According to a Fraser Institute study released in February, between 2004/05 and 2013/14, the Alberta government’s program spending jumped to $43.9 billion from $29 billion.
alberta government spending
The severity of Alberta’s fiscal problems hit home with many Albertans this week as Premier Prentice announced that the upcoming provincial budget will include an across-the-board five per cent spending cut.
Alberta Premier Jim Prentice and Finance Minister Robin Campbell have made it clear the province will reduce government spending in its March budget.
Forty-one billion dollars. That’s the extra amount, over and above what was needed to keep pace with population growth and inflation between 2006 and 2013, this to fund Alberta government program spending in those years.
If, as the newly released census data indicates, youre one of many arrivals to Alberta in the last half-decade, heres the shortcut to understanding Albertas politicians: On budget day, they replay their favourite spend-now, tax-later 1980s tunes.
Some history: Between the fiscal years 1986 and 1994 (fiscal years end March 31), the province of Alberta ran nine consecutive deficits. That happened because for too long, politicians assumed boom-time revenues would soon return. They were mistaken.