• Premier Notley is counting on another boom to balance the budget

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) responded to the Alberta government’s 2018 budget today by raising red flags about the province’s ballooning debt, failure to control spending and reliance on another boom in order to balance the budget.

“The government is still on pace to more than triple the debt after just four years in office,” said CTF Alberta Director Colin Craig. “Taxpayers should give their kids and grandkids a big hug because they’re the ones who are going to get stuck with the bill for cleaning up this mess.”

Since the Notley government took over, spending has increased every year and is now up 16.1 per cent. Even though Alberta has half a million fewer people, it still spends more than British Columbia:

Depending on another boom:

In order to reach a balanced budget by 2023, the provincial budget is depending on the following very optimistic assumptions:

• Economic growth that is higher than private sector forecasts every year throughout the years 2018-21 (see page 117)
• Expenditure growth that is lower than population growth and inflation throughout the years 2018-23. This has only happened once in the last four years (see page 86)
• 174 per cent increase in non-renewable resource revenue (see page 86)
• Housing starts that are higher than private sector forecasts (see page 120)
• An unemployment rate that is lower than private sector forecasts (see page 119)

“The government is counting on another boom to balance the budget,” added Craig. “That’s like depending on winning the lottery to pay for your retirement. It’s reckless.”