You've really got to feel sorry for them. It's not that they don't want to do it. It's not like they aren't trying. It used to be so much easier for them, but now they just can't seem to get the job done.

No, we're not talking about those guys on Viagra commercials, we're talking about the Alberta government building roads and infrastructure in the province.

There's a myth circulating - perpetrated by some politicians - that only if the Alberta government spent more money, transit systems would be complete, ring roads would be open and every new neighbourhood would have its own school.

It's simply not true.

Governments, both provincial and municipal, are spending more money now on capital than ever.

The Alberta government alone has increased capital plan spending by a jaw-dropping 572 per cent in the last five years, including a 39 per cent increase in this year alone.

Alberta also spends significantly more per person than any other province. This year the government will spend $1,930 per Albertan on capital, compared to the average of $525 per other Canadian.

Or put another way, the Alberta government will spend $6.7 billion on capital this year and the Ontario government will spend $5.9 billion. Ontario is spending less, yet has four times the population of Alberta.

The problem clearly does not lie with a lack of money or a lack of will from the government. It's simply one of supply and demand. The government has increased its demand for infrastructure (road and buildings) by 572 per cent in five years, yet Alberta's labour force supply has only increased by around 10 per cent during the same period.

Demand way up, supply not so much.

It would be like your boss offering you a 572 per cent raise, while asking you to do the work of five other people. You'd be happy to take the raise, but there's no way you could possibly do all the extra work.

Case in point: the City of Edmonton did not receive a single bid recently on a road resurfacing job, the first time in memory that has ever happened. The money is there, the political will is there, but the people to do the work are not.

All of this demand has increased the cost of infrastructure - significantly. Inflationary costs for infrastructure grew 25 per cent last year alone.

One way of addressing part of this issue is to mandate stable, consistent, funding. Alberta's last decade of capital spending has been a roller-coaster: from moderate-to-low spending in the mid-to-late 90s, to a spike around the beginning of the decade, to a crash in 2002, to an out of control rocket over the past five years.

Companies who build capital in the province (particularly roads) don't know whether it will be feast or famine for government work in the future, so it's no wonder many are trying to re-coup any new equipment costs while the government money tap is turned on full-blast.

Predictable, stable, long-term funding parameters will not address all of the inflationary issues, but it will undoubtedly help.

So, if you're not happy because your neighbourhood is awaiting a school or your drive to work is taking longer and longer, asking your governments to throw more of your tax dollars at the problem is not going to solve it.

It's also why taxpayers should question Calgary Mayor Dave Bronconnier's claim that if the west and southeast legs of Calgary's Light Rail Transit (LRT) lines aren't built immediately it's because the Alberta government didn't give the city enough money.

Money or no money, strings attached or not, it really doesn't matter right now. In this current climate, they're not getting built.