Oil revenues, taxes nudge up Alberta's projected surplus to $5.5B
CBC
Higher-than expected revenue from income taxes and non-renewable resource revenues are bumping Alberta's expected surplus up to $5.5 billion this year.
Despite a rosy short-term outlook in the second-quarter fiscal update released Thursday, Finance Minister Nate Horner says he wants to prepare for years when the province's coffers are more sparse.
"There's pressures that I see that keep me up at night," Horner told reporters.
Maturing debt will have to be refinanced at higher borrowing rates, he said. And the bulk of Alberta's unionized public employees have contracts expiring next year.
These were some of the considerations when the government decided to end the complete waiver of the provincial fuel tax as of Jan. 1, 2024, he said.
One of the United Conservative Party government's key election commitments was absent from the financial forecast.
During the spring election campaign, the party pledged to create a new eight-per-cent tax bracket on income under $60,000, a move the government said would save Albertans up to $750 annually.
The party's costed platform, released on May 24, estimated the new tax bracket would cost the treasury about $262 million this fiscal year, and more than $1 billion per year thereafter.
The pledge is in October's throne speech and Horner's mandate letter from the premier. The government has yet to table legislation to create the tax bracket.
Horner said Thursday he doesn't know when it's coming or what tax year the new bracket will take effect.
Also missing from the update was the cost of the government's about-face on privatizing community lab testing across the province.
Responding to outcry about weeks-long waits for routine blood work, the province signed a deal in August for provincially owned Alberta Precision Labs (APL) to take over the operations of Dynalife by the end of this calendar year.
Health Minister Adriana LaGrange told reporters on Thursday that APL is in the process of acquiring staff and infrastructure from Dynalife.
The province also paid for extra public lab services to fill the gaps in Dynalife's service, she said. LaGrange said she hopes to know the total transition cost by early spring 2024.
Last year, Toronto had the fewest traffic-related deaths it’s recorded in a decade, just as a major road safety program has been removed from the city.
Have you thought of adding social fitness onto your list of new year's resolutions for 2026?
There's been a subtle but significant shift in what NORAD has been seeing over the last year when it comes to mostly Russian — but also Chinese — activity in the Arctic, says the top commander of the North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD).
WARNING: This story references allegations of child abuse.
Toronto’s Daily Bread Food Bank is cutting ties with one of its largest member agencies after the charity uncovered discrepancies with invoices Feed Scarborough provided to support grant funding and reported those and other financial management concerns to police.
Two London residents with roots in China say they'll be paying close attention to this week's visit to China by Prime Minister Mark Carney. Both see the trip as a first step toward improving what has been a complicated trade history between the two countries in recent years.
Internal government documents obtained by Go Public suggest Transport Canada officials and successive transport ministers worked to delay — and potentially undermine — an effort to force airlines to help pay for Canada’s air passenger complaints system.
Strong winds are expected to sweep across the island of Newfoundland Sunday night, with the west coast getting hit with up to 40 cm of snow at the same time.
A Dalhousie University student is mixing their passion for conservation and art in a bid to help regrow native kelp populations.
Graffiti tags were discovered on the exterior wall of the old Molson Brewery on Saturday, just under the building's iconic clock face.
As hundreds of thousands joined another week of massive demonstrations across Iran, Alireza Niazi says it is devastating to be half a world away in Winnipeg while trying to find answers about his mother days after she was injured during a protest in Tehran.
The official Opposition says violent encounters will keep happening in Saskatchewan hospitals if the Sask. Party government doesn’t address safety and security concerns of patients and staff.
The Art Gallery of Alberta is channeling its creative energy to boost membership numbers that have failed to come back since the COVID-19 pandemic.