Green shoots wither while $12B deficit looms

Each morning I stride into the backyard, full of hope and purpose, to stare intently at a patch of bare and barren ground, hoping to see those longed-for green shoots. Sadly, minutes later, I forlornly wander back inside, somewhat crushed. I know how Joe Ceci must feel.

In my case, it’s the asparagus, planted for the first time. The sullen, silly things are proving a tad difficult to coax into the welcoming warmth of an early Alberta summer. Still, at least it isn’t a $300-billion economy that remains buried in the dirt.

Despite all the upbeat chatter three months ago on how things are turning around in our province, there’s not a great deal of evidence to support the talk — the unemployment rate remains stuck at an atrocious 9.3 per cent in our city, the multinationals are fleeing the oilsands, and the price of a barrel of the black stuff is dropping faster than the NDP’s approval ratings. Oh, and the anti-pipeline brigade in B.C. are gearing up for a summer offensive with the backing of the soon-to-bein-power NDP/Green party alliance.

In late March, when the provincial budget was announced, we were reliably told to expect an average of price of $55 a barrel throughout this fiscal year and those longed-for green shoots were a-poppin’ out like dandelions on the lazy neighbour’s lawn. True, some miserable folks pointed out the inherent economic dangers of such optimism, especially when the price was even then sitting at $48. Ah, but the name Prudence no longer features among those “most popular” lists in Alberta these days.

Which makes provincial treasurer Ceci’s looming first-quarter update regarding our fiscal picture a watershed moment.

Surely there comes a time when reality must finally set in with these folk running our province? After all, we’re already planning to spend $10,300,000,000 more than we take in this year (it looks a lot scarier when you see all those zeros).

So, if taking a walk on the sunny side of the street with oil-price projections and subsequent provincial royalties still leaves you in such a sea of red that even a diehard Flames fan would balk, then what message does the last three months of this “greenshoot-free zone” deliver? Are we going to readily accept $12 billion in the hole?

Don’t bet against it. The premier herself, addressing nurses at a recent union get-together in Calgary, talked about the horrors of those hard-working healthcare workers being fired and marched from the building. Brutal cuts, savage cuts and such flow from her lips as though merrily calling out bingo numbers.

Wouldn’t you love to be a negotiator on the government’s side of the table currently working out a new pay and benefits deal with various health groups, knowing that’s your boss’s position?

Of course, the very idea that savings could be had seems to have passed the government by. Changing the culture that every penny of a departmental budget should be spent (otherwise you’ll lose out next time around) would be a start, axing the ludicrous amount of convention travel would be another, and stopping the hiring of ever more people in health, public administration and education for at least a year would be a third option.

Instead, we’ll keep finding new ways to spend. We’re now going to hand out rebate cheques to people and companies who install solar panels.

Hey, maybe I can get one for my asparagus patch. Chris Nelson is a Calgary writer.