If it held the line on spending, the government could have run a $6.7 billion surplus in 2023/24.
alberta government spending
It would be irresponsible for the Smith government to repeat the mistakes of past governments.
Alberta's fund was valued at just C$16.2 billion compared to US$65.3 billion for Alaska’s fund.
The province had the largest growth in government net debt in Canada from 2007/08 to 2021/22.
Alberta went from spending $61 per person on provincial debt interest costs to roughly $563.
The province's net asset position deteriorated by nearly $23,000 per person between 2007 and 2021.
Governments in Alberta have a long history of increasing provincial spending during periods of high resource revenue, which inevitably leads to deficits once resource revenues decline.
As resource revenue began increasing, Alberta’s per-person government spending increased from $7,393 to $13,114.
Alberta’s government-sector workers enjoy a 9.3 per cent wage premium over their private-sector counterparts.
From 2008/09 to 2020/21, the province's net financial position deteriorated by almost $100 billion.