Alberta’s NDP government may be trying to protect services and boost the economy with billions in planned infrastructure spending.
But, at some point the bills will come due and the provincial government needs to tell Albertan how it plans to repay all the money it will borrow.
It’s a plan that is sorely lacking.
The NDP government is embarking on a major shift with plans to borrow billions of dollars in its 2015-’16 budget, with nearly $6 billion for capital and it’s borrowing to cover operating expenses for the first time since 1993. Alberta’s debt is expected to grow to $47.4 billion by the end of the decade.
The government has struck a risky balance at a time of great uncertainty.
With the price of oil continuing to remain low, thousands of oil company workers joining the ranks of the unemployed and a slowing provincial economy, the NDP says it doesn’t want to make matters worse by laying off provincial employees and harming essential services at a time when they are most needed.
There is some truth to this, but it comes with a cost.
The interest will add up and it’s all money that doesn’t go to teachers, nurses, programs and other front-line government services.
The Province needs to give Albertans a clear plan to repay the debt it’s preparing to rack up and not leave it to future generations to deal with.
Ultimately, it is Albertans who will be left holding the bill.
