EDMONTON, AB: The NDP are on a borrowing stampede after rubber stamping $6 billion in new debt behind closed doors, Wildrose Shadow Finance Minister Derek Fildebrandt said today.
The announcement was made through an order-in-council approved by cabinet on July 8. It comes after the NDP rammed through a mini-budget with only three hours of debate in the legislature without providing any key details on expected revenues, deficits or borrowing.
A full budget is not expected to be unveiled until after the federal election and possibly after the Calgary-Foothills byelection.
“This is exactly the type of secret budgeting that we were afraid of when the NDP asked for a blank cheque as they passed their mini-budget,” Fildebrandt said. “$6 billion would increase our total debt by 50 per cent, and allowing this type of massive borrowing without the support of the legislature is wrong.”
According to most recent budget figures, Alberta remains on pace to be over $30 billion in debt by 2019, with annual interest rate payments set to expand.
Fildebrandt said that without any real budget, and no measures to make meaningful reductions in government spending, the NDP are attempting to borrow billions of dollars in the dark.
“There’s no clear fiscal picture on what this borrowing is for, or what the province plans to be spending it on,” Fildebrandt said. “Unless we get control of our spending, interest payments will continue to grow and soak up more revenues away from core government services, sticking future Albertans with the tab.”