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1. Rising debt-interest payments further threaten Alberta government’s deteriorating fiscal situation

   Appeared in the Calgary Sun, December 9, 2020 Last week in this space, we outlined the Alberta government’s deteriorating finances, as spelled out in the Kenney government’s recent fiscal update, which projects that the province will rack up $50.0 billion ...

2. Kenney shouldn’t dither—upcoming budget should be bullish on deficit, taxes

   Appeared in the Calgary Herald, October 15, 2019 After a panel led by Janice MacKinnon, former Saskatchewan finance minister, released its “Blue Ribbon” report on Alberta’s finances last month, many observers thought Alberta was finally getting serious ...

3. Debt-servicing costs—Alberta catching up to other provinces

   Until recently, Albertans paid very little to service provincial debt. This represented a significant fiscal advantage over every other province that had to spend substantial amounts of money each year paying interest on their debt.  ...

4. The Decline of the Other Alberta Advantage: Debt Service Costs in Alberta Are Rising

   Throughout recent history, Albertans have enjoyed a substantial fiscal advantage other Canadian taxpayers, resulting from the fact that government debt interest payments in Alberta have been far lower than in any other province. For example, in ...

5. Alternative Paths for Alberta's Budget: Balance by 2023/24 Is Not Enough

   Alberta faces significant fiscal and economic challenges. The government has run nearly uninterrupted deficits since 2008/09 and has seen an approximately $57 billion decline in its net financial assets between 2008/09 and 2017/18. The government has ...

6. Book targets policies and policymakers amid Alberta’s malaise

   In recent years, Albertan politicos have graced constituents with claims that the province was debt free. They actually meant the provincial government had sufficient financial assets on hand to offset the debts, but with the fiscal ...

7. Spending restraint can limit debt accumulation in Alberta

   In a recent study, we showed that the spending choices Alberta's provincial government makes in the years ahead will play an important role in shaping the pace of provincial debt accumulation between now and 2019/20. The Government ...

8. Troubled Waters—Alberta’s self-inflicted wounds

   Over the past year or so, Alberta’s economy has been hit hard by external factors beyond the control of the provincial government. Of greatest importance, of course, has been the fall in commodity prices which has led to a recession in ...