St. Albert’s Mayor Nolan Crouse wonders why the province can’t keep a projected increase in spending closer to zero in these troubled economic times.
“We’ve done our part in that,” he said Friday, a day after Premier Rachel Notley addressed Albertans in a televised prequel to the release of the provincial budget next week.
Notley told Albertans Thursday that her government would not “be “slashing and burning the programs and services that families count on” even in the face of a deficit expected to exceed $10 billion in the wake of the oil price crash.
Crouse said he thought it was a good speech, but did note the section where Notley reminded government partners that Albertans “want us to live within our means” and aren’t looking for significant increases in public spending at this time.
He said he interpreted that in part as asking municipalities to keep tax increases minimal, which the St. Albert council has already achieved.
But he did question the spending graph Notley used as part of the presentation, which forecasted provincial government operating expenses increasing 2.8 per cent for the 2015-16 budget year.
He wondered why spending increases weren’t held closer to zero.
“I see that spending, I see that as basically almost same-old, same-old. It’s higher than inflation,” he said, noting council tried to keep increases minimal when approving the 2016 budget. By the time council was done, the projected residential property tax increase was 0.2 per cent.
“What I don’t see necessarily is the provincial government during the exact same time saying we think we can get by at zero per cent,” Crouse said.
Perhaps not surprisingly, St. Albert’s two NDP MLAs had positive reactions to the premier’s address.
“It’s no secret that the price of oil is not great, but I’m optimistic that we’re continuing to support frontline services,” said Spruce Grove-St. Albert MLA Trevor Horne on Friday.
He said he thinks Notley’s main message was that supports for Alberta’s families will remain, and he praised the approach of not cutting essential services.
“I don’t think that responding to a downturn in the economy with layoffs and such is the best path forward, and I’m glad that’s not the path that Premier Notley’s indicating we’ll be taking,” he said.
Horne said he’s excited to see some of the details of items like the new Alberta Child Benefit and the Alberta Jobs Plan when the budget is released.
Both he and St. Albert MLA Marie Renaud praised Notley’s statements that Alberta will continue to fight for a pipeline to tidewater and against the exemption of the Edmonton area, which includes St. Albert, from changes to Employment Insurance benefits.
“I like that she reiterated to the federal government how important it was to get our product out,” Renaud said.
Renaud said she hopes that her constituents find some comfort in the address.
“I hope they’ll be reassured that we are absolutely preserving essential services,” she said.
Renaud said the government is trying to find efficiencies in spending.
“I think we are looking for savings everywhere we can,” she said. “In the interim we’re not going to make the problem worse by cutting services.”
Renaud said the province is in tough times with the price of oil, but said one of the positive messages in Notley’s speech was the reminder of the NDP government’s commitment to infrastructure.
“You get people to work,” she said.
Renaud said that she thinks while nobody’s happy with the size of the deficit, it’s “far more palatable” because the government is not cutting essential services.
