As the Alberta government works to make decisions about its upcoming 2017-18 budget, Premier Rachel Notley and Finance Minister Joe Ceci listened to concerns and answered questions from Albertans who live in the northern part of the province in a telephone town hall Monday night.
Ceci said that because of the ongoing low price of oil, there are no plans for new major spending in the budget expected to be tabled in March. He also said the province is still expecting to run a $10.8-billion deficit for the current fiscal year that ends March 31 and that Albertans can expect the government to run another deficit in the upcoming budget. However, he said running deficits was not the government’s long-term plan.
READ MORE: Alberta seeks public input into 2017-2018 budget; says no new major spending
Watch below: Albertans are being asked to share their ideas and priorities for the 2017 provincial budget. Gary Bobrovitz reports.
“Running deficits, year after year, in the long run is simply not sustainable,” Ceci said. “Government can act as a shock absorber for a time, but in the long term, we must return to balance.
“This is why we’re acting to make Alberta less vulnerable to oil price shocks in the future,” Ceci added. “Oil and gas are our province’s bread and butter but we must take action to diversify.”
Among the questions Notley and Ceci were asked was what kind of time frame they were looking at to build a new hospital in Edmonton after a report this fall recommended scaling back upgrades to the Royal Alexandra Hospital and Misericordia Community Hospital, both of which have previously been identified as being in need of renovations and repairs.
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“We increased money for maintenance for both of those hospitals,” Notley said. “In the meantime, we’ve put aside about $10 million in planning for us to be able to get a detailed understanding with respect to potential reconstruction opportunities for both of them… Our government significantly increased our capital budget when we first took office and we have a significant portion of that that remains unassigned and that’s because we’re waiting to see the outcome of that planning work to decide how best to address the Royal Alex and Misericordia questions.”
Notley also updated plans for the government’s $25-a-day daycare pilot. When it was first announced in November, the government said that by the spring, 18 Alberta early learning child care centres would be offering daycare at a maximum cost of $25 a day. On Monday, Notley said her government has decided which child care centres would be part of the pilot and that they would be announced “shortly.”
READ MORE: $25-a-day daycare pilot project coming to 18 Alberta early learning child care centres
Watch below: In November 2016, Laurel Gregory filed this report after the Alberta government announced that by spring, hundreds of Alberta families will pay $25 a day for child care.
Other topics discussed at Monday’s town hall included Alberta’s energy-efficiency program, Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped (AISH), the potential impact of U.S. President Donald Trump’s policies on Alberta’s economy and how to help grow small businesses.
Notley and Ceci will hold another budget town hall for people in southern Alberta on Tuesday.
-With files from The Canadian Press.
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