Lifting the Burden: A roadmap for balanced budgets and tax relief in Alberta is the Canadian Taxpayers Federation's 2017-18 pre-budget submission to the government of Alberta. 

Alberta taxpayers are currently paying over $1 billion annually in debt interest payments, and that number will double, reaching $2 billion by 2018-19. Alberta’s $28.4 billion debt is rolling in at a rate of $355.44 per second. 

The CTF’s submission calls for a 15 per cent program spending cut to save $7.8 billion and makes the following recommendations:

• Introduce a legislated spending cap limiting program spending increases to the rate of inflation and population growth
• Reverse the push toward government-subsidized daycare
• End all corporate welfare in the province
• Reduce the number of government employees by 10 per cent to save $2.56 billion
• Implement a 10 per cent salary reduction for government employees
• Cut MLA salaries by 10 per cent allowing pay to remain over $114,000
• Reform government employee pensions
• Reduce MLA and government employee mileage rates

The CTF’s pre-budget submission also calls on the government to: 

• Ban partisan advertising
• Bring back the single-rate income tax
• Say no to new tax powers for cities, at least without citywide referenda
• Say no to taxpayer money for a pro sports arena in Calgary
• Budget for disaster and emergency relief according to reality

Click here to read the submission.