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1. Saskatchewan has a plan to balance its budget, Alberta doesn’t

   Appeared in the Calgary Sun, March 27, 2017 Alberta and Saskatchewan are energy-rich jurisdictions that fell on hard times as commodity prices fell. And both jurisdictions face significant fiscal challenges, with large budget deficits and substantial debt ...

2. Does Alberta need a sales tax?

   Appeared in the Calgary Herald, Jan 17, 2015 With oil prices plunging and provincial resource revenues expected to drop, Alberta’s red ink will rise. In response, Premier Jim Prentice has floated the notion of a provincial sales tax and/or hikes in other ...

3. Worried about Alberta’s budget? Stop counting on high resource prices

   Appeared in the Calgary Herald Forty-one billion dollars. That’s the extra amount, over and above what was needed to keep pace with population growth and inflation between 2006 and 2013, this to fund Alberta government program spending in those years. So ...

4. Prentice’s Path: Getty or Klein?

   Appeared in the Financial Post Alberta Premier Jim Prentice is in the midst of formulating his first budget and the fiscal path of the province while watching oil prices continue to decline. In this environment, the key question for the new premier is: ...

5. Post-boom Spending in Alberta: A $41 billion splurge and lost opportunities

   The province of Alberta substantially increased program spending after 2004/05, beyond the combined effect of inflation plus population growth. The result was that in subsequent years (2005/06 to 2012/13 inclusive), the province spent $300.5 billion—$41 ...

6. How Alberta blew through an extra $41 billion

   Appeared in the National Post Governments, like families, have choices. And governments, as with families, sometimes make picks that close off other options. Spend a lot of money on having dinner out every night and that might foreclose the purchase of a ...

7. Alberta Premier's budget flip flop

   Appeared in the Calgary Herald When governments enter an election year, the political temptation to play fast and loose with budget numbers is strong. The most famous example of this was probably the 1996 budget in British Columbia. That year, then-B.C. ...