NDP to present ‘ responsible budget’
Job creation, economic growth and diversification key points, says Ceci
Albertans will find out Oct. 27 just how big a deficit the province is facing this year and what the NDP government is planning to do to get Alberta back in the black.
Finance Minister Joe Ceci said Monday his budget will set out a plan to return the province to fiscal balance, stabilize public services and stimulate the economy.
He said the budget will also correct some of the mistakes of the previous Tory government, and promote job creation, economic growth and diversification.
“Now is not the time to make things worse; for knee- jerk reactions that would result in firing nurses and teachers during these tough economics times,” Ceci told reporters at the legislature. “We’re going to act thoughtfully, carefully and with the best information and research available.”
He continues to project a deficit this year of between $ 5 billion — the deficit projected by the PC government in the budget it introduced, but never passed, last spring — and $ 6.5 billion.
“What I will tell you is that going forward, there will be smaller and smaller deficits,” Ceci said.
The Calgary- Fort MLA and former Calgary alderman said he received advice from business leaders during a tour of eight cities, from meetings with aboriginal and non- profit groups, from 3,000 online submissions and from two telephone town hall meetings that reached 83,289 Albertans.
Polls taken during the two town hall sessions suggest nearly half of Albertans would prefer the government delay new programs until the economy recovers rather than raise taxes or cut services. Alberta Finance said the town hall sessions cost $ 59,243.
Ceci promised to deliver a “responsible budget,” but he wouldn’t say whether it will include additional tax increases.
His government immediately hiked corporate taxes and personal income taxes on those earning more than $ 125,000 annually shortly after winning the May 5 election.
A Mainstreet poll Monday found Albertans have little appetite for tax increases, but they do support building infrastructure during the recession.
The poll found 70 per cent of respondents rejected the idea of increasing taxes to reduce Alberta’s growing deficit, with 22 per cent supporting the idea and eight per cent undecided.
Wildrose finance critic Derek Fildebrandt said it would be “unethical” for the NDP to raise taxes any more than they announced they would during the spring election campaign.
“Taxpayers have already been hit hard by the previous government and by the NDP government,” he said.
“There’s little capacity for Albertans and Alberta businesses to pay more.”
PC finance critic Manmeet Bhullar said he is concerned the NDP budget will cause more harm than good.
“My biggest concern is that they’re likely to make ideological changes that can have a very negative effect on the lives of thousands of hard- working Albertans,” he said.
Bhullar also called on the NDP government to release the report it commissioned former Bank of Canada governor David Dodge to produce on the multi- year capital plan.
“Since this report will form the basis for billions of dollars of capital spending, Albertans deserve to know how their hard- earned tax dollars will be spent.”
Alberta Liberal Leader David Swann says he is encouraged by early signals from Ceci that the budget will contain economic stimulus measures, but stressed that such measures must be comprehensive and multi- pronged.
“We want to see that infrastructure spending be prioritized based on need — not political considerations — and include repairing existing infrastructure as well as new projects,” he said in a statement.