Alberta, Canada Unshaken By Oil Price Fluctuations, Gears For A Brighter And Stronger Future

Alberta has everything but stability, according to Minister of Finance Robin Campbell when he delivered his Budget Address 2015 on Thursday, March 26. He said that the province is gearing up to secure a brighter and stronger future for all Albertans through shifting its economic strategies.

Campbell introduced during his address the three main goals of the new strategic plan — strengthening Alberta’s fiscal foundation, building a lasting legacy and securing Alberta’s future. The said plan is to be spread throughout the next 10 years.

Strengthening Alberta’s Fiscal Foundation

To kick-start its objective, the minister said the province ought to slow down in its spending. This can be done by negotiating the new contracts to make them align in the present fiscal situation. The government will also focus on public service and that means making adjustments in its allocations. The government prepared a few principles to guide the authorised persons. These include minimising impact on the front line while seeking forth administrative efficiencies or exploring alternate delivery mechanisms to insure the right services and making smart investments.

The health care is among the primary focus for efficiency and innovation according to Campbell, but the budget for 2015 will have to give way to a decrease by C$160 million ($163.6 million) for health care. Meanwhile, education will see an augment by C$145 million to protect teaching positions and to honour existing collective agreement. Moving on, the government’s overall investments in services and programs will have an increase by C$72 million to sustain the high standards of support for families and communities.

To read more about the budget address, click here.

Building A Lasting Legacy

The legacy that Campbell wants Alberta to have is to pay off its debt, lest, it will serve as a trap on the province’s agility and competitive.

“In the short term, our 10-year plan will see an initial increase in capital debt as we continue to build and maintain needed infrastructure. However, with a return to surplus budget beginning in 2017-18, we will work to bring our capital debt down to $11 billion by 2024-25, and to pay if off completely in the following years,” Campbell assured.

Securing Alberta’s Future

The budget for 2015 will shell out C$29.5 billion capital plan to afford public infrastructure families and communities need. In the next five years, a C$7.9 billion will be allocated for municipal infrastructure support, and the capital plan will invest C$6.7 billion in the provincial transportation network and C$5 billion to construct additional schools in neighbourhoods and to modernise current schools.

Other investments are given attention in maintenance and renewal like public schools, health facilities, other properties throughout the province, existing roads and bridges, healthcare facilities and post-secondary institutions. Finally, Campbell is eyeing an Alberta with strengths in energy, tourism, forestry and agriculture to create new opportunities for Albertans.

The province, which is known for and relies much on oil reserves for revenue generation, is greatly affected by the constant fluctuations in fuel prices.

For comments or feedback on the article, please contact the writer at selivak@ibtimes.com.au