Alberta could have been debt free already
Author:
John Carpay
2001/12/04
EDMONTON: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) has presented Alberta Finance Minister Pat Nelson with a submission in respect of Alberta's 2002-03 Budget. Called "Fiscal Stability and Smaller Government: A Taxpayer's Budget", the 17-page submission calls upon the Alberta government to:
limit growth in program spending to inflation and population growth
impose financial penalties on ministers who exceed their budget
proceed with scheduled cuts to business income taxes
remove the expression "one-time spending" from political discourse
build up the Heritage Fund to eliminate Alberta's personal income tax
restructure the health care system
require any tax increases to go to a referendum for Albertans' approval
base program spending on the historic average for oil and gas revenues
The submission includes charts showing the impact of spending control legislation on Alberta's debt repayment. If spending control legislation had been implemented in 1996, program spending would have increased with inflation and population growth only. As a result, Alberta might have been completely debt-free by the end of 2001 or sooner.
This 2001-02 fiscal year, Albertans will pay $825 million in debt servicing costs. After adjusting for inflation and population growth, Alberta government spending on programs, per person, is 25% higher than five years ago. Alberta is also the highest-spending province in Canada, per person.
"Alberta could have been debt-free already - today - if the government had implemented spending control legislation in 1996," stated CTF-Alberta director John Carpay. "That would have saved Albertans $825 million in debt servicing costs for this year alone," he added.