NDP waters down its promises as economy fizzles

Spending for new programs, projects being phased in as revenues plummet

The economic downturn and the subsequent drop in government revenues continue to delay and water down many of the Alberta NDP’s 2015 campaign promises.

Although the opposition pilloried the government Thursday for failing to rein in record deficits, some key NDP initiatives have stalled due to a lack of cash.

And even when the government commits to projects, it is often planning to spend the money years down the road. A new Edmonton hospital promised in the 2017-18 budget Thursday, for example, lists zero dollars this year for construction of the project. The funding from the capital plan — $400 million over four years — starts in 2018-19 with $50 million.

Another flagship promise was to cut school fees in half. The government’s first bill of the spring session cut them by a quarter, eliminating fees for instructional materials and bus fees.

“I was up at this podium last year talking about how if we needed to, we would slow down the implementation of campaign promises,” Finance Minister Joe Ceci told a news conference Thursday.

Even with only a partial cut, he said the news on school fees would come as a relief to Alberta parents.

Other promises have started with baby steps.

The NDP poked around the edges of its $25-per-day child care promise, with a $10-million pilot project announced in November. That program creates 1,000 daycare spots.

Ceci said the government will continue to expand those pilot programs, piece by piece.

Last fall, the province also committed $242 million to the Yellowhead Trail upgrade in Edmonton, but that money doesn’t flow until 2023. At the time, Infrastructure Minister Brian Mason said it was a model the province would increasingly look at as it tried to match federal and municipal funds for big projects.

A running theme for the government as it battles soaring deficits is that promises that don’t cost the public purse money, or actually bring in revenue, have received the go-ahead.

The minimum wage is going up and the carbon tax, which wasn’t in the NDP election platform, was implemented this year. The carbon tax will bring in $3.9 billion in revenues, but most of it will go to household rebates and smallbusiness tax reductions. A corporate tax hike — from a 10-percent tax rate to a 12-per-cent rate — was also quickly implemented, although revenues from corporate taxes have plummeted, mainly due to the economic downturn.

The government is also continuing to freeze tuition rates, although it won’t be backfilling any of that money for the schools anymore.