What the provincial budget is actually costing Albertans
COALDALE – Last time, I talked about the latest budget that the government presented on March 16th. Everyone, by now, has read newspaper articles and seen news casts with the intricate details of that document. I just wanted to take one more stab at this budget that Albertans will be paying for into the foreseeable future.
To look at what may happen in the future, I think it is important to see what happened in the past. The 2016-17 budget suggested a $10.8 Billion deficit. As of the Q3 update, Albertans earned $1.5 Billion more than expected in that budget year. But increased spending on programs and disaster assistance, along with a $1 Billion expense to begin phasing out coal power, exposed that we were to receive no boost to our bottom line.
Now a disaster such as the Fort McMurray wildfire is something that isn’t expected. But the rest of the spending, that removed Alberta from potentially having a $9.2 Billion dollar deficit instead of $10.8…lies directly with those that make the decisions in this province.
Budget 2017-18 calls for a $10.3 Billion dollar deficit. Provincial budgets lay out a 3 year fiscal plan, so the Finance Minister has shown numbers that aim to reduce the deficit to $7.2 Billion by 2019-20. Those numbers, however, are based on the price of West Texas crude being $US 68.00/bbl. Some economists…and the market…are suggesting that this price may be optimistic. But also consider, if the price of our oil does not rise as much as predicted, lowering the deficit to forecast levels cannot be attained either. It’s not necessarily smoke and mirrors…but more the lack of a solid plan that shows a pathway to Alberta balancing its books and tackling the monstrous debt.