'My grandkids will have to be geniuses': Spending levels boost anxiety for these Alberta voters
CBC
It was free money, but it left Ollie Schwartz frustrated.
"My grandkids will have to be geniuses to get out of this hole," said the retired senior, standing on her front steps in east Calgary.
The one-time $500 payment Schwartz got was mailed to anyone eligible for Old Age Security this summer.
But for Schwartz, the cheque in her mailbox was one more example of government spending driving a deficit that should be the biggest issue candidates debate this federal election.
And in that, she's not alone.
Over a decade of research and polling suggests people in Albertan are highly concerned about government debt and fiscal prudence — more so than in nearly anywhere else in the country.
It's been obvious this campaign in the polling: one in three Albertans picked the deficit/government spending as one of their top three issues this campaign in the Angus Reid weekly polling.