EDMONTON, AB (August 10, 2016): With documents obtained by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) indicating that Finance Minister Joe Ceci may have been aware of the economic consequences of losing our triple-A credit rating before he acted, Albertans deserve to know the true costs of the NDP’s risky economic plans, the Wildrose Official Opposition said today.
Alberta has suffered four credit downgrades within the past year – after Ceci led the charge on policy that would erase the debt ceiling and set Alberta on a collision course with record debt and record deficit. A briefing note reveals internal conversations about the “cost of the downgrade to our credit rating,” around the time Ceci was defending his government’s risky plans, but most of the document’s key details have been redacted.
“At a time when uncertainty is running rampant throughout our economy, the NDP needs to be up front and honest about what kind of economic consequences could be in store as a result of their risky policies,” Wildrose Leader Brian Jean said. “It’s my sincere hope that Mr. Ceci didn’t sacrifice our credit rating and mislead on the costs of NDP policies just to get his plans through.”
Wildrose Shadow Finance Minister Derek Fildebrandt said Ceci needs to explain what he meant when he said he was “confident that we can show we are worthy of a triple-A credit rating because we are sticking to our plan” last December during budget debates.
“The NDP has developed a horrible habit of ignoring any advice that gets in the way of their ideological plans,” Fildebrandt said. “Albertans deserve to know the full details of these heavily redacted documents. This will hopefully shed some light on the true cost of the NDP’s reckless plans for jobs and our economy.”
Wildrose called for a credit downgrade action plan last December.