Scotia's new Democratic Party (NDP) government presented the province's budget for 2013-14. The $9.5-billion budget, expected to be the last before the next provincial election, projected a surplus of $16.4 million."We are back to balance," proclaimed Maureen MacDonald, the finance minister, with a pre-election air of triumph.The budget appeared to fulfil a long-standing promise of Premier Darrell Dexter's government to balance the books. But some commentators smelled a rat. The province's most important newspaper, the Chronicle Herald, called the surplus "illusory."