"We do not anticipate a sudden conversion by Premier Kenney or Minister Toews to a broader consideration of Alberta’s fiscal circumstances. As we laid out in the report, Albertans have been lulled into believing they were paying the full cost of their public services. Unbeknownst to most Albertans, it was the sale of non-renewable resources that was paying 10 to 40 per cent of the cost of public services since the 1980s.
In fact, data going as far back as 1965 show that were it not for Alberta resource revenue, the Alberta government never has run a budget surplus. Thus, past Alberta governments have always looked to the next boom to repay Canadian and foreign bondholders they borrowed from when oil and gas prices were depressed."
Opinion: Spending cuts and oil aren't a long-term fiscal plan
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