Much has been communicated about the recently released
Province of Alberta budget , both in favour & against. Here are my thoughts, in no particular order.
People all over the province are pointing fingers at
government for “getting us into this mess”.
The fact is we all need to point a finger at ourselves. It is us who have asked for more & better
service and programs over the past few years, and government has been
responding to those requests. So, now it
is us who must share the pain of “getting us out of this mess”. Many of us have found ourselves in this
situation before, either personally or in business. The way out is simple – correct your spending
habits.
Increasing or creating more tax revenue is easy to say &
do, but does not require us to make thoughtful decisions on spending. Also, increasing taxes can have negative
implications for our economy that far outweigh the solution it provides to the
budget.
Capital spending must
absolutely be considered separately, and it is perfectly okay if we borrow to
complete capital projects. If you are
someone who has never had to borrow to buy a house, buy a vehicle, do home improvements,
or pay for university, congratulations.
However, that is not the real world for most of us. Borrowing for major purchases, within the
right parameters, makes sense for me personally and in business, and it makes
sense for Alberta. The pressures on our
infrastructure in the next few years will be tremendous – there are many
capital projects that simply can’t wait.
Former Premier Ralph Klein’s announcement several years ago that the Province of
Alberta was debt free was bulls**t.
Provincial infrastructure debt was never considered, and programs to
municipalities were cut so deep it left them with a huge mess. Alberta & it’s municipalities are just now
starting to dig themselves out of this and I don’t want to see us slide
backwards again. Across the board cuts
are never a good solution to cut spending.
By the way, thank you to GOA for their effort to keep the Municipal
Sustainability Initiative levels to last year’s. Although plans were to have it increase, we
could have fared a lot worse.
The Alberta Government has chosen to turn this challenge
into an opportunity – an opportunity to examine all the programs & service
they provide to us, to make sure we are getting the best value for our tax
dollars. Whether you think the cuts are
too much or not enough – you have to agree that a lot of work has gone into the
process, to “right the ship”.
I think we are on the right track.
As always, let me know your thoughts.
Cheers,
Bud James
