Going down wrong road?

Re: “Getty looks back on oilsands legacy; Career carried him from Grey Cup to premier’s office,” the Journal, Nov. 28. I read with interest about the many accomplishments of Don Getty. When asked about his tenure as premier and criticism from his successor, Ralph Klein, for allowing the provincial debt to grow, Getty was quoted as saying, “It’s just politics.”

In fact, Klein’s criticism was justified.

Rejecting the advice of senior officials and advisers, Getty and his treasurer, Dick Johnston, decided that to diversify the economy Alberta had to attract businesses that had no economic reason to locate here.

They provided loan guarantees to firms that needed financing to start up in Alberta. Many of these businesses failed, leaving the government on the hook for defaulted loans worth billions of dollars.

Businesses should only set up shop where they have a comparative advantage. This is why the automotive industry is located in Ontario and why Alberta does not try to grow coffee or pineapples or have a textile industry.

Under Getty, the government ran seven consecutive deficits until 1991-92 and accumulated more than $8 billion in debt due to irresponsible policies and spending. Klein inherited this mess and quickly had to implement a four-year plan to balance the budget and address the debt.

At first, Klein had to borrow just to finance the deficits and accumulated debt. Albertans had to make many sacrifices to get the province’s fiscal house in order.

Are we going down the same road by unwinding our past fiscal successes and incurring large deficits? Are we going to pass off Albertans’ concerns as just politics? Oliver Franke, assistant professor of economics, Concordia University College of Alberta