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1. Another pipeline setback, another blow to Alberta government finances

   Appeared in the Calgary Sun, June 10, 2020 Alberta’s fiscal situation has been deteriorating for a decade, and the COVID-induced recession has dealt another major blow to the province’s finances. Premier Kenney recently predicted the budget deficit could ...

2. Kenney government squanders opportunity to strengthen path to balanced budget

   In its recent budget, the Alberta government projected it will collect more revenue over the next few years than originally forecasted in its first budget last year. That’s good news for a province trying to balance its budget. But this ...

3. Kenney buys another ticket for the resource roller-coaster

   Appeared in the Edmonton Journal, March 3, 2020 The Kenney government has promised to balance the budget by 2022/23. Its plan to get there, however, relies on rapid increases in natural resource revenues. In other words, the government plans to take ...

4. Alberta on track to balance budget—but significant fiscal challenges remain

   Appeared in the Calgary Sun, February 29, 2020 Today, the Alberta government tabled its 2020 budget, forecasting its sixth consecutive deficit this year with another deficit planned in 2021/22. In 2020/21, the government projects the budget deficit will ...

5. Alberta budget includes relatively small spending reductions

   Alberta’s 2020 budget, released today, proposes to reduce program spending (all spending excluding interest costs) from $54.3 billion in 2018-19 to $53.9 billion by 2022-23, a total (nominal) reduction of 0.8 per cent over the Kenney ...

6. Kenney government faces more hard choices with second budget

   Appeared in the Calgary Sun, February 26, 2020 Former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson once famously said “everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” In other words, it’s often easier to devise a plan for success than it is to ...

7. Government debt-interest payments already hurting Albertans

   Appeared in the Calgary Sun, February 5, 2020 Over the past decade, much has been made of the rapid deterioration of Alberta’s government finances—and with good reason. As recently as 2014/15, Alberta had no net debt at all, meaning the province’s ...

8. Complacency about Alberta’s debt is a dangerous mistake

   Appeared in the Edmonton Sun, January 22, 2020 Alberta is racking up debt faster than any other province in Canada, and proponents of complacency are making a dangerous mistake. It’s widely known that Alberta’s finances are a mess. This year, the ...

9. Texas shines bright while Alberta dims

   Sixty-five per cent of respondents for Alberta were deterred by the high cost of regulatory compliance. ...

10. Spending reductions in the 1990s dwarf Kenney’s budget plans

    Appeared in the Calgary Sun, December 11, 2019 The Kenney government’s first budget, tabled in the fall, has attracted more attention and commentary than most provincial budgets. Critics predict harmful economic effects due to the planned spending ...