Western Standard - CORY MORGAN： It's time for the UCP to act conservatively

00:00:00.000 The UCP government in Alberta, they inadvertently caught a break as energy prices predictably

00:00:14.100 spiked due to the latest war in the Middle East. So for every dollar the world price of oil rises,

00:00:19.740 the provincial government garners nearly 700 million in royalties. So if the war in Iran is

00:00:25.640 protracted, it is possible the budgetary deficit of $9 billion announced in Alberta last week

00:00:30.740 could actually turn into a budget surplus by the end of the year. The Alberta government should

00:00:35.680 respond to this by cutting spending. We can't allow a fluke of world oil prices to let the

00:00:40.920 provincial government get off the hook for a deficit that was built primarily due to irresponsible

00:00:45.580 spending. Alberta's debt is going to reach $100 billion, and it should be the shame of politicians

00:00:51.440 and voters alike. If the government wants more money to play with, then paying down that debt

00:00:56.260 has to be priority number one. It'll give them four billion a year in saved interest payments

00:01:01.160 they can spend without having to hike taxes by a penny. People, including finance minister Nate

00:01:06.480 Horner, have been floating the notion of imposing a sales tax on Albertans. The response from

00:01:11.400 citizens of this concept should be nothing less than outrage. The government doesn't have a

00:01:15.460 revenue problem. How many times have we got to say this? It has a spending problem. If they can't get

00:01:20.140 their spending habits under control. Revenue from a sales tax would just be dumped into a

00:01:24.680 growing black hole of spending. Sales taxes, they have a declining rate of return as they

00:01:29.080 impact the economy with reduced consumer spending. They raise the cost of living.

00:01:33.640 And, you know, tourism might choose to spend their vacation dollars elsewhere. It's not a magical pool

00:01:38.300 of funds to tap into without consequences, as some are trying to frame it. The UCB government

00:01:43.900 raised the education property tax by nearly half a billion dollars. These taxes impact the cost of

00:01:49.140 housing for renters and owners alike. They also hike taxes on rental cars and hotels, which is

00:01:54.120 going to hit our tourism revenue. With massive tax and spending hikes, the government can't pretend

00:01:59.200 to be fiscally conservative. Yes, mass immigration has put pressure on services in general. The 6%

00:02:05.040 increase in health spending and the whopping 30% increase in education spending addresses that.

00:02:10.520 Most Albertans are okay with increasing spending within reason, at least on core services such as

00:02:14.820 health and education, but that still leaves a lot of fat to be cut. Why is the province increasing

00:02:18.760 spending on art how much ugly crappy public art do we need why is uh the cost for uh to paying

00:02:25.620 government employees going up 14 in one year why is there still a massive expensive program to bring

00:02:30.920 fiber optic internet services to isolated rural homes when most of them have already gotten

00:02:34.880 starlink they got sick of waiting for the government the list of things to cut is long

00:02:38.520 when the government finds the will to look for them problem is the government isn't looking

00:02:41.540 they're taking the lazy ndp style approach to issues by raising taxes and spending and that's

00:02:46.600 not what Albertans voted for. Did the spending increases buy any love from the teachers unions

00:02:51.140 or socialized health care activists? Of course not. They panned the budget and they're still

00:02:55.660 doing everything in their power to bring the UCP down. The Alberta Federation of Labor with old

00:03:00.200 Gil McGowan there's planning mass protests after an attempt to bring down the government through

00:03:04.700 recall initiatives. That failed dismally. So why pander to them further? Premier Smith must trust

00:03:10.380 Albertan voters to accept spending restraint. Albertans have voted for conservative governments

00:03:15.400 for decades because they value fiscal conservatism. It was the gross overspending of the Stelmac and

00:03:20.900 Redford governments that brought the progressive conservative dynasty to an end. Smith can rest

00:03:25.380 assured if she doesn't get a handle on spending soon, an alternative will form on her right and

00:03:30.540 we'll all remember, we do all remember what the consequences of vote splitting are. Look, when

00:03:34.360 Ralph Klein balanced the budget, he didn't wait for better oil prices to do it. He cut spending

00:03:38.760 without apology. Unions and pundits, they went wild at the time. They predicted the demise of

00:03:43.160 the Klein government and protests flourished. Then Klein went to the polls and Albertans rewarded

00:03:47.440 him with a bigger majority government. Klein continued with the austerity governance and

00:03:51.880 union members literally attacked the legislature with protests and they were trying to kick the

00:03:55.800 doors down. After four years of this, Klein was rewarded with a bigger majority. In his last term,

00:04:01.560 Klein started to spend heavily again and it led to reduced support for him. Look, the only thing

00:04:06.540 harder than cutting spending during tough times is cutting spending during good times, but it must

00:04:10.620 be done. Smith must resist the urge to continue tossing money at issues even if the high oil

00:04:15.340 prices flood the government coffers. Alberta doesn't need a larger and more encompassing

00:04:19.740 government. It's hard to maintain the higher ground when complaining about tax and spend

00:04:23.800 attitudes in Ottawa when Edmonton does the same bloody thing. For the sake of the economy and

00:04:28.160 future Albertans, the UCP must remember the C in their name and become a conservative party and

00:04:33.300 wrestle their spending under control because the 2026 budget is nothing less than an embarrassment.

00:04:40.620 Thank you.

Western Standard - March 10, 2026

CORY MORGAN： It's time for the UCP to act conservatively

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