The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) released its annual pre-budget report today, an in-depth set of recommendations that shows how the Alberta government could balance the budget by 2021-22 and work towards getting the economy back on track.
The document includes two scenarios for balancing the budget – implementing restraint beginning in the 2018 budget and a second path that begins with restraint as of 2019. “It’s definitely possible to balance the budget by 2021 without the sky falling,” said CTF Interim Alberta Director Colin Craig.
“If Alberta reduced its spending levels down to what British Columbia spends per person, we’d have a balanced budget.” The CTF’s budget modelling accounts for an immediate elimination of the carbon tax, a continuation of the small business tax reduction, no elimination of positions in health care or education and revenue assumptions that are $2 billion lower than what the government is counting on.
The CTF’s plan also calls for scaling back government employee compensation, stretching out capital budgets, eliminating corporate welfare and downsizing the size of government as employees retire. “Without a doubt some special interest groups will not like the idea of the government putting the brakes on their gravy train,” added Craig. “However, it’s not ethical to keep piling on billions of dollars in new debt and expecting young Albertans to pay the bill.”
To view the CTF’s report – click here
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