The Government of Alberta had a straightforward duty to perform: to manage the economy. For the past 20 years, arising from the difficult economic times of the late-1980s, the Progressive Conservative government had a chance to learn from mistakes and trends of the past and to then manage accordingly.
The Klein government introduced Alberta to a neo-liberal economic model that allowed the market, an invisible hand of an economy, to govern, and it looked to be successful. Oil prices rebounded back then, and the economy began to gather steam. Taking a “hands off” approach, the government focused on paying off its debt, but did little more to direct the development of the province. That was the role of the market.
This policy deviated from that set out by Peter Lougheed, the first PC premier. He saw oil as a means of developing and diversifying Alberta. Such a plan would have reduced the province’s reliance on oil, but with this divergence, Alberta became more dependent on oil. Two subsequent premiers, Ed Stelmach and Alison Redford, both looked to follow Lougheed’s ideal, but the PC party rebelled and removed them from leadership. They upset the market, threatening the chance of the party to be re-elected. And so, little changed with regard to a forward-looking policy.
Unfortunately, though, the price of oil has collapsed again, and it has left this government falling short on its budget, without, it would seem, a contingency plan. History has shown that busts followed oil booms, but it seems this government was ill prepared for this again.
The PC party’s latest choice for leader, the de facto premier, has chosen to blame the people for this mismanagement of the economy. Albertans wanted lower tax rates, higher services, but it was the PC government that offered those, as it bribed us in order to maintain its position of power. It was also that same government that did not collect its oil revenues; that allowed private industry to drive up the costs of living within this province. It was the government itself that abrogated its responsibility to manage the economy.
Are we, as the people, responsible for the mismanagement of this economy? In short, no: this responsibility falls clearly on those in government. They failed in their fiduciary duty to us. If the people are at fault for anything, it was to have had faith in the ideal of a representative democracy, for they continued to elect this party to power.
Sadly, as history has taught us, the people will bear the brunt of the burden; it will be the people who will bear the costs of reduced government services. We only need look at those measures of austerity elsewhere around the globe. Maybe it will be good for us to tighten our belts a little. But, maybe, we should ask for a government that has a clear plan this time: a plan that serves us, not one that impotently watches our revenues flow out of Alberta and Canada.
John Kennair is an international consultant and doctor of laws who lives in St. Albert.
