Alberta will run four consecutive deficits – including a $6.1 billion deficit in 2015/16 – in order to “stabilize frontline public services” like health care and education in an attempt to jumpstart a plummeting economy hit hard by continued low oil prices.
The new budget, announced by Alberta Finance Minister Joe Ceci on Oct. 27, will include a $34 billion investment in infrastructure in the next five years and yearly increases to health spending. The government plans on returning to balanced budgets by 2020.
According to Airdrie Mayor Peter Brown, City staff are still waiting for details to see what sort of funding Airdrie will receive, though he noted an increase to Municipal Sustainability Initiative (MSI) funds – which are set to go up by $100 million over the next five years – as a welcome move.
“That’s one of our key revenue sources from the Province. We’re pleased that number will stay strong,” he said.
Brown said he hoped to see Airdrie receive sufficient transportation funding as part of the new budget. An investment of $4.7 billion will go towards roads and bridges in the next five years.
“From our perspective, we have a lot of pretty expensive capital projects as it relates to a growing commuter system,” Brown said. “We need that support.”
The previous budget, released by the former Progressive Conservative government on March 26, did not see education spending match student enrolment growth in the province.
Education spending in the new budget sees funding for approximately 380 more teachers and 150 additional support staff added to the system.
“We knew in advance that the government was going to fund enrolment and reverse the cuts that happened last year,” Rocky View Schools Trustee and Alberta School Boards Association president Helen Clease said. “We’re grateful that the budget reflects that.”
Clease said she hoped school boards in the province would soon be able sit down with the government to suggest improvements to the funding model.
Yearly health care spending will increase to $19.7 billion in 2015/16, reaching $20.9 billion by 2017/18. That funding includes $120 million over two years for new long-term spaces, and $90 million over two years in order to expand public home care. Infrastructure investments include a $2.2 billion allocation to health facilities and equipment.
Dr. Julian Kyne, medical lead at the Airdrie Urgent Care Centre, said he appreciated the fact the government had to balance “ballooning health care costs” with the needs of a growing population.
“For Airdrie, our primary care network has started a whole host of initiatives,” he said. “I’m just hopeful (Alberta Minister of Health Sarah Hoffman) will review some of the innovative suggestions that have come forward.”
During a press conference held Oct. 27, Ceci said a plan to run deficits before returning to a balanced budget in 2020 was done to ensure stable funding for public services while planning for a future stable economy.
“We’ll (fix our challenges) the Alberta way – by encouraging a vigorous and successful private sector; by building on our strengths and gifts; and by making better decisions about our future together,” he said.
But according to Airdrie Wildrose MLA Angela Pitt, that plan was “very concerning.”
“There is very little at first glance for the people of Airdrie,” she said. “(But) Albertans can take heart they have an effective Official Opposition that is going to continue to fight
“(It’s unfortunate) we’re headed in the wrong direction by a government more concerned with ideologies than being functional.”
