EDMONTON: Today's Third Quarter Fiscal Update indicates that the Alberta Government is abandoning its fiscally conservative platform in favor of a federal Liberal style economic program," says the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF).

The Federation pointed out that the province is applying approximately half of this year's surplus to debt reduction while spending most of the remaining funds on new programs - the same policy the Liberal government in Ottawa has adopted.

"It's becoming more and more difficult to tell the difference between the Liberals in Ottawa and the Tories in Edmonton," said CTF Alberta Director Mitchel Gray. "Both governments are committed to massive increases in spending while completely dismissing the possibility of tax cuts."

Gray said the province should have stuck with its original plan to apply 75% of the surplus to the debt. Had the government done that, this year's debt payment would come to $2.4 billion instead of the $1.6 billion announced in the Third Quarter Update.

The Federation further stated that the province could have given every Alberta taxpayer a rebate of at least $500, even after applying 75% of this year's surplus to debt repayment.

"The surplus keeps on getting bigger and bigger but there's no more money in taxpayers' wallets," said Gray. "Something is definitely wrong with this picture."

Gray called on the government to come forward with new, meaningful tax cuts in Thursday's budget. "It's time to pay a dividend to Albertans. The 2000-2001 budget has to provide significant tax relief to make up for the tax cuts that should have been made as a result of Alberta's massive surplus."