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1. What to look for in Alberta’s budget

   Premier Rachel Notley and Finance Minister Joe Ceci have dropped hints for Albertans in terms what will be in tomorrow’s budget. For instance, they have suggested the budget deficit will be more than $10 billion. Yet there are still ...

2. Alberta’s tax advantage—not what it used to be

   Up until last year, Alberta had an unambiguous tax advantage over every Canadian province and most U.S. states (particularly on personal income tax rates). Fast forward to today. With increases to personal, corporate, excise and carbon ...

3. Spending restraint can limit debt accumulation in Alberta

   In a recent study, we showed that the spending choices Alberta's provincial government makes in the years ahead will play an important role in shaping the pace of provincial debt accumulation between now and 2019/20. The Government ...

4. Troubled waters ahead for Canadian energy development

   Canada’s potential to develop energy is immense. Canada has the third largest reserves of oil in the world, and large reserves of natural gas. These large reserves have the potential to contribute greatly to the economic prosperity of ...

5. Troubled Waters—Alberta’s self-inflicted wounds

   Over the past year or so, Alberta’s economy has been hit hard by external factors beyond the control of the provincial government. Of greatest importance, of course, has been the fall in commodity prices which has led to a recession in ...

6. Spending drives Alberta’s chronic deficits

   Alberta Finance Minister Joe Ceci (pictured above) just released the provincial government’s Third Quarter Fiscal Update and unfortunately the news isn’t good. The province now expects the operating deficit to reach $6.3 billion in 2015 ...

7. Alberta’s finances deteriorating quicker than expected

   Premier Rachel Notley’s government yesterday released Alberta’s latest economic and fiscal update, pointing to even more red ink on the province’s operating budget than was projected in the October budget. Alberta’s projected operating ...

8. An HST for Alberta? Only if other taxes are cut

   Recent calls for a harmonized sales tax in Alberta fundamentally misunderstand the province’s fiscal problems, which are driven primarily by years of rapid spending growth, not a drop in revenue. Albertans have already been hit hard over ...

9. Kudos to Alberta’s royalty review panel—but broad economic reforms still needed

   Last Friday the Government of Alberta released the long-awaited Royalty Review Advisory Panel report on the province’s royalty regime for oil and gas production. The review, a campaign promise by the now NDP government, was the source of ...

10. Two bright spots in Premier Notley's recent activity in Alberta's oilpatch

    Alberta Premier Rachel Notley (pictured above) has once again been talking about oil, and both of her recent pronouncements are positive. On Jan. 12, Ms. Notley took to the podium to discuss Alberta’s comment submission with regard to ...