Local MLA and treasury board president Doug Horner gave some broad hints at what the next provincial budget will look like, but no details during a speech this week.
Horner spoke at the St. Albert Chamber of Commerce’s monthly luncheon on Wednesday and said Alberta definitely wouldn’t be immune from the economic uncertainty in the world.
“It is definitely having an impact on what is going on in your province. It is definitely having an impact on the revenue that we are potentially going to be able to provide.”
Horner and finance minister Ron Liepert spent much of last week travelling across the province to meet with invited panels on the budget.
He said they heard a strong message from the people they spoke with that the province should not cut spending to achieve deficit targets.
“People said build for the future, continue to build in the infrastructure, continue to build the schools, the hospitals and the roads that we need to get the economic benefit.”
Horner said when they spoke with groups across the province they asked for opinions on spending priorities, but also about taxes, the role of royalty revenues and the province’s savings.
He said royalties provide an average of 25 per cent of government revenues, and while moving away from royalties would be difficult, the people he has talked to encouraged the province to move in that direction.
Horner compared the province to British Columbia, saying it has a tax structure closest to Alberta. He said if B.C.’s system were to be brought to Alberta it would mean a big increase to provincial revenues.
“If you just plunked it into Alberta you would be paying $11 billion more every year,” he told the audience.
While he made no suggestion that the province should raise taxes, he said the province is hearing from residents that they want to move away from relying so heavily on natural resources royalties.
“That non-renewable resource we receive allows us to be the lowest taxed jurisdiction, probably in North America, but is that gap the right gap?”
Horner said all of these questions have to be looked at closely so Alberta can maintain its competitive advantages.
“We are going to be thinking about those sorts of things as we go forward.”
He said he hoped the budget would set a roadmap for the province over the long term not just the next fiscal year.
Horner said the province can spend money more efficiently, but he doesn’t believe the answer to a more efficient government lies only in laying off staff.
“We are absolutely going to be diving into that, but not as a witch hunt against our employees,” he said. “We have to get rid of the mindset that every time we go after a value audit we are actually after someone’s job.”
Horner said his hope is the province will gradually diversify the economy and make Albertans wealthier, thus expanding the province’s coffers as well.
“It doesn’t mean raising taxes a whole bunch, it means getting more people making a lot more money.”
In jest, Horner said the secret to strong government finances is wealthy Albertans who can fund them.
“I want you to be filthy wealthy, cause then I can tax the crap out of you.”
He encouraged people to visit the government’s website, which has a survey on spending priorities.
