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1. A Spending Framework for Alberta: Balancing the Need for Deficit Elimination and Tax Reform

   This paper calculates the extent of spending reductions that Alberta would need to make over the next three years to eliminate the province’s budget deficit by fiscal year 2021/22 while also creating the necessary fiscal room for pro-growth tax relief. ...

2. Quarterly update highlights danger of riding rickety revenue rollercoaster

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

3. Another Alberta fiscal update, another increase in spending

   Appeared in the Edmonton Sun, September 13, 2018 Last Friday, heading into the long weekend, the Notley government published its First Quarter Fiscal Update, which projected a smaller-than-expected budget deficit. At $7.8 billion, though, the shortfall is ...

4. 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.  ...

5. Alberta deficit hit $8 billion despite improving resource revenues

   The Government of Alberta released its 2017/18 annual report Thursday, closing the book on the 2017/18 fiscal year. According to the report, the deficit for the fiscal year turned out to be $2.5 billion less than initially anticipated ...

6. Equalization is not to blame—Alberta is

   Appeared in the Edmonton Journal, June 23, 2018 In Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, one of the conspirators encourages his ally not to blame fate for his misfortunes, but rather to recognize his own responsibility. “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars ...

7. Is equalization to blame for Alberta’s rapid debt accumulation?

   The last decade or so has been hard on Alberta’s public finances. The province went from a $35 billion net asset position in 2007/08 to a $20 billion net debt position in 2017/18. During that period the province balanced the budget in ...

8. 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 ...

9. 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 ...

10. 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 ...