KRIS SIMS: Premier Danielle Smith needs to secure Fortress Alberta

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There’s a great scene in the film Terminator 2 when we see what happened to the heroine, Sarah Connor, since the first movie.

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We find her trapped in a prison cell, doing pull-ups.

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Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is likely a fan of Connor, because she’s tough and always preparing for the next fight.

Smith has proven she won’t back down to Ottawa.

Fortress Alberta’s house of cards

But what about inside Fortress Alberta?

Alberta is wobbling.

Remember in the first Terminator movie when an overwhelmed Connor said: “I can’t even balance my chequebook!”?

That’s what’s happening in Alberta.

Our chequebook is unbalanced.

Alberta’s debt is about $82.7 billion

The Alberta government plans to borrow another $5.2 billion.

Debt interest charges are $2.9 billion this year.

The Alberta government is spending more than $79.3 billion this year, an increase of 8.4% from last year. The second highest jump in spending in Canada.

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What Albertans pay on debt interest charges is more than double what the province is spending on Public Safety and Emergency Services.

That amount of money could pay the salaries of 14,000 police officers and 14,000 paramedics.

The annual interest payments on the provincial debt is what about 600,000 Albertans pay in provincial income taxes per year.

Instead of that money being used for services or tax relief, it’s going to bond fund managers in Toronto.

Alberta is supposed to be a fortress of fiscal responsibility.

If Alberta is drunk at the party and taking out $5.2 billion in loans this year with no plan to pay it off, then, who are the adults in the room?

Time to get tough

We must have a fiscally strong Fortress Alberta.

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This brings us back to the Terminator 2 movie. Imagine when the team is gearing up to save the world. What if there was no ammo in the bunker? No minigun for Arnie.

Imagine if Connor forgot to make sure her team was prepared for a fight.

Smith must be tough at home in Alberta.

She must tell the government union bosses that enough is enough and reduce the size of the bureaucracy.

During talks of a teachers’ strike, why are we only hearing about teachers’ salary rates and not about the fact taxpayers are paying more than $10 billion for education in Alberta?

What we pay for education in Alberta is the equivalent of about $321,000 per teacher.

In Saskatchewan, taxpayers are paying the equivalent of $259,000 per teacher.

So where is all the rest of that education money going in Alberta and what value are we getting for it?

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What taxpayers pay for education is about $12,000 per student. Do Alberta parents think their child is getting $12,000 worth of valuable education?

Smith’s team also needs to examine the management layer at Alberta Health Services.

Health care is costing Alberta taxpayers $30.4 billion this year, nearly half of all spending.

Many of the salaries on the AHS sunshine list would raise eyebrows.

Why does AHS have more than 300 directors on the taxpayer payroll, costing more than $66 million in 2023?

Smith needs to find savings inside of Alberta.

She needs stop taking out billions in loans, shrink the size of government and pay down the debt.

If Smith can forge a fiscally strong Fortress Alberta, with a small and accountable government, she can fight back against Ottawa from a place of strength.

Kris Sims is the Alberta Director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

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