The Stelmach government has raided Alberta savings once more in their new budget. The so-called Sustainability Fund is near depletion, while the government justifies its pillaging on the basis of rosy assumptions for the future. These assumptions only succeed in drawing more attention to what can only be identified as the government’s lack of connection to economic realities.
Albertans knew that to prosper through difficult times required one to “live within your means,” he [Lloyd Snelgrove] said, only to warn moments later that “our emergency savings are shrinking and we must begin to rebuild them.” A Sustainability Fund whose asset value just two years ago peaked near $15-billion would by next year be worth $2.3- billion — less than when Mr. Klein made his first deposit eight years ago. After the last of the projected red ink had finally been spilled in 2013, the fund would amount to a paltry $1.7-billion.
Stelmach, who has already quit the premier’s job into the future, will remain in office until September this year. Steadily, Eddy has become Red Ed.
