$45 billion and climbing.
That is Alberta’s debt and the Canadian Taxpayers Federation has hit the road to raise awareness of what they see as unsustainable government spending.
The Alberta branch of the federation hit the road earlier this month with its mobile debt clock, making a stop in Gasoline Alley on Monday morning. The clock was heading to Ponoka, Camrose and Leduc on Monday and when the tour wraps in a few days 20 communities will have been visited.
Colin Craig, the federation’s Alberta director, said they kicked off the tour at Calgary’s Olympic Park to voice its opposition to any effort to bid on the Olympics.
“Alberta’s debt is already going up by over $1.2 million every single hour. We can’t afford paying billions for the Olympics and the guaranteed cost overruns that come with it.”
The provincial debt stood at $11.9 billion at the end of March 2015, prior to the last provincial election, says the federation. It topped $42 billion at the end of last March and could clear $53 billion by April 2019.
Craig said getting the debt under control is crucial because rising interest rates and an aging population will only put more pressure on provincial finances in coming years.
The federation first rolled out a mobile debt clock in the early 1990s, when it was used to draw attention to the national debt.
It proved an effective visual reminder of the impact of government spending.
The clock was retired when the federal government brought spending under control, but 20 years later when debt began rising again under the government of former prime minister Stephen Harper the clock was put back on the road. It has also been used to highlight debt levels in Manitoba, Ontario and other provinces.
“It’s a very effective tool to highlight for the public just how out of control spending is right now,” he said.
At each stop, the federation is encouraging people to sign a petition, also available online at taxpayer.com/alberta, calling on the government to cut spending per capita to B.C. levels, which would mean a surplus in Alberta.
B.C. spends about $10,500 per person and Alberta is around $13,000. However, B.C. also collects more in taxes — about $6,300 in B.C. compared with about $5,000 in Alberta.