By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

Provincial Debt Clock urges province to do more with less

Jul 16, 2018 | 3:45 PM

If the Alberta government wants to learn how to rein in its spending, it should give British Columbia a buzz.

Colin Craig, Alberta Director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF), said as much during a stop in Ponoka on Monday alongside the travelling Provincial Debt Clock.

The clock, ticking at over $45 billion and increasing by more than $300 every second, is meant to show the Government of Alberta that they could be doing more with less.

But what about the massive expenditure it would take to build a new hospital in Red Deer, for example?

Asked if that would be responsible spending, Craig said, “What we do is we look at the big picture. Next door in BC, they’re providing healthcare, education, they’re fixing highways, they’re doing the same services that the Alberta government is doing, but doing them for a lot less.

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“We really don’t care about the name of the party in power,” he added. “We want to see the government get the debt under control and stop this clock. It’s not fair for young people to have to pay the bills for a whole bunch of services they never received.”

Craig said while it’s encouraging that the UCP has committed to a faster balancing of the budget, the CTF would like them to be even more aggressive should they obtain power next year. He admits, however, that the NDP can’t shoulder all the blame.

“The current government didn’t create the problem, but they’ve made it worse by passing a whole bunch of policies that make it more difficult for businesses to continue to operate, and that make it harder on families with things like the carbon tax increase and personal income tax hikes,” he said.

“They continue to increase spending when they should’ve been tightening their belts. They’ve made some positive moves around spending restraint in a couple different areas, but overall spending has increased when it should’ve been at the very least freezing spending.”

The latest two-week tour of the Debt Clock got rolling earlier this month at Calgary’s Olympic Park. There, the CTF stated that the money required to make a bid for the 2026 Winter Olympics is non-existent.

According to the CTF, Alberta’s debt stood at $11.9 billion as of March 31, 2015, just before the last provincial election. They say it’s since ballooned to more than $42.4 billion and will reach $53.3 billion by the end of March 2019.

Craig concluded noting the lack of wage cuts made within the provincial government, while most Albertans have been forced to cut spending and experience salary reductions.

“If Alberta merely got its spending down to the same levels as BC, there wouldn’t be a need to increase our debt,” he finished. “It’s time to start cutting the fat.”