A group of almost 20 parents came to the division’s board meeting to deliver a presentation on the division’s Learner Profile, which would replace existing report cards at the elementary and junior high school levels. Most of the parents came from Red Deer Lake School, which had a number of meetings about the Learner Profile, both with the division and with parents. There were also concerned parents with children who attend Millarville School and Dr. Morris Gibson School in Okotoks.

Cindy Poole, head of Red Deer Lake School’s report card committee, told trustees and administrators parents want to see changes to the Learner Profile, which is being used at three pilot schools.

She told the board using words like achieving and extending tell parents little about their child’s abilities. The Learner Profile uses the words beginner, developer, achieving and extending to explain where students are in their learning.

Cindy Poole and Susan Haas with a group of parents who are concerned about the Foohthills School Division's proposed new report cards, called Learner Profiles. The parent group packed the division office last Wednesday to give their opinions on the profiles.

According to Poole, the descriptions are confusing and are too broad because when a student’s grade drops or rises within one of the categories, neither the student nor their parent knows. The parent group also said not providing junior high students with percentage grades will cause problems when they move into high school. They said each school should be allowed to make changes to report cards and called for a Learner Profile that included both percentage grades and descriptors.

This is not the first time the school division has heard the same message from parents. Similar issues were raised in meetings held at Red Deer Lake School in the fall.

Poole said following the presentation last week parents gave the trustees a letter asking them to provide a response to parents’ concerns. She said they also wanted all trustees to hear their concerns.

Doug Sopp has children in Kindergarten, Grades 6 and Grade 8 at Red Deer Lake School. He said the division has been dodging questions from parents.

“If there is a question they don’t want to answer, they don’t,” he said.

Sopp and his wife Joelle have been at several meetings regarding the Learner Profile and say their concerns have not been addressed.

Joelle said she likes how the report card gives a descriptor grade to every topic the student studies in each subject, but would still like to see an overall grade.

“Our daughter always had small jumps like from a 70 per cent to 72 per cent to being an honours student,” she said. “Without those small jumps she may have just thrown her hands up.”

An unofficial petition is also posted at the school just south of Calgary. Poole said they want to know how many parents want the issue looked at further.

Kim Saunders, whose children attend Dr. Morris Gibson School, said she will be present at the last of three information nights regarding the Learner Profile. Division officials will be at the school’s library on March 18 at 7 p.m. to discuss the new report card for parents in the Okotoks area. Meetings have already been held at Red Deer Lake School and Oilfields Junior/Senior High School in Black Diamond.

Saunders said she wasn’t concerned about the Learner Profile until she learned it would be used in junior high.

“My biggest concern is them going to high school never having grades,” she said.

Foothills School Division (FSD) assistant superintendent of learning Stacey Meyers said there will be answers to the concerns raised by the end of the month.

A committee of 18 teachers and some administrative staff has been working on the Learner Profiles for three years. They will review all of the feedback, including what parents have said at meetings and surveys from parents, students and staff from the three pilot schools.

Meyers said recommendations will be passed on to the board of trustees by the beginning of April. He said he expects the implementation timeline will be extended. Currently, the Learner Profiles are to be rolled out this fall.

“It’s pretty loud from our community that we are not there yet,” Meyers said.

Meyers said he has responded to every e-mail and phone call he has received, but said many of the issues cannot be resolved until the committee makes decisions about how to proceed.

He added a new online reporting system is now in place to augment the Learner Profile. The Students Achieve website allows parents and students to log on and see teacher’s comments and marks from assignments throughout the year. Meyers said the division will work on a system to standardize how often a teacher will update the Students Achieve website.

Survey results from parents and students at the three pilot schools show just under half of parents are accessing the site and only about a quarter of students. Students had a better understanding of the new descriptions than parents. Slightly more than half of the parents said they knew what beginning, developing, achieving and extending means. About three-quarters of the parent respondents said they didn’t understand the rationale behind the change to Learner Profiles.

Wendy Robinson, the former treasurer of the not-for-profit society, pleaded guilty last week to theft over $5,000.

According to Okotoks RCMP approximately $13,000 went missing from the club’s accounts over three years. Discrepancies were noticed in November 2008 and the police were called. An investigation revealed problems in the club’s bookkeeping.

Robinson was in charge of accepting payments and recording them.

In a press release Okotoks Figure Skating Club president Bernadine Kosiorek said the club has changed its practices to avoid a similar situation in the future.

“Through the support of our membership and many extra hours of work by our volunteers, the club has implemented numerous changes to maximize security,” Kosiorek said.

She said the club is “committed to ensuring financial stability and the smooth operation of our club.”

A pre-sentence report will be prepared before Robinson is sentenced on May 11 in Okotoks Provincial Court.

The public school division signed a 15-page document in February outlining its responsibilities for the school, which will be Okotoks’ first public-private school.

FSD secretary-treasurer Drew Chipman said one main difference with this school is the company building it will be responsible for maintenance for 30 years.

The school division will hire and pay for the school’s custodians, but will not pay for big ticket maintenance costs, such as repairing or replacing the roof or the school’s heating system.

Chipman said the school division is allotted its operations and maintenance budget based on the number of students and the square footage of each school. As a result, the division will not receive infrastructure maintenance and renewal funding for the school from the Province. Chipman said the maintenance fees for new schools are minimal in the first few years anyway and after that the school will have to be maintained as components reach the end of their lifespan. The school division will take over maintenance of the school after 30 years.

The school division will also pay for the insurance on the school. The Province has the final say on long-term leases, such as daycares or other private businesses that would like to use the school. They also determined the design of the school, based on four models that are being used for all new school construction.

Chipman said the division had its lawyers review the agreement and added it is the same document signed by Calgary and Edmonton school boards that have P3s being built.

Construction on 18 P3 schools in Calgary and Edmonton, that were part of the first phase of such schools announced in 2007, are nearing completion and are expected to open to students this September.

Chipman and other FSD officials toured one of Calgary’s P3 schools recentl and were pleased with what they witenessed.

The Province has closed tenders on 10 P3 schools and four traditionally-funded high schools slated to be built in the second phase of their plan.

Besides Okotoks, schools will be built in Calgary, Edmonton, Langdon, Spruce Grove and Sherwood Park.

The Okotoks school will have a capacity of 700 Kindergarten to Grade 9 students. It will be similar in size to Okotoks Junior High School.

Some parents and community members have expressed concerns over how the traffic from the school will be handled and have said the playground space may be insufficient.

Tim Chamberlin, an Alberta Education spokesperson, said they are just waiting for approval from the Treasury Board and hope to have a contract signed with a company by April 1.

In the meantime, the school division has created a committee that is looking at where the attendance boundaries will lie when the new school opens in 2012. A number of scenarios will be unveiled to the public next month for comment.

A name for the school will be determined through a contest.

A plan to review the gender neutrality of the Canadian anthem has fallen flat.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has backed off on a proposed study of the English language lyrics in O Canada announced in the throne speech on March 3.

At the centre of the issue is the line: “In all thy sons command.”

Okotoks singer Melanie Laine sings ‘O Canada’ during the High River community celebration when the Olympic torch passed through the Foothills on Jan. 18. Prime Minister Stephen Harper backed off on a proposal to review the gender neutrality of the national anthem.

The prime minister’s idea  in one that has struck the wrong tune with Okotoks residents.

Okotoks resident Nora Mulder said it’s a case of political correctness run amuck.

“Everybody wants to be politically correct and it needs to stop,” she said. “Everyone is blowing it out of proportion.”

Mulder said the government has more important things to deal with.

“Yeah, like feeding the homeless, affordable housing and helping stay-at-home moms,” she said.

Okotoks resident Rose Marlow said the lyrics have been in place for decades and questions the need to alter the lyrics that Canadians are familiar with.

“Leave it the way it is,” she said. “There are more things to do in the government right now than mess with the anthem.”

Okotoks resident Paul Minvielle wonders what it could ultimately be changed to in order to make everyone happy.

“As far as I’m concerned it’s a total non-issue… people need to lighten up,” said Minvielle.

Not everyone was opposed to the move.

Donna Cradduck from High River said it’s an opportunity to modernize the anthem and make it more inclusive.

“Now that they’ve brought it up, yeah,” she said. “It’s old-fashioned and it’s a gender issue.”

Representatives of God’s Littlest Angels Canada, a charity based in Okotoks which helps operate an orphanage in Haiti, are filling 40-foot shipping containers in locations across Canada to take to the earthquake-ravaged country.

Sharon Busch, Okotoks volunteer coordinator for the group, said they are looking for the basic essentials.

“We want it to be very basic: food, shelter, clothing,” she said. “Let’s try to give them a hand up.”

Some items donated will be used at the orphanage and others will be distributed across Haiti.

A full list of items needed is available at www.glacanada.ca/donations/donate_items.

According to Busch, tents and tarps are at the top of the list of needs.

“You cannot buy a tent or tarp in Haiti,” she said. “There’s nothing to be had. Groups are bringing them in and they’re being distributed as fast as they can.”

She said another item in critical need, that most peoples wouldn’t think about, are large plastic storage containers. She said they can serve a variety of needs not only for the organization but for people in Haiti as well.

Busch said baby formula is also one of the biggest needs, something she says is in short supply in Haiti and what can be found is expensive. They are also looking for non-perishable food items that can be taken to the island, such as rice, sugar, dried beans and meats.

Other items being accepted include work gloves, items for babies, vitamins, water purification tablets and light-weight, climate appropriate clothing.

Busch said new or used items will be accepted, but they must be in good condition.

They are also accepting cash donations, which can be used to purchase medical supplies to include in the container.

Time is of the essence, said Busch, because it’s almost two months since the Jan. 12 earthquake and the sooner the containers can be filled and sent to Haiti the better.

“Believe you me it’ll get used and distributed as fast as it can come off the container,” she said.

She said the need for aid in the country remains high.

Most of the children who were at the group’s orphanage at the time of the quake have since been adopted and gone to new homes in countries around the world.

She said the challenge now is dealing with the large number of children who aren’t up for adoption and need support. She said the orphanage has been inundated with requests from parents looking to hand over their children while they try and rebuild their homes or find food. The earthquake that devastated the country on Jan. 12 left millions homeless.

“They drop them off because they need care and the parents have nothing, less than nothing,” she said.

There are a number of ways people can donate.

People can call Sharon at 403-200-9153 and she can arrange to pick up items at locations in town. Alternatively, donations can be dropped off at the Okotoks Evangelical Free Church at 28 Westland Road. Volunteers are also being encouraged to help or to supervise additional drop-off sites.

Cash donations can also be made on-line at www.glacanada.ca.

Council will hold a public hearing to renew the racetrack’s development permit tomorrow (March 11) at 2:10 p.m.

Officials with the racetrack are hoping councillors will make their status permanent this year.

“We’ve been asking for this for the last seven years,” said Sharon McCaughan, racetrack co-owner. “It’s always the same. It’s always looking for permanent status so we don’t have to apply every year.”

To date, MD council has only granted the racetrack annual permits to operate.

She said they would also prefer permanent status rather than a permit for a longer period of three to five years.

She said permanent status will give them more certainty about their future because it’s currently difficult to plan for major events without it.

“It’s very, very difficult to try to plan anything over the wintertime,” she said. “Right now, we don’t bother doing anything. We can’t schedule a thing because we don’t know.”

While other racetracks are busy lining up sponsors for the year now, she said they aren’t able to do so until after the MD decides their fate each spring.

She said granting permanent status would also remove a lot of the red tape they face each year to open the track for the season.

“They still have under all the conditions of applying for a development permit because we’re considered temporary,” he said. “So we have to do the same stuff year after year.”

Racing is permitted to occur between 4 p.m. and 10 p.m. on Monday to Saturday and all people to be cleared out by midnight. Last year MD council made changes to their operating hours, allowing them to be open longer on Sundays, but cutting their hours on Saturdays.

She said they would like to be able to open earlier, particularly on days when they have scheduled a demolition derby before the races.

“We can only start at 4 p.m. and then fall into the problem of running out of daylight,” she said.

At present, noise from the site cannot exceed 55 decibels at any homes within a one-mile radius and cannot exceed 70 decibels during races.

She said results of sound testing at the track showed noise levels during races were below the levels set out by the MD.

It’s been a long process for the track, which has been a source of concerns for area residents over noise issues.

Area resident Tony Marshall said he hasn’t had any problems with the track’s regular day-to-day operations, but he is unhappy with the amount of noise from the track.

“We’re not opposed to the track, we’re opposed to the noise that’s generated by it,” he said. “It’s always been our point that it’s a noise issue and nothing else.”

He hasn’t noticed any difference in noise levels from the track over the years in the past. He would like to see more done to mitigate noise levels from the track.

“The noise levels haven’t changed, it’s just the way we deal with it,” he said.

MD council left the public hearing into a proposed residential and commercial development open last week to get input from the Towns of Okotoks and High River before making a decision. The development is located in an area where the three municipalities have partnered on industrial development and MD councillors wanted the towns to have an opportunity to see the plan before council decides.

MD manager Harry Riva Cambrin said the MD would need to give the towns 30 days to be able to respond before deciding how to proceed.

An area concept plan for the Aldersyde junction project includes potential commercial, industrial, residential and recreational development on a 151-acre parcel of land adjacent to the intersection of Highways 2A and 7.

Randy Gibson, project consultant, said council’s move wasn’t what the area’s developers were hoping for, but they’re willing to take the time needed to ensure everyone involved is satisfied with the final development.

“It would’ve been nicer to come out of it with a first reading when everybody’s fresh, that’s what we went in for, but, at the same time if we have to wait, we have to wait,” he said.

He said the proposal complements what has been envisioned for the Highway 2A corridor.

“It strives for environmental sensitivity, planning and design sustainability in the long-run, which is what the county needs,” he said.

The development has been proposed for two phases.

The first phase would include 15 commercial lots and 11 eco-industrial lots.

A future second phase could include residential and recreational developments as well as a pathway system and open spaces. No specific details were presented on the second phase.

The plan does not include any specific number of houses or densities that could be located in the area.

He said it would complement a “live, work, play” concept.

“For the most part, it’s the idea of being able to walk to work and to have residential development locally if there’s a commercial development,” he said.

An alternate plan for the development calls for the entire area to be earmarked for commercial and industrial development with a 21-acre municipal reserve parcel proposed as open space for recreation amenities.

“That was part of a larger green space allocation that would be blended throughout the eco-industrial,” he said.

He said they are trying to keep their options open with how they proceed on the development’s second phase.

“Our intention is to provide as much flexibility so the best solution can be made,” he said.

He said future development on the parcel could include soccer fields and possible indoor recreational amenities.

Plans for the development call it to tie into an existing water pipeline serving the Aldersyde area.

The development will include water conservation measures including metering, xeriscaping and the use of cisterns.

Riva Cambrin said water supplies in the area are tight.

The Town of High River supplies water for the corridor. Riva Cambrin said the Town provides 400 gallons per minute, 225 of which is used by the Cargill Foods Ltd. plant.

He said the remaining 175 gallons are split between the Aldersyde hamlet and other commercial businesses in the area.

He said they have identified a water demand of eight to 10 gallons per minute that will be managed through the use of a cistern on-site.

The main access will be off Highway 7 at the existing intersection with 64th Street. Alberta Transportation has asked a traffic impact study be conducted and for improvements to the intersection to include turning lanes.

He said they have also identified an opportunity to be able to locate recreational amenities at the site, but precisely what could ultimately be built at the site has not been determined.

“We have been approached to look at that by sports associations… there’s some public interest to do this and there’s private interest. Our intention is to find the mix that works best,” he said

Jean Cote, Foothills District Soccer Association president, is happy to see recreation needs and soccer fields included in plans for the development.

He said space is tight and teams in the MD are forced to travel across the region to wherever they can find space to play.

“We would like to support the development to be able to get access to more field space,” he said.

“I think it’s worth looking into and having some discussion over,” said Tony Hampshire. “Anything that moves traffic better will be an improvement.”

He said the most important thing is safety of children crossing roads on their way to and from school.

“We’re almost 700 kids here now and the roadways were never designed for that many vehicles and school buses,” Hampshire said.

As well, he said a lot of students also walk to school, which just adds to the congestion in the area.

The top recommendation is to change the existing four-way stop at the intersection of Milligan Drive and Crystalridge Drive. In its place, the Town will install a two-way stop at the intersection, allowing free-flow traffic on Milligan Drive, as well as a pedestrian crossing signal.

The signal lights will be installed at the west end of the intersection and the existing cross walk on the east side will be closed.

A second proposal would see the existing four-way stop at the intersection of Crystalridge Drive and Crystalridge Cresent converted to a two-way stop, with traffic being able to move freely along Crystalridge Drive. As part of the plan, the Town would close the crosswalk on the south side of the intersection and provide special markings on the north side.

The changes were recommended in a safety study, which looked at traffic patterns in the area.

They are proposed to proceed this year, but town council chose to hold off on the projects in the Town’s 2010 capital budget until residents have had a chance to respond to the proposals.

Municipal engineer Marley Oness said the Town is planning to hold an open house on the recommendations sometime this month.

Oness said the problem is congestion in the morning and afternoon hours and the Town wants to improve pedestrian safety near the school.

“We’re changing the stop control there and the intent is the traffic will disperse more quickly, relieve the congestion and allow the placement of more visible pedestrian crossings,” he said.

Oness said the Town can’t install a pedestrian signal at the Milligan intersection with the four-way stop in place because it goes against traffic engineering standards to have both in place at the same time.

The study did not recommend traffic lights at the intersection.

If the changes are approved, Oness said the Town’s intent is to monitor the intersection to see if they have improved safety in the area.

Amber Hossack, school’s council chairman, said the proposed pedestrian signal at Milligan Drive is a good step.

“I think it’s good that the Town is doing something there because I think the traffic is pretty bad,” she said.

However, Hossack wants to see the Crystalridge Drive and Crystalridge Crescent intersection remain a four-way stop.

“It seems like it will make it a very busy road for the kids to cross,” she said.

Hossack isn’t sure whether school patrols will continue to be able to be used at the intersection if it is made a two-way stop.

She said the school is also an after hours destination with the playground and a popular sledding hill in the winter.

Parents have a role to play in improving traffic safety in the area, said Hossack.

“Unfortunately, it does come down to the drivers making errors that they shouldn’t be and they are parents of the kids so it raises the question why,” she said.

Hossack  would like to see more traffic enforcement in the area.

Mitch Barber, Okotoks municipal enforcement officer, said it’s not so much a parking problem as it is a traffic issue as motorists face a bottleneck by the school. This, he added, has caused a lot of impatience in drivers in the area.

“That’s the concern we have is the impatience is leading to them not obeying either the pedestrians indicating they want to cross or the school patrollers that are there,” said Barber.

He said officers are there on a regular basis and they regularly see the problems in the area.

“Even our visibility up there hasn’t deterred it,” Barber said. “Even if they’re not obeying it up there, we’re in a position where we can lay charges over this. We’re up there witnessing this firsthand and tickets are being issued.”

“I think it’s worth looking into and having some discussion over,” said Tony Hampshire. “Anything that moves traffic better will be an improvement.”

He said the most important thing is safety of children crossing roads on their way to and from school.

“We’re almost 700 kids here now and the roadways were never designed for that many vehicles and school buses,” Hampshire said.

As well, he said a lot of students also walk to school, which just adds to the congestion in the area.

The top recommendation is to change the existing four-way stop at the intersection of Milligan Drive and Crystalridge Drive. In its place, the Town will install a two-way stop at the intersection, allowing free-flow traffic on Milligan Drive, as well as a pedestrian crossing signal.

The signal lights will be installed at the west end of the intersection and the existing cross walk on the east side will be closed.

A second proposal would see the existing four-way stop at the intersection of Crystalridge Drive and Crystalridge Cresent converted to a two-way stop, with traffic being able to move freely along Crystalridge Drive. As part of the plan, the Town would close the crosswalk on the south side of the intersection and provide special markings on the north side.

The changes were recommended in a safety study, which looked at traffic patterns in the area.

They are proposed to proceed this year, but town council chose to hold off on the projects in the Town’s 2010 capital budget until residents have had a chance to respond to the proposals.

Municipal engineer Marley Oness said the Town is planning to hold an open house on the recommendations sometime this month.

Oness said the problem is congestion in the morning and afternoon hours and the Town wants to improve pedestrian safety near the school.

“We’re changing the stop control there and the intent is the traffic will disperse more quickly, relieve the congestion and allow the placement of more visible pedestrian crossings,” he said.

Oness said the Town can’t install a pedestrian signal at the Milligan intersection with the four-way stop in place because it goes against traffic engineering standards to have both in place at the same time.

The study did not recommend traffic lights at the intersection.

If the changes are approved, Oness said the Town’s intent is to monitor the intersection to see if they have improved safety in the area.

Amber Hossack, school’s council chairman, said the proposed pedestrian signal at Milligan Drive is a good step.

“I think it’s good that the Town is doing something there because I think the traffic is pretty bad,” she said.

However, Hossack wants to see the Crystalridge Drive and Crystalridge Crescent intersection remain a four-way stop.

“It seems like it will make it a very busy road for the kids to cross,” she said.

Hossack isn’t sure whether school patrols will continue to be able to be used at the intersection if it is made a two-way stop.

She said the school is also an after hours destination with the playground and a popular sledding hill in the winter.

Parents have a role to play in improving traffic safety in the area, said Hossack.

“Unfortunately, it does come down to the drivers making errors that they shouldn’t be and they are parents of the kids so it raises the question why,” she said.

Hossack  would like to see more traffic enforcement in the area.

Mitch Barber, Okotoks municipal enforcement officer, said it’s not so much a parking problem as it is a traffic issue as motorists face a bottleneck by the school. This, he added, has caused a lot of impatience in drivers in the area.

“That’s the concern we have is the impatience is leading to them not obeying either the pedestrians indicating they want to cross or the school patrollers that are there,” said Barber.

He said officers are there on a regular basis and they regularly see the problems in the area.

“Even our visibility up there hasn’t deterred it,” Barber said. “Even if they’re not obeying it up there, we’re in a position where we can lay charges over this. We’re up there witnessing this firsthand and tickets are being issued.”

Federal finance minister Jim Flaherty outlined the Conservative government’s intention to stick to its economic action plan started last year.

“Last year was a two-year roll out of what we thought was necessary to keep some industries going and kick start some job creation,” said Macleod MP Ted Menzies, who is also the parliamentary assistant to minister Flaherty.

Along with its economic plans, the budget revealed it will also take five years to get the country back in the black.

The government anticipates a combination of spending restraint and economic growth will eliminate the deficit, which will peak at $53.8 million for the fiscal year of 2009-’10, ending in March. It is forecast to drop to $49.2 billion this year, and continue to reach 1.8 billion by March 31, 2015.

In the meantime, the $567 billion federal debt will grow to $622 billion by 2015.

The government will continue its economic stimulus program. It has earmarked $19 billion to be spent this year with 92 per cent of the funding already committed, including $7.7 billion for infrastructure, to support home ownership and improve social housing.

The government expects most of last years $37.8 billion stimulus funding to have gone into the economy by the end of the month. In Alberta alone, $1.05 billion was committed to 572 projects including the 32 Street bridge and renovations of the Rotary Performing Arts Centre in Okotoks

The budget includes more than $4 billion to create and protect jobs, including additional Employment Insurance (EI) benefits and freezing the Employment Insurance premium rate at $1.73 per $100 of insurable earnings to the end of 2010

The budget includes $3.2 billion in income tax relief. The basic personal amount of tax free income will rise to $10,382 and the tax rate for the lowest income bracket will drop to 15 per cent.

The government is also lowering corporate income tax rates to 15 per cent by 2010, the lowest in the G7.

Menzie said this will encourage companies to move their headquarters to Canada.

“The direct result of more businesses in Canada is more jobs,” he said.

The Conservatives announced a salary freeze for the prime minister, ministers, members of Parliament and senators.

As well, departmental operating budgets are frozen until 2013.

Menzies said departments will have to rationalize their spending to cover any new programs from within their existing budgets.

“Just like we’ve asked Canadians,” he said. “We’ve said to Canadians, ‘people have to restrain’… so should the government working with your money.”

Canadians will not be heading to the polls as a result of the budget.

Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff has said the party will not trigger an election over the document, but Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe and NDP Leader Jack Layton have said they will not support the budget.

Tony Sansota, Macleod Liberal constituency association president, said it’s not worth triggering a vote over the budget.

“It’s be suicide, people don’t want another election,” he said.

Sansotta doubts the Conservatives’ plan to eliminate the deficit in five years will work as planned, saying the only way they will be able to do so is by either raising taxes or cutting spending.

“You can’t have had increases that they’ve had over the last four years in the budget and spending and not make some serious cuts,” he said. “They’re going to have to make some serious cuts. There’s going to have to be a whole lot of hurt on the people of Canada.”

Sansotta believes the top priority needs to be creating jobs to get Canadians back to work.

Scott Hennig, Canadian taxpayers federation Alberta director, said the budget is similar to what the Conservatives presented last year.

He doesn’t see a clear plan in the budget to reduce the deficit and what was presented should actually end up back in the black, not with a $1.8 billion deficit.

“It’s a small one, a lot smaller than it is now, but it’s still a deficit,” he said.

He said last year’s deficit and the projected deficit for this year will wipe out the combined debt reductions the Liberals and Conservatives have made in the past decade.

The problem, according to Hennig, is more debt results in higher servicing costs, which uses up funds that could go towards programs and would require tax increases.