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1. Sorry, Premier Notley, this was not a good year for Alberta

   Appeared in the National Newswatch, December 23, 2016 Alberta Premier Rachel Notley recently claimed that this was a good year for her government. For Albertans, however, it was another very difficult year. Aside from the approval of two crucial pipeline ...

2. Lack of growth, not inequality, is Alberta’s biggest problem

   In her year-end news conference, Alberta Premier Rachel Notley argued that eliminating Alberta’s single-rate personal income tax was essential to combat inequality. This statement belies curiously misplaced priorities. With the ...

3. Alberta turns away from economic freedom

   Appeared in the Calgary Sun, December 14, 2016 Each year, the Fraser Institute publishes the “Economic Freedom of North America” report, which compares economic freedom in the provinces of Canada and states of the United States and Mexico. Historically, ...

4. 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 ...

5. The worst might be over for Alberta’s economy, but not for government finances

   Appeared in the Edmonton Journal, November 21, 2016 Albertans got some welcome news recently, when ATB Financial suggested that the worst of the oil price downturn is over and that oil prices would continue to increase in 2017.  This is, of course, ...

6. During the oil boom, Texas spent prudently, Alberta did not

   The oil boom between 2004 and 2014 presented a substantial opportunity for governments in oil-producing regions to bolster their public finances. Unfortunately, while some jurisdictions such as Texas did just that, Alberta did the ...

7. How Texas avoided big deficits when oil prices fell

   Appeared in the Calgary Sun, November 17, 2016 A common myth holds that the deterioration of Alberta’s finances in recent years was inevitable due to falling commodity prices. After all, Alberta is an energy economy and, so the narrative goes, big ...

8. One Energy Boom, Two Approaches: Fiscal Restraint Has Left Texas in Better Shape than Alberta

   Prior to the recent fall in energy prices, the economies of Alberta and Texas enjoyed prolonged economic booms. The booms began in earnest in 2004, when real economic growth in the two jurisdictions reached approximately 5 percent. Although there have ...

9. New outlook on oil production likely pushes 'bite’ of Alberta carbon cap beyond 2040

   Last week, the NDP government in Alberta tabled Bill 25, to advance the imposition of an annual cap of 100 megatonnes (MT) for greenhouse gases from the oilsands, making Alberta the first major oil producing region to institute such a ...

10. Don’t blame the oil crash or wildfires for Alberta’s deficit

    The Alberta government dramatically increased personal and corporate income taxes. ...