The United Conservative Party (UCP) government in Alberta inadvertently caught a break as energy prices spiked due to the latest war in the Middle East. For every dollar the world price of oil rises, the provincial government garners nearly $700 million in royalties. If the war in Iran is protracted, it’s very possible the budgetary deficit of $9 billion announced in Alberta last week could turn into a budget surplus by the end of the year. The Alberta government should respond to this by cutting spending.We can’t allow a fluke of world oil prices to let the provincial government get off the hook for a deficit that was built primarily due to irresponsible spending. Alberta’s debt will reach $100 billion, and it should be the shame of politicians and voters alike. If the government wants more money to play with, then paying down that debt must be priority one. It will give them over $4 billion per year in saved interest payments they can spend without hiking taxes a penny.People, including Finance Minister Nate Horner, have been floating the notion of imposing a sales tax on Albertans. The response from citizens to this concept should be nothing less than outrage. The government doesn’t have a revenue problem. It has a spending problem. If they can’t get their spending habits under control, revenue from a sales tax would just be dumped into the growing black hole of spending. Sales taxes have a declining rate of return as they impact the economy with reduced consumer spending, both by citizens and by tourists who may choose to spend their vacation elsewhere. It’s not a magical pool of funds to tap into without consequences, as some are trying to frame it.The UCP government raised the education property tax by nearly half a billion dollars. These taxes impact the cost of housing for renters and owners alike. They also hiked taxes on rental cars and hotels, which will negatively impact tourism revenue.With massive tax and spending hikes, the government can’t pretend to be fiscally conservative..Yes, mass immigration has put pressure on services in general. The 6% increase in healthcare spending and the whopping 30% increase in education spending reflect that. Most Albertans are OK with increasing spending on core services such as healthcare and education. That still leaves a lot of fat to be cut. Why is the province increasing spending on art? Why is the cost to pay for government employees going up 14% in one year? Why is there still a massive, expensive program to bring fibreoptic internet services to isolated rural homes when most of them have already gotten Starlink? The list of things to cut is long when the government finds the will to look for them. The problem is that the government isn’t looking. They are taking the lazy NDP-style approach to issues by raising taxes and spending. That’s not what Albertans voted for.Did the spending increases buy any love from the teachers’ unions or socialized healthcare activists?Of course not. They panned the budget and are still doing everything in their power to bring the UCP down. The Alberta Federation of Labour is planning mass protests after an attempt to bring down the government through recall initiatives failed dismally. Why pander to them further? Premier Smith must trust Alberta voters to accept spending restraint. Albertans have voted for conservative governments for decades because they value fiscal conservatism. It was the gross overspending of the Stelmach and Redford governments that brought the Progressive Conservative dynasty to an end. Smith can rest assured that if she doesn’t get a handle on spending soon, an alternative will form on her right, and we all remember what the consequences of vote splitting are..When Premier Ralph Klein balanced the budget, he didn’t wait for better oil prices to do it. He cut spending without apology. Unions and pundits went wild. They predicted the demise of the Klein government, and protests flourished. Then Klein went to the polls, and Albertans rewarded him with a bigger majority government. Klein then continued with austerity governance, and union members literally attacked the legislature in protests where they tried to kick the doors down. After four years of this, Klein was rewarded with an even bigger majority. In his last term, Klein started to spend heavily again, which led to reduced support for him.The only thing harder than cutting spending during tough times is cutting spending during good times, but it must be done. Smith must resist the urge to continue tossing money at issues, even if high oil prices flood the government coffers. Alberta doesn’t need a larger and more encompassing government.It’s hard to maintain the higher ground when complaining about the tax-and-spend attitude of Ottawa when Edmonton does the same thing. For the sake of the economy and future Albertans, the UCP must become a conservative party and wrestle spending under control. The 2026 budget is an embarrassment.
