The Provincial Budget was released yesterday (March 22nd) and there’s plenty of mixed feelings about the government’s spending and their plan to balance in five years.

Among some of the numbers revealed in the budget from Finance Minister Joe Ceci, the one number that isn’t sitting well with many is the projected $96 Billion debt by 2023.

Minister of Municiapl Affairs Shaye Anderson (centre) gives his take on the 2018 Alberta Budget (Photo Courtesy: Government of Alberta)

Despite the looming debt and billions of dollars in spending deficits over the next few years, the Alberta NDP is confident that they have the plans in place to balance the books and will be relying on pipeline projects to help them get there.

Minister of Municipal Affairs Shaye Anderson says projects like the Trans Mountain Pipeline are crucial for Alberta’s economic success.

“We’re going to keep investing in Albertans, we want to make sure that we continue on this path to balance. As far as the pipeline goes, that’s a big deal. We want to make sure we get that built. It’s been approved, it was approved under our climate leadership plan and it’s good for Albertans, B.C and all of Canada.”

Although the governing party has confidence in their plan, opposition critics aren’t buying it.

All three Opposition parties agree that the budget’s reliance on pipelines, oil revenue and carbon tax money is unrealistic. United Conservative Party leader Jason Kenney called the NDP’s forecasts a ‘virtual reality’ saying their projected revenue growth of 38% in five years doesn’t add up.

Alberta Party Caucus leader Rick Fraser said the budget hides too many details and that the NDP need to “inject a healthy dose of reality into this budget”

Finally, the Alberta Liberals say they’re concerned that the NDP are booking a ticket back to the rollercoaster of energy revenues, hoping for another oil boom to solve their financial woes.

MLA David Swann pointed out that the province is paying almost $2 Billion in interest costs each year just to service this debt.

Minister Anderson has heard these opposition views and while he’s pleased that they’re voicing their concerns openly, he continues to remind them that Alberta pays some of the lowest taxes in the country.

“We maintain an $11 Billion dollar tax advantage in this province and we have the lowest debt to GDP ratio in the country and we’re leading the economy right now, we led the economy last year.”

According to economic data from RBC, Alberta’s net debt to GDP Ratio stands at 6.5% as of February, which is the lowest in Canada. Quebec has the highest ratio of 44.9%.

However, Alberta’s deficit payments are the highest in Canada at nearly $9 Billion with Newfoundland being the second closest to deficits around $850 Million.

While the numbers may look bleak, Anderson assures Albertans that some good details are coming from the Budget.

“We’ve really made sure we invested in infrastructure, we invested in schools and hospitals, front-line care which is super important. Extending the tuition freeze, there’s more spots going to be in post-secondary for technology spaces. There’s some really interesting stuff and some really good stuff for our families out there that I think they really need to know about.”

Earlier today, the government announced 20 new school projects, which is part of the increased education spending from the 2018 Budget.

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