Premier Notley recently laid out her government’s plan for the near term via the government’s recent Throne Speech.

Here are three things that taxpayers should note. (Photo: Premier Notley (L) Credit: Dave Cournoyer/Flickr/Creative Commons)

First, it’s positive to see Premier Notley continues to publicly push for the Trans Mountain pipeline project – an initiative that will pay a fortune in taxes to the Alberta government and create jobs and opportunities for our province.

It’s important that the premier has spoken out and has seemingly muzzled radical environmentalists in her own party on the issue – such as her education minister who previously led a chant at a protest at the legislature against the oil sands.

However, what should also be clear by now is that Premier Notley’s carbon tax hasn’t earned our province the “social license” we were promised. The premier is shutting down coal power plants, Albertans have paid a fortune in carbon taxes and other new costly environmental regulations have been layered on our economy. Despite all those moves, radical environmentalists in B.C. are still protesting.

Not only have we lost jobs because of these policies, the government’s own numbers suggest our province still won’t meet climate change targets in the Paris Accord. So what’s the point? Clearly, it’s time to scrap the carbon tax and pursue a new, taxpayer-friendly approach. For example, let’s refocus on getting Canada’s natural gas over to China so that we can offset some of their coal power plants.

The second point Albertans should be mindful about is the section in the Throne Speech that boasts about reducing “hospitality and travel costs” and providing “no raises” for teachers and nurses.

It’s true the government reduced travel and hospitality costs. Our calculations – based on an enormous spreadsheet released by the government – shows a $4 million reduction in travel and hospitality expenses over the past four years – that’s a great step in the right direction. In the grand scheme of the province’s $56 billion budget, it’s not a lot of money, but it’s a good case of leading by example.

As for “no raises” for teachers and nurses – that’s just not true. The Calgary and Edmonton school boards indicated in letters to the Canadian Taxpayers Federation that a combined 6,842 teachers in their divisions are receiving a pay increase this year. Thousands of other teachers across the province will also receive a pay increase due to the way the contract was negotiated.

Many teachers in Alberta will still receive a true freeze, but for the government to suggest that all teachers are receiving a freeze is simply not true.

Finally, the government’s news release about the Throne Speech notes, “work will continue with the public sector to reduce costs.”

While the government has trimmed some spending, taxpayers should know that overall spending has increased every year since the NDP were elected. In fact, the government is currently on pace to spend about $1 billion more this year than they originally budgeted. Debt is still expected to more than triple during Premier Notley’s four years in office.

And that’s the big picture problem with the Alberta government’s approach – some tinkering around the edges, but not enough in terms of bold action to get the province’s spending under control and get our province back on the right track.

Colin Craig is the Alberta Director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation
This column was published by the Calgary Sun on March 16, 2018