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Alberta

Albertans continue to pay for government debt—despite budget surpluses

Published

2 months ago

4 minute read

From the Fraser Institute

By Tegan Hill

” due to the amount of debt accumulated, and higher interest rates, Albertans will actually see government debt interest costs increase and reach $687 per Albertan by 2025/26 “

Thanks in large part to a windfall in resource revenue, the Alberta government has been running budget surpluses since 2021/22. Yet at the same time, as budget season approaches, Albertans are paying more and more for the cost of government debt.

Prior to the recent string of surpluses, during a period of relatively low resource revenue, Alberta incurred nearly uninterrupted deficits from 2008/09 to 2020/21. A deficit is simply when the government spends more than it collects in revenue in a given year—and it leads to debt accumulation.

Indeed, Alberta went from a net financial asset position of $35.0 billion in 2007/08 to a net debt position of $59.5 billion in 2020/21. In other words, the province’s finances deteriorated by nearly $95 billion.

Of course, the burden of government debt ultimately falls on Alberta families, today and in the future, because governments must pay interest on their debt—and that interest ultimately is raised from Albertans through taxes. As the government accumulated more and more debt, debt interest costs increased from $61 per Albertan in 2007/08 to a projected $672 per Albertan in 2023/24. Servicing the debt also diverts resources away from services such as health care and education.

Unfortunately, debt interest costs don’t just disappear when you run surpluses, even with the Alberta government using a share of these surpluses to pay down debt. Instead, due to the amount of debt accumulated, and higher interest rates, Albertans will actually see government debt interest costs increase and reach $687 per Albertan by 2025/26.

This is why it’s so important for governments to practice fiscal prudence, in good times and bad. Rather than increasing spending during the good times (i.e. periods of relatively high resource revenue) as successive Alberta governments have done in the past, then running deficits when relatively high resource revenue inevitably declines, the Smith government should restrain spending.

How? For starters, the government can limit the amount of resource revenue included in the budget using a rainy-day account based on the previous Alberta Sustainability Fund (ASF), which was established in 2003 to “stabilize” a specific amount of resource revenue for the budget, thus limiting the amount of money available for annual spending. The idea was simple; save some resource revenue during good times to ensure a stable amount of resource revenue for the budget during bad times.

Unfortunately, the previous ASF was based in statutory law, which meant its rules were easily changed and the government discarded the fund entirely in 2013. The Smith government should instead establish the specific amount of resource revenue for the budget as a “constitutional rule,” which would make it more difficult to change in the future.

Government debt comes with big costs for Albertans—and those costs don’t simply disappear when the province runs a surplus. For true fiscal stability, the government needs a fundamentally new approach. The upcoming budget is a good place to start.

Author:

Tegan Hill
Associate Director, Alberta Policy, Fraser Institute
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Alberta official reveals ‘almost all’ wildfires in province this year have been started by humans

Alberta

Alberta official reveals ‘almost all’ wildfires in province this year have been started by humans

Published on April 28, 2024

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From LifeSiteNews

By Clare Marie Merkowsky

Alberta Minister of Forestry and Parks Todd Loewen said his department estimates that most of the province’s wildfires this year are man-made and not caused by ‘climate change.’

Alberta officials have announced that almost all fires in 2024 are believed to have been caused by humans despite ongoing claims that “climate change” is to blame.

On April 24, Alberta Minister of Forestry and Parks Todd Loewen revealed that his department estimates that most of the province’s wildfires this year are man-made and not caused by “climate change” as claimed by mainstream media and politicians.

“We expect that almost all of the wildfires we’ve experienced so far this year are human caused, given the point we’re at in the season and the types of weather we’re seeing,” Loewen stated.

 Already, Alberta has put out 172 wildfires this year, and 63 are actively burning. However, Loewen did not seem overly alarmed, instead warning Albertans to watch their local fire bans and restrictions to reduce the high number of man-made wildfires.  

“I urge you to assess your property for wildfire danger and take any preventive action you can to address these risks,” he said.

“This includes breaking up fuel sources that could ignite a structure, removing trees in close proximity to your home, and properly maintaining your gutters and roofs to rid the materials that could easily ignite such as leaves and dry needles,” Loewen added.

Loewen’s announcement comes just weeks after Alberta Premier Danielle Smith promised that arsonists who ignite wildfires in Alberta will be held accountable for their crimes.

“As we approach the wildfire season, it is important to understand that 67% of wildfires in Alberta are started by people,” she explained.

“If you start a wildfire, you can be charged, fined, and held liable for all costs associated with fighting the wildfire,” Smith added.

“All I know is in my province we have 650 fires and 500 of them were human caused,” she said, “so we have to make sure that when people know that when it’s dry out there and we get into forest fire season that they’re being a lot more careful because anytime you end up with an ignition that happens it can have devastating consequences.”

The Alberta government has also created an ad campaign highlighting the fact that most fires are caused by humans and not “climate change,” as many left-leaning politicians claim.

As reported by LifeSiteNews last year, Smith ordered arson investigators to look into why some of the wildfires that raged across the vast expanse of the province had “no known cause” shortly after they spread.

Indeed, despite claims that wildfires have drastically increased due to “climate change,” 2023 research revealed that wildfires have decreased globally while media coverage has spiked 400 percent.

Furthermore, many of the fires last spring and summer were discovered to be caused by arsonists and not “climate change.”

Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) have arrested arsonists who have been charged with lighting fires across the country, including in the Yukon, British Columbia, and Alberta.

In Quebec, satellite footage also showed the mysterious simultaneous eruption of several blazes across the province, sparking concerns that the fires were a coordinated effort by arsonists.

Despite the overwhelming evidence, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and mainstream media continue to claim that the fires are unprecedentedly dangerous and caused by “climate change” in an attempt to pass further regulations on natural resources.

The reduction and eventual elimination of the use of so-called “fossil fuels” and a transition to unreliable “green” energy has also been pushed by the World Economic Forum (WEF) – the globalist group behind the socialist “Great Reset” agenda – an organization with which Trudeau and some in his cabinet are involved.

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Alberta

Alberta rejects unconstitutional cap on plastic production

Published on April 28, 2024

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Minister of Environment and Protected Areas Rebecca Schulz issued the following statement:

“Every modern convenience and necessity is either made from or contains plastic, from surgical gloves to your iPhone. Despite this, Minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada Steven Guilbeault has announced that he intends to cap the production of plastics in Canada.

“This unilateral announcement is a slap in the face to Alberta and our province’s petrochemical industry, and the thousands of Albertans who work in it.

“Plastics production is a growing part of Alberta’s economy, and we are positioned to lead the world for decades to come in the production of carbon neutral plastics.

“Minister Guilbeault’s proposal would throw all of that into jeopardy and risk billions of dollars in investments. This includes projects like Dow Chemical’s net-zero petrochemical plant in Fort Saskatchewan, a $9-billion dollar project that will create thousands of jobs.

“His proposal will also fail to reduce plastic production. If the federal government limits plastic production in Canada, other counties like China will just produce more. The only outcome that this federal government will achieve will be fewer jobs in Canada.

“Last year, the Federal Court ruled that Minister Guilbeault’s decision to classify plastics as ‘toxic’ was both ‘unconstitutional and unreasonable’.

“Minister Guilbeault’s decision to cap production is even more egregious and is equally unconstitutional. Under no circumstances will Alberta permit any limit on our ability to produce and export plastic products.

“Instead of wasting everyone’s time, the federal government would be better served by taking a page out of Alberta’s plan, which diverts plastics from landfills and turns used plastics into new products. This is the promise of Alberta’s plan to create a Plastics Circular Economy, a modern miracle in which, through chemistry, we can have all of life’s conveniences and necessities while protecting our environment and reducing plastic waste.

“If the federal government refuses to abide by the constitution, we will take them to court again to defend our jurisdiction and the thousands of Albertans who work in the petrochemical sector.”

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