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1. Quarterly update highlights danger of riding rickety revenue rollercoaster

   The Notley government’s failure to restrain spending is quickly growing Alberta’s debt burden. ...

2. Alberta auditor general spotlights the resource rollercoaster

   Alberta’s auditor general recently produced a report that highlighted risks to Alberta’s long-term fiscal sustainability. The report highlights a number of problems with Alberta’s approach to fiscal policy in recent years, including the ...

3. Four reasons why Alberta’s vague balance budget plan may fall short

   Last month, when Finance Minister Joe Ceci unveiled Alberta’s 2018 budget, despite weeks stoking expectations of a detailed plan to eliminate the province’s budget deficit, he instead delivered a risky plan almost entirely reliant on ...

4. Alberta’s 2018 budget—a breathtaking exercise in complacency

   Yesterday, the Alberta government released its budget for the 2018/19 fiscal year. The document is essentially a status quo budget, which promises continued nominal spending growth over the rest of its fiscal plan (though more moderate ...

5. 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 ...

6. Spending growth by successive Alberta governments primary reason for big deficit

   Albertans are well aware that their provincial government is set to run a budget deficit this year that may exceed $10 billion. Many may assume this is simply due to a decline in government revenue, driven by lower resource prices. But ...

7. Dear Minister Ceci, when you’re in a hole, stop digging

   Finance Minister Joe Ceci (pictured above) released Alberta’s Second Quarter Fiscal Update this week, confirming that the province’s budget deficit this year will be even bigger than forecasted in his spring budget. While the budget ...

8. Spending choices, not a drop in oil prices, spurred Alberta’s chronic deficits

   Avoiding deficits during an oil boom should be a relatively straightforward proposition for governments in oil-rich jurisdictions. Unfortunately, that hasn’t been the case in Alberta. A recent Fraser Institute study compared how Alberta ...