Western Standard - RE-BROADCAST： Budget 2023 media briefing and news conference - February 28, 2023

00:00:00.000 everyone thank you for joining me to go over some highlights of budget 23 which will also serve as

00:00:16.680 the 22 23 third quarter fiscal update budget 23 secures Alberta's future by growing and

00:00:23.400 diversifying the economy strengthening health care and education improving the safety of

00:00:28.360 communities across the province and establishing a new fiscal framework. This plan achieves the

00:00:34.080 priorities of Albertans, which include ensuring the government lives within its means. Over the

00:00:39.220 last four years, our relentless focus on investment attraction, job creation, and diversification

00:00:44.360 has secured our position as the economic engine of Canada. Alberta's economy has momentum,

00:00:50.960 and Budget 2023 continues that positive fiscal trajectory with another balanced budget and

00:00:56.660 forecasted surplus of $2.4 billion in 2023-2024 and projected surpluses of $2 billion next year

00:01:04.100 in the mid-year and $1.4 billion in 2025-2026. Budget 23 also continues our successful Alberta

00:01:11.100 at Work initiative that's helping Albertans build their skills and fill thousands of new jobs

00:01:15.960 as businesses grow and more corporations invest in our province. We're investing even more towards

00:01:21.820 building capacity in our health care system to deliver better care for albertans we're

00:01:26.940 strengthening our education system so that our children and grandchildren are prepared

00:01:31.260 for their future we're improving safety and security in our communities while responding

00:01:36.700 to the needs of vulnerable populations and we're saving for tomorrow and paying down provincial debt

00:01:43.100 so that the services we rely on are secure for decades to come job growth in alberta has been

00:01:49.980 phenomenal this past year and people from across Canada and around the world

00:01:53.640 continue to move here in record numbers and take advantage of our job

00:01:57.180 opportunities high wages low taxes and affordable living national and global

00:02:02.640 companies have expanded in Alberta creating new jobs diversifying our

00:02:06.480 economy and taking advantage of our extremely competitive corporate income

00:02:10.020 tax rate budget 23 is securing Alberta's advantage building on the 600 million

00:02:16.080 committed over three years to the Alberta at work initiative budget 23 includes an

00:02:21.480 additional 370 million to get more unemployed Albertans back to work we

00:02:26.880 critically need more doctors and nurses to provide care for Albertans so we're

00:02:31.020 creating 1,800 new seats for health care aides licensed practical nurses

00:02:36.080 reg and registered nurses now we're also committing 30 million dollars over three

00:02:41.640 to create 120 more seats in medical degree programs at the University of

00:02:47.580 Alberta and the University of Calgary, a 40% increase in the total number of

00:02:52.200 seats, seats that will be in place to train future physicians. We're expanding

00:02:58.860 training opportunities in other sectors as well. Another 35 million over three

00:03:03.420 years will expand enrollment and non-trade construction programs and

00:03:06.900 and training in the energy, technology, business, and aviation sectors.

00:03:11.460 We're strengthening Alberta's economy across all industries and creating opportunities

00:03:15.940 so every family can participate in the Alberta Advantage.

00:03:20.500 While economic growth is strong, times remain tough for many families and households.

00:03:25.620 New relief measures are helping post-secondary students with lower student loan interest rates

00:03:31.060 and more repayment assistance. We're providing more grants and bursaries to low-income Albertans

00:03:36.260 upgrading their skills to fill jobs in high demand sectors these measures will

00:03:41.480 keep a hundred and seventy eight million more dollars in the pockets of students

00:03:45.220 each year as they upgrade their skills and acquire new knowledge on their road

00:03:49.460 to successful careers this adds to our comprehensive affordability measures

00:03:54.260 including the suspension of the fuel tax electricity rebates the indexation of

00:03:59.600 personal income taxes and social supports to inflation and targeted

00:04:03.920 supports to our seniors, families and most vulnerable. We're also making record

00:04:08.920 investments in kindergarten through grade 12 education to secure the future

00:04:13.540 for our youth. In total, Budget 23 provides an additional $1.8 billion over

00:04:18.740 three years, including a 5.2% increase in 23-24 to fund enrollment growth,

00:04:24.740 reduce class size, meet the specialized learning needs of students and improve

00:04:29.440 transportation. The 23 capital plan supports 58 school projects including

00:04:35.200 new schools that will provide new and improved student spaces, create jobs and

00:04:40.000 revitalize Alberta communities. During our budget consultations we heard from

00:04:45.960 Albertans across the province who identified the need to strengthen our

00:04:49.260 health care system and increase its capacity. We've heard you. Budget 23

00:04:54.760 commits 965 million more this year for health care. That's a 4.1% increase to reduce wait times

00:05:02.040 in hospital emergency rooms, provide more surgical capacity, and get more ambulances on the road to

00:05:07.960 respond to emergencies. We're supporting the Alberta Surgical Initiative with 237 million

00:05:13.560 over three years, including 120 million in new money to build and expand operating rooms in 14

00:05:19.800 communities to allow thousands more surgeries across the province 150 million

00:05:26.640 apparently 158 million this year alone will support a plan to increase the

00:05:31.320 number of health care professionals in Alberta especially in rural areas another

00:05:35.880 hundred and fifty million over three years for emergency medical services

00:05:39.180 will hire more staff and improve ambulance response times and 15 million

00:05:43.680 will put more ambulances on the road our health care action plan will

00:05:48.100 fundamentally transform and improve health care delivery in the province.

00:05:53.940 Public safety and a fair and efficient justice system are key responsibilities of government.

00:05:59.560 Budget 23 commits $1.2 billion in operating funding to public safety and emergency services

00:06:05.420 and $655 million to justice.

00:06:08.340 This represents a 12% increase overall.

00:06:11.940 This funding will increase the number of Crown prosecutors and add support staff to address

00:06:15.960 the backlog, increase capacity, and modernize our courts. It means more boots on the ground

00:06:21.800 to better fight crime in our communities. Budget 23 also provides $22 million over three years to

00:06:27.240 strengthen First Nations policing. This will fund a new First Nation police force in Siksika

00:06:32.520 and additional officers in Indigenous communities across the province.

00:06:38.280 Alberta's strong balance sheet wouldn't have been possible without our commitment to responsible

00:06:42.760 fiscal management. We intend to lock in this commitment and secure Alberta's future with

00:06:48.360 a new fiscal framework that requires balanced budgets, controls operating spending, and

00:06:52.940 provides a framework for surplus cash. A balanced budget requirement and limiting spending increases

00:06:58.660 to population growth and inflation will ensure appropriate and sustainable spending. The

00:07:04.760 spending ceiling will challenge government to focus on how we can transform the way we

00:07:08.740 do things to improve the way we deliver services and programs while making sure

00:07:13.300 Albertans hard-earned tax dollars are respected and used efficiently the

00:07:18.820 fiscal framework will ensure the government continues to prioritize

00:07:21.820 saving for the future and the paying down of debt and balanced budgets will

00:07:26.240 become the norm instead of the exception well while our forecast revenue of 70.7

00:07:33.400 billion for 2324 is down from our 2223 revenue forecast of 76 billion we're projecting another

00:07:40.600 surplus of 2.4 billion for 2324 and further surpluses the following two years record bitumen

00:07:48.520 royalties of 12.6 billion have helped keep our province in the black but corporate income tax

00:07:53.960 revenue is a big part of that story as well just over four years ago alberta's corporate income

00:07:59.320 tax rate sat at 12 percent based on the assumption that a higher corporate tax rate would categorically

00:08:05.480 result in more government revenue the problem with that thinking is that there are lots of other

00:08:11.080 places corporations can choose to do business and many of those other places had more had a more

00:08:16.040 competitive business environment so companies passed over alberta and went elsewhere investment

00:08:21.480 in alberta declined during those years as did corporate revenue so our government set out to

00:08:27.320 create a business environment that would attract business investment back into Alberta.

00:08:32.380 One of our first steps was the job creation tax cut.

00:08:35.620 Now at 8 percent, our general corporate tax rate is significantly lower than the next

00:08:39.620 lowest provinces, Ontario and Quebec, and our combined federal provincial corporate

00:08:44.020 tax rate is lower than 44 U.S. jurisdictions.

00:08:48.220 The result is investment across sectors, aviation, technology and financial services to name

00:08:53.180 a few is exploding and with it expanded fiscal capacity resulting from higher

00:08:59.420 corporate income tax revenue pardon me resulting in higher corporate income tax

00:09:04.160 revenue record high corporate income tax revenue of 6.4 billion this year and 5.9

00:09:10.520 billion next year to be exact that's significant this is why fiscal

00:09:15.060 responsibility matters why investment attraction matters why diversification

00:09:19.620 matters. This is how we fund programs and services that support Albertans.

00:09:25.760 Total expense is forecast at $68.3 billion in 2022-23, higher than at budget last year

00:09:31.780 as we have helped Albertans deal with the rising cost of living, covered agreements

00:09:36.020 with doctors, teachers and other public sector workers, and increased capacity in the justice

00:09:40.680 system. In 2023-24, operating expense is forecast at 3% higher than last year, then grows moderately

00:09:47.760 by 2% for each of the following two years.

00:09:51.760 Alberta's oil and gas sector continues to play a vital role in driving our economy and

00:09:55.700 creating prosperity for hardworking families and for our entire nation.

00:10:00.500 The government is forecasting a price of $79 US for a barrel of West Texas Intermediate

00:10:05.800 in 23-24, dropping to $76 and $73.50 in the out years.

00:10:12.260 We continue to stand up for Alberta's energy industry and the Albertans whose livelihoods

00:10:16.720 depend on it and we continue to invest in projects and programs that reduce emissions

00:10:22.000 and help grow and diversify alberta's energy sector alberta's economy is poised to grow

00:10:27.520 at 2.8 percent this year continuing to lead the country canadians are taking notice of our

00:10:33.040 incredible value proposition of low taxes opportunity and affordability and they're

00:10:38.320 moving here at record rates with alberta's population expected to grow 2.9 percent in 23

00:10:44.880 the fastest pace since 2007 budget 23 is a budget that secures alberta's future

00:10:52.240 we're securing the health and education of albertans by increasing access to family doctors

00:10:57.120 surgeries and emergency services and making sure our children and grandchildren have the

00:11:01.520 education system they need to reach their full potential we're securing economic success and

00:11:07.280 prosperity by charging albert pardon me yes charging albertans 20 billion less than they

00:11:13.040 They would pay under the tax system of the next lowest province, positioning Alberta

00:11:17.800 for investment attraction, diversification, and job creation.

00:11:22.540 And we're securing our future with a new fiscal framework that will require appropriate and

00:11:27.180 sustainable spending, prioritize debt repayment and savings in surplus management, and ensure

00:11:33.360 the next generation is not encumbered with a debt they did not incur.

00:11:38.440 Budget 23 is securing Alberta's future, your future.

00:11:42.040 you and I'm happy to take some questions media Q&A you'll have one question one

00:11:47.580 follow-up either give us two at the top or one and one we'll start with those

00:11:51.580 in the rooms before we go to the phone just a reminder to introduce yourself

00:11:54.760 your name and your outlet with that we'll start with the first question here

00:11:58.120 at the mic Graham Thompson today I'm with the Toronto Star

00:12:01.420 minister this is a pre-election budget you may not see it that way but it

00:12:07.360 certainly is so how is or how has the upcoming election influenced or affected

00:12:15.480 today's budget well well Graham you're right we have an election here in a few

00:12:20.740 months and this is a budget just ahead of that election but really budget 23

00:12:25.620 continues the direction the course that we set in 2019 and that course was

00:12:31.000 twofold it was about bringing responsible fiscal management back to the province

00:12:34.960 As you know, we set a fiscal anchor at that time of aligning our per capita spending,

00:12:41.520 per capita cost of delivering government services with that of comparative provinces,

00:12:45.080 and we've delivered on that objective.

00:12:47.100 At the same time, we set a path back in the day, back in 2019,

00:12:51.460 to ensure that Alberta's business environment was most competitive

00:12:55.280 so that we could attract investment, see a growing and diversified economy,

00:13:00.520 which we knew would result in increased job opportunities for Albertans,

00:13:04.560 but also increased revenues for the government as we had expanded fiscal capacity.

00:13:09.240 Budget 23 continues on those two main themes.

00:13:12.960 Now, we're going to add to that because following COVID,

00:13:16.720 it's been clear in this province and every other province in Canada

00:13:20.500 that health care is a challenge.

00:13:23.680 And everywhere I traveled in my pre-budget consultations,

00:13:26.140 Albertans were concerned about our health care system.

00:13:28.560 That's why we're increasing health care funding by 4% this year.

00:13:32.960 Almost a billion dollars in one year alone to ensure that Minister Copping and all the great folks in our health care system have the funds they need to improve, transform the system to deliver better for Albertans.

00:13:46.380 To reduce surgical wait times, to reduce wait times in emergency rooms, to reduce the wait times for our paramedics to get out and assist somebody in an emergency.

00:13:57.020 Now, the other thing, Graham, we did is we supported Albertans at a time of inflation, at a time when affordability is a challenge, right across the province.

00:14:09.400 And so, again, we signaled our affordability support in our mid-year report.

00:14:14.320 Of course, this budget funds a number of affordability measures, certainly in the upcoming budget year and even in the future years.

00:14:22.740 But again, that's simply a response to the fact that, you know, in Alberta, over the last three years, we did the heavy lifting fiscally.

00:14:30.600 We got our fiscal house in order.

00:14:33.480 We're running a surplus, thanks to very high energy prices, a very significant surplus in the current fiscal year.

00:14:40.080 All of that gave us the ability as a government to support Albertans during a time of affordability challenge.

00:14:46.940 And speaking of elections, will you run in the next election, upcoming election?

00:14:52.740 Graham I've been focused on preparing this budget and and presenting it I'm

00:14:57.900 going to be making finalizing a decision and announcing that in the days ahead

00:15:01.440 but why I'm you know now sorry okay hi Audrey never had the Canada I want to

00:15:11.680 know what are the consequences of the Alberta government if it ever happens

00:15:15.940 that it does not respect the fiscal framework that it will set out in

00:15:19.760 legislation what's the consequence except just saying oops we broke our own law 100 days of jail

00:15:26.480 time how's that you tell me just just um just kidding look the um for a government to contravene

00:15:35.600 its its own legislation and that's regardless of which government legislation that was passed in

00:15:41.840 the house would be um far more than embarrassing it would be a public spectacle and there would

00:15:49.040 be a huge political cost to bear for breaking that legislation i believe that simply passing

00:15:54.960 legislation around these fiscal dual rules provides real teeth in terms of the impetus

00:16:01.920 for governments to follow them that's why crafting the fiscal rules and the details in the fiscal

00:16:08.640 rules are so important we have a revenue structure here in the province and a resource-based economy

00:16:13.840 where we have revenue volatility and these rules have to accommodate that kind of revenue structure

00:16:20.080 and economy and i believe they do and my second question is do the massive investments well big

00:16:25.740 investments we see in the alberta shares paved the way for an alberta provincial police right now

00:16:32.360 we're focused on better enforcement and less crime that's the focus of our government so we're making

00:16:37.700 very significant investments both in our public safety ministry as well as our justice ministry

00:16:43.100 And we're going to be funding well over 200 additional enforcement officers across the province.

00:16:51.540 That's significant. That's our focus right now.

00:16:53.780 And, of course, the second part of that is to ensure that we have a justice system with the capacity to deal with, you know, every case that needs to be heard.

00:17:02.840 Every perpetrator needs to have their day in court.

00:17:06.620 Justice must be served.

00:17:07.700 That's why we're increasing, again, public safety and justice ministry budgets by about 12% on average.

00:17:14.580 Great. Thank you, Audrey.

00:17:18.020 Hi, Minister. Julia Wong, CBC National.

00:17:20.940 Considering how volatile things have been for Alberta in the last 10 years,

00:17:25.500 could you have saved more?

00:17:27.020 Could you have paid down the debt more considering interest rates are so high?

00:17:30.180 we have i mean look we inherited a government that was spending 10 billion dollars more than

00:17:39.000 comparator provinces back in 2019 we we set out a fiscal plan to thoughtfully carefully surgically

00:17:46.180 bring our cost of delivering government services down we didn't take the ralph klein approach of

00:17:51.480 doing it in one year with 20 cuts we took four years to do it which we believed would be easier

00:17:57.900 on Albertans to take that route, and we've delivered on that.

00:18:02.360 This year, in 22-23, our per capita cost of delivering government services

00:18:07.140 is right in line with the average of B.C., Ontario, and Quebec,

00:18:10.920 and so that's significant progress.

00:18:12.180 That's what set the stage for this province to ultimately deliver balanced budgets into the future.

00:18:20.080 So we immediately went to work on bringing fiscal responsibility back to the province,

00:18:24.700 And it's that work that ultimately prepared us, led us to a very significant surplus last year, which allowed us to reduce our debt by over $13 billion, saving Albertans $260 million in 22-23, about $550 million in 23-24, and just under $600 million in 24-25 in debt service costs.

00:18:47.120 That's almost $1.2 billion that can go to education, go to health care, or maybe go to the Heritage Savings Trust Fund.

00:18:54.700 Again, you know, would it have been better that previous governments would have brought fiscal responsibility in the years earlier?

00:19:01.720 Yes, it would have been.

00:19:03.500 But the minute we took office in 2019, we went to work.

00:19:06.960 And we had a few bumps.

00:19:08.440 COVID, the largest contraction in the global economy since the Great Depression,

00:19:12.060 and the largest collapse in energy prices in history was all in the mix.

00:19:16.860 But again, we stuck to the plan.

00:19:18.200 And I have to give credit to Albertans, who dug in and worked hard and showed incredible resilience.

00:19:24.700 Alberta entrepreneurs who saw opportunity that governments never could and stepped out and invested and grew this economy towards leading the nation right now.

00:19:33.180 That's what dug us out of the hole.

00:19:35.040 That's why we're able to pay down the debt and save Albertans these debt service costs.

00:19:40.400 You mentioned the Heritage Fund earlier.

00:19:42.100 I want to ask you about the Alberta Fund because we all got a crash course on it a little bit earlier.

00:19:46.120 because what it sounds like is it's a way for the UCP government to say hey we

00:19:51.120 have 1.4 billion dollars left over right before the rates dropped and before

00:19:55.060 there's an election the purpose of the Alberta fund is to bring discipline to

00:20:01.100 the use of a surplus that's really the purpose of the Alberta fund look I I

00:20:06.040 know in our businesses or even in our households in my experience if you have

00:20:11.180 unallocated surplus hanging around, it's pretty easy to spend it irresponsibly. The Alberta fund

00:20:18.940 will provide guardrails, will provide a framework, will require discipline in ultimately spending

00:20:25.580 that money. There's only three uses for funds that end up in the Alberta fund, which of course

00:20:31.660 is all of the surplus that's not being used for debt repayment in the year that it's achieved.

00:20:39.300 And, of course, those uses are holding the funds for future debt repayment,

00:20:42.500 additional deposits into the Heritage Savings Trust Fund,

00:20:45.500 and, of course, one-time expenditures on strategic government priorities that are non-reoccurring.

00:20:53.140 In other words, not just dumping it into programs

00:20:57.400 and ultimately inflating the cost of delivering programs to an unsustainable level.

00:21:03.480 The whole purpose of the Alberta Fund is, in fact, to bring discipline to the process.

00:21:08.520 Great, thank you. Catherine?

00:21:10.520 Catherine Rukowski, Alberta Today.

00:21:12.520 So the last few weeks and months have been told,

00:21:15.520 stay tuned, stay tuned, stay tuned,

00:21:17.520 stay tuned for the Liability Management Incentive Program details,

00:21:20.520 for the CPP, for Alberta Provincial Police,

00:21:23.520 and there's a whole bunch of these promises.

00:21:25.520 I'm not seeing details, I'm not seeing line items.

00:21:28.520 Why are so many of these not accounted for in this budget?

00:21:32.520 Well, look, a budget is ultimately a strategic plan

00:21:37.520 strategic plan laid out numerically for the upcoming year and so you're not seeing an alberta

00:21:43.800 pension plan in this budget you're not seeing a definitive alberta alberta police force in this

00:21:47.600 budget and you're not seeing an r-star program in this budget because none of those none of those

00:21:52.480 policies have been approved right now we as a government are reaching out on all of them

00:21:56.980 and consulting with albertans as the minister of finance i'm looking forward to the day when i can

00:22:01.840 release the report that we've been working on with respect to an alberta pension plan right now that

00:22:06.960 report's being updated for a fresh data set that we received in December. The work will be done

00:22:11.800 sometime in May and it will be important that Albertans receive the report and can take a look

00:22:16.940 at the opportunities and the risks of an Alberta pension plan and ultimately make the decision.

00:22:22.840 So no, right now in this upcoming year we don't have plans to move to an Alberta pension plan and

00:22:27.660 in terms of an Alberta police force, again there's no budget line in there because we haven't made

00:22:33.900 definitive plans to do that all of these policies require engagement with Albertans and ultimately

00:22:38.900 Albertans a need to decide and on health care you mentioned this 4.1 percent increase but

00:22:46.060 on your own self-imposed limitation of population plus inflation you could have spent up to 8.7

00:22:52.800 percent and we're even seeing cuts still in health to things like cancer research and prevention

00:23:00.220 why not use that full amount that you could have why not go even bigger for health our our fiscal

00:23:09.380 rules around a limitation on increasing expenditures no higher than population growth

00:23:17.940 and cpi creates a ceiling it doesn't create a target our target continues to be the fiscal

00:23:24.900 anchor that we identified in 2020 and that is to align our per capita government spending

00:23:30.660 with that of other provinces we believe in alberta we can deliver programs at least as efficiently

00:23:36.100 as the other provinces a four percent increase in health spending on top of a four percent increase

00:23:42.100 the year before is very very significant and if you know if we take uh the covid costs

00:23:49.460 out of the year before out of 21 22 which were significant we were right in the middle of covid

00:23:54.900 then our increase in health spending is actually closer to 11%.

00:23:58.520 We need to ensure that we're funding health adequately.

00:24:02.940 We also need to ensure that we're continuing to bring fiscal discipline to the province.

00:24:07.220 I believe this budget achieves both.

00:24:11.960 Hi, Lily Polanchuk from The Gateway.

00:24:14.860 For my first question, for three years in a row, the Campus Alberta grant has received cuts,

00:24:19.920 but with Budget 23, it seems like this trend is reversing.

00:24:23.560 so if so why have you decided to reverse this trend now so in in budget 2022 we as as we as

00:24:32.580 a province started to recognize that we have you know thousands of unfilled positions that require

00:24:39.600 specific skills and competencies we started reinvesting again in a significant way in our

00:24:46.800 in our great world-class post-secondary institutions that was really our workforce

00:24:51.840 initiative. That was $600 million in total over three years. A portion of those funds were used

00:24:58.700 to buy specific seats in specific occupations and disciplines where there was great demand.

00:25:04.820 Just a really quick story. For the funds we set aside, we believed we could buy 7,000 seats,

00:25:10.480 and these were seats in high-demand areas. And Minister Nicolaitis, to his credit,

00:25:14.860 worked with our great post-secondary institutions, and ultimately for that same amount of money,

00:25:19.760 they're providing 10,000 additional learning seats we're building on that as you point out

00:25:24.600 in budget 2023 this is about again recognizing a great need a great need by for Alberta employers

00:25:33.580 but also a really important great need for Albertans to have the skills they need to

00:25:39.580 participate in this great Alberta advantage that's why we're investing but we're doing it in a

00:25:44.160 different way. Much of our investment is targeted towards the specific seats in the occupations and

00:25:50.420 professions that are in great demand. An incredibly valuable and worthwhile investment.

00:25:55.900 Great. Thank you. And for my second question, you earlier said that Budget 23 is a continuation

00:26:02.480 of Budget 2019. And in Budget 23, you are changing the interest rates for student loans from the

00:26:11.460 prime plus one percent rate to the prime rate but in 2019 it was the opposite it was changed

00:26:17.780 from already being at the prime rate to prime plus the one percent so what affected this change

00:26:25.180 sure sure that that's a great question an astute question in terms of delivering a budget and a

00:26:31.400 fiscal plan that's fiscally responsible that was the direction we set in 2019 budget 2023 aligns

00:26:38.880 with that overall principle here's the good news we've spent three years doing

00:26:43.260 the heavy lifting making difficult decisions all of us as Albertans and

00:26:47.220 we've got our fiscal house in order we've achieved the fiscal anchor of

00:26:51.840 aligning our per capita cost of delivering services with that of

00:26:54.780 comparative provinces that's a key anchor and now that gives us the ability

00:26:59.220 to move spending up prioritize and fund key priorities of Albertans and again

00:27:05.120 right now we are really facing an affordability challenge that's been

00:27:08.760 unprecedented in recent time and this is a way that we can provide real tangible

00:27:13.380 relief for Alberta Alberta students thank you we're just gonna switch to the

00:27:17.880 lines because we have quite a few people waiting right now we'll come back to the

00:27:20.700 room in a little bit so operator can you put through the first caller thank you

00:27:25.480 I'm a greenie Globe and Mail yeah good day minister I want to ask you about the

00:27:31.560 new Alberta fund um can you expand on the reason why it is that your government

00:27:36.720 shifting what could be significant capital expenses even if just one time to a separate

00:27:42.560 fund i mean you could have billions in targeted spending here but you're choosing to omit that

00:27:46.740 from budget so can you say why well again emma we're establishing the alberta fund to bring

00:27:53.660 discipline to the use of our surpluses i i really believe it's critically important that

00:27:59.800 Albertans get full value and have their surpluses managed, you know, in a publicly beneficial way.

00:28:07.620 That's the purpose of the Alberta Fund.

00:28:09.320 It's not, you know, it's to be more transparent with Albertans on the use of those funds.

00:28:13.560 As I've mentioned, when a surplus is achieved, effectively that surplus can be used for debt repayment,

00:28:20.900 additional deposit into the Heritage Savings Trust Fund,

00:28:23.560 or for one-time non-reoccurring strategic priorities of the government.

00:28:28.880 And again, the Alberta Fund is so that we can be more transparent and bring more fiscal responsibility on behalf of Albertans.

00:28:38.140 The budget process is the place where we identify priorities of Albertans and needs within government-delivered services such as health care and education.

00:28:48.420 And it's in that budget process that we look to make thoughtful, durable, and sustainable decisions, appropriate decisions around funding programming.

00:28:57.760 Emma, did you have a follow-up?

00:29:01.120 Yeah, I do.

00:29:02.020 I mean, you're saying that it's going to bring discipline,

00:29:05.040 but in fact, you can spend this on anything you like

00:29:08.240 that is a one-time spend.

00:29:10.100 I mean, there's an election coming up,

00:29:11.880 to Graham's point earlier.

00:29:13.540 You can find anything in a writing where you need votes

00:29:16.080 and polling is shown as being closed.

00:29:18.080 So explain to Albert why this is not simply

00:29:21.700 a pre-election slush fund.

00:29:24.260 Emma, I appreciate the question.

00:29:26.080 it's anything but a slush fund. Again, it was conceived to bring discipline to the use of

00:29:35.260 surplus, and so surplus could only be used for three uses, with a priority being saving and

00:29:42.460 debt repayment. Now, included in these fiscal rules is a balanced budget requirement. Included

00:29:49.700 in the fiscal rules is, in fact, an expenditure ceiling, and including in the fiscal rules is a

00:29:56.020 requirement that the government deliver based on the budget with effectively only the contingency

00:30:03.620 for use for emergencies disasters or unforeseen expenditures that may arise in the year so again

00:30:10.800 the series the fiscal framework the layering of protection I believe will ensure that governments

00:30:17.720 cannot act irresponsibly ahead of an election per se and and spend a surplus that's sitting

00:30:25.020 in the count. Look, even if the funds are in surplus, we're going to, you know, running a

00:30:29.440 significant surplus this year. Now we're paying down a lot of debt, which I believe is the best

00:30:34.220 use for a surplus. But any surplus that sits in that Alberta fund has to be, to spend it, it has

00:30:42.180 to be reflected in the budget. It can't just be, governments just can't go in there and take it,

00:30:47.920 run off and spend it. It has to be spent in a consistent way with the budget that I'm going

00:30:53.680 to look to present to the legislature and hopefully pass within the next three to four

00:30:57.920 weeks.

00:30:58.920 So, again, there's a series of controls that will bring fiscal discipline to any government,

00:31:05.940 and the Alberta Fund is just another mechanism to bring that discipline.

00:31:10.060 Operator, can you put through the next caller?

00:31:15.140 Thank you.

00:31:16.140 Jeremy Thompson, CTV.

00:31:19.140 Hi there. Thanks for taking my question here. Firstly, just wondering about the spending on major cities, Edmonton and Calgary. How much of an effort was made to make the spending, you know, relatively equal? It looks like they're both getting about $2 billion. What can you say about the division between the two major cities?

00:31:42.580 look when ministries bring requests whether it's operating requests or capital requests to treasury

00:31:52.180 board we at treasury board take a look at where's the where's the greatest need and where's the

00:31:58.540 greatest return on investment what what are the biggest priorities for albertans regardless

00:32:02.960 of geography that's the reality the fact is that calgary and edmonton are both great big

00:32:09.300 world-class cities, and so there's going to be significant capital funds spent in both of those

00:32:15.320 regions and both of those municipalities, but also right across Alberta. We, again,

00:32:22.100 make decisions based on need and priority and defensibility, and that was the way the

00:32:27.880 decisions were taken this year. Did you have a follow-up? Yeah, and then just when it comes to

00:32:34.580 cities i'm sure you know they might be interested in accessing some of the funds uh in that alberta

00:32:40.420 fund you know it's over a billion dollars is there is there a process for cities to sort of

00:32:46.100 request access to that perhaps for you know a new arena or upgrades to uh to a stadium like

00:32:52.660 commonwealth well in terms of municipalities directly access accessing the fund the answer

00:32:58.420 is no there is no mechanism and that's by design again the alberta fund was established to bring

00:33:04.340 discipline to the use of surplus. There's only three uses for those funds. The priority will be

00:33:10.360 given to debt reduction, debt repayment, further investment in the Heritage Savings Trust Fund,

00:33:16.440 and also an allowance for one-time spending that's non-reoccurring that aligns with

00:33:22.640 strategic government priorities. Operator, can you put through the next caller?

00:33:27.360 Janet French CBC. Hello there. Some of the structural costs that you've built into this

00:33:36.560 budget rely on oil revenues to sustain. This seems to me to be completely opposite to the work that

00:33:42.860 you've done to slim down the government during the last three years to rein in these structural

00:33:46.580 costs. So what's your long-term plan to sustain these service levels without relying on resource

00:33:51.760 revenues that's been an age-old question here in alberta job number one was bringing responsible

00:34:00.240 fiscal management to the bottom half of the income statement to our expenditures and that's

00:34:04.080 that's what we believed was uh the first job and we've worked hard at that over the last four years

00:34:09.280 again doing it thoughtfully surgically but getting it done bringing our expenditures in line to where

00:34:14.780 they're at a much more sustainable level going forward there to the point where we can make

00:34:19.320 additional reinvestment. We can invest in Alberta's priorities. We can meet emerging needs because

00:34:24.720 we've done the heavy fiscal lifting. Now, with respect to Alberta's revenue structure, it does

00:34:31.200 remain volatile. We do depend at this point, certainly to a significant degree, on non-renewable

00:34:37.800 resource revenues. And that's our reality right now. At the same time, we've focused on, again,

00:34:45.880 creating a business environment that would attract investment and further

00:34:49.840 diversify the economy that's also happening and that's in part reflected

00:34:54.220 in the increasing corporate tax revenue and personal tax revenue that we see in

00:34:58.880 the province so that is also part of the equation and and we're focused on that

00:35:03.040 there's great value in a more diversified economy in Alberta not only

00:35:06.880 so that Albertans can have you know find and pursue careers perhaps that they

00:35:11.800 couldn't in alberta a few years ago but it also will create more stability for government revenues

00:35:17.640 going forward did you have a follow-up i do but if we're looking at the numbers for 22 24 i mean

00:35:24.680 18 billion dollars of the revenue you're expecting is coming from resource revenues and we're going

00:35:30.360 to spend 68 billion what's to prevent you if oil prices crash from having to come back and then

00:35:36.520 lay off all these healthcare workers these education workers that you're hiring

00:35:41.800 Look, we went through a period of time where WTI oil prices hit the negatives in 2020, and the WCS prices stayed at $10 for far too long.

00:35:55.160 We managed through that, and we managed through that while we continued to deliver government services.

00:36:00.960 In fact, at the time, we were dealing with a pandemic, and we were having to support Albertans at a much higher level because of that.

00:36:08.640 You know, I talk about the importance of paying down debt.

00:36:12.640 Paying down debt creates fiscal room.

00:36:15.600 And when you have fiscal room, you can more effectively deal with an economic shock that might be coming in the future.

00:36:21.840 Ultimately, that's the whole goal of paying down debt, or certainly one of the goals.

00:36:26.300 One of the other benefits, of course, is reduced debt servicing costs.

00:36:30.440 You know, I've said in previous years, and I continue to believe it,

00:36:34.760 after the government of Alberta gets their spending in line, which we've achieved that,

00:36:40.240 at some point in the future it'll be important that Alberta takes a look at its revenue structure

00:36:45.700 to ensure that it's most appropriate, that it's most efficient.

00:36:49.160 There's a time when that will be important, and that time will probably be in the not-too-distant future.

00:36:53.320 But right now, we're focused on delivering very efficiently.

00:36:58.200 We're also focused on positioning Alberta's economy for economic growth and diversification,

00:37:03.380 which also diversifies the government's revenues.

00:37:06.900 We're going to take two more on the line, then we'll come back to the room.

00:37:09.020 So, operator, put in the next caller.

00:37:11.320 David Staples, Edmonton Journal.

00:37:14.800 Hi, thanks for taking my call, Minister.

00:37:17.760 So, I'm looking at the increase in non-renewable resource revenue from two years ago to now.

00:37:27.280 Two years ago, it was $3.1 billion.

00:37:30.000 Now, it's $27.5 billion.

00:37:32.340 So that's a 790% increase in non-renewable resource revenue.

00:37:38.720 Someone looking at that might say, well, you know, you're taking a lot of, you know,

00:37:43.340 why do you deserve credit for balancing the budget and paying down the debt when you get that kind of economic windfall?

00:37:48.880 What would you say to someone who poses such a question to you?

00:37:52.060 What credit do you think your government deserves here?

00:37:55.140 David, that's a great question.

00:37:56.340 question, and energy revenues, non-renewable resource revenues, oil royalties, if you will,

00:38:02.460 continue to play a big part in our revenue mix. And of course, the energy industry is a major

00:38:07.140 industry in the province, and so it contributes to economic activity, which of course support

00:38:12.140 personal income tax revenue and revenues from corporate taxes as well. So it's a major

00:38:18.300 player in Alberta. But it's the combination of things. Granted, the recovery in energy prices

00:38:25.460 was very very significant but David if you recall when we presented budget 2022 a year ago we did

00:38:32.660 we presented that budget based on fairly modest energy prices energy prices that were were

00:38:38.200 realistic based on on the time in the day and we were projecting very modest surpluses we're

00:38:44.220 projecting a surplus last year of 500 million dollars and we also had done the work we'd

00:38:52.340 extrapolated where our spending would be had we continued on the spending

00:38:56.660 trajectory of the previous government and instead of a 500 million dollar

00:39:00.920 surplus we would have had a six billion dollar deficit so a balanced budget is a

00:39:06.200 combination of things firstly we absolutely been blessed as Albertans

00:39:11.000 over the last year and a half with an increase in recovery in energy energy

00:39:15.080 prices certainly a big part of the story at the same time we've seen

00:39:19.100 government revenues grow broadly as we've seen a more diversified economy

00:39:23.900 contributing to more personal income tax revenue and corporate tax revenue for

00:39:28.200 the province of Alberta and at the same time our fiscal discipline bringing our

00:39:33.440 spending in line with other provinces bringing our spending to sustainable

00:39:37.700 levels has been a big part of the story it's really been all three David did

00:39:43.100 you have a follow-up yeah if that same person then you know same voter asked you well you know

00:39:50.060 if the ndp was in power right now and enjoyed this same kind of massive windfall in reverse

00:39:56.980 revenue wouldn't they also have a big surplus that also being have paid down the debt significantly

00:40:02.780 and and if not what why wouldn't they have done it well well david again based on the spending

00:40:09.460 trajectory of the NDP when they were in office from 2015 to 2019, increasing spending by

00:40:16.160 four percent a year when our economy was flatlined and revenues were declining. Had they been

00:40:23.000 in office the last four years, again, given the revenue assumptions that we made at budget

00:40:28.860 time, again, they would have been reporting a $6 billion deficit, not a $500 million surplus.

00:40:34.740 And the fact that we're now projecting a $10 billion surplus for the current year that

00:40:40.060 we're in, I think we could also extrapolate holding all things constant.

00:40:45.060 It wouldn't have been 10, it would have been more like four had the NDP been in office

00:40:49.460 and had they continued to spend on the same trajectory.

00:40:53.260 Fiscal discipline matters, David.

00:40:55.540 And it's a big and key ingredient in presenting a budget that's ultimately balanced for all

00:41:02.300 three years of the fiscal plan.

00:41:03.980 Awesome. Operator, can you put through the next caller?

00:41:07.500 Thank you. Josh Aldridge, Calgary Herald.

00:41:11.180 Good afternoon, Minister. Thank you for taking my question.

00:41:15.880 You've talked a lot about what's happened since 2019 when the UCP came into power,

00:41:21.120 about the impacts on the economy and the investments that are made there.

00:41:26.480 But going through the budget this year, there's not a lot that really stands out that's new

00:41:31.020 in terms of that investment in the business sector.

00:41:33.040 are you looking at this as more just kind of stability to further invigorate that sector or

00:41:41.720 are there specific programs or specific things that are in this budget there that you're looking

00:41:46.040 at to provide more of an injection into that business community because looking at it right

00:41:50.660 now not a lot there that's uh that's a great question and i'd love to answer that because

00:41:58.440 again back in 2019 we worked hard to create a very competitive business environment broadly that's

00:42:06.680 why we brought down our corporate tax rate our general tax rate from 12 to 8 percent that's why

00:42:12.200 we've been focused on red tape reduction regulatory modernization across sectors and we've done that

00:42:19.240 because we believe it's important that broadly govern we should have a very competitive business

00:42:24.200 environment because there'll be opportunities that government could never see and if we have a very

00:42:30.520 broad-based competitive business environment entrepreneurs and investors can take advantage

00:42:36.200 of opportunities regardless of what sector and that's what we're seeing today and that's uh

00:42:42.360 that's been very very gratifying and it's resulted in a in a diversifying economy

00:42:47.560 of significant proportion awesome Josh did you have a follow-up was there any

00:42:54.700 real consideration into further lowering the corporate business or the corporate

00:42:59.380 tax and small business tax to further address some inflationary pressures

00:43:04.540 especially with a global slowdown coming you know what we consider our tax

00:43:10.080 structure as we look at every budget right now we are very very competitive

00:43:15.320 more than competitive from a Canadian standpoint, and very competitive with U.S. states.

00:43:22.140 So we believe that we've calibrated our corporate tax rate at the right level.

00:43:28.160 I should also mention that we have done some very specific, unique things in this budget

00:43:33.680 with respect to our business environment.

00:43:36.020 We have brought in the AGRA food processing and manufacturing tax credit,

00:43:41.560 non-refundable corporate tax credit which again will further improve the competitiveness of our

00:43:48.280 agri-food processing and manufacturing sector and our agriculture industry broadly. We've increased

00:43:54.640 the film tax credit going forward which again will improve our competitiveness in that space

00:44:00.340 and we've seen the film and television industry absolutely explode over the last few years.

00:44:06.180 So two things. Budget 23 is about stability. And business investment craves stability. I know as a business owner and manager, stability and certainty are critical. That's what Budget 23 does. It brings stability. At the same time, we're making tweaks to even further improve the competitiveness of our business environment.

00:44:28.460 awesome we'll take it back to the room thank you Charlotte it's Lisa Johnson

00:44:32.860 from the Edmonton General High Minister I just want to go back to Emma's

00:44:35.940 question about the Alberta fund you're saying that that the purpose of the fund

00:44:40.220 is to have guardrails up to direct how the government spends a surplus or what

00:44:46.160 it does with a surplus but this is discretionary one-time funding are you

00:44:51.960 saying are you promising that you are going to detail any spending from the

00:44:56.740 alberta fund if there is any before the election in the legislature because there are no details

00:45:02.660 in this document in the documents today about what the government plans to spend potentially

00:45:07.620 1.4 billion dollars on potentially a month before the writ is dropped any spending that's done

00:45:15.860 between now and the election needs to be reflected in the appropriations bill and fiscal plan that

00:45:21.700 i'm presenting in the legislature later today that's that's a reality for the upcoming budget

00:45:26.900 year again there's a contingency amount 1.5 billion dollars in the budget that i'm presenting

00:45:32.820 and that contingency uh fund is crucially vitally important to ensure that we can deal with

00:45:38.900 disasters and emergencies that we're unable to budget or plan for but again any any plans and

00:45:45.780 programs need to be reflected in this appropriations bill and and so no it

00:45:50.820 again the Alberta fund really does provide guardrails and firstly at least

00:45:56.100 50% of a surplus has to be used towards debt that's maturing in the year the

00:46:01.560 surplus is attained that's that's number one it prioritizes debt repayment that's

00:46:05.460 our fiscal rule but anything that ends up in the Alberta fund only you know

00:46:09.540 debt repayment additional investment into the heritage trust fund or again

00:46:14.040 one-time non-reoccurring investments that align with government's strategic

00:46:20.100 priorities could could could fit as well but that needs to be reflected those

00:46:24.540 plans need to be reflected in a budget

00:46:29.360 follow-up sure yeah I mean but we won't see a fiscal update until after the

00:46:34.980 election so we won't have those details but you're saying that it's going to be

00:46:40.180 reflected in appropriations in detail just to clarify but I have a second

00:46:46.940 question which is a bit of a niche question in a mandate letter to her

00:46:51.060 Minister Premier Daniel Smith asked for a digital innovation tax credit for

00:46:56.260 video game creators I'm wondering why that was abandoned in this budget I

00:47:00.400 don't see it anywhere in the budget sure I mean you know what we constantly

00:47:04.840 evaluate our competitiveness in every sector where we know we're naturally

00:47:09.820 competitive. Certainly the tech sector is an area where we're naturally competitive. The numbers

00:47:15.300 speak for themselves. And I should point out that in 2022, Alberta set another record in terms of

00:47:22.960 venture capital investment at something like $729 million. And we did that. We set a new record at

00:47:29.700 a time when provinces, other large provinces with large tech sectors, saw a decline in investment.

00:47:36.440 So the point there is that Alberta is very competitive in the tech space.

00:47:41.880 We have a growing tech sector in Alberta.

00:47:45.460 We evaluate the competitiveness of every sector ahead of every budget,

00:47:49.620 and a digital media tax credit is not included in this budget.

00:47:54.860 We continue to work with the sector and the industry to understand what they're going to need to remain competitive.

00:48:02.220 If I take a look broadly at the tech sector, what we're doing, again, broadly as a province,

00:48:08.000 and that includes governments, includes our academic institutions, it includes our world-class tech sector,

00:48:13.460 what we're doing broadly is working because we're winning with venture capital investment.

00:48:17.740 Great. Thanks, Lisa.

00:48:20.100 Good afternoon. It's Safe Kaiser, Global News.

00:48:22.580 Minister, a couple of questions back a couple of times you sent.

00:48:25.380 This is not an election budget, but when we actually look at the budget,

00:48:28.920 we see Calgary which is a battleground mentioned almost double the amount of times Edmonton is

00:48:35.660 more money going to Calgary for more things. Why would that be the case if you're claiming this

00:48:40.740 isn't an election budget? Again I can tell you as the President of Treasury Board our practice when

00:48:47.740 we consider requests from ministries whether they be operating but especially capital. You can

00:48:53.040 imagine every ministry lobbies hard for capital and of course we hear you know interventions from

00:48:58.420 every MLA, rightfully so, as they're working to do their job. At Treasury Board, we have a

00:49:04.320 comprehensive rating process that rates capital projects based on the need, based on the priority,

00:49:11.260 based on the return of investment to Albertans, based on the readiness of that project.

00:49:16.660 And it's through that checklist that ultimately informs our decisions at Treasury Board as to

00:49:23.000 which projects we approve and move forward with. And so, you know, from time to time,

00:49:26.920 some years it's going to be rural alberta other times it might be the north i can't wait for that

00:49:31.480 day being from grand prairie other times it'll be the south or calgary or edmonton but again

00:49:36.920 at as the president of treasury board we take a disciplined view and we want to ensure and we work

00:49:42.680 to ensure that the highest priority the most defensible projects are the ones that are funded

00:49:48.600 budget 23 is no exception right so what you're saying then is uh all of the requests you've

00:49:54.760 received from edmonton i mean edmonton has just as big of a population and as many problems as

00:49:59.560 calgary does you're seeing the requests you've seen don't give you a large enough return of

00:50:07.800 investment that you think it's worthwhile investing into those problems in edmonton

00:50:13.080 well you know the the projects are ranked based on need and priority they have a ranking based on

00:50:19.160 safety they certainly have a ranking based on readiness all of those factors are considered

00:50:25.400 when treasury board makes the final decisions around the capital plan and i can tell you this

00:50:30.360 that again from time to time it'll be calgary edmonton or rural alberta that seems to you know

00:50:35.960 get a disproportionate amount of that investment but that's the process we stick to and that's the

00:50:40.600 process we undertook in budget 23. thanks eve hi minister morgan black also with global news

00:50:47.800 on the topic of priorities i know affordable housing has been a big priority for edmonton

00:50:51.320 for a number of years i didn't see that explicitly in the budget i don't know if

00:50:55.080 that's included in msi funding but why was that not encompassed within this budget

00:51:01.080 that's a great question we are funding affordable housing in budget 23 we're increasing funding

00:51:08.040 for affordable housing and it will be a key part of budget 23. there's a great need

00:51:13.480 out there both in our municipalities edmonton and calgary especially but more than that you know we

00:51:18.280 can go to grand prairie fort mcmurray lethbridge medicine had other regions as well and we have a

00:51:24.840 long-term strategy around affordable housing our goal is to add 25 000 additional doors over time

00:51:31.560 we're sticking with that plan budget 23 ultimately delivers on the long-term plan to add more

00:51:38.360 affordable housing options for albertans do you think oh all right um and my colleagues asked

00:51:43.560 such great questions that i just thought this one um if you had any more surplus what would

00:51:50.120 you have invested in that's not encompassed in this budget and why that's a great question you

00:51:55.480 know if with additional surplus i believe that we should really be making debt repayment a priority

00:52:03.320 in the future. Over the last few years, of course, with the shock of COVID, I talked about, it's kind

00:52:09.280 of the triple black swan event, huge crash in energy prices, contraction in the global economy.

00:52:15.600 Alberta's debt grew. That's the reality. We had to deliver for Albertans during that time.

00:52:21.040 And there was a time in March, April of 2020, when there was great global uncertainty economically,

00:52:29.300 And all sub-national governments in Canada, none of us could borrow, none of us could float a bond issue.

00:52:35.600 And that lasted for quite a long period of time.

00:52:39.080 And it was at that time I recognized the great need to create fiscal room

00:52:43.360 so that a province like Alberta can handle an economic or fiscal shock in the future.

00:52:48.640 That's why debt repayment, I believe, should be a great priority.

00:52:52.040 Because as you pay down debt, you create fiscal room so that you can handle a shock in the future.

00:52:57.560 The good news is this. We set a fiscal anchor of keeping our net debt to GDP ratio below 30 percent, keeping a relatively strong balance sheet even during those dark days. By the end of this year, that net debt to GDP ratio is 10 percent, the strongest balance sheet of any province in the country by far. That's good news for all of Albertans.

00:53:16.420 Thank you. We have time for two more questions from the line. Then we have a hard stop at 145. So, operator, can you put through the next caller?

00:53:27.560 One moment, please.

00:53:39.060 Thank you.

00:53:40.060 The next question is from Chris Varko, Calgary Herald.

00:53:44.320 Minister, what will be the split for how your government treats future surpluses from the

00:53:50.100 Alberta Fund?

00:53:51.100 In other words, how will you decide how to divvy that up between the three different

00:53:55.080 buckets that you've already laid out today?

00:53:57.080 I correct Chris that's a great question and we've allowed flexibility in the use of the Alberta fund again flexibility for debt repayment further investment in the heritage trust fund or perhaps one time strategic projects and you know my mind goes probably if it is going to be used for those purposes those are probably capital projects but I believe that we need to leave flexibility because for governments of the day they're going to need to

00:54:27.060 evaluate the cost of capital, cost of borrowing. They're going to need to evaluate expected returns

00:54:33.260 in the Heritage Savings Trust Fund. They're going to need to take a look at their overall debt

00:54:37.700 levels. All of those features, I believe, should inform decisions around ultimate surplus allocation.

00:54:44.680 Again, Chris, if you heard my answer to the previous question, you know my preference. My

00:54:50.280 preference right now is debt repayment debt reduction in order to create fiscal

00:54:56.100 room because fiscal room gives a province such as Alberta more optionality

00:55:02.520 more flexibility should we hit another economic shock in the future and at the

00:55:06.520 same time right now our cost of capital like every government around the world

00:55:11.760 has been creeping up with interest rates even though our cost of capital

00:55:16.200 relative to Ontario was going down because of our strong balance sheet the

00:55:20.220 reality is is we're in a time of increasing interest rates and so right

00:55:24.280 now debt repayment also materially lowers debt service costs which that

00:55:30.300 funding can be available for programming or future investment in the heritage

00:55:34.380 savings trustman Chris did you have a quick follow-up yeah this is a bit of a

00:55:40.620 two-part question minister but is it your target to drive net debt down to

00:55:45.100 zero and just going back to the earlier comments about the effectiveness of

00:55:49.920 balanced budget bills, given the fact that we've already seen them in the past in this province in

00:55:53.860 the 1990s and in the 2000s, and they were subsequently ignored by future governments,

00:55:59.300 how successful or how effective are they?

00:56:03.620 Chris, I believe a well-thought-out set of fiscal rules, a well-thought-out fiscal framework,

00:56:13.760 like the framework that I'll be ultimately presenting in the House

00:56:19.940 in the form of proposed legislation.

00:56:22.980 I believe that type of fiscal framework can be very durable.

00:56:26.640 But there needs to be enough flexibility in the framework

00:56:29.900 so that it can account and adjust for a very volatile revenue structure,

00:56:35.820 which we have in this province.

00:56:37.000 And I believe these fiscal rules will accommodate that.

00:56:40.280 And at the same time, bringing real fiscal rigor

00:56:43.540 to financial decisions by a future government.

00:56:48.760 So again, as you know, we have a balanced budget requirement,

00:56:51.120 or we'll be proposing legislation that will require a balanced budget.

00:56:55.020 But there are exceptions, exceptions with material drops in revenue

00:56:59.660 that we have to have in this province,

00:57:02.500 or the fiscal rule simply won't work and it will need to be repealed.

00:57:06.420 When it comes to our fiscal rules around limiting expenditure increases

00:57:11.420 to population growth and inflation, again, we're building on the previous year's expense ceiling,

00:57:19.400 not the previous year's actual results. That's significant.

00:57:24.060 That will ensure that wise governments start to create a little bit of unused room 1.00

00:57:28.360 so that they can deal with a shock that would inevitably come.

00:57:34.040 I believe these fiscal rules will deliver well for Albertans for years, hopefully decades to come.

00:57:41.420 and we'll help ensure sound fiscal decision-making.

00:57:46.280 Thank you. That is all the time we have for today.

00:57:48.900 Our media landscape is dominated by a few big players,

00:57:52.220 almost all of which are owned by big eastern and foreign corporate interests,

00:57:56.120 or by the government itself.

00:57:58.500 As taxpayers, we're forced to pay billions of dollars every year to support the liberal CBC.

00:58:03.160 But now even the non-government-owned mainstream media are on the take,

00:58:07.100 receiving hundreds of millions of dollars a year in a massive taxpayer bailout from the federal government.

00:58:13.840 This means that even those few bright spots of independence and free thinking in the mainstream media

00:58:18.520 are now on the government dole and cannot speak without fear that the government could pull their funding at any time.

00:58:25.920 There are a few great journalists in the non-government-owned media,

00:58:28.900 but they mostly work for large corporate interests owned and operated out of Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, and New York.

00:58:37.900 western voices voices that speak for the west without fear of what their bosses in toronto

00:58:43.100 will say are far and few between the west needs a strong and independent voice that is willing to

00:58:49.820 take on the issues facing our people this is why we refounded the western standard in 2019

00:58:55.980 since then the western standard has burst onto the scene and shaken up western canada's media

00:59:00.780 landscape with a growing and dedicated team of reporters and opinion columnists we have quickly

00:59:07.580 become the third most read online news platform in western canada with an average of 3 million

00:59:12.940 readers per month and hundreds of thousands of people watching our videos and listening to our

00:59:17.660 podcasts our news team is made up of credible reporters largely recruited from the mainstream

00:59:23.100 media but who focus on issues that are all too often ignored by the old players our opinion

00:59:28.940 colonists fearlessly take on controversial issues that most of the old players are too afraid to

00:59:33.900 touch directly the western standards mission is to be the independent voice of the new west this

00:59:39.900 is why we need to see the receipts what did you actually spend the money on we got some major news

00:59:46.060 breaking at the moment for you we're making a big difference and giving westerners a homegrown

00:59:50.860 alternative to the big government-owned and government-funded mainstream media we're changing

00:59:56.700 the conversation now obviously i condemn those symbols i think those are for sure we all do at

01:00:01.580 the western standards what are your thoughts on that debate i think that tom clark the moderator

01:00:06.620 certainly lost there's issues with the current avlet system run by the province we refuse to

01:00:12.380 accept a penny of the big media bailout that has corrupted canada's once free breasts because we

01:00:17.980 are one of the only genuinely independent media in canada we are able to speak freely and cannot

01:00:24.060 be cancelled by ottawa we have a large and growing team of journalists with bureaus in calgary

01:00:30.140 edmonton vancouver regina and on parliament hill our reporters and columnists are fearless and

01:00:36.860 work tirelessly to give you straight news and cut through the spin that is why we need you

01:00:43.420 the reader to step up and become a member of the western standard you can become a western

01:00:49.580 standard member for just ten dollars a month or 99 a year for unlimited access much cheaper than a

01:00:55.260 subscription to one of the big government funded newspapers we are reinvesting every penny of that

01:01:01.340 back into improving our ability to provide you with real independent and original western news

01:01:07.820 and opinion coverage supporting independent media with your membership is the price of having any

01:01:13.420 media left in this country that isn't on the government take if you want there to be any

01:01:18.460 independent western media left then we need you to step up and support it without people like you

01:01:24.400 supporting independent media all that will be left is the corrupt government-owned and government

01:01:29.580 funded press we've built something great that is challenging the old media and we're making a big

01:01:36.440 difference together we can make sure that we have a voice that speaks for a west that is strong and

01:01:42.940 free canadian shooting sports association without the cssa our gun rights would have been taken 1.00

01:01:51.020 long long ago these guys are on the front lines helping to draft smart and intelligent firearms

01:01:57.820 regulations and legislation in canada and more importantly educating the public about

01:02:02.940 how we keep guns out of the hands of the wrong people who become a member it's absolutely worth

01:02:07.820 Every penny.

Western Standard - March 01, 2023

RE-BROADCAST： Budget 2023 media briefing and news conference - February 28, 2023

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