Notley vows a ‘compassionate’ tightening of the belts

The NDP is signalling a move toward fiscal restraint after warning the province will tighten its purse strings.

“Now is the point in the plan where the same steady approach that saw us through the recession is going to see us carefully and compassionately tighten our belts,” said Premier Rachel Notley in a speech at the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties (AAMDC) annual convention Thursday at the Shaw Conference Centre.

Notley’s speech echoed statements made by Municipal Affairs Minister Shaye Anderson at the convention Wednesday.

“I won’t mince words — difficult decisions will have to be made and we will have to tighten our belts to return Alberta to fiscal balance,” he told the audience.

The province plans to run a $10.3-billion deficit in 2017-18, and Finance Minister Joe Ceci has touted a plan to balance the budget by 2023-24. Provincial debt totalled $33.3 billion in 2016-17.

On Thursday, Notley told reporters the NDP inherited a recession: “We made a decision we would invest in Alberta, we would not follow the recession, we would lead the recovery.

“We’re still in a very tenuous position ... Many Albertans are not feeling the benefit of the recovery yet.”

United Conservative Party house leader Jason Nixon said poor fiscal management and ideological policies have created a hole that is “going to be very, very hard to get out of.”

“We’ve been telling the NDP for years now that we have to get Alberta’s fiscal house in order, so I’m excited to see that the NDP are finally looking that way,” he said Thursday.

Notley also reiterated a promise that Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline to the West Coast would be built. Kinder Morgan Canada Ltd. was stalled while waiting for permits from the municipality of Burnaby in B.C., prompting Notley to notify the National Energy Board that the government would intervene.

Notley is going on a cross-country tour starting in Toronto on Nov. 20 and including stops in Ottawa, Calgary and Vancouver to speak on the issue.

“I’ll be making the point ... that the completion of the Kinder Morgan pipeline is fundamental to the economic prosperity of all Canadians. It is, in effect, a national project,” she told reporters.

The AAMDC convention included a forum Thursday where rural leaders asked more than a dozen cabinet ministers questions, ranging from ambulance resources to funding for agricultural society facilities.

Red Deer County Mayor Jim Wood asked Justice Minister Kathleen Ganley about crime reduction in rural areas, saying some people are “scared to live in their own homes” due to break-ins.

“There is definitely a process by which individual municipalities can request additional officers ... that tends to work quite well,” Ganley said.