EDMONTON, AB: In Question Period last week, United Conservative Leader Jason Kenney exposed the NDP deception surrounding its so-called ‘path to balance’ when he caught both the Premier and Minister of Economic Development and Trade trying to cover their tracks by falsely claiming the NDP’s balanced budget plan isn’t based on raising the carbon tax – even though that’s what’s printed in the budget documents.
“Today I asked clear and direct questions about this government’s fiscal plan and its reliance on pipeline and carbon tax revenues to achieve balance, only to be met with falsehoods and doublespeak from the NDP government,” said Kenney. “It’s clear that we can’t trust the NDP to tell the truth about the fact that it plans to balance the budget by increasing taxes on hardworking Alberta families.”
According to the NDP government’s own budget documents, a return to balanced budgets by 2023-24 relies on revenues from the delayed Trans Mountain expansion project beginning in 2021. In media interviews, the NDP’s own Finance Minister has also admitted that revenue from the federal Liberal imposed carbon tax – which the NDP now claims to reject – will be used to “provide Albertans with vital programs and services that they rely on.”
Despite these facts, the Premier flat-out denied her government is banking on revenue from both the pipeline and the federal $50 per tonne carbon tax to balance the books, and even went so far as to claim that her so-called ‘path to balance’ is secure.
“While we all hope to see this critical piece of pipeline infrastructure built soon, it was irresponsible for the NDP to go so far as to incorporate revenue from the project, which has yet to see one shovel in the ground, into its fiscal plan,” said Kenney. “What’s even more disappointing is that the NDP, instead of taking responsibility for this mistake, has chosen instead to mislead Albertans. This is truly shameful behaviour from a government that claims to have the backs of the people. Luckily, Albertans are much smarter than the NDP gives them credit for and will see right through this deception.”
The NDP government’s 2018 budget, released earlier this year, puts Alberta on track for $100 billion in debt. This year alone, Albertans will pay nearly $2 billion on interest payments for the NDP’s reckless spending.