Calgary Herald

NDP’s financial balancing act is approachin­g a breaking point

Running huge deficit as economy recovers a clear sign program spending out of control

- CHRIS NELSON

Adjectives are funny little literary critters, to be sure. And never more so than when politician­s wrap their collective forked tongues around them.

On first blush — and turning red in the face would be a suitable response from some of those responsibl­e — the words ‘brutal’ and ‘compassion­ate’ would appear to be as far apart as Donald Trump and a Trappist monk.

But hold on a second; let’s wait for that all-important following noun, and suddenly the difference melts away like a late-May dump of snow.

Take, for example, our premier, who, right at this moment is huddling with her cabinet buddies in a three-day strategy session in the wilds of Banff.

There they will be discussing “compassion­ate belt-tightening” and not for a single second will the phrase “brutal cuts” pass her lips, unless, of course, she decides to mention UCP leader Jason Kenney.

Yes, according to Notley the Opposition’s plans to balance the provincial budget would be as brutal as Napoleon’s retreat from Moscow, totally unlike the NDP’s touchy-feely approach.

Weird then that there’s actually only one year’s difference in the separate suggested timelines — Kenney’s lot aiming for three years after the next election as opposed to the current government’s 2023 target. Not exactly chalk and cheese — or compassion versus brutality.

So let’s ignore the camouflage of the adjectives and instead consider what these current government cabinet ministers face if they’ve any chance of repeating their shocking 2015 election victory when Albertans return to the polls in about 16 months.

While we’re still a couple of months from the end of the 2017-18 budgetary year, its deep red glare undoubtedl­y can be seen even from confines of the Juniper Hotel, where Notley and her merry band of ministers are currently making camp at a cost of 37,000 taxpayer dollars.

That tidy little sum is chump change when compared to the $10-billion-plus bucks we are borrowing as a province this year.

It’s a deficit number that must shrink and shrink quickly if the seemingly endless blather about rebounds, green shoots and turned corners is to be credited with anything other than the mumblings of a provincial treasurer so far out of his depth he can count the portholes on what’s left of the submerged Titanic.

Dress it up with as much compassion­ate talk as she’s able to muster, but the fact remains that unless Notley reduces the borrowing binge big time in the looming 2018-2019 budget during what is the last full year of this government’s mandate, then she and her party better start scoping out the cushiest seats on those opposition benches.

Now, if indeed Alberta is back on the somewhat rickety rails after a brutally long recession, with unemployme­nt falling as the oil price rises, then surely we should expect to see a good chunk of current deficit spending eliminated.

Yet, going into this Banff chinwag, the NDP’s announced plan is to still borrow another $9.7 billion for the 2018-19 year.

That is ludicrous and if they cling to that outrageous amount of future added debt it will put a stake through past pronouncem­ents that this monsoon of red ink was only necessary to see us through tough times. For if, with blue skies ahead, they can only reduce borrowing by a paltry half a billion then they can kiss goodbye even the smallest hope of re-election.

And even that small deficit reduction undoubtedl­y will be made the easy way — pushing back planned capital projects into future years while letting the relentless creep of program spending continue unabashed.

No wonder credit agencies are looking aghast at Alberta these days as we essentiall­y borrow copious amounts just to keep the lights on.

Call it compassion­ate belttighte­ning if you must, but this next budget will either be a Hail Mary pass for the NDP to attempt to get back into the electoral end zone or the ultimate death knell for a failed experiment in financial jiggery-pokery.

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