The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) says Alberta’s debt is the elephant in the room..The Alberta Director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation Kris Sims recalled the Simpsons episode where the peanut factory manager is vindicated for his repeated safety drills when Stampy storms through the door? What’s Alberta’s debt situation? ."The United Conservative government posted a $10.3-billion surplus in this February’s budget," said Sims."Alberta is still about $79 billion in debt. That costs us about $2.8 billion in annual interest charges." .Sims said that’s billions of dollars that can’t go to tax relief, new hospitals or better roads because it’s being paid to the bond fund managers on Bay Street.."The good news is the debt is going down for the first time in more than a decade because the UCP government put the single biggest payment on the debt in the province’s history," Sims said.."The numbers on the Debt Clock are going down. The dwindling debt is one of the reasons why Moody’s gave Alberta a credit rating upgrade in February.".Sims said the UCP has committed to making debt payments a priority by passing legislation to ensure that half of the cash surpluses must be put down onto the debt.."The rest of the surplus must be used to reduce the debt or towards one-time spending that doesn’t increase permanent spending," Sims said. ."This dedication to paying down the government’s credit card evokes the memory of former premier Ralph Klein vowing to put 75% of the surplus down on the debt. He stuck to it. In 2004, he raised that 'paid in full' sign when the province rolled into the black." .Sims said during this election, when politicians are cutting ribbons in front of expensive shiny objects, they ought to remember they vowed to pay down the debt.."The UCP made that promise, it passed legislation saying so and it needs to be held to that promise if it forms government again..What’s the NDP’s plan to pay down debt? Rachel Notley’s NDP has vowed to balance the budget every year," Sims said.."But it hasn’t made any commitments about paying down the debt..The last Notley NDP government added more than $40 billion to Alberta’s debt while it was in power from 2015-19.".By comparison, the UCP government added about $17 billion between 2019 and 2023.."That kind of money could cover the average provincial income tax bill for the population of Alberta," Sims said.."In 2015, Notley promised her NDP government would 'balance the budget in 2018.' Notley didn’t balance the budget in 2018 or any other year.".Sims said Notley’s scorecard while she was premier shows four deficits and zero balanced budgets.."This time around, Notley told QR770 Calgary host Shaye Ganam that an NDP government will be 'balancing the budget throughout that four-year term.' Notley said she will balance the budget is like saying you could score a hat trick even though you tripped on your own skate laces last time you stepped on the ice," Sims said.."To be fair, Notley had softer oil prices to contend with during her time as premier, but the UCP also had the COVID-19 mess to wrestle with. Plenty of pain to go around.".Sims said the UCP posted two deficits of $12.1 billion in 2019-20 and $16.9 billion in 2020-21. Then it produced two surpluses of $3.9 billion in 2021-22 and $10.3 billion in 2022-23. ."Debt isn’t a fun topic during the circus of an election campaign, but the weight of debt can crush a province’s potential like an elephant on a rampage," Sims said. ."All parties need to be accountable to taxpayers and pay down the debt."
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) says Alberta’s debt is the elephant in the room..The Alberta Director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation Kris Sims recalled the Simpsons episode where the peanut factory manager is vindicated for his repeated safety drills when Stampy storms through the door? What’s Alberta’s debt situation? ."The United Conservative government posted a $10.3-billion surplus in this February’s budget," said Sims."Alberta is still about $79 billion in debt. That costs us about $2.8 billion in annual interest charges." .Sims said that’s billions of dollars that can’t go to tax relief, new hospitals or better roads because it’s being paid to the bond fund managers on Bay Street.."The good news is the debt is going down for the first time in more than a decade because the UCP government put the single biggest payment on the debt in the province’s history," Sims said.."The numbers on the Debt Clock are going down. The dwindling debt is one of the reasons why Moody’s gave Alberta a credit rating upgrade in February.".Sims said the UCP has committed to making debt payments a priority by passing legislation to ensure that half of the cash surpluses must be put down onto the debt.."The rest of the surplus must be used to reduce the debt or towards one-time spending that doesn’t increase permanent spending," Sims said. ."This dedication to paying down the government’s credit card evokes the memory of former premier Ralph Klein vowing to put 75% of the surplus down on the debt. He stuck to it. In 2004, he raised that 'paid in full' sign when the province rolled into the black." .Sims said during this election, when politicians are cutting ribbons in front of expensive shiny objects, they ought to remember they vowed to pay down the debt.."The UCP made that promise, it passed legislation saying so and it needs to be held to that promise if it forms government again..What’s the NDP’s plan to pay down debt? Rachel Notley’s NDP has vowed to balance the budget every year," Sims said.."But it hasn’t made any commitments about paying down the debt..The last Notley NDP government added more than $40 billion to Alberta’s debt while it was in power from 2015-19.".By comparison, the UCP government added about $17 billion between 2019 and 2023.."That kind of money could cover the average provincial income tax bill for the population of Alberta," Sims said.."In 2015, Notley promised her NDP government would 'balance the budget in 2018.' Notley didn’t balance the budget in 2018 or any other year.".Sims said Notley’s scorecard while she was premier shows four deficits and zero balanced budgets.."This time around, Notley told QR770 Calgary host Shaye Ganam that an NDP government will be 'balancing the budget throughout that four-year term.' Notley said she will balance the budget is like saying you could score a hat trick even though you tripped on your own skate laces last time you stepped on the ice," Sims said.."To be fair, Notley had softer oil prices to contend with during her time as premier, but the UCP also had the COVID-19 mess to wrestle with. Plenty of pain to go around.".Sims said the UCP posted two deficits of $12.1 billion in 2019-20 and $16.9 billion in 2020-21. Then it produced two surpluses of $3.9 billion in 2021-22 and $10.3 billion in 2022-23. ."Debt isn’t a fun topic during the circus of an election campaign, but the weight of debt can crush a province’s potential like an elephant on a rampage," Sims said. ."All parties need to be accountable to taxpayers and pay down the debt."
