WATCH THE SPENDING

It’s encouraging to hear Finance Minister Joe Ceci acknowledging the need for restraint when it comes to public spending. The NDP government has followed through on a number of its promises since its May 5 election victory — as one would expect — adding millions to Alberta’s financial ledger during a time of economic challenges worsened by the collapse in oil prices. The drop in energy prices had begun well before the NDP presented its election promises to Albertans, of course, so one has to assume the party had weighed the reality of reduced revenues with the need for more services and infrastructure in a rapidly growing province.

“We know there is a challenge we have to address,” says Ceci, who estimates the deficit will be in the same $ 5- billion range pegged by the previous Conservative government.

“The parts of our programs and services that Albertans have indicated they want us to invest in, we have done that. We will need to look and restrain ( spending) going forward. That may be the word you hear from me a lot in the next few months.”

One can imagine ordinary Alberta households having the same sort of discussion as Ceci is inviting. Sitting around the kitchen table, they’d be aware of pending expenses, such as costly school fees as children prepare to return to classrooms. The parents would undoubtedly — it’s assumed — take stock of how the family’s finances could accommodate the school fees the new government has pledged to cut in half, while incurring the additional expense of essentials like backpacks, calculators and school clothes.

Just as Ceci must deal with disappointing oil royalties, many moms and dads will have to cope with their own tough money decisions — judgments perhaps provoked by job losses as companies shed thousands from their payrolls, or by higher living costs associated with groceries, city taxes, or, in other cases, rising rent.

So, it’s only right that Ceci recognizes the government needs to take a fulsome look at Alberta’s spending — spending that traditionally outstrips other provinces on a per- capita basis by a wide margin.

This is especially true when resource revenues that have buoyed the treasury for decades, to varying degrees, have taken a beating.

There’s no need for thoughtless slashing — unwise decisions that could jeopardize improvement of Calgary’s long- overdue cancer care, for instance — but there is a need to ensure every penny of taxpayers’ dollars is being spent appropriately.

Servicing Alberta’s debt is already siphoning $ 714 million a year from services such as education and hospitals. A close regard for the bottom line would be welcomed.