The government of Alberta’s 2014 budget can be summed up in one word: Debt.
Not only has the PC government returned to the unsustainable path of spending more than it brings in, but it is doubling down on debt with a plan to drive Alberta $21 billion into the red by 2016.
The statistics are astounding. Basing this spending plan on record revenues, the government will be borrowing $14 million a day; $585,000 an hour; $10,000 a minute; and $160 a second.
Taxpayers will be spending $820 million dollars every year on interest payments, flushing money away that will be needed for core government programs like education, health care and policing.
Yet, the finance minister would have us believe that is a moderate, responsible use of taxpayers’ money. He even compared plunging Alberta into debt to taking out a mortgage. Yet, according to his debt repayment plan, the government will set aside $100 million a year for principal repayment. At that rate, it will take 220 years to repay the debt. To my knowledge, 220-year mortgages are not available in Canada. Clearly, the finance minister is spinning.
Sadly, my friends, this misguided thinking is nothing new. Yet the long-term results of shortsighted deficit financing are on display around the world, everywhere from Greece to Detroit. We’ve even seen it here, in Alberta, in the 1990s. Sooner or later, the government will be forced to cut programs and services; the deeper we sink into debt, the more painful those cuts will be.
In my opinion, setting Alberta on this path - at a time when we know the Baby Boom is retiring and health care expenses will rise – is incredibly reckless. It is the kind of economic policy you would expect from Justin Trudeau, not an Alberta premier.
The key to avoiding situations like this is moderation. Our Official Opposition has released 16 recommendations for the budget, representing $1.91 billion in savings in the 2014 budget year without any reductions to front-line services or priority infrastructure projects. This plan includes implementing the Wildrose 10-Year Debt Free Capital Plan, which will sustainably and predictably invest $48 billion over 10 years.
It also includes a series of proposals to reduce waste; everything from eliminating associate minister positions ($6 million saved) to rolling back the pay raise the PCs gave themselves following the 2012 election ($885,000 saved).
As a grandfather, my priorities are leaving a stronger, more prosperous Alberta for future generations. Doubling down on debt is not the way to achieve this. As such, I will not be supporting this reckless budget.
