Alberta budget raises spending, offers tax cuts

Alberta has so much money, it can't find ways to spend it all.

That's why the Alberta government announced a budget Wednesday that includes tax cuts, more spending and a surplus that will balloon to about $4.1 billion this year.

The only thing Albertans won't be getting this time around is more Ralph bucks, the cheques that were mailed out this year to everyone in the province.

Finance Minister Shirley McClellan also had one other disappointment for electors. The tax cuts will be smaller than many had hoped.

"It will be totally irresponsible to use a surplus for a one-time tax cut," she said, noting that Alberta's oil wealth will not go on forever.

The tax cuts will be small but they will be there. A change in personal exemptions will give Albertans about $35 extra when the tax bill comes around again. There will be a small break on health-care premiums and Alberta corporations will save an estimated $265 million.

The province intends to spend more money on highways, health and education. Spending will rise by an estimated 10 per cent to $28.3 billion this fiscal year.

That still leaves enough money to add $1 billion to the Heritage Savings Trust Fund and $500 million to a new cancer research endowment fund.

But Alberta's opposition parties would have liked bigger personal tax cuts.

Liberal leader Kevin Taft told CBC Radio that he's concerned that Albertans are not getting value for their money in the new provincial budget. He said it does not contain the major tax cut that he would have liked, nor any money for new schools.

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"We're very, very disappointed that health-care premiums are still there," he said. "The one tax cut that we want to see for Albertans is eliminating health-care premiums. We were startled to see a 40 per cent increase in subsidies to the horse racing industry. How can we afford that when we can't afford new schools?"

The corporate tax cut is not going over well with NDP leader Brian Mason.

"The corporate sector gets, by our calculation, a $400-million-tax cut," Mason said. "But the average person will only save $10 on their taxes when they pay them. It really shows who's in the driver's seat in this province and it's not the average person."