Jason Kenney says Albertans are in for a ‘fiscal reckoning’.

The NDP Deficit, projected at $6,700,000,000, grew to $12,100,000,000 pre-pandemic under his government and is currently projected at $24,200,000,000.

Lower revenue from taxes, resources & gaming, the pandemic and global oil price crash are blamed. Here are examples of excessive government spending & proposed spending, extensive borrowing, risky investments, cronyism & poorly conceived decisions impacting Alberta’s economy:  /2

Jason Kenny has 19 personal staff earning a total of $2.9 million annually. Ten of these positions did not previously exist. Each of Alberta’s 22 cabinet ministers have 2 personal paid staff. /3

Proposed and actual expenditures include $3,700,000 to a US firm to review our post-secondary education, $400,000,000 towards privatized surgery, $200,000,000 for a private hospital and $120,000,000 for the war room. /4

Kenney wastes considerable capital paying UCP supporters to sit on panels and justify government actions he already intends to implement. Recently an 8 person panel reviewing Safe Consumption Sites spent $10,000 over their $375,009 budget.
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This is particularly ironic as they recommended closure of Canada’s largest site due to ‘mismanagement and misuse of government funding’! /6

Undisclosed amount paid for a WeChat ad, falsely claiming that Justin Trudeau would legalize hard drugs if re-elected. The government sidestepped the requirement that “platforms” must register political ads with Elections Canada by having an individual WeChat user post the ad. /7

Early in the pandemic, they spent $10,000 to $15,000 on Facebook ads to brag about donating PPE to other provinces. /8

David Knight Legg, principal adviser to Kenney, billed $45,000 for expenses over 6 months including $18,000 for 4 trips to London, England for undisclosed business. /9

Last November Jason Kenney spent $16,000 for private flights for himself and other conservative leaders and family members to fly from a photo op in Calgary to a meeting in Saskatoon. /10

Kenney recently staged a "camping" tour of Southern Alberta and was photographed in a truck and camper. He actually stayed in luxury hotels and was chauffeured around at undisclosed costs.
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The government has lost $ 4,700,000,000 in revenue by reducing tax rates to large corporations and plans new grants to oil companies that could reach $30 billion.../12

invested $7.5 billion in a pipeline that may not be built and plans to spend $58,000,000 on 20 private natural gas projects, 5 of which are not even in Alberta. They doled out $262.000.000 to pay annual fees for oil companies. /13

AIMCo  lost up to $4,000,000,000 on a pipeline investment. They loaned  $45,000,000, to Razor Energy, now unable to repay their loan. In all they have given $1,100,000,000 in bailouts to oil and gas companies and $4,200,000,000 in credit extended. /14

Albertans’ public sector pensions are used in these risky investments. /15

The UCP threw away $2,100,000,000 to switch public oil by rail contracts to the private sector, cancelled the super lab (which would have been invaluable during the pandemic) at an undisclosed cost & lost $1,785,000,000 on money that left AB due to carbon tax cancellation. /16

Rather than fund smaller class sizes for safety the government spent $4,200,000 on masks for school staff and students. A contract for staff masks of over $1,000,000 went to a major UCP donor. /17

A substantial portion of the federal $250,000,000 school safety money is being distributed to private schools which have small class sizes. The Webber Academy charges $18,000 tuition per student & will receive $330,750.  This leaves students in public schools at greater risk. /18

As for debt the govt reported $5,000,000,000 in traded term debt in 2019, incurred $700,000,000 in 100 year term debts & authorized up to $25,000,000,000 for pandemic spending, & redirected $128 Million in Public Education funding for Covid. /19

They plan to withdraw another $1,000,000,000 from Heritage Trust Fund which is the lowest it has been in eight years. /20

The facts support the need for a fiscal reckoning. Kenney & his cabinet must be held accountable by the people of AB. They have mismanaged our money through elaborate spending, massive borrowing, risky investments, and ill-conceived financial decisions... /21

They rewarded their supporters with government contracts and appointments to ‘expert’ panels. We must not accept their excuses for further education and health care cuts. We must hold them accountable for the deplorable state of Alberta’s finances. 
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