Alberta's new premier, Ed Stelmach, just passed the first test of his leadership by cutting the size of his first cabinet by six positions. A smaller, more streamlined cabinet was not only sorely needed, it fulfilled a promise made during his leadership campaign.

History has a funny way of repeating itself, and taxpayers should hope a cut in the size of cabinet is a sign of things to come.

In 1992, when Premier Ralph Klein took over the reigns of the Alberta government from a waning and directionless Premier Don Getty, his first job was to "fire a whole bunch of people."

Klein immediately cut the size of his first cabinet from Getty's 27 members (26 ministers plus Getty) to 17 (16 ministers plus Klein).

Handing out ten pink-slips was no easy task, especially considering Klein had 32 MLA backers for his leadership bid, most of who were hoping to add "Honourable" to their name-bars.

However, Klein clearly recognized the Getty government had become bloated, and chopping Getty's plump cabinet would not only be a sign of leadership, but would set the tone for his future plans.

Klein slimmed the cabinet, MLAs chopped their salaries, and Klein eliminated the gold-plated MLA pension plan.

Laws were put in place to control the government's spending. A balanced budget law was introduced, outlawing deficit budgets. A mandatory debt repayment schedule was passed, forcing not only the Klein government, but any future Alberta government to pay off our provincial debt.

Fiscal restraint was the tune, and Premier Klein was leader of the band.

When Klein took over as premier in 1992-93, Alberta government program spending was equivalent to $8,555 per Albertan (adjusted to 2005-06 dollars), and the provincial government ran a $3.3-billion budget deficit that year.

That figure dropped to a low of $5,924 per Albertan (adjusted to 2005-06 dollars) in 1996-97.

Unfortunately, since then government largesse has returned.

Currently, the Alberta government spends $8,711 per Albertan (again adjusted to 2005-06 dollars), a growth of 47 per cent in real terms since 1996-97.

Just as astonishing, in real terms (adjusted for inflation and population growth), the Alberta government is now spending more than it did in 1992-93 - a year in which it ran a record high budget deficit just to keep afloat!

Probably not surprising, Klein's cabinet grew at the same time. From 16 ministers in 1992, to 18 in 1997, to 23 in 2001, and to 24 in 2006.

Premier Klein has almost come full circle. Program spending is higher (in real terms) than it was when he gained control of the government books in 1992, and he brought back eight of the ten cabinet spots he had once eliminated.

It's tough to say which came first, the growth in cabinet or spending. But, it is safe to say more cabinet ministers meant more hands around the cabinet table asking for more of our tax dollars.

And that, hopefully, will be where taxpayers will see the long-term benefits of Premier Stelmach cutting the number of his cabinet ministers from 24 to 18.

The relatively minor savings of eliminating the extra salary of six ministers and their support staff will likely be off-set by the cost of changing letterheads, websites, and signs to reflect the names of the new ministries.

The true savings will be found in the reduced number of hands around the table asking for more money for their ministries, funds for pet projects and pork-barrel spending.

Is cutting cabinet a full-proof scheme to ensure spending does not continue to ramp out of control No, that will take spending control legislation, a strong Finance Minister, and a tough President of the Treasury Board.

However, it's a good start and with any hope, a sign of things to come.