Should Premier Eddie finally make an appearance to address the gross increase in our provincial deficit, I wonder which adjective he will use to describe this? I think in most Stelmach releases he has used all of these words so he must be familiar with them: unexpected, unanticipated, unpredicted, unforeseen, unheralded or perhaps he should simply go to unreal.
The Herald is reporting on the frightening consequence of horrific fiscal management here.
It is little wonder that Tom Olsen responds with blasts of obscenities when reporters dare ask direct questions of Stelmach. Being Stelmach’s handler must be one of the most challenging jobs on the planet. How much can you expose the man to the public when all he can do is express astonishment that yet another of his initiatives or predictions have blown up in his face? It must be disheartening in knowing that the best possible strategy to be taken in a by-election is to hide your leader as deeply as you can.
Will Special Ed shed his cloak of invisibility and address the looming quarterly fiscal update? What marble-mouthed excuses will be used to try and justify the latest example of the Stelmach government’s gross fiscal mismanagement?
Hmm let’s see, in one year Eddie has taken an $8 billion dollar surplus and turned it into what is looking like an $8 billion deficit. There are still three more quarters in this fiscal year for Ed to drive our grandchildren further into debt and a sadly don’t doubt he will. I wish I could express such surprise as Ed now and then.
How much longer can we tolerate a premier that has not made a successful move since assuming power? What sort of confidence can we have in our provincial leadership when the leader can do nothing but express shock that his management has been a disaster?
What is shocking about our situation? Ed massively increased spending and drove our primary industry from the province. A person with a Grade 3 education can figure out the math on that one and see that poverty is sure to follow. Perhaps the reason that Eddie has been in hiding lately is that he is taking some sort of remedial classes somewhere (I sure hope so).
Well, I have said it before and I will say it again; SEND ED A MESSAGE!!
Calgary Glenmore has the opportunity and expect that they will indeed send a message. The rest of the province should get to work to make that message final.
Shock again for Ed. Not much different than the shock of the employment numbers. Shock again with the last fiscal update, and no doubt shock again come Wednesday. The part people neglect to look at is this is not 8 billion dollars difference from the budget because we were slated for a 8 billion dollar surplus. Add the two together and they are a mind boggling 16 Billion dollars short. Mismanagement can not begin to describe what is happening right now, eventually someone will pay the piper, wonder who? Enjoy your fair share Ed, as businesses are leaving the province at an alarming rate, so are our jobs. Something else you can be shocked at once they are tallied as well. Hopefully the next election will shock you as well, although I would rather see it sooner at your leadership (if we can call it this) review.
Diane Colley-Urquhart tweets her response on the economy: “With a greater deficit that expected we r fortunate to have a rainy day fund of 16b to cover and avoid tax increases.”
What happens when we blow through the rainy day fun?
Well let’s see. The PC government misjudged the budget by $16 billion from last year’s projected surplus to today. At this average, the funds that Albertan’s worked so hard to sock away should be pissed away in pretty short order.
Keep those numbers in mind folks. $16 billion is getting roughly near $5,000 per man woman and child in the entire province. How many more years can we sustain this fiscal idiocy?
If a CEO/CFO misjudged a budget by $16 billion in one year, rest assured he/she would be seeking a new job in rather short order.
Guys, as I said on Jane’s blog, we have to remember that the Heritage Trust Fund is not a rainy day fund. The Heritage Trust Fund is an investment fund designed to turn one-time resource revenue into long-term dividends and wealth. The $7 billion Sustainability Fund is a rainy day fund, which is why it was set up separately from the Heritage Fund. Never mind the fact that the Heritage Fund no longer receives annual payments based on the amount of resource revenue collected (it used to be a fixed percentage, which was repealed by Don Getty), it would still be horrifically stupid to use any money from the Heritage Fund to cover a budget deficit comprised of capital and operating costs.
The only reason this fund should ever be tapped into is in a real crisis (which we don’t have), or if the fund was big enough to absorb a withdrawal quickly (like Norway’s non-renewable resource fund). Let me also mention that even without depositing royalties into the Heritage Fund, if the interest & dividends collected were reinvested in the Fund, it’s value today would exceed $50 billion (add the $30 billion in interest accrued and the current value, and then factor in the increased interest that would have been earned if more money was in the fund over the years and $50 billion is an easy number to get to). We need to start reinvesting the annual interest the Fund makes immediately, and then impose a fixed percentage of non-renewable resource revenue to be deposited into the Fund each year.
They’re not talking about using the Heritage Fund… yet. 16 billion comes from the Sustainability Fund and the Capital Fund combined. I have a post with more details at my blog…
But I agree with you fully on reinvesting in the Heritage Fund.
Its Unacceptable..
I am thinking that the PC’s chased Diane C-U for the position thinking she was the safe bet in that region. I don’t follow her Aldermanic moves to closely and she doesn’t make the news to often so I am figuring her as another sheep for the caucus.
Does C-U’s signs even have PC on them or they pulling a Nancy going with a face and first name only?
About the spending, it was way out of control in 05-08. Klein deserves some of the blame as well, he lost his path in the twilight of his premiership.
The debt law sure fell pretty fast to, so fast, it was useless to even have as law. Funny when a law has to be changed for a citizen or public good , it takes forever, change the perpetrator to a sitting government and its over night.