It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
In Alberta though we have a regime stuck in the nineties, and even this surplus will end up somehow being a deficit when it comes to government spending.
While the Federal Surplus is helped along by the Conservatives delays in funding their eco-programs.
Lyle Oberg the man who would be Premier but ended up as Treasurer can't find his calculator so the Spring sitting of the Alberta legislature will be delayed.
More specifically, the report calculates that in each of the last six years, the government has underestimated revenues by an average of $4.3 billion per year.
This attitude was confirmed by Mr. Klein last fall when he told the media that the unbudgeted surplus was none of the legislature's business. Given Alberta's track record in budgeting, what the premier was saying was that the legislature should have no say in how to spend 20 to 25 per cent of the province's revenue.
For more on Alberta's democratic deficit see Daveberta's review of Kevin Tafts new book democracy derailed.
Alberta surplus jumps in first-quarter projection
